As part of World Autism Awareness Day, the Tufts' chapter of Autism Speaks and the brothers of the Theta Delta Chi (123) fraternity worked together to raise autism awareness on campus yesterday.
World Autism Awareness Day, organized through a partnership betweem Autism Speaks, a national autism advocacy organization, and Theta Delta Chi's national organization, aims to raise awareness about autism's prevalence and diagnoses, according to Tufts Autism Speaks chapter fundraising chair Danielle Feerst.
"Autism Awareness day is a day dedicated to making people aware of the fact that Autism diagnoses are increasing and to help people understand what it is," Feerst, a sophomore, said.
As part of the awareness-raising efforts, the Autism Speaks chapter at Tufts hosted Boston Medical Center Autism Specialist Lauren Bartolotti (G '12) to discuss Autism prevalence, as well as current Autism research and treatments.
One in 68 American children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder every year. By 2020, it is estimated that rate will increase to one in five, according to research released last week by Autism Speaks. Yet Bartolotti told students at the panel last night that this statistic may be exaggerated to gain media attention.
"The thing with the new statistics is you have to remember that the media likes to make people interested in the story," Bartolotti said. "Yes, the presence is 'increasing,' and I'm not diminishing that, but the data was only taken in 11 communities of eight year olds. So the one in 68 statistic isn't completely accurate. This statistic is really good for raising awareness, but it's not accurate in treatment."
Bartolotti also discussed the financial burden imposed on families with autistic children. Autism families spend on average $60,000 on a child's medical services a year, according to Feerst.
"It's really a lot tougher than people would expect," Bartolotti said. "A lot of my patients can't pay for their rent, let alone services for their child."
Theta Delta Chi has been working closely with the newly introduced Tufts' Autism Speaks chapter at improving Autism awareness on campus, Feerst explained.
"When I first became philanthropy chair, one of the first people to reach out to me was Shannon McHenry, who is the president of the Autism Speaks chapter here at Tufts, and since then we have been a really good team in terms of maximizing fundraising and awareness for Autism Speaks," Rob Jacobson, the Theta Delta Chi philanthropy chair told the Daily in an email.
The fraternity brothers wore blue, painted the cannon and lit their house blue yesterday as part of World Autism Awareness Day, Jacobson, a sophomore, explained.
"Theta Delta Chi is also national partners with Autism Speaks, so our house has always been very involved with the organization," Jacobson said. "But [since] Shannon brought the chapter to Tufts this fall, it has really taken off. This past fall we raised over $2,000 with our [Blue Luau] fundraising social event, where we sold wristbands along with tickets as a way to both fundraise [and] raise awareness."
World Autism Awareness Day is part of a longer national Autism Awareness Month and the two student organizations will continue to host awareness-promoting events throughout the month, Feerst added.
Autism Speaks, 123 raise awareness for disorder
