THE head of an Albury specialist school thanked the community for its positive response to the weekend’s autism awareness activities.
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Aspect Riverina principal Jo Gillespie said a family bike ride and airport excursion both went well, helped by members of the public accepting and accommodating the groups involved.
“And that's what you're hoping for, that we are becoming more inclusive and understanding of the needs of a broader range of people,” she said.
About 30 riders took part in Saturday’s cycle between Hovell Tree Park and Wonga Wetlands, which grew out of Aspect’s bike riding program.
“The whole point of a lot of the things that we do is you can take that beyond school,” Mrs Gillespie said.
“It's just something that translates very nicely into your private life.”
About 40 families attended Sunday’s excursion at Albury Airport that created three mock flights to Sydney and Melbourne.
Participants followed the usual boarding process, listened to announcements, visited the cockpit, heard the fire alarm and completed a mock evacuation.
Mrs Gillespie said the event allowed the children to learn about the process in a calm setting.
“For many of our families, they may never ever even think about going on a plane because it's just too stressful,” she said.
“So many people, the different noises … those aspects of going on an aeroplane just elevate everyone's stress level. We don't do surprises very well.”
Autism is a developmental condition that affects how people relate to their environment.
Mrs Gillespie said girls with autism could be under-diagnosed because they presented differently to boys.
Girls could be quieter and their behaviour less obvious, which made the condition harder to identify.
“The research is newer than with the boys, so they're still identifying those indicators for girls,” she said. “We're coming to understand a lot more as time's going on.”
Border mother Johanne Marquis, who has four children with autism, said girls seemed to be able to disguise their condition at times.
Her daughter Taylor, 14, went through three diagnoses before autism was confirmed.
“Because she wasn't causing any disturbance and didn't want to be noticed, no one thought too much about it,” Ms Marquis said.
