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Walking Across America for Autism

Would you believe it if your grandparents promised to walk across America to bring awareness to autism?

For Jackson, Elijah, Quinn, Grace, Nola, Addie and even baby Max, thinking Mema and Pappy were going to walk all that way — 2437.7 miles to be exact — seemed crazy. But it’s true!

Dan and Mary Beth Reardon, fondly known as Mema and Pappy, are taking off on a great adventure to meet families, therapists, doctors, teachers, mentors, and, most importantly, the individuals who experience autism in all its forms everyday.

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Their goal is to document their journey — backed by the idea that “you don’t know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes” — and share it with the rest of the “typical” population that needs to understand the growing and changing needs of the autism community so that they can be positive changemakers not just for people with autism, but with people with autism.

Their secondary goal is to promote inclusion programs, such as Athletes 4 Autism, by raising $50,000 along the way. These funds will be used to open up more free, seasonal sports clinics across the United States. How awesome!

You have to check this out for yourself. See the video and share their fundraising page here: www.gofundme.org/thewalk

theautismresearchfoundationWalking Across America for Autism
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Just Like Your Favorite Song

The magical moments we have with our Lil become just like your favorite song: you can’t help but play on repeat. They become a precious gift we can share with Lilly’s ever growing team of family and friends, enthusiastically living through every victory.

If you are present (and, most of all, patient), the intrinsic rewards of these moments — these seemingly impossible achievements — are the best gift to watch unfold and bloom. By presuming competence and providing opportunities, our girl is shining brighter than ever.

Our dear and beloved friends — two of the sweetest and selfless teenage girls around — let Scarlett borrow the coolest, brightest hot pink nail polish around. She couldn’t have felt cooler as she clinched the bottle so tightly on our drive home.

photo 1After a Daddy-Daughter bonding nail party, Scarlett proudly displayed her glowing toes for us all to see. Hours later, completely out of the blue, Lilly spoke the most beautiful sentence we have ever heard.

“I want on my toes color.”

Lilly’s autism may create a delay in time — a pause button, per say. The pause button holds for minutes, hours, days, months or even years. But the truth is that the pause button is not permanent.

Our Autism Angel is present, aware, listening. I noticed her staring at Scarlett’s toes all day, but it still blew my mind hearing that specific desire flow out of her mouth.

photo 2Cue nail polish party: part two. The happy hands, dimple bearing grin and ear covering humming ensued, and we cheered with delight right along. When nighttime came, I pressed her weighted blanket over her in bed, she leaned over and presented her hands, dainty as can be.

“Paint the hands.”

Every part of my heart wanted to jump out of her bed and give in, but my head knew better… “Tomorrow, sweetheart.”

Fast forward to this morning… My angel runs out of bed, climbs up with me and proudly states,

“Paint my hands.”

Yes, the pause button is short this morning. Will it lengthen again – of course. The point is to join her in her mysterious and magical world of autism.

And isn’t it a refreshing thought for us to all use that pause button from time to time?

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A Most Precious Word

As a mother, you long for the day your baby can utter those three beautiful words: “I love you.”

It makes the sleepless nights and endless diaper changes seem like distant memories to most typical-raising mothers.

My path is different — changing and twisting — the end not always imaginable or clear. Lilly’s autism diagnosis led me and my husband on a journey of shifting visions and expectations that had been ingrained in our heads from the moment that ultrasound technician wrote “baby girl!”

The good, the bad, the ugly; it all shifts. I was a hands-on auntie and remember so vividly hearing my precious nephew call out for my sister when I babysat him. I would rub my belly gently, anticipating the day my baby girl would call out to me just the same.

But as unexpected as a scattered, quick-moving rain storm on a clear day, I had never imagined or prepared myself that this might not happen. And it didn’t. As a baby, and then a toddler in her crib, not even in pain or distress… Forget the happy babbling and beginning sounds of “Mama, Dadda” echoing from the bedside monitor… I just wanted that feeling of my Lilly being able to call out to her Mommy in time of need. But it never came.

When Lilly started therapy, her team took a close-up picture of me to include in her lessons. Every day, they would show her a picture of me until she could finally say “Mommy” by identifying my photo.

It may seem unnatural, but this is our world. We need to teach her in a way that she can understand. I still have that first picture and it still makes me tear up when I find her playing with it.

photo (2)Two years ago, my wonderful and caring husband made me a “Happy A Mommy’s Day” card. For about a year, Lilly called me “a mommy.” To her, I was a mommy; it makes sense. I should have been grateful, but every piece of my heart wanted her to know that I was HER mommy…

Today, I hear her soft, angelic voice say my name multiple times a day and it is the sweetest song to my ears. She has her share of pain — from GI problems to seizures — and I am forever grateful to the countless hours and years spent by her therapists teaching her the tools to begin to communicate her needs and pain to us.

My favorite line occurs in her midday therapy at home. She will ask her therapist to “go see Mommy.” My heart melts every time and I remind myself to tuck those warm and prideful emotions deep in my heart: to cherish and remember always.

On my ever-changing path of being a mom to the mom of an Autism Angel, I have learned to savor those moments as daily comforts: reminders to live in the present and celebrate her moments of joy and peace, triumph and accomplishment. Because they’re there, even if Lilly’s not saying them like we had always expected to hear them.

I put no agenda or pretense on holidays; waking up on Mother’s Day, I plan on reading this to myself and smiling, because, for the most part, it will be just another day in our autism house… Filled with highs and lows, smiles and tears, but I will be grateful and reminded of the long road it took for my precious babe to utter her first “Mommy.” And, for me, that will always be enough.

— Michelle Steiner, recurring contributor


happymothersdayWhen you’re doing your Mother’s Day shopping this year, consider a gift that gives back to the autism community and acknowledges that you see the challenges and successes of your loved one every day. Purchase jewelry from the “I See You” collection and 20% of your purchase goes to programming at The Autism Research Foundation.

Have stories like Michelle and Lilly? Share them with our autism community to inspire others as we inspire you. Email [email protected] to get the conversation started today.


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An Open Letter to Kelly Landrigan, Communications Executive

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Kelly —

You emailed us 3 years ago asking to do a journalism class writing assignment on our Athletes 4 Autism (A4A) program. We bet you never expected that you would be sitting where you are today as Communications Executive for that same charity. Time has flown… (and, at so many times, so has our sanity).

Out of pure gratitude, we want to take a minute to jog down memory lane:

You wrote your assignment and you could have been on your merry way, but you chose to stay. You connected to our mission so strongly, that you gave Athletes 4 Autism a permanent place in your busy schedule and full heart.

kelly3We went to that assignment interview expecting to get a few others to look at our grassroots effort, but your interview went beyond that. You gave A4A a tool to share its vision with that assignment and you elected to be the lens through which others see that vision full-time. That was the greatest, most selfless gift we could have ever received and we know that we do not thank you enough for it.

Throughout these 3 years, you’ve worked for us in an internship capacity. That means you work for free: filling in to help wherever is needed, which usually ends up way beyond the scope of writing a press release. You are not incentivized by a paycheck, yet you donate every free minute of your time to us. You haul carts of basketballs, sing and dance at exhibit tables to get us attention, and hug and high-five every single kid that walks through our gym doors because their day isn’t complete until they’ve said bye to you.

Like a family member, you loved us and what we stood for, you defended us against all of the naysayers who called us dumb for not monetizing the program (capitalizing on the disgusting odds that 1 in every 68 kids will now have an autism diagnosis) and giving free lessons to everyone. And then you showed up to help us do just that — to help hundreds of kids in whatever capacity was needed with the hope of raising enough donations to just cover our overhead costs — no questions asked.

You are the definition of loyalty.

You see, the thing about internships is that you are supposed to learn from us, and in so many ways, we know that you have. But, due to your modesty, we are not so sure that you understand how much you have actually taught us.

For one, you have taught us about communications: that all of it — journalism, social media, public relations, etc. — is an exchange of information facilitated by listening and replying.

kelly2Listening can be done two ways. The way we understand it: you can either listen to hear, or you can listen to reply. Outstanding journalists — and people — listen to hear. You had no intention of replying with an opinion; you came to walk in our shoes — to understand as best as you could — by first listening to what we had to say and then translating it into an approachable medium for the public so that they could hear, too.

We believe you became a true journalist in that interview moment because you heard our mission and understood its value to the core: so much so, that you begged us until we took you on as an intern. We might have thought you were crazy then, but now we know you’re just crazy in love. (Beyonce would be so proud.)

Kelly, you are one of the most major parts of our program. Instead of coming in with opinions, you came in with work ethic. You showed up, shut up, and worked. With that silence, you have become the loudest voice for the charity. You are the reason people know who we are, you are the reason people know what we do, and you are the reason people know why we do what we do. That is the beginning and end to every charity and you complete us.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for giving so much of yourself to our autism cause. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been so worth it. We know we have found a forever friend in you and we hope you know you have found a forever home at Athletes 4 Autism.

We love you!

Kevin & Courtney

theautismresearchfoundationAn Open Letter to Kelly Landrigan, Communications Executive
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