Autism Awareness Day was celebrated world-wide on April 2.
Events were held on the Pocatello campus by Alpha Xi Delta, a sorority whose philanthropy is Autism Speaks.
The campus event for Autism Awareness Day will be held Saturday, April 6, at 11:30 a.m. on the Hutchinson Quadrangle.
Alpha Xi Delta puts on the AmaXing Challenge event to raise money on Autism Awareness Day.
“This year is going to be really awesome,” said Keanne Lambertson, Alpha Xi Delta president. “We’re going to have a kiddy carnival, we’re going have Kiwi Loco there [and], a 5K run with a T-shirt for the winner.”
This year the goal is to raise between $1,500 and $2,000.
“The first year we did it was pretty successful, but the second year fell over Easter Break,” said Lambertson.
As most students leave town over Spring Break, there were far less people present to participate.
The first year of the event raised approximately $1,600, while the second raised around $1,000.
“We have really good turnouts for a chapter this size,” said Lambertson. “The community has always been really supportive.”
“We’ve been working with Autism Speaks for the past five years,” said Lambertson. “Nationwide, the sorority has raised over a million dollars.”
Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability that generally appears around three years old. It affects the part of the brain in charge of non-verbal communication and social interactions.
Autism affects one in 88 children.
“Autism really affects everyone” said Lambertson. “Four people in our sorority have family members with autism.”
Autism affects boys at four times the rate for girls, and about 40 percent of children with autism do not speak.
Symptoms associated with autism are treatable but currently there is no cure.
According to the National Autism Association, autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder and also the most underfunded.
Conditions associated with autism include allergies, asthma, epilepsy, bowel disease, gastrointestinal/digestive disorders, persistent viral infections, feeding disorders, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, OCD, sensory integration dysfunction, sleeping disorders, immune disorders, autoimmune disorders and neuroinflammation.
For more information about the event call Alpha Xi Delta’s philanthropy chair Lindsay DeLuna at (208) 241-0755.