University of La Verne Participates in ‘Light It Up Blue’ for Autism Awareness

Major landmarks from New York’s Empire State Building to Christ the Redeemer in Rio De Janeiro and Paris’ Eiffel Tower have been illuminated in bold blue to raise awareness for autism throughout the world.

And on April 2 – for the first time in La Verne history – blue lights came to the University of La Verne for the “Light It Up Blue” international campaign for Autism Spectrum Disorder awareness.

“We hope to do it yearly from here on out,” said Assistant Professor of Special Education Dr. Dawn Witt, who is organizing the event along with the Office of Civic and Community Engagement.

For World Autism Awareness Day, the University projected the Light It Up Blue campaign’s logo on the back wall of Campus Center about 6:30 p.m. Founders Hall’s exterior lights will be blue throughout April.

Witt, who has taught special education teaching candidates for the last 10 years, said she organized the event at previous universities where she worked, receiving a great response to it. She taught general and special education in third grade through high school before moving to higher education.

“I’ve spent my career working with children who have disabilities and any time we can hold an event that promotes diversity, I think it’s a positive thing,” she said.

The event took place at the University’s South Quad behind Campus Center with informational booths and activities for the community. The Solorio Showstoppers – a student singing group from Solorio Elementary School in the Etiwanda Unified School District – performed. And community organizations provided information about services available for children on the autism spectrum.

Angelina Morrison, a graduate student at La Verne’s College of the Canyon’s satellite campus, worked in a “sensory play” section, which included tubs filled with multi-colored rice and plastic eggs hidden underneath.

“These are all things to get the kids using their hands and their senses,” she said.

Sherril Miller, a La Verne student pursuing a teaching credential, said the event is important because it shows that autistic people are the same as everyone else. Miller, a substitute teacher for the Ontario-Montclair School District, has a particular interest in the cause because her son, a Citrus College drama major, has Asperger’s Syndrome.

“People need to know they’re not different than you and I,” Miller said.

University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman and Provost Jonathan Reed spoke just before the lighting ceremony.

Marisol Morales, Director of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement, said the event is not only important for the University, but for the community.

“I think for the Office of Civic and Community Engagement it’s not only a matter of supporting our faculty and our colleges for community engagement interests and serving as the connector to bring about awareness, but also to speak to some of the issues that affect families in this region,” Morales said.

In 2010, one in 68 children had been identified as having autism spectrum disorder – a term that covers the various forms of autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Witt said she hopes people who attend the event see autism as a neurological disorder rather than an affliction, and that many people who have it carry unique skills and talents.

“We’re simply trying to say people who have autism live with us, work with us and go to school with us,” Witt said. “And they thrive.”