One in fifty kids will be diagnosed with autism at some point in their lives. One in eighty eight kids in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism. The month of April is devoted to raising awareness of autism.

“Autism Awareness Month is just a month set aside where we let the community know about autism,” said occupational therapist Katrina Bowmar.

People wear the unique puzzle piece pins and put bumper stickers on their cars, and wear to show support of autism awareness month.

Bowmar thinks that if the awareness spreads then treatment might improve.

“If we let people know, we can improve the research, get more people involved in research; and that’s what we need to do so that we can find better treatments and maybe a cure someday,” said Bowmar.

Although autism is a common disorder, many people are still unsure of what it is and what the symptoms are.

“Autism is a complex brain disorder in brain development. It is characterized by poor social interaction, nonverbal and verbal communications difficulties, repetitive behaviors, motor coordination difficulties, attention sensory processing problems, and sometimes physical health issues like sleep problems and gastric intestinal difficulties,” said Bowmar.

Each person is different and therefore will have a different level of autism, from the most  severest to the most minor cases.

One type of autism is less severe than other cases.

“Aspergers used to be called high-functioning autism. There is a difference in the diagnostic criterion, but a lot of times they have a higher language ability than your autistic population does,” said Bowmar.

By letting more people aware of what autism is we can research more ways to help those diagnosed with autism and get closer to finding a cure. Be sure to show your support by wearing blue in April.