Iconic landmarks turn blue for autism

The Sydney Opera House has become one of hundreds of iconic buildings around the world turning blue in support of World Autism Awareness Day.

The UN-sanctioned campaign has seen global landmarks lit up, including the Empire State Building, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, and Cape Town's Table Mountain.

One in 100 Australians are thought to be on the Autism spectrum and organisers of the campaign hope greater awareness will reduce the myths, stereotypes and stigma associated with the developmental disorder.

But today's event almost didnt happen.

Elizabeth Sarian, from the education and advocacy organisation Autism Awareness Australia, told SBS that NSW state Premier Barry O'Farrell knocked back the funding request for the required $40,000.

The campaign was forced to turn to donations to get the lights switched on. Happily, this have given even greater exposure to the cause.

“Everyone is quite disappointed in his decision and they really have rallied right behind us to make sure the Opera House is shining blue tonight. We've picked up quite a bit more interest in the story from that," Ms Sarian said.

Autism is a neurobiological disorder, part of a group of a disorders known as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Around one per cent of the population is diagnosed with ASD, which can cause problems with social and communication skills.

NOT EVERYONE IS RAIN MAN

There are many misconceptions about how the disorder presents itself.

“Everyone has that idea of Rain Man or somebody that can read the yellow pages backwards, but it really is such a broad spectrum,” Ms Sarian said.

“There certainly are very high functioning and extremely intelligent individuals with very high IQs on the autism spectrum, but there are also quite a number of challenges that come with that, and not everybody has that IQ.”

A child diagnosed with autism needs 20 hours of autism-specific, early-intervention therapy for a “successful outcome”.

This time-consuming and expensive commitment is only partly funded by government support, - just one to two hours a week, and only until the child is seven - putting emotional and financial strain on families.

“Autism is a life-long disability, it doesn't just disappear all of a sudden because you turn seven. So it really is left up to the families who have the socio-economic background or the resources to be able to fund that therapy themselves," says Ms Sarian.

It's not yet known how much of an impact the National Disability Insurance Scheme will have, but it's been suggested ASD will be covered in some capacity.

DIAGNOSIS GAVE AN EXPLANATION

Author Jo Case's son was diagnosed at age seven, after tests were carried out through his school.

"We were actually testing him to see if he was gifted," she laughed.

"And the test came back and said that he had differing [results], he was very advanced in some areas but was also quite behind in others, like social comprehension, and she said, 'He's not actually gifted, we'll talk to you about it later but he has big challenges,' and I said 'He's not autistic or anything, is he?' and she said, 'Actually yes, he's on the autistic spectrum."

Ms Case threw herself into research on the subject, discovering she and her father were also very likely on the spectrum.

She says getting the diagnosis was a road map for her family.

"He was having issues in the playground with social interaction and also having a lot of trouble with competitive sport and managing his emotions, so for us, getting the diagnosis gave us an explanation of why he was facing some of the challenges he was and how we could address them."

'NOT A WALKING SET OF SYMPTOMS'

Ms Case hopes today's events will help change people's perceptions.

"I think people, they see people with Asperger's or autism as a set of symptoms rather than as people, and there are lots of different ways to be Asperger's or autistic," she says.

There's a saying that if you've met one person on the spectrum, you've met one person on the spectrum.

"I think one of the good things about Autism Awareness Day and one of the things I wanted to do with my book was to present people with Asperger's or autism as people rather than a walking set of symptoms, and to show a bit of that variety of different ways to be Asperger's. "

For parents whose child is newly diagnosed, Ms Case has this advice. "It gets better."

"I think when you first hear that your child might be on the spectrum... you kind of start to go down this slide... and the moment when you actually have that diagnosis confirmed is often really painful. I'd call that the bottom of the hole.

But from when you get the diagnosis onwards, it becomes all about finding solutions and positive things that you can do."

Often the behaviour of a child on the autism spectrum can create awkward situations.

Autism Awareness Australia's Ms Sarian says she hope greater awareness will help the general public be more understanding that there may be more behind "the child that's having the big tantrum in the middle of the café."

“Don't be judgemental to them, don't be judgemental to the parents either," she said.

“And If you do experience that with somebody in the classroom or if your child has somebody with autism in the classroom, treat them just like you would treat anybody else -- be really nice, and open minded and be kind, and you'll discover they'll just come out of their shells.”