Landmarks light up blue for autism awareness The Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Autism Speaks) The Emp...

Landmarks light up blue for autism awareness

The Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Autism Speaks)

The Empire State Building in New York City. (Photo by Whitney Cox/Autism Speaks)

Torre Agbar in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo courtesy of Autism Speaks)

Niagara Falls. (Photo courtesy of Autism Speaks)

The Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH. (Photo courtesy of Autism Speaks)

Great Buddha of Hyogo in Kobe, Japan. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images for Autism Speaks)

The New York Stock Exchange in New York City. (Photo by Josh Wong Photography/Autism Speaks)

On Apr. 2, the autism science and advocacy organization Autism Speaks celebrates World Autism Awareness Day with the launch of its third annual Light It Up Blue (LIUB) campaign, a global initiative to raise funds and increase awareness of autism as a growing public health crisis. More than 3,000 structures in over 220 U.S. cities and 28 countries will be illuminated in blue and joining Autism Speaks to shine a bright light on autism.