The education of today: Stevenson juniors expand autism awareness locally
A group of seven local high schoolers at Adlai E. Stevenson High School are proud to introduce the Lincolnshire Autism Awareness Project, founded in July of 2023, an impactful program aimed at addressing the lack of education regarding neurodivergence in modern society to make a positive difference in the support available to those that are neurodivergent.
This initiative sparked when current President and co-founder Garv Bakshe, 16, noticed the stigma and general misunderstanding surrounding what neurodivergence was around him, and how nothing was being done to make change about it at any educational level.
Bakshe laments the lack of knowledge in his local community: “There are countless people, regardless of location, that have some level of neurodivergence. Do their classmates at school understand how to support them? Do their families, their most important connections, have exposure in their education to know how?”
Bakshe concluded that the answer, tragically, has been no, seeing as “the understanding of neurodivergence isn’t something that’s regularly taught in our education system.”
It is the Lincolnshire Autism Awareness Project’s primary goal to help by educating the youth at elementary schools on what neurodivergence is, as well as how to be respectful of those that may be neurodivergent, an approach that co-founder Caleb Song, 17, optimistically refers to as the “future of inclusivity.”
Through strategic partnerships with elementary educational institutions, professionals who’ve been exposed to the content offered by LAAP have much positive insight to provide.
Kevin Locallo, assistant principal of Tripp Elementary School, described the experience of hosting LAAP this past December: “The presentation was fantastic! The presentation was put together in a way that was easy for students to understand, which helped with student engagement. Student body language and the amount of students who volunteered to answer questions made it clear that they were fully engaged. It was a great experience.”
Lincolnshire Autism Awareness Project has, to date, spoken to thousands of students locally on the topic of neurodivergence and the principles of being kind and accommodating towards their peers. Their goal is to nurture talent, make education on neurodivergence mainstream, and to empower the next generation of support for an incredible community.