autism awareness

LINDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NJ -- At Linden Public Schools, we believe that neurodiversity is a strength, and every student deserves to be recognized, supported, and celebrated for who they are. This April, during Autism Acceptance Month, we go beyond awarenessโ€”we ignite understanding, inclusion, and empowerment.

On April 3, ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐š๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐Ÿ๐Ÿ, ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐‹๐ข๐ฌ๐š ๐Ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง, ๐ƒ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ ๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ๐ž๐ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐Šโ€“๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐‹๐ข๐ง๐๐ž๐ง, kicked off the month with a heartfelt moment of awareness and advocacy. Lisaโ€™s powerful story reminds us that acceptance is more than a messageโ€”itโ€™s a mission.

And the creativity bloomed at School No. 6, where our incredible 5th graders teamed up with Mrs. Zeiglerโ€™s kindergarten class for a tie-dye celebration! Each swirl of color in their shirts represents unity, love, and the vibrant spectrum of autism.

๐—”๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด. Throughout April, schools across the district will continue highlighting Autism Acceptance Month with creative activities, inspiring lessons, and meaningful conversations that help students understand and embrace the many ways we are all unique.

๐€๐ง๐ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฎ๐๐จ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐ง๐๐ž๐ง ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž, ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐š๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐๐ฏ๐จ๐œ๐š๐œ๐ฒ. ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐š ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ž ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐–๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ. ๐–๐ž ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ. ๐–๐ž ๐œ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ.

Autism Acceptance Month begins with World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, a United Nations-sanctioned event that calls on us to see the full humanity, potential, and dignity of every individual on the autism spectrum.

As we evolve past outdated symbols, we embrace the rainbow infinityโ€”a powerful emblem of the limitless diversity and strength within the autistic community.

As Superintendent Dr. Atiya Y. Perkins observed, "At Linden Public Schools, we donโ€™t just acknowledge differencesโ€”we celebrate them. Autism Acceptance Month is a reminder that every child brings infinite value, potential, and light to our schools. Together, we are building a community where all students feel seen, supported, and empowered to thrive."

Letโ€™s continue to light it up with love, awareness, and action and build a world where infinite possibilities are the norm, not the exception.