U of U "goes blue" for autism awareness week

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It's a rare occasion that the University of Utah "goes blue."

But on Wednesday evening the U.'s George S. Eccles Legacy Bridge will be illuminated in blue lights to mark Autism Awareness Week.

The bridge lighting will follow a 6:30 to 8 p.m. talk by U. psychiatry professor Deborah Bilder on new prevalence data and research efforts afoot to better understand autism spectrum disorders.

A week later, on April 9 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., autism specialist Bruce Parsons and Eliot Francis, a high-functioning adult with autism, will talk about life on the spectrum.

Both events are free and open to the public and held in the C.H. Hardin Branch Auditorium at the U.'s Neuropsychiatric Institute (501 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake City).

Kirsten Stewart