Boise State Helps Form Coalition To Support Hurricane Victims With Autism; Donations, Volunteers Sought

Boise State University’s College of Health Sciences, through its Center for Health Policy, has joined with several national autism support groups to form AutismCares, a nationwide disaster relief and recovery initiative. The coalition’s goal is to support families of hurricane victims with autism. Because children with autism are more likely to be traumatized by a change in location and schedule, displacement following a crisis such as Hurricane Katrina can have devastating and long-lasting effects.

“Many of these families have been evicted from shelters because of their children’s behavior,” said Sharon Oberleitner, one of the organizers of AutismCares in the Center for Health Policy and the mother of a child with autism. “It’s very difficult for these children to function outside of their homes and normal environment.”

Affected families are scattered across the United States, but are principally concentrated in Louisiana or Mississippi, preferring to stay close to their homes and familiar surroundings. As families are identified, the coalition attempts to assess their immediate needs and match them with donated resources such as housing, food, clothing, toys and computers. Once the immediate needs are met, the coalition will continue to track these families for up to a year helping them with their long-term recovery process.

The Center for Health Policy will provide legal and fiscal oversight for the AutismCares coalition, and will help recruit and train family case managers. The center has set up a fund with the Boise State University Foundation that will allow the Center for Health Policy to accept and process donations from private corporations, philanthropic and non-profit organizations, autism support groups and individuals throughout the U.S. who want to support Boise State’s autism family hurricane relief effort. The center will undertake detailed family needs assessments through telephone interviews, help in identifying resources available to the families through local, state and national organizations, and conduct on-going service outcome evaluations. The center will use the data it collects to develop guidelines and policy recommendations to help with disaster situations in the future.

Other coalition partners include: Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks, The Celeste Foundation, Cure Autism Now, The Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, First Signs, The Help Group, The National Alliance for Autism Research, National Autism Association, The New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community, Organization for Autism Research, Princeton Autism Technology, The Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, TalkAutism, Unlocking Autism, Autism Today, Visual String, U.S. Autism and Asperger Association, and Pathfinders for Autism.

To make a monetary or in-kind donation, visit the coalition’s Web site at www.autismcares.org. The Center for Health Policy is also recruiting Boise State students for volunteer or for-credit internships to act as family case managers and research assistants. For more information, call 1-866-966-9222.

Autism is a neurological disorder that interferes with normal development in language, thought, social interaction and the ability to connect with one’s surroundings. Children with autism are more likely to repeat certain behaviors and to not want change in their daily activities. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta estimates that one out of every 166 children born will be affected by this disorder.

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Contact: Uwe Reischl, Center for Health Policy, (208) 426-2445, ureischl@boisesetate.edu 

Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, Communications, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu