Autistic Youth Runs PEI Tip-to-Tip for Autism Acceptance and Education

[Guest guest]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: janet norman-bain

515

Crooked Creek Rd.

Oyster

Bed Bridge, PEI, C1E 1Z4

E_Mail:

jypsy@...

Website:

www.PlanetAutism.com/runman.html

iRunman Autistic Celebration Run

Autistic Youth Runs PEI Tip-to-Tip for Autism Acceptance and

Education

(Oyster Bed Bridge, PEI, May 28, 2006) On July 2nd, 2006, 18 year old

Bain will leave North Cape in a bid to be the first autistic to run

Prince Island tip to tip. Along the way, he hopes to raise $20/km

for his almost 300 kilometre trek that will end in East Point on July

15th. The funds will be used to bring internationally recognized expert

Dennis Debbaudt to PEI on September 27, 2006, for a series of 3

seminars about what happens and what should happen in encounters between

autistics, emergency first-responders and law-enforcement officers.

Almost every weekend, for most of the year, puts on this

trademark yellow t-shirt, heads to a charitable road race on the Island.

He runs not only for the charity benefiting from each race, but also for

autism. Not to raise money to find a “cure” or to “prevent” people like

himself from ever being born, the focus of most autism runs, but to raise

awareness and acceptance. His recognition as the PEI RoadRunners

2004 Palmer Rookie of the Year and 2005 Ewen

Inspirational Runner of the Year reflects both his running and advocacy

abilities.

Accompanying on her bike, and organizing Mr Debbaudt's PEI seminar,

is 's mother, janet norman-bain, known as " jypsy " to many

in the autistic community both locally and internationally through a

website she ran from 1995-2005, " Ooops...Wrong Planet!

Syndrome " at PlanetAutism.com. jypsy and another of her four

children are diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, an autistic spectrum

diagnosis. jypsy watched start grade 1 unable to speak and graduate

from Bluefield High School twelve years later with honours and prizes for

top marks in two of his classes. This July she'll be there to see him

fulfill his dream to be the first autistic to run PEI tip to tip and help

fundraise to make PEI a safer, more inclusive community for all autistic

people.

Studies show that autistic people are no more likely to break the law

than non-autistic people, but are 7 times more likely to come into

contact with law enforcement officers. Dennis Debbaudt, a professional

investigator, journalist and a member of the American Society for Law

Enforcement Training (ASLET), is the father of a 21-year-old autistic

son. He has educated law enforcement, criminal justice, and education

professionals, as well as first-responders, autistics, and parents

throughout Canada, the US, and the UK but has yet to present in the

Maritimes.

The response of autistic people to encounters with emergency first

responders may not always be socially expected or behaviourally typical.

Mr. Debbaudt will explain how autistic reactions in some situations, such

as running away, unsteadiness, apparently unpredictable or impulsive

behaviour, or failure to respond in the expected way, may be

misunderstood by first response professionals, resulting in serious

consequences. Mr. Debbaudt's law enforcement and first responder seminars

offer tips and options for communications and responses designed to

successfully resolve a call involving a person on the autistic spectrum,

while his seminar for autistics, parents, caregivers, school personnel

and other people, will address the many ways that parents can keep their

child secure and safe both in the home and in the community and how

autistics can increase their own safety and security. Everyone will come

away with a good, practical understanding of the best approaches to make

interactions with autistics more informed, safer and less stressful for

all involved.

Autism is a neurological difference classified as a developmental

disability. Autistic people have atypical behaviours in three areas:

social interaction, communication, and restricted interests or repetitive

behaviours. Autistics are different at the most basic level available:

how they experience the world, and how they learn from it. Autism

presents with measurable differences in perception, attention, memory,

intelligence, etc. The autistic order and progress of development is

different from the typical version as is autistic brain structure,

allocation, and function. Autism presents strengths not available to the

typical population, but the different pattern of strengths and weaknesses

characterizing autism results in many difficulties as atypical needs and

adaptive but atypical autistic behaviours are at odds with what is

considered or expected as " normal " .

The PEI Council of the Disabled is assisting PlanetAutism.com in this

fundraiser and will be handling the donations. Charitable donations can

be made to the " PEI Council of the Disabled " (Runman Fund) by

mail or at any Credit Union across PEI. Online donations can be made on

the Run's website,

www.PlanetAutism.com/runman

where much more information about the Run can be found including the

daily schedule and a blog where you can follow the Run day by day.

_30_

________________________________