ROCKINGHAM — While walking along the trail at Hinson Lake Monday afternoon, sisters Kimber Campbell and Hailee Bingham found a blue rock with multi-colored circles and the word “Autism” painted across it.
Kimber, who will be 12 on Thursday, is autistic and mostly nonverbal.
The rocks were laid down by Nicole Bowles and Ashley Arey a little earlier. They also placed rocks at the Hitchcock Creek Greenway and the walking trail at Richmond Community College.
Bowles said the original idea was to paint canvases but Arey — an exceptional children’s teacher at Washington Street School — was painting rocks with her neighbor over the weekend and the proverbial lightbulb went off to make some in honor of Autism Awareness Month and place them around the county.
The pair placed eight rocks at each location, some small, some larger, with a note reading: AUTISM AWARENESS,” encouraging finders to post a photo of the rocks with the hashtag #RCOgoesblueofAU.
“We’re not encouraging people to go out and find them, but if they happen to be out exercising or walking the dog, snap a picture,” Arey said, referring to Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which allows for getting out for exercise as long as individuals remain six feet apart.
“Take the rock home,” Bowles added, saying they don’t want walkers to touch them and run the risk of spreading the virus. “We want you to take it home and that way you can have that piece to remind you that it is April, it’s Autism Awareness Month … to have that constant reminder that it’s not just one month, it’s all the months.”
Late last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the results of a study on the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder among 8-year-olds, finding that the rate is now one in 54 children, down from the previous rate of one in 58.
The study also found that ASD was 4.3 times as prevalent among boys as among girls, according to the CDC.
North Carolina was one of the 11 states associated with the study.
Bowles spent seven years as a teacher with Sandhills Children’s Center, and had Kimber in her class years ago.
“When I started working at Sandhills, I was at the Southern Pines campus, not familiar with autism at all,” Bowles said. “So I asked for training and (my interest) just went from there.”
She said there were four autistic children in her class when she started teaching and later was a babysitter for a family with a child diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
After leaving Sandhills, Bowels worked with autistic students in the school system and is currently treasurer of the Richmond County Chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina.
The local chapter is led by the mother-daughter team of Marcia and Meghann Lambeth. The latter Lambeth, who also works as the county’s tourism director, has a son with autism.
The organization normally has monthly meetings that allow children to play and explore, and parents to unite in common experiences and share useful information, Meghann Lambeth said.
She added that the group has had informational sessions with regional autism advocates from the state chapter.
But the coronavirus pandemic has put a hold on activities, including the monthly meeting scheduled for April 17 and a spring parent night in collaboration with the Richmond County Schools Exceptional Children’s Department.
Members were also planning a shop-and-dine fundraiser with local businesses on April 21, but that too was stymied when the governor shuttered restaurants and all non-essential businesses.
Not to be deterred, Bowles said she has reached out to several businesses to ask them to display blue lights, which will be provided, in honor of Autism Awareness Month
As of Monday, she had cofirmation from Bold Moves Dance Company, RE/MAX Southern Realty and Brown Termite and Pest Control.
Contributed photo
