Mom out to make South Carolina 'autism-friendly state'
- The end of childhood
- Apr 7
- 3 min read
April 7, 2025, SC Daily Gazette: A mom’s quest to make SC an autism-friendly state
A Mount Pleasant mother is pushing for legislation to expand autism education
Layla Luna was driving along a crowded Los Angeles street with her son Rio six years ago when the sirens started whaling and the lights of a police cruiser started flashing behind her.
She pulled over, as did the officer trailing her. However, he didn’t switch off the lights on top of the car.
Moments later Rio, who was 9 or 10 at the time, started making loud noises, banging his head and even trying to escape the vehicle.
Rio Luna as a baby (top left), Rio as a child with his mother Layla Luna (top right) and him as a child again (bottom center). Layla Luna wants to make South Carolina an autism-friendly state. (Photo compilation courtesy of Just Bee)
Rio struggles with nonverbal autism. Lights from cars and streetlights combined with the flashes of red and blue on top of the police cruiser to send him into sensory overload.
“Everything is so intensified,” said Luna, who still bears a scar on her wrist from the incident.
In 2000, an estimated 1 in every 150 children in the United States had autism. By 2020, prevalence had increased to every 1 in 36 children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The South Carolina Autism Society estimates that more than 70,000 people in the state are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Yet, education on autism, as well as most other neurodivergent diagnoses, still lags.
Luna founded Just Bee, an organization that aims to make communities more autism friendly, in 2019, while still living in California. After her family was told to leave a pizza restaurant when Rio started to have sensory overload, Luna said she asked herself, “Why can’t people just be nice?”
She wondered if the situation would’ve gone differently if the employees understood that Rio was autistic and were trained on how to respond: “That was my call to action,” she said.
In 2021, Luna ditched Los Angeles for Mount Pleasant, leaving behind her previous career as a dancer and choreographer.
She met Gov. Henry McMaster later that year at a state Chamber of Commerce event. She shook his hand and said she was going to make South Carolina the first autism-friendly state.
It’s a moment she chuckles when reflecting on. But Luna was sincere.
In 2023, Just Bee launched an app Luna describes as “the Yelp of autism.”
Families can find sensory-friendly and welcoming spots on the app where employees have gone through autism training. They may offer discounts and sensory-friendly hours.
So far, most locations on the app — which include restaurants, gyms and even doctors’ offices — are in the Mount Pleasant area, though Luna hopes the desire to create a welcoming atmosphere will spread.
“It’s not about disability. It’s about possibility,” she told the SC Daily Gazette.
‘Rio’s law’
Her advocacy also led to the creation of a specialty license plate with the Just Bee emblem. It’s meant to alert officers before they approach the vehicle that someone inside is autistic or neurodivergent and could have a sensory reaction. . . .
Officer training
This year, Luna is advocating for a bipartisan bill that would require all law enforcement officers to undergo training on autism spectrum disorder. Landing is the chief sponsor. . . .
The proposal would expand on the training officers undergo at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy.
Currently, autism is discussed as part of mental health training. By requiring courses specifically on autism, the proposal would lead to a deeper understanding of autism and how to respond to people they encounter, said Jackie Swindler, the academy’s director.
Stephanie Turner, director of autism for the state’s department of disabilities, has been traveling around the state for more than two years conducting voluntary training related to autism at law enforcement
After the license plate law was signed last year, she started telling officers about it as part of her training. Turner said Luna helped in creating a flyer on autism that Turner hands out to officers.
There’s “a lot of work that can be done with autism” in the state, she said.
“I think what Layla and Just Bee have done is remarkable,” Turner said. It “shows the power of a mom.”
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