Global Autism Awareness Elizabeth Heffington, Juliana Kuntz, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Global Autism Awareness

Elizabeth Heffington, Juliana Kuntz, Caitlynn Lange

Why

?

UC Davis MIND Institute

UC Davis MIND Institute

• The UC Davis MIND Institute is a innovative, international research center that focuses on awareness,

understanding, causes, care and cures of neurodevelopmental disorders.

• MIND stands for medical investigation of neurodevelopmental disorders
• The institute is a consortium of scientists, educators, physicians and parents dedicated to researching the

causes of and treatments for autism spectrum disorders, fragile X syndrome, and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Mentors

Lauren Libero Melissa Mello Tomoko Vidales

M.A. Team Lead Tadpole study at mind institute 10 years working with autistic children Masters in Special Education Board certified analyst PHD Research focuses on multimodal brain imaging techniques and behavior in autism Spectrum disorder Works with Autistic kids in Japan.

To spread awareness and joy to a global community struggling with autism in hopes of the public and society accepting children with autism instead of ignoring it.

Our Mission

Research

• Studies show that pinwheels make autistic children feel happy

and content

• blues, greens, purples, pale pinks pastels, and neutrals
• Many parents in other countries around the world ignore the

fact that their child has autism because they are ashamed or embarrassed

What's the purpose?

What is a pinwheel made of?

We used straws, pins, tape and origami paper

Our Timeline

September-December: Research and planning January- February: Supply Searching and comparing prices February- March: Creating the elementary school presentation March: Purchased supplies March- April: Started making pinwheels March: Presented at elementary schools March: Fundraiser at Panera April: Shipped pinwheels

Lake Forest Elementary School

Third grade class- Ms. McMillen

Green Hills Elementary

Second grade: Mrs. Kuntz

How Can YOU Help?

• Treat others how you would want to be treated.
• Remember the four A’s:
• 1. Awareness
• 2. Acceptance
• 3. Appreciation
• 4. Action

What is Autism?

The official name is Autism Spectrum Disorders. These problems happen when the brain develops differently and has trouble making sense of the world and helping someone communicate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrrXMO-NrCM http://praacticalaac.org/praactical/autism-awareness-and-acceptance-month-5-videos-fo r-kids/

Making the Pinwheels

Making the pinwheels

FINAL PRODUCT

Challenges and Obstacles

• Time management

○ Finding time we all could meet ○ Making the pinwheels took a lot longer than expected

• Presenting the information to children

○ It is a sensitive subject to talk about so we had to be very careful with what we said ○ They asked difficult questions

• Finding a mentor

○ After we finally found our mentors we had some difficulties communicating with them at first

What did we learn? How did it push us out of our comfort zone?

ITs cool to be Kind! :)