Story at a glance
- A Minnesota advocacy group stepped in to fill a vital need by creating a first-of-its-kind vaccine clinic for residents with autism.
- “There’s a little justice in bringing an event that is designed specifically for disabled people because they deserve it,” said AUSM executive director Ellie Wilson.
- “Our goal is really that we don’t want anyone to come unsuccessfully,” she said. “People that come here, we will find a way to make it happen.”
A Minnesota advocacy group stepped in to fill a vital need by creating a first-of-its-kind vaccine clinic for residents with autism.
The Autism Society of Minnesota (AUSM) is converting office space at one of its St. Paul buildings into a sensory clinic where patients can receive their vaccination in private rooms or in the parking lot.
“There’s a little justice in bringing an event that is designed specifically for disabled people because they deserve it,” AUSM executive director Ellie Wilson told KARE-11, adding that the group caters to the specialized needs of 14,000 families across the state.
Wilson’s group teamed with the Multicultural Autism Action Network (MAAN) to make a video detailing the clinic’s process, MAAN’s Maren Christenson Hoffer, whose son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3, told the outlet.
“It’s really telling a story about what to expect,” Hoffer added.
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The clinic will administer either the two-dose Pfizer vaccine or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccination, and interpreters will be available.
“There are so many people who say the barrier is, I can’t sit in the waiting room or wait in the line,” explained Wilson.
“Our goal is really that we don’t want anyone to come unsuccessfully,” she said. “People that come here, we will find a way to make it happen.”
Just more than 48 percent of Minnesota’s population has been fully vaccinated.
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