This year WingMadness is benefiting Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago. But what is Easter Seals? Most people have heard of Easter Seals but few know the depth of services that they provide. Easter Seals provides critical services to individuals facing the daily challenges of living with a disability. In 2011 more than 30,000 individuals in the Chicagoland area will receive these services. Among these disabilities is Autism – a disability that affects 1 in every 110 babies born in the United States.
April is Autism Awareness Month and I thought I would fill you in on what Autism is and what Easter Seals is doing to help individuals with Autism lead more independent lives.
Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the early years of a child’s life that is most noticeably characterized by deficits in social and communication skills. Children with Autism do not develop social relationships with their parents, siblings or other friends and family members. Often, they prefer to be alone and play by themselves. They are comfortable with themselves and often fear the uncertainty that strangers bring. They thrive on routine and fear greatly disruptions to that same routine. Children with Autism also suffer from an overstimulation of their senses and have great difficulty distinguishing between important stimulations and meaningless ones like the buzzing of fluorescent lights or the passing by of cars on a busy street.
Easter Seals operates four schools in the Chicagoland area that serve children with Autism. When a traditional school environment is no longer the best fit for a student with Autism, the child is sent by their local school district to one of special therapeutic schools that Easter Seals runs. The schools are located in Chicago (in the Illinois Medical District), Tinley Park, Waukegan and Rockford.
The Chicago school is a special place that was built specifically for children with Autism. From the placement of windows and observations rooms to the colors and carpet pattern, the school was built from the ground up with the special needs of children with Autism in mind. In fact, the planning committee consisted of one of our graduates who was able to articulate specific concerns that no else had considered. Not only is this facility a school, but it is also a research facility that allows researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago to study students and implement groundbreaking therapeutic protocols. The school was built only a few years ago and much more is planned for this facility. When completed, this facility will also include a warm water therapy pool, gymnasium, one-stop shop for services and a residential facility. Nowhere else in the country is there a campus that will offer all of this to individuals living with Autism.
It’s hard to imagine that such groundbreaking therapies and services are offered so close to home – practically in our backyards! While the causes and cure for Autism are still mysteries – what we do know is that Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago is on the forefront of research and is leading the way in building independence for individuals with Autism.
Jason M. Baumann
Manager of Corporate Sponsorships and Special Events
Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago
This is a wonderful blog you've written about Easter Seals. Keep up the good work, dude!
ReplyDelete