By Beth Alston

AMERICUS — A event focusing on autism awareness is scheduled from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 28 in the Student Success Center conference rooms at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW).
ASD Mind Map presents “Flavors of Autism” — an awareness rally for parents to bring their children for food, fun and games.
Sponsored by Stan Cooper Photography, SUAVE at GSW, the Golden Heart Foundation, Executive Tax and Consulting, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, the event features Mary Lorraine Spurill, M.Ed. BCBA, and Ann Marie Rambo, M.A. BCBA, as guest speakers.
Sabrina Maddox of Americus invites everyone to attend the rally. She has personal knowledge of autism as her 8-year-old son Saige was diagnosed in February 2017. He has Asperger Syndrome which is a highly functional form of autism.
Maddox said her son had trouble in school and she had trouble raising him as a single parent.
“It’s hard to find help here in Americus for autism,” she said. “I’ve called about occupational therapy and physical therapy. If it’s as difficult for me, I’m sure there are other parents out there struggling.”
Maddox also commented on the theme of the rally.
“Flavors of Autism. There is a stigma about how autism looks a certain way,” she said. “It is not about how a person looks.”
Maddox said she took her son out of the public school system in January 2017, and he later attended the Early Autism Center in Warner Robins.
“We struggled with traveling,” she said. “We were driving every day.”
She said Saige now attends Sumter County Elementary School. “He’s doing real good this school term,” she said proudly.
Maddox stressed that the rally is open to everyone so that the public can be well informed on autism and how to get the best help for their children.