Metro raises autism awareness with special station announcements

Metro is raising autism awareness with a special series of station announcements made by children and young adults with an autism diagnosis.

WASHINGTON - Metro is raising autism awareness with a special series of station announcements made by children and young adults with an autism diagnosis.

The announcements will be heard throughout the transit system in the month of April as part of Autism Acceptance Month and the Autism Transit Project.

Metro joins transit systems in the San Francisco, Atlanta, New Jersey and New York areas who also participate in the project.

"Metro is proud to support the Autism Transit Project and appreciates the young transit enthusiasts for using their voices and unique gifts to spread awareness about autism to our Metro customers," said Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke in a statement.

"Metro holds a special place in the hearts of many local autistic children. For some of these kids who gravitate towards the subway system, the first full sentence they may utter is a service announcement they hear on platform loudspeakers," said Jonathan Trichter, creator/founder of the Autism Transit Project. "Frontline workers experience this special relationship every day. This is an opportunity for Metro to celebrate that and raise awareness around individuals who are different but similar…and no less. I hope that next year for Autism Awareness Month transit systems across the world hear about this project and do something like it in their cities."

Here's a full list of participants that customers will hear at stations throughout the region:

Christopher, 13

Victor, 23

Jackson, 25

James

Seth, 11

Ezra, 5

Calvin, 6

Sara, 24

Jasper, 17

Elias, 7

Jude, 10

Nadim, 21

Alexander, 8

Owen, 22

Owen, 19

Taylor, 20

Sammy, 18

Benjamin, 16

Michael, 13

Max, 4

Alex, 28

Aubrey, 15

Hannah, 3

Kaylani, 27

Hector, 26

Eli, 9

A special event will be held on April 20.

A new report released by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday shows autism is on the rise and rates are increasing quickly for minorities.

The new findings show in 2020, 1 out of every 36 children in the U.S. was diagnosed with autism.