April Is...

Photo Credit: Essceejulies

So my fascination with awareness campaigns
continues into the month of April which actually has the least campaigns... well according to About.com. Like I've stated previously in other posts about awareness campaigns they are great as a mass educational tool but should be looked at as a first step in helping to improve society.  
Below I highlight a few awareness campaigns that are being observed this month and their relationship to the visually impaired.


National Garden Month - When I was younger my father had planted beautiful flowers around our house. It doesn't seem I inherited his green thumb much. Unless you count watering plants then I'm good at that. *smile*

• 101 Ways to Celebrate National Garden Month - The National Gardening Association highlights some ways you can utilize your green thumbs.
• Seeing with Other Senses: Gardens for the Blind - This is an article written by JoAnn Gardner (awesome last name) that gives a comprehensive look at how the visually impaired can start their own gardens or attend accessible garden tours around the US.

National Occupational Therapy Month - I have a personal connection with occupational therapy; my mother is an Occupational Therapy Assistant. When I was a child I didn't understand what it was but over the years I understand more and more about it. Occupational Therapy helps individuals adapt to activities or occupations to live more productively. Occupational therapists and assistants work with people of various abilities including the blind to help them adapt within their capabilities. The American Occupational Therapy Association recognizes April as the month they bring greater awareness to their profession.

• Finding Vision for the Future - Often times the only way to find out about others who have Stargardt's is through local newspapers. So you can imagine how pleased I was to find an article about a woman named Janelle Gipson who has Stargardt's and works as an Occupational Therapist. In the beautifully written article Janelle talks about her diagnosis and how she gets through it.

National Autism Awareness Month - Even though in the past I worked with a child who had autism there's still so much not understood about it. Autism is defined as the following:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Autistic disorder, sometimes called autism or classical ASD, is the most severe form of ASD, while other conditions along the spectrum include a milder form known as Asperger syndrome, and childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS).  Although ASD varies significantly in character and severity, it occurs in all ethnic and socioeconomic groups and affects every age group.  Experts estimate that 1 out of 88 children age 8 will have an ASD (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, March 30, 2012).  Males are four times more likely to have an ASD than females.(NIH Autism Fact Sheet)

•  The Exceptional World of Blind and Autistic Children - In this post written ny Adam Ockelford, PhD discusses how some blind and autistic show extraordinary musical talents.

Be on the lookout for more posts about awareness campaigns in the month of April. Do you know of any awareness campaigns going on this month don't be shy to leave a comment below.

Above photo description: The photo was taken last April. Its a picture of a sunny day with flower blossomed trees lining the road in front of a white retail building in front of an empty parking lot framed by a clear blue sky. The trees cast shadows on the road. In the upper right corner of the picture a title in black American Typewriter font with a white outline reads 'April Is...'