The Autism Program of Illinois announces partnership with AMC Theatres

The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP) today announced that it will once again participate in a partnership with AMC Theaters designed to promote Autism awareness among moviegoers across the state of Illinois. April is Autism Awareness Month, and during the month special public service announcements will appear on 167 screens at select AMC Theaters across Illinois.

The public service announcement, entitled “29,000”, informs viewers that 29,000 Illinois children have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The PSAs direct viewers to a new website, www.29000.org, to increase awareness and promote early intervention for children with an ASD.

The 29000.org website was created to celebrate Autism Awareness Month. It will also be featured on the TAP website and the organization’s social networking page on Facebook.

Bronwyn Rains, director of The Autism Program, The Hope Institute for Children and Families said, “The numbers which the CDC released last week now indicate that more than 30,000 school age children in Illinois have an ASD. We want everyone to know the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention for these children. We are pleased to once again partner with AMC Theaters to help get this important message out.”

“AMC is an excellent partner and strategically selected theaters that are in or near communities where we have TAP Centers. This promotes many layers of awareness, including seeing the advertisements in theaters, visiting the website and having the option for direct contact at centers in participants’ own communities,” said Ms. Rains.

The participating theaters are

• 600 North Michigan 9, Chicago


• River East 21, Chicago


• Showplace Cicero 14, Cicero


• Showplace New Lenox 14, New Lenox


• Webster Place 11, Chicago


• Showplace 12, Edwardsville


• Showplace Carbondale 8, Carbondale


• Savoy 16, Savoy


• Showplace Mattoon 10, Mattoon


• Showplace Springfield 8, Springfield


• Showplace Pekin 14, North Pekin; Willow Knolls 14, Peoria


• Showplace Rockford 16, Rockford

The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP) is the nation’s largest statewide autism services and resource network. Administered by The Hope Institute for Children and Families, TAP has 13 regional centers across Illinois, and more than 30 partners, including universities and nonprofit organizations providing diagnosis, treatment and support to children with an ASD and their families.

Learn more at The Autism Program of Illinois' website.

2012 Community Report from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network

The Centers for Disease Control has released the 2012 Community Report from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Within the report, the CDC outlines the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)among multiple areas of the United States.

The ADDM issued several key findings within the study including:

1. More children were diagnosed at earlier ages—a growing number of them by 3 years of age. Still, most children were not diagnosed until after they were 4 years of age. On average, diagnosis was a bit earlier for children with autistic disorder (4 years) than for children with the more broadly defined autism spectrum diagnoses or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (4 years, 5 months), and diagnosis was much later for children with Asperger disorder (6 years, 3 months).
2. Five times as many boys were being identified with ASDs as girls (1 in 54 compared to 1 in 252).
3. The largest increases over time were among Hispanic and Black children.
   
4. The majority (62%) of children the ADDM Network identified as having ASDs did not have intellectual disability. The largest increases during 2002 to 2008 were among children without intellectual disability (those having IQ scores higher than 70), although there were increases in the identified prevalence of ASDs at all levels of intellectual ability.

You can read the report in its entirety here and find further information on the CDC website.