Mary Melton is fundraising
Help a Family Navigate Autism—and Feel Less Alone
Maybe you have a sibling, a friend, a neighbor, or a colleague who recently learned that their child is on the autism spectrum.
Maybe you are that family.
It can lead to months, even years, of confusion, wrong turns, and casting about in darkness.
We were that family.
Fifteen years ago, when our son, Isaac, received his autism diagnosis, his preschool lacked resources or capabilities. He struggled with anxiety and connecting to peers. We could see his social isolation, but it took a while before seeing our social isolation as a family.
Then we discovered the safe harbor that was and always will be Cheerful Helpers Child and Family Study Center, a therapeutic school and early intervention program that has provided support since 1935. We met teachers there with a wealth of experience in alleviating anxieties. They radiated a passion that vaporized doubt, and had vast reserves of patience and confidence that instilled a deep sense of trust in hard-to-reach kids and the most frustrated and exhausted parents.
Cheerful Helpers provided an unparalleled environment for our son; it also provided much-needed family counseling for us. My husband and I met privately with a compassionate and knowledgeable therapist twice a month. We also met weekly in a support group with other parents at the school.
Those parents became our lifeline. They were a collective source of strength, a new extended family who "got" us and who laughed and cried with us. Our son would be less socially isolated, but as importantly for our family’s health, so would we. We shared birthdays and camping trips full of wonder (and s'mores), and memorable Saturdays with the world’s most patient yogi—whom we also met through Cheerful Helpers. Our world opened up again.
I want a family in need of this level of support to have it, no matter their financial situation. That's why I'm helping Cheerful Helpers raise $5,000 to sponsor an academic year of counseling for one family, which covers the cost of the weekly parent group and individual family sessions.
Why now? Because Isaac is completing his junior year at a performing arts school, where he's a member of the jazz and wind orchestras. He plays vibes and piano and drums. When I'm stressed, he starts tapping away at Satie. He’ll be visiting colleges this summer. He's come distances that were unimaginable to us 15 years ago.
We're secure in knowing where he'll spend his senior year and that he'll have the support in place to help him succeed. But I am aware that, as the academic year winds down, many parents trying to understand a new diagnosis don't know where their child will be going to school in the fall, or who will be there to support them when they need it most. Feelings those families you may know could be experiencing right now.
Your gift will help a family build a sense of resolve and self-agency that, if not unassailable, will give them tools to navigate so much of what the world will throw their way. And for them to become even stronger allies to—and advocates for—their children. Thank you for helping move a family from a place of worry and fear to one of growth and transformation—and to ensure they feel less alone.
- J
- S
- D
48 supporters
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