Parents and Cerritos Advocate for Greater Autism Awareness

It was more than 15 years ago when Cerritos resident Tina Sawires found out her son had Autism. The diagnosis made her feel confused, scared and nervous, especially because at that time, autism awareness was not widespread. Information on the topic and support groups were hard to find, making it a struggle for her to cope with her son’s condition.

“There was no information whatsoever,” Sawires said. “We had to start from scratch and I was completely lost, I didn’t know what autism was and had to do my own research.”

Then Sawires found the Autism Society of America, who had a local chapter in Los Angeles. By joining that support group, she learned about how to deal with her son’s condition, and more importantly, that she was not alone.

“The first time I went I was totally happy and I didn’t feel alone anymore,” she said. “I didn’t feel lost because I saw other people in the same boat as me.”

Now, Sawires' son is 36 years old and is living a healthy and productive life. Sawires, however, still stays involved with the support group and even offers to hold meetings in her home. She says that she remains active with the group because of the many parents who now find themselves in her situation.

“I know they cannot heal the child completely, but his life or her life could be improved 90 percent with the right medication, behavior modification, and individual plans,” she said. “If I can help one person it’s worth my time.”

World Autism Awareness Day is Saturday, April 2nd, and in honor of the day, the City of Cerritos has been doing its part in spreading awareness by lighting the Cerritos Sculpture Garden in blue and proclaiming the month of April as “Autism Awareness Month.”

From March 23 to April 3, the Cerritos Sculpture Garden will be lit in blue in conjunction with the efforts of Autism Speaks, an organization who is rallying for cities nationwide to spread awareness.

“[Autism awareness] is something that we think the City needs to be supportive of,” Mayor Carol K. Chen said. “We also need to make the community aware that that type of illness does exist in our community.”

At the March 24 city council meeting, the City Council proclaimed April as “Autism Awareness Month,” and presented the proclamation to a group of young persons who are diagnosed with the condition.

But the City’s effort to honor and help families with autistic children goes further than just a proclamation.

In 2003, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department expanded their services to children with special needs by offering families an opportunity for their children to be active in an environment with staff trained to work with them.

These programs are called “Adaptive Recreation” and include sports, arts and crafts and activity nights.

“Cerritos does it share and recognizes this very important sector of our community,” said Sherre Titus, Superintendent of the Cerritos Parks and Recreation Department.

As more children are diagnosed with autism every year, Sawires said spreading awareness about the condition has never been more important.

“It is important for the parents of the other children in class to be educated about autism so they know how to handle the situation and learn how to be sensitive to it,” she said.