Connecticut Lights

The State of Connecticut is the home currently to 14 Autism Lights. They include parents, grandparents, an uncle, educators, and individuals with autism. Some of the country's most influential autism advocates call the state of Connecticut home. Several who died in the Sandy Brook Elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 are Autism Lights as well.

Connecticut Autism Lights

Individuals with Autism:

1. Josephine Grace Gay was a 7 year old with autism from Newtown, Connecticut who died in the school shooting there on December 14, 2012. 
2. Dylan Hockley was a 6 year old with autism from Newtown, Connecticut who died in the school shooting there on December 14, 2012. 
3. Eytan Nisizweig is a young adult who has autism and has a gift for art and music. He is from Riverside, Connecticut and his work can be purchased at EytanArt. 
4. Ethan Walmark is an 8 year old who has autism and has a gift for music. He is from Westport, Connecticut.

Autism Parents

1. Darlene Boore is an autism mother from Manchester, Connecticut. She is the co-founder of All Seasons Community, a nonprofit autism organization in Connecticut. 
2. Gary James is an autism father who is from England but now lives in Connecticut. He is the founder of Apps for Children with Special Needs and has been instrumental in promoting the helpfulness of the iPad for autism families around the world. 
3. Susan Nisizweig is an autism mother who founded EytanArt to help share her son Eytan's ability to make the world a better place. She is from Riverside, Connecticut. 
4. Kim Stagliano is an autism mother from Fairfield City, Connecticut. She has three daughters who have autism and is Managing Editor of Age of Autism. 
5. Dan and Carey Tedesco are autism parents from Shelton, Connecticut. They along with Rob Tedesco founded the business HandHoldAdaptive to produce iPad Apps that would help people with autism communicate better.

Autism Grandparents

1. Bob and Suzanne Wright are from Fairfield, Connecticut. They founded Autism Speaks and are autism grandparents.
2. Jim Calhoun is now retired but he was the long time men's basketball coach for the University of Connecticut.  He lives in Connecticut and is an autism grandfather. 

Autism Uncle

1. Rob Tedesco is an autism uncle form Shelton, Connecticut. Along with Dan and Carey Tedesco he founded HandHoldAdaptive to produce iPad Apps that would help people with autism communicate better. 

Autism Teachers

1. Rachel D'Avino was an autism behavioral therapist in Newtown, Connecticut who died in the school shooting there on December 14, 2012. 
2. Anne Marie Murphy was the special education teacher in Newtown, Connecticut who died in the school shooting there on December 14, 2012. 

You may reach all these posts by searching the blog through the "Connecticut" Label.

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The map of Connecticut is from the Wikipedia Commons.

Doug and Julie Sharp

Autism Lights #243 are Doug and Julie Sharp.

Doug and Julie Sharp are from Johnstown, Ohio and have two sons, including a 12 year old son with autism named Daniel. Their dedication to make the world a brighter place for those with autism has taken them on a journey to set up an enterprise called the Lettuce Work Foundation (Lettuce Work), which will provide teenagers and adults with autism important work opportunities.  Doug and Julie Sharp are Autism Lights for being visionary autism parents and filling a need for young people with autism to transition into the workplace.

  

Education: Doug and Julie Sharp are both graduates of Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Julie Sharp earned her Masters in Teaching from Otterbein University and Doug Sharp earned his MBA from The Ohio State University.

Work: Julie Sharp is a teacher at Oakstone Academy and Doug Sharp serves as a Vice President at Grange Insurance Companies in Columbus, Ohio.

The following are two versions of a production that Jenna Smith and Katharine Egli did for a photo journalism project at Ohio University in 2009 on the Sharp family and how their autism journey with their son Daniel led to the birth of Lettuce Work.

Smith:Egli project4 from Jenna Smith on Vimeo.
Lettuce Work: Doug and Julie Sharp incorporated Lettuce Work in 2007.  Doug serves as the Executive Director and Julie is the Program Director of Lettuce Work. The passion for starting an enterprise like Lettuce Work came from real needs the Sharp's discovered in their roles as autism parents and their involvement in education of autism students at Oakstone Academy in Westerville, Ohio.  Doug Sharp wrote this to Autism Light about their mission.

As we saw our students progressing through high school, Julie and I recognized that there is a significant need for additional training post-high school for many of our ASD kids. Even if they have plans to attend college, many of them still need additional help/training developing their social skills & communication skills outside the school. And of course, there are also students who will not go on to college that need vocational training and assistance finding work and succeeding in a work environment after high school. There just aren't enough programs "out there" to meet this need. We wanted to create a work environment where we could focus on developing these skills for our young adults with autism, and help them find other employment opportunities and live independently to the extent they are able. We worked with Ohio State to create our hydroponic growing business model, and will be selling a pre-packaged salad mix to local restaurants.

According to Doug Sharp the first years of Lettuce Work were "dedicated to market research, creating a business plan, developing a board, and soliciting donations to construct our facility."  A new facility for the business is currently being constructed and should be finished in 2013.  Doug Sharp writes this about the future of the company.

New Home of Lettuce Work

Lettuce Work is best described as a "social enterprise, since it is an actual business, but instead of using profits to reward the business owners, those are used to provide services to our ASD associates. Since we are just getting started and still under construction, we are starting to work with the Vocational Ed. students from Oakstone Academy in Westerville, Ohio. This school is nationally known for their programs for ASD students, and we are working with them to provide work experience for their Voc Ed ASD students. Once construction is complete, we will transition the students over to our growing operation, where they will get involved in all aspects of the business. That not only includes the basics of planting, harvesting and packaging, but also customer interaction via sales & delivery, and a lot of chemistry and math due to our hydroponic growing systems. Also plenty of exposure to computers related to running the business and growing systems.

The Lettuce Work Foundation is a 501c3 organization and has a board of directors made up of professionals in Ohio who bring considerable skill and experience to the organization (Source).  Donations are extremely helpful at this time and one may make a secure online donation to the Lettuce Work foundation through their website.  Lettuce Work is an approved agency provider for the Ohio Developmentally Disabled system. For more information on the mission of Lettuce Work you can contact them in these ways:

The Lettuce Work Foundation

PO Box 217 New Albany, Ohio 43054

PH: (614) 893-8029

Website: www.lettucework.org

Email: doug.sharp@lettucework.org or  julie.sharp@lettucework.org

Social Media: You can follow Doug and Julie Sharp and the Lettuce Work Foundation at the following social media areas:

• Facebook Group Page for The Lettuce Work Foundation
• Twitter @LettuceWork
• YouTube Channel for Lettuce Work

Doug Sharp said this to Autism Light about his expectation that programs that offer work opportunities for those with autism will become more widespread.

The most encouraging trend that I see is that more and more businesses are popping up that fit this "social enterprise" model to help employ adults with disabilities. I really believe this business model is the wave of the future versus the "traditional" non-profit organization that relies almost exclusively on donations to keep its doors open. Given the current economy and the extremely high unemployment rate for adults with disabilities (70%+), these small businesses are a bright light on the horizon.

Autism Light asked Doug Sharp how parents can prepare their older children for the day when they may enter the workplace.  This is what he said:

They need get started in High School and let the child work through the change together with their teacher/job coach and employer. Progress is measured in inches, not miles and in years, not days. Finding a patient employer who is willing to work with them is critical. Get started before they are out of high school. So many parents think that somehow their child will be able to go on to college or easily find a job after high school just like they did. Unfortunately, that's just not the case. Be honest and realistic about your child's interests, skills and abilities and get started sooner rather than later. Don't put it off - you'll do yourself and your child a big favor.

Special thanks to Doug and Julie Sharp for making a difference for autism. As children age and the population of adults with autism increases the business concept represented in Lettuce Work can serve as a model for how to create a win-win situation for business and disability services. We expect to hear great things from Lettuce Work as it grows and completes it's facility expansion in 2013.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

The Photos in this post were used with permission of Doug Sharp. 

Reid Soria

Autism Light #242 is Reid Soria.

Reid Soria is a 25 year old young man who has autism. He is from the Fort Walton Beach, Florida area. Reid Soria is an Autism Light because of how he is using his gift of singing to entertain and encourage others.  "I accept what I am, what I've always been on the inside. I am...a performer," said Reid on his Facebook FanClub Page.

Reid Soria's YouTube Channel provides this introduction to the musician.

"When words fail, autism sings!" Meet Reid Soria, a talented young singer diagnosed with autism at the age of three. At the time little hope was given for any progress in his development; in fact, it was recommended he be placed in an institution. But through years of hard work, faith, and hope, Reid has exceeded all expectations. Now he is pursuing his dream to become a professional singer and to help educate the public that having a disability doesn't mean having a lack of ability. We hope Reid will help to inspire anyone who hears him to pursue their own dreams with courage and conviction (Source).

There are dozens of inspirational videos of Reid Soria singing on his YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/floridarn16. We've embeded two of them here.

Here is Reid Soria singing the songs "You Raise Me Up" and "Thankful."


The following is Reid Soria singing the Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know". 


High School: Reid Soria graduated from Choctawhatchee Senior High School in 2004 (Source/Facebook).

Pyramid Players, Inc.:  Reid Soria has been part of the Pyramid Players of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida and the experience has given him opportunities to develop his talent. The Pyramid Players are a group of developmentally disabled individuals who are using their musical and artistic talents to perform throughout Florida and in Georgia and Alabama (Source). Reid Soria was part of the Pyramid Players as they performed the play, "Taking New York City" in 2012.

Facebook: There are two ways on Facebook that you can follow Reid Soria's inspiring career as an adult with autism.

1. You can request to join the Reid Soria Fanclub group on Facebook 
2. You can subscribe to receive public updates from his page at https://www.facebook.com/reids16.

Special thanks to Reid Soria for sharing his musical talents with us. He is an inspiration to the autism community and his life is a living example that people with autism can accomplish their dreams.  If you like this story you may wish to read about other individuals featured on Autism Light who have autism by going to the "Has Autism" Page. A link to Reid Soria's page will also be placed in the Florida Lights Page and in the Autism Light Music Page.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Billy Booth

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Autism Light Classic
Updated on June 18, 2014. 

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Autism Light #241 is Billy Booth. 

Billy is a cat who lives with the Booth family at the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Billy was a stray and abandoned cat that was taken in by the charity Cat's Protection and then subsequently adopted by the Booth family. Billy is an Autism Light because of the life-changing impact he has made in the life of Fraser Booth, a 6 year old boy with autism who is part of his adopted family. This post on Billy Booth was updated in honor of the book When Fraser Met Billy being published in February, 2014. The book was written by Louise Booth, Fraser's mother, and you can purchase it on Amazon.com.

Here is a video about when Fraser met Billy the cat.


When Fraser was 4, his mother Louise said:

"If Fraser is around or playing in the garden, Billy is never far away. It is like he is watching Fraser and calming his behaviour. He always appears when Fraser is getting upset and offfers his head close to Fraser's to reassure him and recently, when Fraser was poorly, Billy sat on his lap all day. They say animals can sense things, but Billy seems to know before anybody else if Fraser is going to get upset (DailyMail.com, Liz Hull, June 15, 2012)." 

Mrs. Booth added, "Bill has made a complete difference to our family life, he's taken away the stress, he's added happiness and an air of calm, he's just been amazing (DailyMail.com, Liz Hull, June 15, 2012)."

Autism Light first wrote about Billy the Cat in 2012, and now in 2014 their relationship is changing but still important. Fraser's mother says:

Fraser’s relationship with Billy, meanwhile, continues to evolve as he grows less dependent on his furry friend. “It’s a different relationship because Fraser isn’t as intense a person as he was,” says Booth. “Now they really are best buddies. Before, Billy was very much like a minder, looking out for Fraser all the time (Scotsman.com, Ruth Walker, 2/8/2014).

Social Media: You can follow Billy and Fraser on the Facebook Page for their book called When Fraser Met Billy.

Special thanks to Billy Booth for being a hero to a boy with autism named Fraser. Billy Booth is a wonderful representative for cats at Autism Light. If you want to read about other cats at Autism Light you can search for them with the label "Cat".

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.