So I know I posted about this a few days ago, but today is the last day you can vote for the National Autism Association to win one of the $1-million prizes being given away through Chase Community Giving. There are 100 charities that people can vote on and the NAA is the only autism-related one. The top 5 vote getters will receive a $1-million prize. Just think how many families the NAA could help and what kind of resources they could provide with that kind of money. I’ve been impressed to see how many other autism organizations are throwing their support behind the NAA to win this. Usually it doesn’t seem like all these autism organizations get along too well, but this seems to be one instance where they’re all helping each other out.
So if you have a Facebook account, it only takes a few seconds to cast your vote here. And if you don’t use Facebook…what are you waiting for? Everybody else is on it. Just think…you can reconnect with family & friends and cast your vote!!!
Here’s the info that the NAA just sent out about this. Again, just go here and you’ll be able to cast your vote!!!!
There’s a contest going on now on Facebook where you can vote for a charity to receive $1-million. The only autism related charity is the National Autism Association. Here’s the details that the NAA posted….
“Dear Think Autism friends,
Last month your votes put the National Autism Association into Round 2 of Chase Community Giving – voting is now underway for $1,000,000!
Autism is a national health emergency, now affecting 1 in 110 children in the US, yet resources for families remain scarce and under-funded. On a very modest budget, NAA’s programs provide REAL help and hope to families affected by Autism. One million dollars is not a drop in the bucket for our organization, it is a game-changer and will allow us to significantly expand our programs.
NAA is the only autism organization in the running and we need your help! Please take a minute to cast your vote for NAA today. You can make a huge difference!
- Request their support by adding a customized link to your page today – whether your a mom, a teacher, or Twilight Fan there’s one for you! Check them all out here:http://www.nationalautismassociation….
- Spread the hope anyway you can.
Chase the hope. And don’t forget to spread it.”
When you go there you can watch a video created for this. Here it is…
So if you’re on Facebook, go ahead and vote! It only takes a minute and it could really help the lives of families of children with autism.
You’ve likely by now seen all the reports on the news and the internet about the devastation by the earthquake in Haiti. I thought I’d use a post for readers of this blog to let you know about a couple that uses their time & talents to help those in Haiti.
Our family knows this couple at our church who run the Healing Haiti mission. They partner with a variety of charities in Haiti that provide clean water, build orphanages, etc. I’ve had the pleasure of doing a couple of stories on this couple through the tv station I work at. Here’s one of them with Alyn Shannon. She makes jewelry and all the proceeds benefit Haiti. You can see her work at her GS2 Studios website.
If you’d like to learn more about the Healing Haiti initiatives, check out their website here. They’ve been working in Haiti long before this earthquake happened and I know they’ll be pouring their hearts & souls into helping rebuild there. Take a moment to check out the story and their websites, and if you’re able to, make a donation to help out.
My wife came across this great video recently of a 17 year old girl with autism. She is very articulate and explains what it’s been like to have autism. I’ve really been wondering a lot lately about what might be going on in the heads of these kids with autism. You hear so many stories of autistic kids having so much more in their heads than we give them credit for. We just assume that if there are communication difficulties, then the kids aren’t absorbing anything. But as you’ll learn from this video, these kids are picking up quite a bit.
So if you’re a parent of a child with autism, this should give you some great hope and encouragement. Even if you have no immediate connection to autism and are just interested/curious about it, then check this out.
My wife and I have always been big fans of the ‘True Life’ series on MTV. These hour-long documentaries have followed a wide variety of subjects including “I’m Going to Performing Arts Camp,” “I Have Embarrassing Parents,” and “I’m a Jersey Shore Girl.” You name it, they’ve probably covered it by now.
In 2007, they did a show called “I Have Autism.” They follow 3 different young men with autism. One is pretty severe and is learning to use an assistive device to communicate. Another is very talented at art, but is having problems with meltdowns. And another young man has Asperger’s and is trying to launch a stand-up comedy career.
I’ve been wanting to see this for a while. I must have missed it when it first aired and even though MTV airs these things all the time, I’ve never caught a rerun. Now though, you can watch a ton of the full “True Life” episodes on MTV’s website for free. I finally got around to watching “I Have Autism” and I thought it was very interesting. It probably would have been very hard for me to watch when we were first dealing with our son’s diagnosis, but 2 years into this for me, and it’s not as hard. I can look past some of the challenges these families are facing and instead share joy with their triumphs. Plus, our son is 4 and it doesn’t do me a whole lot of good right now to project what his life will be like when he’s in his late teens like the guys who are featured in this show.
So if you’ve got a little under an hour to spare, it’s worth a watch. You’ll laugh at times, and I think you’ll cry at times, especially for the young man who is so excited to plan his first ever birthday party with friends.
I can never seem to figure out how to embed videos here if they’re not on YouTube, so if you want to watch MTV’s True Life: “I Have Autism” then go to this link.
Has it really been almost 2 months since my last post? Trust me, I’ve had plenty of brilliant ideas floating around in my head of things to write about on here, but I never seem to actually get around to doing it. Perhaps in 2010 I will maintain some semblance of activity on here.
Just saw this very inspiring story on CNN’s website and thought I’d share it here. I thought it was a very well-done piece about a family who recovered their son from autism. The main person in this interview, Karen Siff Exkorn, has actually written a book that we’ve (ok my wife read the whole thing, but I looked at it) read called “The Autism Sourcebook.”
I found that our story is fairly similar to this family’s story in the beginning. The reporter notes that not every child will respond as favorably as this one did to early intervention like ABA therapy, but I’m hopeful we’re on the road to the same success the Exkorn’s achieved.
I’ve been trying in vain to embed the clip right here, but I’m not having much success. So just go here and you can watch it.
My son and I have always gotten along well, but since this summer we’ve become quite the pals. There were days in the past I would so long for us to have a closer relationship. He went through the normal stages of being closer to Mommy and I was confused as to how to get closer to him. I think maybe for a while I used autism as an excuse for me to not try to enter his world as much as I should have.
“I don’t know how to play with him!” I would say to my wife. “You just have to get in there and try,” she would say. But it always felt kind of like the whole chicken vs. egg debate. Was he not responding to me as much because I wasn’t playing with him a ton? Or was I not playing with him a ton because he didn’t respond to me?
At some point I guess I made a conscious decision to just meet my little boy where he’s at. Instead of focusing so much on the things I thought he couldn’t do, why not pour my energies into the things he CAN do? What a novel concept!
I felt like we as a family were placing so many demands on how he was supposed to act at all times. We couldn’t enjoy a leisurely trip to the park because he doesn’t play with the equipment there the way ‘typical’ kids do. Well, once I made the decision to enjoy the things he enjoys, we all had a lot more fun. Who sets the rules at the park? If he wants to swing for a half hour at a time and is enjoying it, why don’t I just lighten up and enjoy it too?
Our relationship has just grown by leaps and bounds these last few months. I wake up every morning to hear him calling out “Daddy! Daddy!” If I happen to be at work late, he’ll keep calling my name until I come home. He’s always taking me by the hand to go off on an adventure in the house.
I love that little boy so much and I’m so glad I made the decision to not be so uptight and to spend more of my energy having fun, playing, and encouraging him. Does this mean I’m not still striving to help him succeed in life? Hardly. But I think this approach is going to help him more in the long-run by letting him know I accept and love all his unique gifts and talents and will cheer him on regardless of what all the other kids out there are doing.
A friend just sent me this video produced by Autism Speaks. Very powerful and kind of similar in tone to a blog post my wife wrote a while back. You can watch it below. I promise I’ll actually write a blog post soon that isn’t just somebody else’s video or article. But I guess there’s nothing wrong with showing some videos of hope, is there?
Here’s another inspiring story I just came across about a young man with autism scoring his first touchdown for his school’s football team. I just love reading these!! You can read it at the link below.
I just love seeing hopeful videos like this one! My parents recently forwarded me this CBS News story about a young girl with autism who has found her voice through song. I think this one really resonates with me because our little guy is so into music too. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll be singing the national anthem at a game? I have every confidence that he can. The only thing that might hold him back isn’t autism…it’s the fact that our family is not historically known as being great singers! :)
Check out this story, it’s only a couple of minutes long.
