 "Photo: Coleman Morefield")
Texas Tech's Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research is recognizing Autism Awareness in April by raising money and educating people about the disease.
The Burkhart Center, located on campus in the College of Education Building, has been spreading the word about autism education and research since its opening in 2005.
Janice Magness, program director at the Burkhart Center, said the center specializes in autism education and research and can provide needed social skills to high school graduates who are not attending college.
To raise awareness of autism in April, the Burkhart Center will conduct several events on campus and around Lubbock, according to a university news release.
An Autism Walk later this month will raise money for the Burkhart Center. The Center currently is working on a $12 million building fund campaign to provide a permanent home for the Center and a residential village for adults with autism.
Magness said she and the rest of the Burkhart staff have organized life skills classes for adults with autism that help them to ride a city bus, order a meal and have part-time jobs.
"Our hope is for them to eventually get a job through employment agencies who employ people with disabilities," she said. "We want them to live."
Magness said a main goal of the center is to train adults with autism to enter the workforce, even if only through a part-time job. For many individuals with autism, it is only the social aspects of employment that keep them from having a job.
Robin Lock, an associate professor and program coordinator in the Special Education program in the College of Education, said in a university news release that the Burkhart Center has a twofold approach for training autistic people for jobs.
"We will train employers to work with people with autism and recognize their characteristics and needs," Lock said in the release. "Then we will provide them with some hands-on material and a support system they can access at the Burkhart Center."
For adults who attend the life skills classes, the center's social skills network is another important component to living independently, according to the release. The social skills network meets two nights each month. The meetings are designed to allow students of the life skills classes the opportunity to enjoy less structured social time together.
Though the students of the life skills classes are not students at the university, the Burkhart Center also has resources available to Tech students who have autism. The Center has a lending library where students can get books and other educational information about the disease.
Magness said she hopes the Center also will be helpful to students of Tech who don't have autism.
"A lot of Tech students come by here to get information," she said. "We would like to make every student on campus aware of the information available to them."
Even if a student does not have autism, Magness said, they probably will be in class or come into contact with someone who does.
The Burkhart Center encourages Tech social clubs and individuals to get involved and honor Autism Awareness Month by participating in the Autism Walk, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 13 at Coronado High School. Money will be raised through the Autism Walk: Hands for Hope 2008. The walk is free, but a Hands for Hope T-shirt will be available for $10.
Students with autism may attend the social network group at 6:30 p.m. Monday in room 150 of the Burkhart Center in the College of Education building.
People interested in more information on autism can visit the Burkhart Center library, or attend an autism information fair from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes and Noble on 6707 Slide Rd.
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