NORMAN, Oklahoma -
A lot of kids will
be home for spring break next week. And one metro girl will be spending hers a
little differently.
She's working on a
big project to raise awareness for autism. The project is called "Show
Your Colours for Autism." The goal is to show support for those with
autism and to raise funding for local special education services.
It's something
8th-grader Cassidy Gaddie is passionate about, and she's using her creativity
to spread her cause. When you first meet Cassidy, you'll find she's a creative
13 year old, a little soft-spoken, with a message that's loud and clear.
"Show Your
Colours for Autism" is a project she started a few months ago to raise
awareness about the disorder. Some of her close friends have autism, and she
saw they were getting picked on at school.
"They're just the
same as you and me, except they just have a function that makes them behave
differently or socialize differently," Gaddie said.
So she decided to
do something about it. She's tie-dying T-shirts to sell with proceeds going
toward autism support groups and the special educations classrooms at her
school in Norman.
"I'll do homework
or something, and then we'll go tie-dye T-shirts, get as many as we can done,
then take a break," Gaddie said.
So far, she's sold
about 200 shirts, each one a little different.
"Once I started
thinking about it more, I realized how much more symbolic it is of everything,
and that just kind of tied it all together," Gaddie says. "To be able to see
that transformation and better understanding, it kind of just brings a smile to
your face."
Autism and autism
spectrum disorders affect about 1 in every 90 children in the United States. Cassidy's
hoping to sell her T-shirts in time for National Autism Awareness Day on April
2n
Cassidy's family
has set up a website to help sell her t-shirts at www.showyourcoloursforautism.org
Cassidy Gaddie, 13, is working on a big project to raise awareness for autism.
