As April ends, it’s a great time to talk about what’s happened thus far during this year’s efforts to light it blue and raise awareness about autism. Here are three cool things that occurred during Autism Awareness Month 2015.
- Toni Braxton spoke out
On April 14, Toni Braxton — a seven-time Grammy Award-winning artist and star of Braxton Family Values — spoke out on HLN, the News and Views network, about being the mother of an autistic child. Her son Diezel is 12 now, but Braxton noticed signs of autism when he was a baby, saying that the lack of eye contact and little communication got her attention. In her autobiography, Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir, Braxton confesses that she battled through self-blame for her son’s condition, but eventually realized “there is nothing wrong with our babies, and it’s nothing you’ve done or you could have done differently — it’s just what the situation is.” The memoir, which published almost a year ago, is available on Kindle and hardback here.
- The world went blue
From Barcelona to New York, NY to Himeji, Japan, the world showed a staggering amount of support by going blue for World Autism Awareness Day on April 2. In Spain, La Basilica de la Sagrada Familia was lit a beautiful hue of blue, while the same was true as far as Japan’s Himeji Castle, The Great Sphinx and Great Pyramids of Giza, China Millennium Monument, and the Taipei 101 Tower. Here in the States, the Empire State Building, Helmsley Building, One World Trade Center, and 30 Rockerfeller Center shined a light on autism for the whole of Manhattan to see. All in all, over 16,000 buildings went blue to bring awareness to autism.
- Autistic boy gets a visit and a robotic arm from the Blue Man Group
Wyatt is a 12-year-old boy who not only developed autism, he was also born needing an amputation. In his parents’ search for solutions to help Wyatt communicate better, they discovered Limbitless, an organization that uses 3D-printing technology to change lives. As a fan of the Blue Man Group, Wyatt was pretty excited when they presented him with a Limbitless robotic arm last week. Decorated in splattered blue paint, the arm was delivered to Wyatt by his favorite music group on April 3 at Universal Studios Orlando, where he got to go backstage, play with the instruments, and have lunch with the cast before returning home with his brand new arm.
What did you do to show your support during Autism Awareness Month?
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