AMESBURY — Laughter and joy filled City Hall on Wednesday as more than 70 people attended the city’s first Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day celebration.
World Autism Awareness Day is recognized annually across the world on April 2 during National Autism Acceptance Month.
The celebration, organized by the Special Education Parent Advisory Council with help from the city, began with children and their families enjoying crafts and ice cream.
“This is the first time that SEPAC or Amesbury in general has publicly recognized autism acceptance day,” council co-Chair Hillary Fraize said.
SEPAC member Andrea Egmont, the event’s main organizer, said it was a fun process.
“We put it out to a handful of people to see if anybody wanted to get involved. We had a few people, and my son and another child that were involved in planning it,” said Egmont, who leads Newburyport Recreation and Youth Services.
Her son Ollie Egmont, a fourth-grader at Cashman Elementary School, has autism. He spoke about why it was important to have the celebration.
“I feel like a lot of people are not treated the way they should be because of what they show on the outside, when it is what is inside that matters,” Ollie said.
Egmont said it was “huge” for she and her son to find a way to connect with the community.
“For him to see this many people come out, it is really meaningful,” she said.
The festivities paused as Mayor Kassandra Gove read a proclamation.
“We are committed to being a safe place for people who might otherwise be marginalized and misunderstood. Now, therefore, I Kassandra Gove, mayor of the city of Amesbury, do hereby proclaim April 2, 2025, to be Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day here in our city,” Gove said.
Following the proclamation, Officer Ryan Devaney spoke about the Police Department’s continuing involvement in the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. Part of that involvement includes selling $10 patches throughout April to raise money for the nonprofit organization.
Officers, with help from Ollie, recently redesigned the patches they normally sell.
“We used the infinity symbol in the carriage wheels,” Devaney said.
Ollie said he was “very excited” to play a role in the new design.
“I gave crucial feedback,” he added.
Devaney said they also changed the wording so that instead of “autism awareness,” the patches read “autism acceptance.”
“The big thing I really want to hammer home with this is that we want you guys and your families to feel safe in our community and feel included,” Devaney said.
A similar patch program was recently launched in Newburyport, with the city’s Police Department making the announcement Thursday. The department will also partner with the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.
Similar to Amesbury’s program, $10 patches will be sold to raise money for the organization.
The program is designed to allow community members to identify family members or other people with autism spectrum disorder who live, work or go to school in the community.
The program features an online form for individuals and family members to submit important contact and identifying information to be added to the department’s database. The information can be used by officers when responding to calls, locating missing people or responding to other emergencies.
The form is sent directly to the program’s coordinator, Officer Charles Ferlauto. Residents with questions about the program are encouraged to contact him at cferlauto@newburyportpolice.com.
“Newburyport police is committed to the safety of all residents and these new initiatives will help strengthen our relationship with our community through continued collaboration,” City Marshal Matthew Simons said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.