More than 50 Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach employees came out for  World Autism Awareness Day to kick-off the international “Light it up Blue” initiative on Tuesday, April 2.

Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, and its employees, made a statement on Tuesday by wearing blue to participate in the international “Light it up Blue” initiative for Autism Awareness Month.

More than 50 employees gathered for a photo in front of the Miller Children’s Pavilion to commit to spreading autism awareness. Employees also signed two large puzzle pieces to pledge their support in spreading Autism Awareness in Long Beach. The puzzle pieces will be displayed at the Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach.

Later tonight the exterior of the hospital will be lit up blue for the very first time. The hospital will be lit up blue for the entire month of April.

The event is one of the many ways that Miller Children’s is raising awareness during Autism Awareness Month. Other highlights of Miller Children’s “Light it up Blue” campaign in April include “lighting up” the Miller Children’s website and Facebook page blue in solidarity with other institutions around the world going blue.

Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum – a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Each April 2, organizations around the world “Light it up Blue,” in commemoration of the United Nations sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day. Light it up Blue is a unique global initiative that kicks-off Autism Awareness Month and helps raise awareness about autism.

The Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach is a comprehensive center that cares for children – from birth to age 21 – with behavioral and developmental conditions, such as autism, Fragile X, ADHD/ADD, Down Syndrome, learning disabilities, behavioral sleep conditions, craniofacial abnormalities and cleft lip and palate. The multidisciplinary care at the Stramski Center includes behavioral and neurodevelopment, craniofacial, sleep disorders, high-risk infant follow-up, genetics and the Fragile X programs that are designed to help manage a child’s illness and improve their developmental outcomes. Forty percent of the patients that are treated in the Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Program at the Stramski Center are diagnosed with Autism. To learn more about the Stramski Center visit MCHLB.org/Stramski.

Above: More than 35 light fixtures were changed to light up the exterior of the  Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach Pavilion blue.