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PEOPLE
Activate Your Voice 4 Autism
And Speak Out Against Bullying

October 24, 2017

(VOXtra) - Would you like to voice support for awareness and acceptance of people with autism, and at the same time, speak out against bullying?

Scores of performers are doing that now during National Bullying Prevention Month, and more are welcome to join the #Activate4Autism public awareness campaign sponsored by the non-profit Geek Club Books organization.

"The autistic are often misunderstood, marginalized, undervalued and three times more likely to be victims of bullying," notes Jodi Murphy, founder and president of Geek Club Books. "Most grow up with a sense of shame because they've been stereotyped, judged as strange, and are often bullied for being different."

And for Murphy, that's personal.

"My son Jonathan is a union voice actor and he is also on the autism spectrum," she says. "But autism has never stopped him from getting work, thanks to his hard work and talent, great training and coaches and his professionalism."

"Jonathan studied for years with (voice actor/coach) Elaine Clark, and Elaine has produced his demos," she adds. So Murphy first approached Clark about participating in the autism campaign.

"Elaine said yes, which gave me the confidence to personally move forward. I started reaching out to other voice actors, sharing the vision, and over 90 percent said yes. A very generous group! I hope others want to make videos, too." (See below for details on how to participate.)

'ACTIVATING MY VOICE' ...

Here's an example video, from popular video game voice Dave Fennoy:



Videos have also been created by ...
  • Animation voice actor Katie Leigh, saying, "I am activating my voice for autism. I know that the work that we do has touched so many in the autism community, and they are my friends."
  • Voice actor/agent Erik Sheppard and voice actor Lindsay Sheppard, saying "It's time to stop thinking about what people with autism can't do, and let them show the world what they can do."
  • Voice actor/coach Elaine Clark, saying "It's important for all of us to accept and learn from autistic people. They have so much to offer and such a unique way way to look at the world."
  • And voice actors Brian Sommer, Jonathan Cormur and many more.

You can see them all here.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE ...

Jodi explains how to participate:
1. Make a 5- to 15-second selfie video holding the #Activate4Autism poster:
(https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/gcbpdfs/Activate4Autism+Poster+1.pdf)
and a statement about the importance of acceptance and inclusion (see examples on the #Activate4Autism page).

2. End your statement with "I activate my voice for autism."


3. Upload it onto YouTube.


4. Use the hashtag #Activate4Autism in the title with your name. In the comments: Add the text of your statement, your short bio/credits and link to the campaign:
(http://bit.ly/activate4autism)


5. Email the link to your video to jodi@geekclubbooks.com so she can add it to their YouTube #Activate4Autism playlist, tag and share it across their social media.

For other ways to get involved, please go to
https://geekclubbooks.com/be-an-activator.

ABOUT JODI ...

Jodi Murphy's career has been anchored in media and helping people.

She was a freelance marketing specialist working for clients in a variety of industries, a journalist in the lifestyle industry, and co-founder of one of the first independent lifestyle digital magazines.

She is currently the founder of Geek Club Books, a creative autism non-profit with a mission to further autism education and empowerment.

Email: geekclubbooks@gmail.com

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