Earlier this year, OAR laid out a set of ambitious goals to continue engaging community members in celebration of April’s Autism Acceptance Month. OAR staff worked with teachers, parents, clinicians, autistic individuals, employers, and researchers to support their local initiatives and increase autism acceptance. This recap describes what was accomplished in partnership with community supporters like you.
OAR’s informational resources include guidebooks, manuals, and lessons on how to help autistic individuals thrive as active members of their communities. These resources are provided at little to no cost to autistic individuals, families, schools, nonprofit organizations, and police and fire stations. OAR’s goal was to distribute 40,000 informational resources to autism community members by the end of April.
Results: Between January and April, OAR distributed over 55,500 resources through the online store and digital downloads. OAR’s resources are available at any time for anyone who can benefit from their information and guidance.
Since 2014, more than 184,000 students have learned about autism through the Kit for Kids program. With this goal, OAR hoped to expand that number to an additional 15,000 students, using the Kit for Kids and Autism Tuned In peer education programs to teach them how to understand autism and learn to be good friends with their autistic classmates.
Results: Between January and April, OAR surpassed its goal by reaching 29,430 students, bringing the total number of students impacted by Kit for Kids to over 213,000.
Since 2017, Hire Autism has directly supported over 700 job seekers, welcomed over 270 employer partners, and trained over 100 volunteers. This year, Hire Autism set a goal to register 1,000 new job seekers, support 240 job seekers through the Navigator Program, train over 40 volunteers, and welcome 80 new employer partners.
Results: From January to May of 2023, Hire Autism registered 271 new job seekers, supported 101 job seekers through the Navigator Program, trained 14 volunteers, and welcomed 32 new employer partners.
OAR’s signature fundraising program, RUN FOR AUTISM, raises funds to support applied autism research that aims to help autistic individuals and their families improve their quality of life. During the month of April, the RUN FOR AUTISM program set a goal to raise $80,000 and engage up to 500 runners dedicating their 2023 miles to autism research.
Results: RUN FOR AUTISM surpassed its goal by raising $82,862.95 and engaging a total of 779 athletes during the month of April. The funds raised will go towards OAR’s mission to apply research to the challenges of autism.
The successes OAR experienced through the Autism Acceptance Month Campaign reveal the strength of the autism community and the dedication of OAR’s supporters. OAR once again thanks our fantastic community for all the work you do to increase autism acceptance year-round!
If you are looking to stay involved in any of the above initiatives, contact info@researchautism.org. If you like what OAR does, share your feedback on the GreatNonprofits website.
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