Mormon Channel

Autism Light #357 is The Mormon Channel.

The Mormon Channel is the "media channel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The channel originates from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah and broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Content for the station comes from the vast archives of the Church, along with several new series created specifically for this station (About The Mormon Channel)."  The Mormon Channel is an Autism Light for raising autism awareness by creating media that addresses autism and is spread to their viewers across the world.

The following media on The Mormon Channel shares the story of a girl named Hannah whose brother Hyrum has autism. It was released by The Mormon Channel in April of 2013 for Autism Awareness Month (Deseret News, Sarah Petersen, May 1, 2013). It concludes with an excerpt from a message on inclusion by Thomas S. Monson, the President of The Mormon Church.




Autism was also the subject of a special program on The Mormon Channel called "Mormon Identities."  Episode 43 of "Mormon Identities" was dedicated to autism. You can listen to that media at www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-identities/43.

Special thanks to The Mormon Channel for being an Autism Light by raising awareness of autism in their media. Hopefully this message of hope for autism will reach a large and diverse audience as they share their media around the clock. To read about other features at Autism Light with connections to the Mormon faith search for the label "Mormon."

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Ethan Fowlks

Autism Light #291 is Ethan Fowlks. 

Ethan Fowlks is a 6th grader with autism from Salt Lake City, Utah, who is a member of the Salt Lake Sidewinders' Under 12 Baseball team. Ethan Fowlks is an Autism Light because he is a very talented baseball player and is impacting the way people around him think of autism.

Here is a news story on a dramatic game that Ethan Fowlks had to help his team win the championship.



The Salt Lake Sidewinders' under 12 team were playing in a championship game in Cooperstown, New York on July 11, 2013. With his team trailing 2-0 in the 9th inning of the game against the Tallahassee, Florida Heat, Ethan Fowlks stepped up to bat and he hit a 3 run walk off home run to win the game for the Sidewinders. Thanks to Ethan's home run "the Sidewinders became the first Utah team to win a championship game at the Cooperstown Dreams Park in Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Source)."

Ethan described his walk off home run as "Probably one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Having to make history to make Utah proud (Source)."

Guy Fowlks said about his son's baseball talent, "When I started throwing pitches to him, his ability to track and hit the ball was extraordinary. It was impressive. The baseball field became the one place where he was more normal. Put him on the field and let him play the game, that's where he wants to be. It's his world (Source)."

Rob Jeppsen, Ethan's coach, said, "Baseball has been a big enabler for Ethan. He's remarkable. He plays ball, has a good time and sits in the dugout with his friends (Source)."

Special thanks to Ethan Fowlks for being an Autism Light. His talent as a baseball player is an inspiration to others with autism who are wanting to be involved in competitive sports.  Read the Autism Light Sports page to read more about other sports players with autism.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Garrett Giauque

Autism Light #289 is Garrett Giauque.

Garrett Giauque is a 13 year old boy with autism from Salt Lake City, Utah.  An amazing talent for drawing has surfaced in Garrett. Garrett Giauque is an Autism Light for the way his talent at drawing is serving as an inspiration to the autism community.

When asked to describe himself, Garrett said, "Well Garrett's a different man and Garrett's a surviving guy, surviving autistic kid. Trying to survive this life and world (Source)."

Mormon Faith and Autism: In August, 2011, Garrett's mother April, who also has two other children with autism, wrote an article called, "Garrett Was God's Child First" which appeared in the Ensign, a publication of the Mormon Church. The article is very helpful in showing how faith, in this case Garrett's mother's Mormon faith, gives a perspective on autism. April Giauque writes in the article about what she has learned from Garrett:

What I have learned from Garrett and our other children who fall within the autism spectrum is that they are children first and people with autism second. I imagine that it is much the same way that our Heavenly Father sees all of us: we are His children first, and we have trials and experiences second. Our children want love, attention, help, success, and praise. They want their pain to be eased, and they want to feel hope. They enjoy life differently than many people do, yet their needs and wants are similar to those of most everyone  (Source)."

Autism Contributes to Garrett's Artistic Ability: Garrett's mother, April said, "The ability that autism has given him in the sense of how to focus, how to look at detail, how to create things. That is going to be his gift back to the world."

Future Plans: While 13 is young to have one's future planned out, Garrett's mother foresees that he might have a career someday working in a museum and drawing animals (Source).

There is an archived news story by KSL.com-Utah by Peter Rosen on Garrett Giauque that you can read at this link.

Special thanks to Garrett Giauque for being an Autism Light. We look forward to hearing amazing things about how his talent develops in the future. For more information on artists with autism visit the Autism Light Art page.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Nathan Christensen

Autism Light #53 is Nathan Christensen.

Nathan Christensen is a 17 year old from South Jordan, Utah.  Nathan Christensen has autism and didn't speak until age 7, but autism didn't stop him from rising to great heights in the Boy Scouts of America's scouting program. Nathan Christensen is an Autism Light for his outstanding achievements in the Boy Scouts of America scouting program.

Nathan Christensen recently earned the Eagle Scout Award. According to the Boy Scouts of America Fact Sheet, only 5% of boy scouts earned the Eagle Scout Award in 2010. However, Nathan didn't stop at the requirements for an Eagle Scout. In addition to being an Eagle Scout which requires earning 21 merit badges, Nathan Christensen added 111 more and earned all of the 132 merit badges available by the Boy Scouts of America.

Here is the news story published at CNN about Nathan Christensen's accomplishment of earning all Boy Scouts of America merit badges.





Nathan says he would rather be defined for this outstanding and rare accomplishment in the Boy Scouts of America than for having autism. His remarkable efforts, in taking on every challenge available to him by the Boy Scouts of America, are more than thousands of neuro-typical boys could accomplish in their days in scouts (including the one writing this post). Any boy achieving this exceptional feat in the Boy Scouts of America would distinguish themselves above their peers and should receive public recognition for it.  In fact, in 2008, Fox News shared an AP report on Shawn Goldsmith, a neuro-typical young man from New York, achieving the same feat as Nathan Christensen (Source). For more information on Nathan's accomplishments read the article on him at AllHeadlineNews.com.
Nathan Christensen is a role model and hero to all boys, especially those with autism, who may doubt their ability to finish just the 21 merit badges necessary to achieve Eagle Scout. Something tells me that the adults and young men in the Boy Scouts of America won't soon forget this accomplishment from someone with autism. We expect to continue to hear outstanding things about Nathan Christensen in the future.
The Boy Scouts of America can be a good program for some boys with autism. It is possible for boys with autism to grow through their involvement in this program. For those considering this activity for boys on the autism spectrum there are two helpful resources I have discovered.

1. Autism and Boy Scouts is a content rich website on issues facing parents who are deciding about Boy Scouts for their sons with autism.
2. Elizabeth M. Johnson has written a helpful article for Scouting Magazine called Boys with Autism Can Thrive in Scouting-With Help.

Thank you Nathan Christensen for showing the world that autism does not have to limit a person from merit in either the Boy Scouts or in life.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 

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This Autism Light post went into syndication at Autisable.