Support The National Autism Association Holiday Donation Drive
CLICK HERE to donate to NAA, whose work in research, direct assistance to families, wandering death and injury prevention and their conference is so important. (And this would make a nice brthday gift to their President, Warrior Mom Wendy Fournier. Happy Birthday, Wendy!) From Ann Brasher:
Dear Friends,
It’s that time of year when families, foundations and companies are making decisions about charitable giving. I encourage you to consider National Autism Association and if not able to give yourself, please pass this on to friends and family as well as your employer.
Whether autism directly affects your family or not, it is affecting 1 in 91 children in our country. There is much work to be done and great attention and awareness has been focused on the issue, but the existing families are drowning in debt because many services and medical interventions for this disorder are not covered. Families are falling apart due to the stress of 24 hour, 7 day a week care. Children are wandering away and being lost.
While NAA will continue to fund meaningful research and advocate for our children, our programs; Helping Hand (grants to cover medical care and therapies) Family First (intervention to help save marriages with emphasis on the impact of dealing with a disability) and FOUND (program with 100% recovery rate for those who wander through local police and fire) NAC, (our annual conference where parents can get the information they need to help their children) are all making a profound difference in lives NOW. Help NOW is what is needed while we wait for our government and state agencies to fully fund and service our children.
I have worked as an advocate for these children since my own grandson was diagnosed nearly ten years ago. It was a long time before I felt ready to affiliate myself with any one organization. NAA filled that need. Everyone at NAA either has a child , grandchild or person close to them on the spectrum . “We get it!!!” We live it. We understand the needs. We hate waste of precious dollars. We don’t have fat salaries. We move mountains on a shoestring. We care. We won’t quit. We won’t give in.
Just like our families that we serve.
The recession has only increased the needs of the families and lowered the dollars donated. We need your help NOW.
Know, that every dollar you give is changing some child’s life.
I am proud to be an officer and member of the National Autism Association.
Sincerely,
Ann Brasher
Vice President, National Autism Association
ABOUT NAA
The National Autism Association was founded in 2003 with the mission to educate and empower families affected by autism and other neurological disorders. First and foremost an advocacy nonprofit, NAA educates society that autism is not a lifelong incurable genetic disorder but one that is biomedically definable and treatable. For the last six years, NAA has raised public and professional awareness of environmental toxins as causative factors in neurological damage that often results in an autism or related diagnosis. One of the largest member-based autism organizations in the country, NAA encourages those in the autism community to never give up in their search to help their loved ones reach their full potential.
The organization has five programs:
Helping Hand Program: provides financial aid to families affected by autism
Family First Program: provides tools to counter the rising divorce rates among autism families
FOUND: a program designed to combat wandering-related deaths by providing funding to Sheriff offices for Project Lifesaver Equipment
Progress Research: a fund directed towards impactful research studies
NAA’s National Autism Conference: a four-day conference that provides balanced information to families, therapists and practitioners.
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