Autism Walk - SUCCESS!!

Well, it is about time I update everyone on the Autism walk back in May - time got away from me! The walk was a huge success! There were over 5,000 people there and we raised over $300,000 for autism research. The site was actually a little too small for all the people, we didn't expect such a huge turn out! It made me so happy to see so much support and all the family teams really got into it.

Thank you so much to our family and friends that came to support us. It meant SO MUCH to Bobby and I that you would give up a Saturday afternoon to show your support for Wes. A huge thank you for all the donations as well!!! We raised over $1500.00!! Thank you to our family that lives out of state - your willingness to generously donate means so much to us. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! YOUR SUPPORT MEANS MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW! Please join us again next year as we will try to surpass this year. It will be bigger and better! My suggestion will be Sugarhouse Park and later in the year so it isn't so cold in the morning again.

Weston is doing so great! He just finished preschool at Pingree and will be back in the fall for kindergarten. It was kind of sad to leave the teachers and all those cute boys. Wes misses school , so we try to re-enact it at home. He has a lot more spontaneous speech now, he is asking and answering questions more now, and our big news is.....he is finally potty trained!!! It just clicked with him one day and he has been doing great ever since. Bobby and I are so thrilled to see his improvement. The Pingree school has done great things for him. It is worth all the money in the world to see him succeed.

Here are some pictures of the Autism walk back on May 3rd:

Motorcycle lovin' Wes

We went camping with our dear friends Jonah , Beth and their cute daughter Mara. The kids had a great time playing and riding with their dads on the motorcycles. I loved it too! Mara was nice enough to let me ride her tiny bike!

Weston made motorcycle sounds the whole time. He loves camping. So does Bobby, he didn't want to come home!

Here are some fun pictures from our trip

More Favorite Pictures

Some of my favorite pictures

My First Post- Autism news

Hi Family and Friends!


Creating this blog is all new to me, so hopefully I am doing it right - My computer genius brother-in-law, Spencer, helped me get started.
I wanted to create this blog to showcase my beautiful son, Weston. He has autism and I want to help spread awareness of this devastating epidemic.
Today, April 2, is world-wide autism awareness day. Autism Speaks, an organization that is dedicated to autism research, has worked very hard to spread awareness and this is the first (that I know of) world-wide autism awareness day.

For those of you that don't know, Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships. It is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. Right now there is no known cause or cure.

SOME ALARMING AUTISM FACTS

• 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism, 1 in 133 here in Utah!!
• 67 children are diagnosed per day
• a new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
• more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with Aids, diabetes & cancer combined!
• autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• autism costs the nation over 90 billion per year, figure expected to double in the next decade
• many insurance companies don't cover autism related therapies - so everything is out of pocket expenses for these families
• autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• there is no medical detection or cure for autism

INCIDENCE VS. PRIVATE FUNDING

• Leukemia: affects 1 in 25,000/Funding: $310 million
• Muscular Dystrophy: affects 1 in 20,000/Funding: $175 million
• Pediatric Aids: affects 1 in 8,000/Funding: $394 million
• Juvenile Diabetes: affects 1 in 500/Funding: $130 million
• Autism: affects 1 in 150/Funding: approx. $15 million

*information from http://www.autismspeaks.org/

updated August 2007

Please join me in the fight against Autism!! My hope is that we will find a cause so that we can prevent this disease from affecting so many more children and that we will find a cure so we can help the kids that are struggling with it now. I am very hopeful that we are close to finding some answers!!

I have some exciting news!! Salt Lake City is having a support walk for Autism on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at Cottonwood High School- Murray, UT. I am on the committee that is working hard to make it successful. There will also be an autism resource fair and family carnival.

Time: 9:00 am-1:00 pm

Registration and Resource fair opens: 9:00 am

Walk starts: 10:00 am

We are also trying to raise money for autism research. 100% proceeds go to Autism Speaks who is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to finding a cure. They also help families find the resources they need and are advocates for the many families that are dealing with autism. We have a team formed, it is called Walk for Wes. If you would like to donate please visit www.walknowforautism.org/utah and make your donation under our team. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We need to be the voice for these sweet kids because many of them can't speak for themselves, they can't tell us how frustrating it is to be trapped in your own head. I know that when I look into my sweet Weston's beautiful brown eyes that I am his mother for a reason and it is up to me to make a difference for him and all the sweet souls that have been affected with this horrible disease.