Run for Autism

Since college, I have had the awesome opportunity to work with school aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. I say awesome because that is truly how I feel about each of these experiences. I did my student teaching in a full inclusion first grade classroom where I had students who were on the spectrum. Many of my favorite moments from those 4 months were when I felt that I had really made an impact and a connection with those students. I left feeling that I learned more from them than they learned from me. After college, while I was in graduate school, I worked in an autistic support classroom. That experience, while certainly a challenge in many ways, was one of the best experiences of my life. Now, as a school counselor, I am lucky to have the opportunity to work with many children on the autism spectrum every day in social skills groups, de-escalation strategies, and sensory strategies.

Children (and adults) diagnosed with autism are inspiring in so many ways. It is hard to imagine some of things that these children go through on a day to day basis, and they consistently persevere. I have learned so much from working with children with autism about strength, courage, and never giving up, no matter how difficult something may be to get through. Because of these experiences and the strength of those with autism spectrum disorders, I have decided to partner with the "Organization for Autism Research" to Run for Autism. Next Sunday, November 17th, I will be running the Philadelphia Half Marathon (13.1 miles), for OAR. I have set my fundraising goal at $600, and I have until December 17th (one month post race) to raise the funds. I decided to share this story with my readers in hopes that some of you may be able to support this fantastic cause. With your help, we can raise the money so many children and adults need to fund research studies in order to find highly effective treatments, tools, and strategies to improve the lives of people with autism. I have provided the link to my personal fundraising page here:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2169206&langPref=en-CA

Thank you all so much!