Northwestern’s Autism Speaks U chapter, a student group hoping to raise awareness for the disorder, held its opening meeting Tuesday.
Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization, was founded in 2005 and designed Autism Speaks U for college students in 2008. Sophomore Anjli Lodhavia began the Northwestern chapter after working at a special needs camp in upstate New York for children and adults with developmental disorders.
“I came back to Northwestern wanting to still be involved,” she said. “I thought that we had something more prevalent to autism on campus, but we didn’t.”
After reaching out to other students interested in leading the creation of the new chapter, Lodhavia met Molly Losh, assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, who agreed to become the chapter’s faculty adviser.
Lodhavia says she wants to eliminate misconceptions people have about autism, such as the fact that autism is not a disease, but a genetic disorder. At every meeting, Lodhavia hopes to increase awareness and aid for autism research.
“I realize that people don’t know or don’t have an understanding of the special needs population,” she said. “I think creating a group on campus where students will learn what autism is and how people with autism behave, then they will be a little more understanding and a little more open to those kinds of people.”
Though over a hundred students planned to attend the Facebook event, Lodhavia says the establishment of the chapter will most likely still be difficult.
“I’m trying to have no expectations at all, because if I have expectations, I feel like I will be disappointed,” she said. “This is an idea that’s been in my head for four months now and it’s finally coming alive. I’m nervous to see how it turns out.”