Timothy Welsh

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Autism Light Classic
Updated on April 10, 2012. 

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Autism Light #81 is Timothy Welsh.

Tim Welsh Works With His Son Tanner

Timothy Welsh is from Catlin, Illinois. His teenage son Tanner has autism. Timothy Welsh has survived two heart attacks and today thrives as an autism parent advocate and co-founder and Executive Director of the new organization called AutismAid. Timothy Welsh is an Autism Light because of his influential advocacy for the needs of families dealing with autism. His outreach on social media and expertise in diverse subjects impacting autism families helps him share light on autism to the world on a regular basis. Timothy Welsh himself has high functioning Aspergers.

Twitter:  Timothy Welsh's handle on Twitter is @TannersDad.  He chose the handle in honor of his son Tanner who has autism. The last words Timothy Welsh remembers Tanner saying before he withdrew into the nonverbal world of autism were, "My name is Tanner!  My name is Tanner!" At the time this story was updated Timothy Welsh had posted 72,500 tweets on Twitter. A Few days after this post was originally published he passed 10,000 followers on Twitter. The following YouTube video is a 45 minute interview that David Kaufer did with Timothy Welsh for his YouTube series called "Behind the Tweets". It is a very helpful interview to understand today's autism light.

Autism Aid: Tim continues his mission to build unity in the community #UWAC, provide a base line safety net for families and end discrimination. In partnership with Successful BusinessMan Lawrence "Larry" Goldfarb (Father of a 14 year old with Autism), they are proud to introduce AutismAid. They will be working with Corporations to fund critical need projects in the Autism community through the most effective and efficient service orientated regional non profits. Their goal is to lead by example ending politics, returning the most to communities for direct local service and Paying it forward. Tim says it is very important that families, friends, and relatives stand up and be counted. He asks that we encourage everyone go to the facebook page and like share and nominate your Local Service provider for grants. The website for Autism Aid is www.autismaid.org, and Facebook page is www.facebook/AutismAid. For more information on AutismAid contact Tim Welsh at the email of RealTannersDad@Gmail.com. Timothy Welsh was interviewed by Craig Evans of Autism Hangout about his new role as Executive Director of Autism Aid.  Craig Evans was Autism Light #178.  Here is the video of that interview. Generation Rescue: Timothy Welsh is a blogger for Generation Rescue. One of his blog posts for Generation Rescue that tells more about his story was called "An Ordinary Family".  Timothy Welsh is also a "Rescue Angel" for Generation Rescue which is the designation for a family that has seen an improvement in the life of someone with autism due to biomedical intervention.  Part of Timothy Welsh's biomedical plan for his son Tanner includes a gluten and casein free diet, vitamins, and the use of Methyl B12 cream.

Board of Directors: Timothy Welsh serves on the Board of Directors of the following important Autism organizations.

• Autism Society of Illinois: Timothy Welsh is on the borad of directors of the Autism Society of Illinois. This is one of the most respected state chapters of the National Autism Society of America organization.
• Mason Allen Medlam Foundation: Timothy Welsh serves on the board of directors of the Mason Allen Medlam Foundation.  Safety for those with autism is one of Timothy Welsh's passions.

Social Media: You can connect with Timothy Welsh at the following social media areas. He is likely to interact with you if you engage him in conversation.

• Facebook
• Google+
• Twitter @TannersDad

Speaker: Timothy Welsh also is a conference speaker.  One of his sessions at a past Autism One conference is available at this link. 

Special thanks for Timothy Welsh for being an Autism Light and being tireless in advocacy for autism.  Timothy Welsh is truly an example of how one parent can make a difference for autism through the world of social media.  

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.  

Photos: The Photos in this post are used with the permission of Timothy Welsh.