Autism Awareness Event

Autism Awareness Event 

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

5pm-6pm

Needham Chapel

April is World Autism Month

This event took place during the World Autism Month which encourages people from all the world to participate in conversations to increase global understanding and acceptance of individuals with autism.  This event is in partnership with Vanguard University’s Department of Sociology, Department of History and Political Science, Department of Nursing and Vanguard Public Health Club. We also had a booth in the back from the Disability Rights California Program. We had over 65 people in attendance.

Professor Isaac Voss led the welcoming remarks and prayer.

Professor Katherine Tong led the autism testimonial time where faculty and students shared their experiences with family/friends who have autism.

Student #1 name: Nathan Plando.

Student #2 name: Bethany Camacho.

Student #3: Celeste Romero.

Panelists:

Asher Russ (History and Political Science student) introduce the first panelist: Matthew Kenslow.

Matthew Kenslow

Matthew Kenslow has grown up with a form of autism that was once referred to as Asperger’s syndrome.  His mission is to teach others from a firsthand perspective about how people with autism interpret things differently from the rest of the world. He is the author to the book Juggling the Issues: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome which has been featured in Newsweek, Spectrum News, ABC7 Los Angeles, Insider, Digital Journal, and many more.  He later became a social media influencer, amassing over 80,000 subscribers on YouTube and 1,000,000 followers on Instagram. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Vanguard University of Southern California. Currently, he is going for a Master of Arts degree in Education at Vanguard University and aspires to be a middle school math teacher.

Kate Kurimay (student from American Democracy) introduced our 2nd panelist: Dr. Carl Renold (Professor of Psychology at Vanguard).

Professor Carl Renold

Carl Renold is a professor of psychology. He received a B.A. in political science from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in government from The Claremont Graduate University, an M.A. from Pepperdine University in Clinical Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Gerontology from the University of Southern California’s Andrus Gerontology Center. Dr. Renold has several years of experience working for the Orange County Health Care Agency as an Administrative Manager. He is also a licensed marriage and family therapist.  

Professor Eunice Kang (from the Department of History and Political Science) led the Q and A time.

Raffle prizes were given to students, led by Public Health Club. 

Closing prayer was given by Professor Carl Renold.