TRAVERSE CITY -- A Grand Traverse woman led a walk in Traverse City Saturday afternoon to promote Autism Awareness Month. Michelle St. Amant and several other advocates walked the streets Saturday spreading the word on Autism.
St. Amant organized the event in honor of her son Andre who had Autism and died in 2004.
According to the Autism Speaks Organization an estimated 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. and tens of millions worldwide are affected by Autism.
This month St. Amant hopes to educate as many people as possible on the disorder.
Michelle St. Amant says, "People really need to learn about Autism, it was just a couple years ago, one and every 150 children were born with Autism, now it's one and every 100 we really need to start learning about Autism so these people can be incorporated into society and accepted."
St. Amant is also the creator of Andre's Place which is an art program for people with physical, emotional and cognitive challenges.
