Southern Minnesota Autism Coalition

Welcome to our new home, southernminnesotaautismcoalition.org, your new resource for autism spectrum disorders in Region 9 of Southern MInnesota. Take a look around and be sure to register for WalkDo II.

The Southern Minnesota Autism Coalition formed in the spring of 2009 as a way to promote education, understanding, support and acceptance for those with Autism, their families and those who work with them. SMAC hosts an annual WALKdo for Autism Awareness in early October, but Coalition members hope to draw attention to Autism and its issues in the nine-county region every day of the year.

In Region Nine, there are 498 school children on the Autism Spectrum (based on end-of-year figures for 2008). In the Mankato Area Public Schools alone, there are 155 students with that educational diagnosis – and the numbers continue to grow. Now, those school children are not the only individuals in the region with Autism – they are simply the ones that are easily counted.

It was those rapidly growing numbers that prompted a group of parents, educators and Autism coordinators from the region to plan the inaugural WALKdo in October 2008. After more than 350 walkers turned out and nearly $12,000 was raised to fund a visit to Mankato by social thinking guru Michelle Garcia Winner, organizers were buoyed and decided to create the non-profit Coalition for ongoing awareness activities.