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Our friends the Dennis family were recently featured in the Welland edition of Niagara This Week, in an article about World Autism Awareness day.

Here's the story and photo, as featured in Niagara This Week, April 4th.

Raising the flag for autism awareness

Autism Ontario flags raised at City Halls across Niagara

by Lydia Versluis Niagara This Week - Welland

WELLAND — Special flags are being displayed at city halls across Niagara Region this week.

The flags, raised Monday during a series of ceremonies throughout the region, have a special purpose: to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following World Autism Awareness day.

Heather and Rodney Dennis were at Welland City Hall for the flag rising with their daughter Alina and three-year-old twin girls, Kayla and Maia, who are in the process of being diagnosed with autism. They also have a son who is also on the spectrum.

Typically, no two cases of autism are the same.

“I don’t know what I’m going to wake up to everyday,” said Heather. “I just hope for a good day.”

World Autism Awareness Day fell on a Sunday this year, so some activities were moved to Monday. This year in the Niagara region alone, 100 flags flew in support of individuals with autism at municipal offices, schools, community partners and more.

Last March, the Ontario government announced that key autism therapy, intensive behavioural intervention, which is designed to change or improve behaviour, was to be cut off for children over the age of five. The decision was overturned by June last year after receiving little support, helping parents with support services.

“They’ve overturned that decision, so the kids can go up to whatever age. I think it’s 18 and depends on their needs,” says Angela Roy, who is a mother of a teenager with autism.

Autism is a lifelong neurological disorder that affects tens of millions of individuals around the world. In Ontario, there is a wait of two to three years to get fully diagnosed on the spectrum and it is estimated that 100,000 Ontarians are diagnosed with ASD, making up almost one per cent of the population.

There are many support groups in the region are designed to help parents with any questions or concerns they may have.

“They actually chat about different things — they will often have a facilitator who will talk about different agencies that are connected and explain where you could go with your kids,” Roy said.

The Niagara Region Chapter for Autism Ontario hosts a number of annual fundraising events to support the programs and services offered in the area. To find out more information about what they do, visit autismontario.com/client/aso/ao.nsf/Niagara/niagarahome.

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