Autism Light

Friday, November 11, 2011

ACT Today! For Military Families

Autism Light #82 is ACT Today! For Military Families.

Today is Veteran's Day in the United States and in honor of military veterans today's Autism Light is a charitable organization that helps military families cope with autism. ACT Today! For Military Families is based in Tarzana, California. It is a special campaign of ACT Today (Autism Care and Treatment Today), which was founded in 2005. Nancy Alspaugh-Jackson has served as the Executive Director of ACT Today for the past 3 years. ACT Today! For Military Families is an Autism Light because of the difference their grants are making for military families that are dealing with autism.

1 in 88 children from military families in the United States have autism. This is 12% higher than the national average (1 in 100). The following is a video about the work of ACT Today! For Military Families that features the campaign's theme song, "Maybe Tomorrow" by Robbin Thompson.

Below is an inspirational video that shares the real life stories of three of the families that have been touched positively by the support from today's Autism Light, ACT Today! For Military Families.

Contact: To contact ACT Today! For Military Families you can call 877-9ACT-TODAY or email info@act-today.org.

Donate: You can donate directly to ACT Today! For Military Families through their online system at https://www.acttodayformilitaryfamilies.org/templates/inside/donatenow.aspx.

Events: On April 7, 2012 ACT Today! For Military Families will hold their 2nd Annual Walk/Run and Family Festival in San Diego, California.

Social Media: You may follow ACT Today! For Military Families through the ACT Today social media areas.

For more information on ACT Today! For Military Families visit their website at www.acttodayformilitaryfamilies.org. Military families may apply for an autism grant at this link.

As a parent of a child with autism I know the pressures are tremendous, but I can not imagine the added stress that our military families go through with having to adjust to frequent relocation (and changes of service providers for their autistic children) and the separation of one of the parents from the family because of deployment overseas. On this Veterans Day we say thank you to our military families. And thank you to ACT Today! For Military Families for being an Autism Light to these well deserving and needy military families.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Timothy Welsh

Autism Light Classic
Updated on April 10, 2012.

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.

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.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Colgate Women's Hockey Team and Coach Scott Wiley

Autism Light Classic
Updated on January 28, 2012.

Autism Light #80 is the Colgate University Women's Hockey Team and Coach Scott Wiley.

Photo © Bob Cornell (Image Source)

Colgate University is located in Hamilton, New York. It is an independent university founded in 1819. The Women's Hockey Team at Colgate University led by Coach Scott Wiley is an exceptional example of how a university athletic team can spread autism awareness. They are Autism Lights because of their autism awareness campaign which is in its second year of spreading light about autism to the public and helping autism charities in the New York area.

According to the Colgate University website, "Colgate today is a highly selective, independent, coeducational liberal arts college, enrolling approximately 2,800 undergraduates in programs that lead to the bachelor of arts." Women's Hockey is one of their 25 intercollegiate athletic programs. The Women's Ice Hockey program started with the 1997-1998 season and has been in Division I since the 2001-2002 season.

Coach Scott Wiley: "We are really excited to kick off our 2012 Autism Awareness Project and are hoping to build on the success we had in 2011", said Scott Wiley (Source) Scott Wiley is in his 10th season as the coach of the Colgate Women's Ice Hockey Team. His 127 career wins are the most in program history. For more information on his coaching career visit his page at the athletic department website of Colgate University. Scott Wiley can be found on Facebook as well.

Kati Williams: The manager of the team is Kati Williams, a teenager who has Asperger's Syndrome. Kati Williams' enthusiasm was the inspiration for the team's decision to take up the cause of autism awareness. An article on Kati Williams was written for the Evening Sun.

Second Autism Awareness Game: On February 3, 2012 the 2nd Autism Awareness Game will be held in a game at Starr Rink against Union. Ticket information is available at this link. This year the team's uniforms for the game were designed by Christian Mast, who was Autism Light #26. Autism Speaks, ViewSonic, and Goals for Good will be partners in this autism campaign This year's goal is to raise $30,000 and the beneficiaries of funds will be Autism Speaks of Central New York, the Family Resource Network, The Kelberman Center, The OZ Project, and the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA). A press release on this initiative was released by Colgate University at this link. This project is also mentioned in the Madison County Courier.

First Autism Awareness Game: On January 28, 2011 they began their campaign for autism awareness with a special game for autism awareness that included special uniforms with autism puzzle pieces on them and a blue light at their net that lights up for autism whenever a goal is scored. They also did other initiatives like lighting the chapel up blue on April 1. The project raised $18,000. More information on that past initiative can be found in the following media.

Syracuse.com article written by Alaina Potrikus.
Channel 9 news story.

Syracuse Crunch: On December 3, 2011, the team was honored at a Syracuse Crunch game for their autism work.

The main website for the Colgate Women's Hockey Team's ongoing autism awareness initiative is found at this autism website To follow the Colgate Women's Hockey Team's success on the ice visit their official athletic website. The team also has a page on Wikipedia.

Social Media: To follow the Colgate Women's Hockey Team on social media visit these areas.

Special thanks to the Colgate Women's Hockey Team and Coach Scott Wiley. We wish the Colgate Women's Hockey Team great success on the court and in life. Their off the court efforts for autism awareness are a fantastic light for autism.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Notes

Special thanks to Erin Mast for nominating the Colgate Women's Hockey Team as Autism Lights and helping inspire the original November 4, 2011 post on this Autism Light. Erin's son Christian Mast was an Autism Light on September 2, 2011. To nominate an autism light email your story to autismlight@gmail.com.
The Madison County Journal wrote an article on the Autism Light blog after the original post.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

HP

Autism Light #79 is HP.

HP is a corporation with headquarters in Cupertino, California. Some people still refer to them as Hewlett Packard, which represents the name of the founders and provided the words for the acronym HP. HP is an Autism Light because they hosted a Hackathon and are a critical sponsor of the Hacking Autism initiative that is collecting ideas to help people with autism use touch screen technology in new and innovative ways.

Hewlett-Packard along with Autism Speaks and the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation are sponsors of the initiative called Hacking Autism. Hacking Autism is set up to encourage ideas for new applications that will help people with autism use touch screen computers, tablets such as the iPad, or various smart phones. On October 11, 2011, Hacking Autism held a Hackathon at Hewlett-Packard's campus. 429 application ideas have been submitted already. Jim St. Leger who was an Autism Light on Oct. 17, 2011 was at this event and recommended an application. Below is a video providing an introduction to the Hackathon.

The San Jose Mercury News published an article on HP's valuable involvement in Hacking Autism on October 11, 2011.

Phil McKinney (an HP Executive) said volunteers were free to build on any software platform, including rival Apple's iOS and Google's Android. McKinney said, "Today is about making technology that gives a voice, and the ability to participate" (Source).

Special thanks to HP for their key role in Hacking Autism and the recent Hackathon. Phil McKinney of HP indicates that volunteers are going to be refining the ideas brought forth at Hacking Autism and then they will be made available free to the public over the Internet. We hope this exchange of ideas on how to improve technology for those with autism will continue to be an ongoing initiative.

While HP has discontinued their production of a tablet, they still make the popular TouchSmart PC. The Hope Technology School has successfully used the TouchSmart PC to reach their students. An article about the Hope Technology School's use of HP products to increase accessibility for children with autism is available at www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/Hope_Tech_Lo-res.pdf.

HP also is a corporate donor for the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism. They have donated 115 computers in recent years to the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism and sold additional ones at their cost to the foundation.

Social Media: You can follow HP on the following social media areas:

For more information visit the HP website at www.hp.com or the Hacking Autism website at www.hackingautism.org.

Note: Autism Light is a neutral blog and we have no relationship to the business featured in this post nor have we received any return of goods or services for writing this post.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

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