L ife styles EDITOR ERIN BOE Sesame Street’s Julia teaches kids about autism Sesame Street muppets Abby, (left) and Elmo, (right) play with Julia (centre), who has autism. SESAME WORKSHOP oy submitted photo : 5 CELEBS with ASD HM Dan Aykroyd, actor HE Susan Boyle, singer and Britain's Got Talent finalist By SCOTT DRAKE HZ Tim Burton, film director hile educational tools, such as books and websites, that help raise awareness about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children are becoming an in- creasingly prevalent. Adults living with ASD often suffer as a result of the lack of adult-specific mechanisms. ASD, a neuro-developmental disor- der that causes impaired social interac- tion skills, affects one in 68 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention. While the Canadian govern- ment is without national stats, Canadi- an organizations such as the Autism HE James Durbin, finalist on the 10th season of American Idol HE sTemple Grandin, food animal han- dling systems designer and author Sources: babble.com, huffingtonpost.com Society of British Columbia (ASBC) currently use the same statistic as the United States. Recently, the iconic children’s televi- sion show, Sesame Street introduced Julia, a muppet with autism, to raise public awareness and prevent discrimi- nation in children with ASD. Julia’s character has received praise from ASD organizations. “Anything like the Sesame Street ini- tiative that builds broader community awareness, is a welcomed initiative,” Deborah Pugh, executive director of Autism Community Training said. Awareness is on the rise, according to Richard Stock, applied behaviour analysis - autism program coordinator at Capilano University. He points to movies like Snow Flake, in which Sigourney Weaver plays an individual with ASD, and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory to show that re- cent years have brought increased awareness. However, Stock thinks that this awareness could be broadened even further, especially in the areas of public education and employment. For instance, adults with ASD would have difficulties obtaining and retain- ing employment. They may have areas of deficit such as poorly developed so- cial skills, in addition to employers not being well informed about ASD. “The fact is, many people with ASD THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 2015 5 2015 Sesame Works can do ‘real work for real pay’ and be tax payers,” Stock said. “They just need the supports to find jobs they en- joy, are good at, and support to get started. Employers need to be educated to see the value in employing people with ASD and understand it can be good for their bottom line ... not just as a form of charity.” Stella Hui, a resource analyst for the ASBC, agrees. She says the ASBC of- ten takes calls from employers trying to find out what types of accommoda- tions are possible. Ultimately, she would like to see funded adult pro- grams “for employers, so they are able to employ with support, which includes training and coaching.” Karate black belt promoted to Crowdsourcing trend trims charities’ costs Movember, first to use the trend, laid foundation for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge By SEAN LEE ing that gives organizations a way to spread their message further and quicker with little overhead cost. Crowdsourcing fundraisers use the Internet and social media rather than events to generate funds. The Movember Foundation, a chari- ty movement that raises awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health, has been using this fundraising model since 2008. Movember takes place over the en- tire month of November. Men, called “Mo Bros”, are encouraged to grow out their moustaches throughout the month for pledges. This method of fundraising allows the organization to cut operation and administrative costs compared to tradi- tional, event-based fundraisers such as the CIBC Run for the Cure for breast cancer. Last year, the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser went vi- ral using the crowdsourcing method. Due to its wide success and exposure for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), it has been established now as an annual event. It raised $115 million dollars last summer for the rare dis- Te a growing trend of fundrais- ease. Tyler Small, a representative from the Movember Foundation Canada, said social media is one of crowdsourc- ing’s advantages. “Movember is a technological digital campaign,” Small said. “We don’t spend money on advertising and any- thing we do is usually donated. So the biggest part is that everything is run through movember.com, and that is the biggest way we keep the costs low.” Last year, the Movember Foundation Canada raised $105.1 million, with 17.4 per cent allocated to administrative costs and future fundraisers. Comparatively, the 2015 audited fi- nancial statement for CIBC Run for the Cure showed that out of approximately $42.9 million, about 46 per cent went to- ward operations and administrative costs. Small said lowering costs isn’t the only advantage to using social media to crowdsource for fundraisers. “It starts conversations,” said Small. “For the whole month it is [raising awareness] about our goal, which is for men to live healthier and happier lives. We also see a higher level of engage- ment because people can really own their campaign. When you sign up you can really do what you want with the campaign, and have it be whatever you want it to be.” A representative from CIBC Run for the Cure couldn’t be reached for com- ment. kendo president after 1 year in club Langara Kendo Club president Brandon Vernon had previous martial arts experience before joining the club last fall By JULIA WICKHAM the beginner’s level before becom- ing the president of the Langara Kendo Club despite his black belt in karate. The 19-year-old presi- dent of the Langara Ken- do Club began practising karate at the age of five. He practised for 10 years before he decided to give kendo a try when he be- gan studying at Langara College in the fall of last year. Vernon said that even though he has a background in martial arts, he still had to learn kendo from the basics, but became president in only a year. “T had to learn it from scratch just like my fellow classmates have,” he said. “But I did carry over my spirit of sparring and self control.” In his role as president, Vernon is in charge of recruiting new members, or- ganizing events for the club to partici- pate in, and keeping students up to date with all kendo-related news. Vernon’s kendo teammate, Wendy Chiu, who is new to the club this year, said that Vernon is dedicated and is al- ways doing his best to ensure that practice runs smoothly. “He’s helpful and takes care of the Biv: Vernon had to start from beginners when they need help,” she said. The Langara Kendo Club took part in the British Columbia Kendo Federa- tion (BCKF)’s Mudansha Taikai (kendo tournament) at SFU on Oct. 24. They participated under the umbrella of UBC’s kendo club be- 66 cause the Langara We did Kendo Club isn’t offi- pretty cially affiliated with BCKF. good con- “We did pret- sidering ty good consid- ering most of most of the people the people from Langara have only fi rom been Langara have only been do- . . ing it for doing it for about two about two years,” Vernon said. “We years thought we BRANDON did pretty VERNON well for new- LANGARA KENDO bies. CLUB PRESIDENT JULIA WICKHAM photo Langara Kendo Club president Brandon Vernon during kendo practice on Nov. 3. He has previ- ous martial arts experience from practising karate for over two years.