DANVERS — The Autism Support Center at Northeast Arc celebrates 30 years this month — an appropriate time, as April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
“It’s been here 30 years and it continues to provide support and services that change and grow with the needs of families and the types of support that they may need,” said Nancy Lucier, program director at the center.
The Autism Support Center provides free information, resources and referrals to families and individuals with autism, as well as activities and support groups. It serves more than 3,000 families in 68 communities across northeast Massachusetts.
According to the center when it opened in 1991, one in 10,000 children was diagnosed with autism; in 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that approximately 1 in 54 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
Lucier herself found the organization when her son, Armand, was diagnosed with autism at 2-and-a-half years old. Along with accessing the resources they provided, she became an advocate, joining the center’s Parent Advisory Board and running a support group in Newburyport. She joined the Arc in an official capacity around seven years ago, and took on her current role five years later.
“We don’t only want to give (parents) information,” she said. “We want them to make a connection with us. The child changes as they get older, the needs change, and we like them to stay connected so they know they have us as a lifeline.”
While the Autism Support Center’s programming has all been over Zoom during the pandemic, Lucier said she was looking forward to being able to offer in-person activities again. She said that one of her favorite offerings in normal circumstances has been social activities like movie events, when the center will rent out a movie theater for families to attend with their children with autism.
She said that these events were incredibly helpful to her when her son was younger.
“I found out they offered movies where I could bring my child into a movie theater with other parents with kids with autism, and if my child couldn’t sit in a seat or was running around making noise that was okay,” she said. “It makes you feel like you’re part of a community. You’re not alone.”
That acceptance is part of the Autism Support Center’s mission. The center says that it prefers to refer to April as Autism Acceptance Month.
“We are way past awareness of this disorder,” said Gloria Ricardi Castillo, director of the center. “With the prevalence of autism today we need to be focused on acceptance.”
