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Autism is a disease that in one way or another effects all of us. Whether it be a brother, sister, cousin, friend, or stranger, autism can cause stress on any family. Autism Speaks is an organization that is trying to make it easier for families to cope with the disease and live a relatively normal lifestyle.
Autism Speaks Walk Now For Autism breaks their mission into four different groups: science, awareness, family services, and legislative advocacy.
The science department recently approved a $30 million research plan, with nearly $5 million going to fund 40 new research grants to look for the causes, diagnosis, biology, and treatment of autism.
Autism Speaks created a documentary, which aired on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in front of a sold-out Sundance Film Festival audience.
The awareness department has also gathered $81 million worth of donated media, as well as launching a message board where families with autistic children can talk to each other about how to positively change their situations to make it easier for the children.
Even the stars wanted to get involved in the action! Last week, Days of Our Lives stars, including Bryan Dattilo pictured above, came out in full support of Autism.
Celebrities are fun and all... but what about the people actually doing the work? Autism Speaks Events Coordinator Sarah Belcher said that they have created a group of coordinators who are parents of children with autism.
These coordinators have been trained to answer questions about autism for families that do not fully understand the disease and need to hear from the expertise and the experiences that these coordinators have gathered over the years.
The Senate recently approved the Combating Autism Act, which will provide $53.5 million for programs to teach people how to live and deal with autistic people through the efforts of the advocacy group at Autism Speaks.
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