Rise and Shine, Park Cities (4-8-11)
As the father of an autistic son, I’m a sucker for stories that appeal to special-needs families:
1. As we’ve previously mentioned here, Mary Jaminet, a University Park mom whose two sons both have autism spectrum disorders, has organized a fundraising concert called Dallas Rocks Against Autism. The party starts at 8 o’clock tomorrow night.
2. Dream Big for Have Dreams is a club with two objectives: introduce autism awareness to Highland Park High School, and raise funds for the Illinois-based nonprofit Have Dreams. Like Jaminet, the club has organized a rockin’ fundraiser. Stanhope, a band comprised of HPHS seniors, will perform at Highland Park Presbyterian Church’s Bell Center on April 17, as will HPHS junior Tiffany Houghton. The music starts at 7 p.m., and the cover charge is $10.
3. Three days later, Highland Park Presbyterian will host the inaugural Learning Difference Resource Expo. This event produced by the Park Cities Learning Disabilities Association is designed to offer one-stop shopping for tutors, study skills classes, physical or occupational therapy, sensory therapy, speech therapy, dyslexia remediation, social skills classes, behavior therapy, summer camps, and more. The expo is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 20 in the church’s Elliott Hall, and admission is free.
Page 2 of Metro in DMN today says Donald Gene Lewis, age 61 and former patrol officer for UPPD from 2002-2008, was indicted on child sex charges yesterday. Developing?
Thank you Dan for highlighting these opportunities for people to support and find out more about what their community is doing for those dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder issues.
You hear the word Autism all the time but to understand it, as you know, is a whole different story. I still have people ask me what it means. All three of these events look like they will be outstanding.
Thanks for the heads-up, A.B.
With the rate of autism climbing each year (currently about 1 in 100 children, and 1 in 58 boys) I’m thrilled to see the community coming together to support families raising kiddos with autism!
Mary Jaminet and crew have worked SO hard for this event – and the money goes directly toward helping local families, both in grants and local research – so even if you can’t attend, please consider buying a couple of $25 tickets online as a donation. The link to buy tickets is in Dan’s post, above.
Looking forward to “Dallas Rocks” Saturday!