Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Parents, physicians and other caregivers of individuals with autism jammed a presentation hall in Brownsville June 12 to hear experts provide information about the disorder in a conference co-sponsored by the Center for Housing and Urban Development at Texas A&M.
“We were hoping for 100 participants,” said Oscar Muñoz, deputy director of CHUD, part of the university’s College of Architecture, “but we had a turnout of 400.”
The conference, “Autism: Information, Alternatives and Treatment,” took place at the International Technology, Education and Commerce Center of the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
CHUD, the Mexican consulate in Brownsville, and El Nuevo Heraldo, Brownsville’s Spanish language newspaper, sponsored the conference, which was presented in Spanish.
Gabriela Robinson, a health outreach specialist at Texas A&M, told the El Nuevo Herald the conference was designed to help people with autism and their family members, who often feel alone because they lack information about the disease.
"This is not like diabetes. There are centers for diabetes specialized in providing orientation classes and with autism this has not yet been developed," Robinson said.
Those at the center and watching a live feed of the conference online heard Emily Iland, a nationally renowned autism specialist and author, Leticia Trejo, the first therapist in the Rio Grande Valley to use applied behavioral analysis in treating autism, and other experts.
CHUD and the consulate’s efforts in the conference were part of their joint Windows to Health program, which provides health and social service information to Hispanic residents in the Brownsville area.
- Posted: June 17, 2009 -
