This Saturday, October 27, my family and I will be participating in a very special event, WALK NOW For Autism benefiting the Autism Speaks/Cure Autism Now Foundation. WALK NOW FOR AUTISM unites the community in support of those affected by autism with a noncompetitive 5K walk and community resource fair, where parents meet a variety of autism service providers and kids enjoy arts & crafts, moon bounces and other fun activities. Experience the power of thousands united by a single cause by joining WALK NOW FOR AUTISM: the fast-growing, family-friendly community dedicated to raising necessary funds for autism research, awareness and outreach.
You may be wondering why Cure Autism Now and WALK NOW are so important to me and my family. My involvement stems from a very personal and deep emotional contact with this complicated disease.
My 8-year-old son, Sean, was diagnosed with a form of Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, five years ago. I am very proud of Sean and impressed with his progress so far thanks to hard work on his part, our part and an excellent program within the Cy-Fair School District.
I strongly feel that I can have a direct impact on finding causes and cures for autism. I also feel strongly that Autism Speaks/Cure Autism Now is a wonderful organization which has been instrumental in furthering autism research. In 1995, when Cure Autism Now was founded there were only 12 researches focused solely on autism. Today there are over 300. That is progress. WALK NOW gives us a tangible way to help the nearly 1.5 million other Americans affected by autism and related disorders.
I am asking for your support in helping us raise money for this worthy cause. Any contribution you are able to make would be greatly appreciated, but I ask you to give big as there is a big need for further research. My personal goal is to raise $500.00 for Cure Autism Now and I hope to far exceed that goal. Last year I raised over $750!
It is easiest to donate online by going to our personal webpage at
Sean's Walk Now For Autism page
If you are unable to donate online, you can print out a donation form from that page and hand it to me. All checks should be made payable to Cure Autism Now.
Please feel free to forward this e-mail on.
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Why WALK NOW FOR AUTISM?
Every 20 minutes another child is diagnosed with autism. A cure must be found NOW. Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that is commonly diagnosed by the age of three, and in some cases, as early as one year. Affecting one in every 150 children born today, autism is characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted, repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior. The money raised at WALK NOW FOR AUTISM supports Autism Speaks / Cure Autism Now's mission to find the causes, effective treatments and a cure for autism through funding essential biomedical and scientific research.
About Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now
Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now are dedicated to increasing awareness of the growing autism epidemic and to raising money to fund scientists who are searching for a cure. Cure Autism Now was founded in 1995 by Jonathan Shestack and Portia Iversen, parents of a child with autism. Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, grandparents of a child with autism. Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now (CAN) recently announced plans to combine operations, bringing together the two leading organizations dedicated to accelerating and funding biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism; to increasing awareness of the nation's fastest-growing developmental disorder; and to advocating for the needs of affected families. Together the organizations have awarded autism research grants valued at more than $50 million. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org. To learn more about Cure Autism Now, please visit www.cureautismnow.org .
About Autism
Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder of development that lasts throughout a person's lifetime. Because persons with autism exhibit different symptoms or behaviors, ranging from mild to serious, autism is a "spectrum" disorder, or a group of disorders with a range of similar features.
Children with autism have difficulty communicating and interacting with others. Many individuals with autism seem to retreat into isolation, or fixate on a word, an object, or an activity.
Sometimes symptoms are seen in infancy, while other children develop normally for a year or more before they begin to slip into their own private world. At best, a high functioning person with autism may simply seem eccentric, a loner. At worst, a person with more profound autism may never learn to speak or care for themselves.
You are never prepared for a child with autism. You will gradually come to believe it, but never fully accept it, get used to it, or get over it. You put away the hopes and dreams you had for that child - the high school graduation, the June wedding. Small victories are cause for celebration - a word mastered, a dry bed, a hug given freely.
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I look forward to hearing from you. I thank you very much!
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