The State of Alabama is the home currently to 3 Autism Lights. They include a teacher, a sibling of someone with autism, and an individual with autism.
Alabama Autism Lights
Teacher:
Scott Parks is a special education teacher at Spanish Fort High School in Baldwin County, Alabama.
Individuals with Autism:
Ethan is a 6 year old boy with autism who survived being kidnapped for a week in 2013 in Midland City, Alabama.
Sibling:
Michael Gibbonsis a prize fighter from Birmingham, Alabama whose brother has autism.
You may reach all these posts by searching the blog through the "Alabama" Label.
The map of Alabama is from the Wikipedia Commons.
Ethan is a 6 year old boy from Midland City, Alabama who has the form of autism called Asperger's syndrome. Midland City, Alabama is a small town of about 2,000 people, located in Dale County. Ethan was kidnapped off his school bus on January 29, 2013, and was held in an underground bunker until his safe rescue on February 4, 2013. Ethan is an Autism Light for his bravery during this ordeal and for how his plight helped raise awareness of autism in the media.
Autism Diagnosis: During the hostage standoff police said, Ethan "suffers from Asperger's syndrome and ADHD, and, so far, they have been delivering his medication through the 4-inch wide air pipe. (Source)."
Prayer Vigils:
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 a prayer vigil was held for Ethan's safe return in the town square and involving several of the churches in Midland City, Alabama (Source).
Friday, February 1, 2013, the community where Ethan lives held a prayer vigil for his safe return (Source).
Ethan's Friends: Ethan's friends said that he is a "great kid. He is a lot of fun (Source)."
Social Media: During the hostage standoff concerned people took to social media to express their hope for a resolution, including these sites.
On Twitter the hashtag #RescueEthan was used. There is also a Twitter Account called @RescueEthan that has been created to support Ethan. Following Ethan's rescue people started using the hashtag #EthansHome.
There have been many inspirational and kind tweets on Twitter for Ethan. Here are two from teenagers who live in Dale County, Alabama near the scene of the tragedy.
Get #RescueEthan trending! Everybody help. Tweet this to popular accounts, or anybody. FOR ETHAN!! 🙏😁
— Micayla Farris (@micayla_farris) January 30, 2013
I'm aware that getting #RescueEthan trending won't rescue him. But I want everyone aware! Prayer is necessary in all things. Especially now
— Courtney Breanne New (@courtneybnew) January 30, 2013
Special thanks to Ethan for his courage during this ordeal. Autism Light will update this post as more information becomes available. We join Ethan's community and family in rejoicing in a happy resolution to this tragedy and that now Ethan is reunited with his family.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
The map of Dale County, Alabama is in the Wikipedia Commons and attributed to Arkyan.
Michael Gibbons is a prizefighter/boxer from Birmingham, Alabama. Michael Gibbons has a brother with autism. To honor his brother, Michael Gibbons has supported Alabama's chapter of the Autism Society of America through one of his fights. Michael Gibbons is an Autism Light for raising awareness for autism through his platform as a fighter.
Boxing Career: Michael Gibbons (A.K.A. "The Godfather") is a prizefighter who made his debut in 2007. Wikipedia describes Michael Gibbons as a:
left-handed lightweight prizefighter known for his uncanny ability to make people miss him with punches. He is the reigning Southern Championship Boxing Council Junior Welterweight Champion and as an amateur won the 2004 Alabama State Golden Gloves title, 2005 Alabama State Golden Gloves title, 2006 Alabama State Golden Gloves 132-pound open division championship. He also won the 2005 Southeastern Association Championship (Source).
Here is a video of Michael Gibbons announcing a fight he was planning for February 27, 2009 vs. Mike Williams to support the Autism Society of Alabama. He also shares how autism has impacted his family.
Other Media: You can learn more about Michael "The Godfather" Gibbons in the following online pieces:
Special thanks to Michael Gibbons for raising awareness for autism. His brother can be very proud of the efforts he is doing to support the cause of autism. If you enjoyed this post you may wish to read about the other Autism Lights with the label Siblings. These people share the special perspective in their story of having a sibling with autism.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photo: The photo in this post of Michael Gibbons is in the Wikipedia commons.
Scott Parks is a special education teacher at Spanish Fort High School in the state of Alabama. In his daily work with students with autism he plays a critical role in two innovative programs for the students known as Project Reach and Project Outreach. Scott Parks is an Autism Light for his work as a special education teacher and his passion to help students with autism as well as their neuro-typical peers.
Project Reach: Eight students with severe autism in the Spanish Fort school system in Baldwin County, Alabama are presently in Project Reach. The program is led by special education teachers Scott Parks and Kristen Box along with the sufficient support of para-professionals. Cutting edge technology like iPads are used to help students learn. According to Rener Havner-Phillips of the Press-Register in the program, "The autistic teens are learning job skills, including how to wash clothes, sort silverware, organize books and stock grocery shelves. They go on field trips to deliver mail at the school system's central office, to fold pizza boxes at Mellow Mushroom or to dust and vacuum at the Holiday Inn Express (Source)."
Project Outreach: Project Outreach, is an extra-curricular club led by Scott Parks, where neuro-typical students and students with autism spend time participating in various activities together. Project Outreach is an official club at Spanish Fort High School and has it's own page on the high school website. There are 112 members of Project Outreach this school year and it is the largest extra-curricular club at Spanish Fort High School (Source). The program helps impact the lives of the students with autism, but Project Outreach has also been especially meaningful to the neuro-typical students who are gaining a life-changing autism awareness through having a relationship with someone with autism.
The following is the news video of Scott Parks and another special education teacher named Kristen Box explaining how Project Outreach works at their high school.
Additional Information on Scott Parks and these autism programs at Spanish Fort High School are available at these online stories:
Special thanks to Scott Parks for being an Autism Light through his dedication as a special education teacher that works with students with autism. Scott Parks is representative of the fine special education teachers in diverse areas of the world who have a passion to reach students with autism through whatever creativity and outreach is necessary. Scott Parks is also the first person from Alabama to be named an Autism Light.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
