AU students walked in Autism Speaks’s sixth annual Walk for Autism on the National Mall Oct. 22 to show support for family members and friends with autism.
Twenty to 30 members of the AU community participated in the walk, said Jackie Boyland, an intern for Autism Speaks. There were three teams of AU walkers along with a few individuals who walked without joining a team.
“In addition to these AU students, we also had the American University Men’s Basketball Team help us out all day at the walk with set up, logistics and passing out event T-shirts,” Boyland said. “They help us out every year at the walk, and we love having their support.”
Elisheva Grob, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the community service fraternity Alphi Phi Omega, was one of the AU students to participate in the walk.
Grob said this was the first time she had walked with Autism Speaks. She walked with her best friend Shira Artson, a freshman at Goucher College in Md.
“Her [Artson’s] twin brother is autistic, and I think it’s really important to support this organization and find a cure for autism,” Grob said.
Falon Dominguez, a sophomore in the School of International Service, also walked because of her personal connection to autism.
“My cousin has autism, and I’ve watched my aunt, uncle and grandparents struggle and I wanted to help out,” she said. “I saw a sign advertising the walk in a Metro station a couple months ago and decided I had to register.”
Dominguez raised $210 for the walk and Grob and her friend raised $110 together.
The walk was approximately two miles around the National Mall.
About 8,500 people attended last year’s Autism Speaks walk, Boyland said.
“The walk wouldn’t be possible without the hundreds of volunteers who set up tents, pass out T-shirts, guided people along the walking route and make sure everything goes well logistically,” Boyland said.
The D.C. walk is one of the largest in the nation, according to Boyland.
“There are walks all over the country in cities like Atlanta, Boston, Seattle and Chicago. D.C. is always one of the most highly attended, along with Atlanta,” she said.
Despite its many attendees, the National Autism Walk hasn’t been able to garner as much visibility as the walks for breast cancer and AIDS.
“Autism Speaks was founded in 2005, so it’s a fairly new organization, and autism itself has only recently acquired awareness,” Boyland said. “So there’s definitely not as much visibility for this cause as there is for others.”
However, autism awareness has been growing substantially within the last five years, she said.
The Autism Speaks’s ‘Odds’ campaign, in partnership with the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization that helps organizations spread their message, has produced a 43 percent increase in public awareness of autism spectrum disorders since 2006, Boyland said.
The campaign’s goal is to show that autism is more common than people think.
“I’m confident that autism awareness will only continue to grow as time goes on,” Boyland said.
news@theeagleonline.com
