The blue themes at Crosspool and Woodseats will include blue balloons outside each practice, staff wearing blue wigs and clothes and themed refreshments. The team at Woodseats will also be joined by an Autism Assistance Dog from the Sheffield charity, Support Dogs. Pictured with Alex is Amy and Cass the dog.
World Autism Awareness Day was established in 2008 to raise awareness about autism and every year, on April 2nd, autism organisations around the world celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events, including Light It Up Blue. This global initiative kicks-off Autism Awareness Month and sees iconic landmarks, hotels, sporting venues, bridges, homes and communities lighting up their properties.
Alex was inspired to take part in the initiative after specialising in Behavioural Optometry; a branch of optics that studies how vision can affect human performance. He said: “Autism can come with a range of challenges in making sense of the world. In Behavioural Optometry, we work to make the information coming into the eyes good information, as in they can see clearly, and then we work to help process that information and make sense of what they are seeing.”
Autism was first identified more than 50 years ago and affects one percent of UK children and adults, many of whom remain undiagnosed and without support. Autism Spectrum Disorders (or conditions) are lifelong disabilities that, at their core, affect a person’s social and communication abilities and are four times more prevalent in boys than girls.