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April Is Autism Action and Awareness Month!

What will you do to help individuals with autism?

By Michele Iallonardi April 24, 2016
April is Autism Action and Awareness Month!   Please do what you can to support those affected by autism. Awareness is wonderful, as it creates a kinder, more supportive community.  But action is important too, as those affected by autism truly need your support every day.

As a parent of a child with autism, I know firsthand how life-changing it is when your child is diagnosed.  You can easily become overwhelmed by all that there is to learn and do to help your child make progress.   The beginning is very difficult, as you navigate through unfamiliar territory.  Families can often feel isolated during this time. It is extremely important to have a support network around you.

For me, I have found that network in the Nassau/Suffolk Autism Society of America (NSASA).   NSASA is an amazing non-profit organization on Long Island.  It is run by parents of children with autism, whose mission to support individuals with autism and their families in the local community.  After several years of being a member, I joined this amazing group of parents on the Board of Directors, and I have spent the past 8+ years of my life involved with this wonderful organization.

NSASA supports the local autism community in many ways.  We run a listserve which has over 1900 parents sharing information and supporting each other every day. Each year, we support local schools in their autism programs by awarding grants to teachers for classroom materials, Ipads, and community outings for their students. Providing support and materials for students with autism is incredibly important, as schools often can't meet all of the unique individual needs of their students on a limited budget.  NSASA does things that make a difference for students right now.

When you have a child with autism, it changes the entire family.  The needs of that individual often come first, and sometimes the family cannot do things that they would typically do because it might be difficult for the child with autism.  NSASA recognizes the need to support the family, not just the child.  We host special events for our families to come out together and enjoy, in a safe, welcoming environment.  We do things like rent out a movie theater for a private showing, provide a fun party at Dave & Busters, host a private event at the Long Island Children's Museum, have a private open skate at United Skates, or treat our families to lunch at the Outback Steakhouse.  We plan events all over Long Island, and we provide these to our members at no charge. We rely on our own fundraising efforts, and donations made in order to provide these things to the families who so desperately need them.

We provide support to families in need through our holiday family program, and our summer camp support grant.  After Hurricane Sandy, we reached out with financial support to help our families that were affected.  

It is amazing what people can do when they work together!  NSASA encourages you to go out and make a difference for Autism Action and Awareness Month!  Call a friend or family member who has a child with autism, and invite the family over for dinner or a playdate.  They will appreciate the offer more than you know!  If you can't do that, offer to do something to help their child this month.  Autism brings many extra expenses to the family, and this can be hard to manage.  Find out what the child needs and buy it, or fundraise to help the family buy it.  Extra therapies, equipment, medical needs....  these can all be very expensive, and most families would appreciate this type of support.

At NSASA, it is our mission to help and support our LOCAL community.  We encourage you to do the same!  To learn more about NSASA, please visit our website at 
http://www.nsasa.org/.  If you'd like to donate to help support our programs, please click here.  Any money donated will go directly to support children in Nassau and Suffolk County who have autism.  If you know a family who has a child with autism, please direct them to our webpage so that they can join our group. Our goal is to help families today, so that they have a better tomorrow.