April is Autism Awareness Month

April has been proclaimed Autism Awareness Month by the ; and, a couple of students were on hand at Monday night’s meeting to commemorate the occasion.

They accepted a proclamation from Mayor Tony Fiore, did some posing and then shook hands with all of the committee members.

Middletown is home to the Ongoing Autistic Success in Society  (OASIS) Transitional Residential/Adult Independent Learning (TRAIL) center, a new transitional program for young adults on the autism spectrum.

OASIS TRAIL centers offer vocational and skill-building job training programs, in areas such as: gardening, farming, animal care, catering/food service and retail sales, according to its Web site.

Middletown’s OASIS center, off Sleepy Hollow Road, will be opening in September of 2012.

Residents of Middletown and neighboring towns, between the ages of 18 and 27, who are affected by autism spectrum disorders and are finished with high school, are eligible.

The program is a four-year vocational/independent living program also offers continued instruction in social skills and language comprehension and usage. It is conducted in a farm setting and hones in on agricultural, food and environmental education.

Three acres are also farmed by members of the program at the Stevenson tract, off West Front Street.