P.J. Gialopsos

Autism Light #430 is P.J. Gialopsos.

P.J. Gialopsos has owned the Little Italy Restaurante in Anchorage, Alaska for 30 years. One of her delivery drivers has autism and a customer complained mercilessly about them making a mistake with their order and then made a judgment remark that the employee was not intelligent or that they were using drugs on the job. P.J. Gialopsos is an Autism Light because on November 11, 2015, after considering the situation for a while, she announced that her restaurant would no longer provide service to the customer who had such a bitter attitude toward her employee with autism.

P.J. Gialopsos' daughter received the loud complaint on the phone from the customer, and even after explaining that the employee had autism, the customer was unrelenting in condemnation of the employee (Restaurant Fires Patron Who Berated Autistic Delivery Driver, Seattlepi, November 13, 2015).

The Mighty shared this about the accomplishments of the delivery driver with autism who is in this story.

The driver, who has autism and a speech impediment, is a university student who's worked for the restaurant for two years. After the mixup, he immediately retrieved the right order from his car and returned to the restaurant (Restaurant 'Fires' Customer who Berated Employee with Autism, The Mighty, November 11, 2015). 

The following is the post that P.J. Gialopsos made on her business's Facebook page about her decision. Over 25,000 people have liked this post on Facebook.

This has been pondered for days now: should I write this post and HOW should I write this post? Over the weekend we...
Posted by Little Italy Restaurante on Tuesday, November 10, 2015

This special appreciation of P.J. Gialopsos was given out by @TimVashon on Twitter.

If you are ever in Ancorage, Alaska make sure to dine at Little Italy Restaurante, here is why: https://t.co/uahXUsQqfu

— TimVashon (@TimVashon) November 13, 2015

Special thanks to P.J. Gialopsos for being an Autism Light and spreading autism awareness by the stand she took in her business. We wish P.J. Gialopsos tremendous success in her business and hope that she will continue to employ individuals with autism even after her current employee graduates from college and moves on. P.J. Gialopsos is representative of many caring business owners around the world who have the courage to take a stand in defense of their employees who have autism.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Mushers

Autism Light #149 is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Mushers.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual sporting event that is one of the most popular in Alaska. The great race coves over 1,000 miles in sometimes sub-zero or blizzard conditions from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. It takes 9-15 days for participants (called mushers) to complete as they drive teams of about 12 dogs. The Iditarod Race mushers are an Autism Light because in 2010 they helped provide $15,000 in support to make it possible for a boy with autism, Logan Erickson, to receive an autism service dog.

Logan Erickson is a 10 year old boy with autism who is chiefly nonverbal. He has been a fan of the Iditarod Race when he experienced it coming through Unalakleet, Alaska. Dee Dee Jonrowe is a musher and family friend of the Erickson's. Logan spoke his first word in seven years when he said, "Miyagi", the name of one of Dee Dee Jonrowe's race dogs. Dee Dee Jonrowe and other mushers of the Iditarod Race decided to take up Logan's cause and in 2010 donated almost $15,000 to help pay the expenses to bring an autism service dog to Logan Erickson.

Juke Erickson is the name of the yellow labrador dog who now lives in Unalakleet, Alaska with the Erickson family, thanks to the generosity of the Iditarod Race mushers. He has been trained by the 4 Paws for Ability organization to be an autism service dog for Logan Erickson. Juke is trained to find Logan in the event that he wanders, as children with autism do.

4 Paws for Ability completely trained Juke to be able to provide autism service. In the video when it speaks of Juke being trained by the Erickson family, it refers to the steps they took to help Juke apply his new skills specifically to the service of Logan Erickson. 

For more information on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race visit these websites.

• Official Website
• Wikipedia

Special thanks to the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race Mushers for being an Autism Light and helping bring Juke Erickson to Alaska. The Mushers become the first Autism Light from the State of Alaska. If you liked this post you may want to read about the other Autism Lights who have the label, "Animal".

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: The photo in this post was acquired from the Wikipedia Commons.