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Tulsa Becomes an Autism-Friendly City

Matt Trotter
/
KWGS

Tulsa families introduced an initiative today to make Tulsa an autism-friendly city.

Michelle Wilkerson and Jennifer Miller founded the organization Autism Friendly Locations. Miller says their distinctive "I’m A-OK" logo will help identify families with autistic children.

"People are going to give children labels anyway. We want to give them the correct label, and that's where the 'I'm A-OK' came into play," Miller said. "We needed some kind of identification to label children with autism since they have an invisible disability."

Caregivers can find autism-friendly businesses and products with the logo at the Autism Friendly Locations website

City Councilor Phil Lakin said families will benefit from increased awareness.

"We're all too quick to judge others," Lakin said at a news conference at city hall. "Now we have a bit of a reminder that maybe before we judge, we can recognize the special circumstances and help rather than hinder the parent or the caregiver, and also the actual person as well."

Area first responders like EMSA and Tulsa Police are also participating in the program.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.