The ARC Working to Empower People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

April 15, 2014

 April is national Autism Awareness Month and The Arc and The Autism  NOW National Autism Resource & Information Center are working to empower  people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with the information and resources  they need to live their lives to the fullest potential. We are also working to help others  become more accepting of people with ASDs.

With the CDC now declaring that 1 in 68 children may be impacted by autism spectrum disorders (a jump of 30% from earlier figures), it's a fair bet that each one of us knows someone with autism or someone who has a family member or friend with autism. Since this disorder is a spectrum and not everyone with a diagnosis of ASD "appears" to have autism, you may know someone on the spectrum and not even realize it.

That's why it's important to dispel all of the myths and misinformation to understand and accept what having an ASD really means. And that's why The Autism NOW Center exists, to weed through the volumes of information out there and provide high-quality, vetted resources and information to people with autism and other developmental disabilities, their family, friends, colleagues, teachers, employers and others.

To promote awareness and acceptance, we invite you to view and share a new video about Autism NOW and learn more. Also, we encourage you to join in the conversation! Follow us online and on Autism NOW's blog and read the personal stories of people with autism in a series of guest posts during April. And use the hashtag #AutismAware to generate discussion about autism awareness and acceptance.