Dysfunction Junkies C.A.R.E: World Autism Month Spotlight

April Dysfunction Junkies CARE:  Autism comes up in conversation all the time, but “hearing the word” isn’t the same as understanding the people and families living it every day. For World Autism Month, we’re shining a light on the Autism Society of Greater Akron, a local organization doing practical, life-changing work across Northeast Ohio through advocacy, education, social programs, and community support. If you’ve been looking for credible autism resources or a place to start learning about neurodiversity, this conversation points you toward real help and real hope.

#dysfunctionjunkiespodcast #JunkiesCARE #worldautismmonth #autismsocietyofgreaterakron #autism #spectrum #templegrandin 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Welcome to Junkies Care, the special initiative of the Dysfunction Junkies Podcast, where we celebrate great organizations doing great things. And now here are your hosts, Chrissy and Carrie.

KERRY 0:25

Hey junkies, I'm Carrie. And I'm Chrissy. It is April. April is here.

Why World Autism Month Matters

SPEAKER_02 0:36

And what are we recognizing this month, Carrie?

KERRY 0:39

Well, April is World Autism Month and focusing on celebrating neurodiversity, fostering acceptance, and promoting worldwide support for autism. So we thought this was a great month to uh highlight one of your local organizations, the Autism Society of Greater Akron.

Autism Society Of Greater Akron

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Yes. So you're gonna be recognizing them and all the great things that they do. Yes. Uh they were established in 1987 and they support individuals and their families in Northeast Ohio. The counties that they try to cover are Summit, Medina, Portage, Wayne, and Stark. And they work to bring advocacy, education, and social programs to those individuals and their families. Absolutely. And just it's a great resource. They do a lot of great things. They offer social clubs, support groups, help, they have a helpline. They provide education, advocacy. It's a great organization. And just because we're featuring Akron's Autism Society. If we know we have listeners all over, and there are probably groups like this in Autism Society wherever you are. So I would encourage you to seek them out and see how you can help. It's yes, I'm sure they would be pleased with volunteers or with donations and just find out what they do.

What Autism Means And Why Early Diagnosis Helps

KERRY 2:13

Exactly. So a lot of people, we hear the word autism almost daily, and but what exactly is it? And what I really liked how the autism society of Greater Akron had the definition, I guess you could say, on their website, that it is a complex lifelong developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. It impacts social skills, communication, relationships, and self-regulation. Although there's no known cause, what people, what we do know is that early diagnosis can help a person get the resources they need to live a full and excellent life. So I really think that they did their website, is it is really good. But like Chrissy said, there's many different autism groups all over the country, in your state, local, around the world. But I think the Autism Society of Greater Akron really has a great website if you've if you're looking for just some information. I was really impressed with all the things that they do. Just the different things that they have 146 programs that can help. And like Chrissy was mentioning, there's education programs, adaptive community events, the helpline. So it's really interesting. And they have a really good source of volunteerism. I was reading on there that if they added up the hours of, and you put like a price tag on the volunteer hours, it was like over$81,000 of volunteerism that helps support the community, which was amazing.

Programs, Events, And Volunteer Impact

Early Intervention And Practical Supports

SPEAKER_02 3:46

No, they do wonderful things. And when you were speaking about getting that diagnosis with a child who has autism, early intervention is everything. Um and then just the therapies that can help and resources and just the support in general. I know definitely encourage you to any autism society near you or the one in here for Akron, they have an events calendar, they have a lot of inclusive events and things just that you can be part of. One thing that is really important, and I know they do there is they have swimming. They I think they still do that. It's really important for children and people with autism to really understand to be comfortable with water and swim. So they really, I think they understand that and they offer classes for that, which I wish I you would see that in more places, but you have to have the right people who are willing to work with the individuals because it's a different approach.

Autism Spectrum And Fear Of Labels

KERRY 4:56

And not only is it a different approach, but every person is different. That's why they call it the autism spectrum. So how it affects one person is completely different than another. So maybe your approach for how you would help this person would need to be different for another. And that's absolutely yeah. And I know just with my friends and things too, they're children and they see different things that something different, and but they're afraid about getting a label. Oh, what if? But at the same time, it's so important because, like we said, early diagnosis can help with those early therapies. Yeah. But I would definitely encourage again the Autism Society of Greater Akron's website, had a really good page that talked about different characteristics or behaviors. If you might suspect that your child might be on the spectrum, just to look at those and have these open conversations with your child's pediatrician and your doctor, because yeah, it's early diagnosis, is definitely the key.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Yeah, it definitely is. So I'm guessing we're definitely gonna put them up on our website. You can get the link there. It's autismacron.org. Yes. And we will have a place for you to check that out on our website. And we definitely encourage that. And um, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of things talked about over this month. So take a look, do some reading about it. Uh, it is they're doing a lot of wonderful things, and I think that, like you said, with therapies and early intervention, we're really trying to help these individuals.

Personal Story And Everyday Grace

Links, Video Update, And Goodbye

KERRY 6:40

Absolutely. On a personal level, I've mentioned before that my husband and I have raised service dogs for canine companions. We they were one of our first junkies care initiatives back in September, and they've placed dogs with people with on the spectrum. And so we've had the opportunity to really be involved with a lot of different families that have children with autism. And, you know, that again, one of the key things is to that education awareness, getting the help, getting information resources. So just even from that personal experience on my end, I definitely highly encourage people. If and if you don't know anybody, it's still good to become aware. So that way, if you are in a grocery store or you're at a restaurant and you might see a child having a meltdown, give a little grace because you don't know what that family or that person's dealing with, and they very well might be on the spectrum and having a little over-sensory moments, but definitely it's a good organization to get some awareness from. So that is our initiative for the month of April. We'll talk more about them. And like Chrissy said, check out our website, dysfunction junkiespodcast.com, and then also check out the website for the Autism Society of Greater Akron, which is autismacron.org. Other than that, we're gonna see you this month. And hopefully you'll be watching us now that we're on video.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Yeah.

KERRY 8:05

Please. Yes. All right, everybody. Have a wonderful month, happy spring, happy April, and tune in on Wednesdays for our next episode. Bye, everybody.