By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Mayor Al Arreola has issued a proclamation designating April as “Autism Awareness Month.”
Arreola issued the proclamation during the city council’s March 28 meeting.
The mayor urged Del Rioans to replace an outside light on their homes with a blue bulb for the month and to wear the color blue, representing autism awareness, as often as possible during the month.
“This is very close to me, because I do have a special-needs brother, and I’m going to advocate as much as I can from here,” Arreola told the council and audience members.
He then read the following proclamation:
“Whereas, World Autism Awareness Day has been observed since April 2, 2008, when the United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared it as the official day to promote improvements to the quality of life for people with autism and their right to lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society; and whereas, this year’s observance focuses on the contribution of autistic people at home, at work, in the arts and in policymaking, moving away from the narrative of curing autistic people and instead focusing on accepting, supporting and including autistic people and advocating for their rights, and
“Whereas, the prevalence of autism in the United States has risen to one in 50 children in 2022, and therefore the need to increase autism awareness among society and encourage the necessary education and training programs to support students with autism, and whereas, the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District prepared an event in collaboration with the Consulate of Mexico and received a proclamation from the city of Del Rio to increase autism awareness in the region as part of their commitment to provide quality services for students with special needs and disabilities, and
“Whereas, the Consulate of Mexico in Del Rio promotes the Autism Speaks campaign ‘Light It Up Blue,’ which consists in illuminating in blue buildings around the world to increase autism awareness, and whereas, our sister city, Ciudad Acuña, has agreed
to illuminate in blue buildings and monuments during the month of April, and the city of Del Rio will do the same, and
“Whereas, the city of Del Rio recognizes the need to promote autism awareness, education and training programs to support students with special needs, including autism. Now, therefore, I, Alvaro Arreola, as mayor of the city of Del Rio, Texas, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2023 as ‘Autism Awareness Month,’ and I call upon the citizens of the city of Del Rio to illuminate buildings in blue during the month of April,” Arreola read.
Arreola presented the proclamation to Paloma Villaseñor, Mexico consul in Del Rio. He was joined in making the presentation by City Community Services Director Esme Meza, Michael Garcia, grants writer and assistant to the city manager; and City Communications and Marketing Director Anita Pruneda Mariner.
After the presentation, Villaseñor told the council and audience, “I just want to thank Mayor Arreola and all of you for being with us in this cause of autism awareness. I am a mother of a child with autism; well, he’s not a child, he’s a man of 21 years old, and wherever I go, I bring the cause with me, because we have a lot of families in the world and we have a lot of families here in Del Rio.
“I know and I have friends, a lot of friends, who have sons, nephews, siblings, students with this. I think we must work to help these families. They need comprehension and to discover as early as possible that the child has this condition. They need therapies, and they need to be accepted in the schools. They need special education and later, they need work at the level that they can work, and, after that, they need places and things where they can have fun.
“So I encourage you to be with us in this campaign, dress in blue and light up your homes and offices in blue and help these families with autism. This year we will work very closely with the school district, the high school, to do a campaign to avoid bullying these kids, and try to avoid criticizing, for instance, a mother trying to control her son in the supermarket,” Villaseñor said.
After Villaseñor completed her remarks, Mayor Pro-tem Steve Webb said the community is blessed because the local public school district has a dedicated program for special needs students.
“They even have a new facility, as a matter of fact, so our school district is very influential in trying to do the right thing for these kids, seeing that they get an education, seeing that people help them and their families, so I want to thank Dr. (Carlos) Rios and the school board and everybody for supporting this program, because it does take a lot of people,” Webb said.
Arreola again thanked Villaseñor for her diligent work in the area of autism awareness.
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