Sigma Phi Epsilon, in collaboration with CARES, hosted an autism awareness event April 17 to raise awareness about the condition and combat recent misinformation surrounding it.
Taylor McClanahan, licensed graduate social worker with CARES, was the speaker at the event and discussed several key aspects of autism, including addressing certain misconceptions, educating on treatment methods, how the autism spectrum functions and how to help spread awareness.
McClanahan said despite common belief, autism is not a boy disease, but rather occurs more commonly in boys while also attributing a lack of diagnosis in girls to the way in which girls are commonly taught to act, which helps them better mask symptoms.
“It’s a myth that autism is a boy disorder,” McClanahan said. “It is true that it occurs four times more in boys than girls. About 1 in 36 children in the U.S. have autism. I want to pause again because a statement made yesterday was that there’s an autism epidemic. There’s not an autism epidemic.”
