Awareness

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: July 3, 2008

Recently, the Piedmont Autism Action Group and the Building Blocks Center for Children with Autism held a fundraiser at Averett University.

The event followed Averett University’s earlier announcement that it would open the Center for Excellence in Autism Education. This fall, the center will offer training for local teachers on how to interact with autistic children.

“With the diagnosed cases of autism on the rise in Virginia and nationally, both special education and general education teachers must be prepared to meet the educational requirements of autistic students,” Lynn Wolf, chairwoman of Averett’s education program and an associate professor of education, said in a news release.

Autism has received a lot of attention recently because of a steep increase in the number of cases. It is a neurobiological disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others.

People may have heard about autism, but the brave families that are willing to speak out are teaching the rest of us an important lesson.

That’s certainly true of Amie Scearce, who lost her husband Chad this year to cystic fibrosis and now wants more local people to understand the disease.

“He explained that it was like trying to breathe through a little bitty straw, like the coffee stirrers,” she said. “He fought it until he retired in October. He fought it until he could not take it anymore.”

Chad Scearce died two weeks after a double-lung transplant. He was 31.

“I would like to see Danville and Pittsylvania County … do walks and just something to get people to understand that this is for real, this is deadly and it really happens,” Amie Scearce said. “I mean, babies are born every day with it.”

Hampton Wilkins, an Averett graduate and businessman who now serves on the university’s board of trustees, donated $10,000 to start the Center for Excellence in Autism Education. His interest was more than simply academic; Wilkins’ 4-year-old grandson, Davis Hampton Shelton, has autism. The center has the potential to help not only his grandson, but so many other children trapped in the shell that is autism.

Scearce’s willingness to educate people about cystic fibrosis and Wilkins’ advocacy on behalf of his grandson and other children like him are part of a larger trend.

Patient advocacy and public education have brought problems out of the shadows and introduced local families to a large network of support and resources as they struggle to help their loved ones.