The stay-at-home order has disrupted the normal flow of life for most people but for those on the autistic spectrum the challenge of a lack of routine is particularly upsetting.
“One of the primary behaviors with Autism is rigidity. Really needing a schedule, needing to know the plan, often that’s because there’s a great deal of anxiety maybe around a change in the schedule, and that’s all we’ve had now For the last six weeks, are changes to schedules, things that we’re looking forward to are no longer, our daily routine has been interrupted and that can create a great deal of anxiety, we’re experiencing that, neurotypical friends, our friends on the spectrum, it hits them harder,” said Carrie Provenzale, Executive Director at Turning Pointe Autism Foundation.
Helping the Stay at Home
While Turning Pointe hasn’t been able to carry out normal operations, they have been able to get creative to continue to provide services, as well as resources.
“We are also serving out families right now, through some Elearning platforms and just Zoom meetings so they can see their teacher, we are also sending care packages to our families. So this week was a sensory kit, a lot of our students have some great sensory needs, and we put together a number of items just to keep home interesting and fresh, as we all know we get a bit bored,” Provenzale said
And a step further, they recently held a virtual seminar over Zoom, which was open to the public, with a panel of experts sharing advice and information on how to cope with staying at home.
The entire seminar is available for viewing on Turning Pointe’s website, and they are working to potentially have more Zoom seminars in the future.
Autism Awareness Month
April is Autism Awareness Month and usually one of Turning Pointe’s key months for fundraising. Like many other nonprofits, their traditional method of fundraising through events and galas has been interrupted.
“We are tentatively holding off on it until October. Though April is national Autism Awareness month, October is national employment for people with disabilities month. So we feel like October we’re hoping we’ll be able to reboot, and maybe the community will be ready to go out and drive some cars and we can still hold that fundraiser.” said Provenzale.
Naperville News 17’s Ryan Skryd reports.
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