Peter’s Rock Church hosts its 3rd annual Autism Awareness Luncheon in Starkville
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – A Starkville after-school program is working to open the lines of communication between students with Autism and the people they may encounter during emergencies.
The luncheon brings students and parents together with area first responders and local organizations that provide a variety of services.
The program came about when educators in the after-school program wanted a former student with Autism to meet emergency responders, so each would know how to approach the other.
Since then, it has expanded to all of the families in the program. They also put together a kit to help improve communication.
“And so, that’s what we created. It’s like a profile. We want every parent to put their child’s information in there. One thing is called ‘Habits’. They can put in there what triggers their child, a nd they can distribute it to the schools, law enforcement, fire, police, anybody like that. And they can know if they meet them, this triggers them, and so, they’re not going to respond the same way a normal person would. They may tell them to stop, and they may run. We want them to know this triggers them. So, we’re going to put a face to the name for every child,” said After-school program Director Robyn Conerly.
Life Skills scholarships were also awarded to some of the students at today’s luncheon.
