Awesome Awareness and Acceptance!

Princeton, NJ—The bright blue t-shirts boldly state "Be Kind" written on an image of a puzzle piece. By now, most of us know that the puzzle piece symbolizes the "complexity of the autism spectrum," and according to The Autism Society's website, the bright graphic also signifies hope for greater autism awareness and acceptance.

Crossing state lines as a way to bridge relationships and opportunities for students with autism, Tawanka Elementary staff members organized a t-shirt fundraiser for Pennington, New Jersey's We Make, Autism At Work, a nonprofit organization with the mission to create, inspire and implement an innovative approach to meaningful careers for people with autism, (or a related diagnosis) with everything from the environment, the processes, the opportunities, to product fulfillment built around shared needs.

This fundraiser was the brainchild of Shelby Rothman, Tawanka Elementary School's Autistic Support Teacher who worked with her students to design and produce t-shirts and then sold them to the school community. The proceeds were tallied and a check was then presented to Moe Siddiqu, We Make's Executive Director. Shelby stated "Tawanka Elementary was proud to present Autism Awareness Week from April 12 through the 16th. The students and staff participated in a variety of activities and lessons that promoted autism awareness. On Friday, the students, and staff "lit it up blue" with their Be-Kind shirts. The Tawanka community was able to raise $1,060 for We Make, Autism At Work. We Make helps provide jobs and a work program for adults with autism. Way to raise awareness Tawanka!"

Today, Moe Siddiqu traveled to Tawanka to receive the check and to meet some of the students involved in the fundraising project. During his visit he invited the staff and students to tour We Make in New Jersey as soon as the pandemic restrictions are lifted. Mr. Siddiqu stated "All of us at We Make are humbled and inspired by this gesture of altruism from the Tawanka school community. We will definitely put this donation to good use and hope that some of the graduating students from Tawanka find their way to employment at We Make one day!"
Donald Palmer, Tawanka's Principal also attended the check presentation and said "Autism Awareness week brought a unity and cognizance to our school community. I would like to thank our four exceptional autistic support teachers, Mrs. Rothman, Ms. Paul, Ms. Chiesa and Ms. King for organizing this opportunity to support a great organization, and thank our Tawanka community for its continued support."

April was designated Autism Awareness Month in 1970. Over time, many advocates have suggested to adjust the phrasing and allocate April as Autism Acceptance Month. Regardless, "it is important to create open-ended conversations about inclusion and diversity," stated Moe, "We know that the prevalence of autism in the United States has risen from 1 in 125 children in 2010 to 1 in 54 in 2020 - and our goal as a society should be to further increase awareness about autism signs, symptoms and opportunities through education and referrals, events, a variety of resources, and community partnerships with businesses and agencies, such as We Make, who are dedicated to building inclusive experiences."

We Make has launched a community-wide fundraising initiative to support their summer internship program. If you are interested in contributing to We Make and helping high school students diagnosed with autism get the chance to test out a career at We Make , click here and go to their donation link.