Thomas WILL beat Autism

David W Croke is organizing this fundraiser.

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My wife Traci and I were concerned for our beloved Thomas when, around 2 years of age, his development regressed. He would have screaming fits for no apparent reason. Thomas’ developing speech diminished to screamed demands or scripted dialogue from movies/shows; he also began repetitive spinning of toy car wheels and plane propellers. And he made no eye contact with anyone, he just stopped looking at us with those beautiful, deep brown eyes.

Thomas was diagnosed with autism at 3 yrs of age. He has been receiving ABA therapy and making it through public school with “meltdowns”. Going out to dinner or shopping is still out of the question due to his extreme reactions to stimuli, throwing himself/items on the floor or even running out of the building.

We attended the The Son-Rise Program® Start-Up and saw immediate results; we reduced the environmental factors that contributed to Thomas’ tantrums, changed our attitude about his behaviors, and found ways to help him transition to new situations. We saw a decrease in meltdowns and he was generally calmer within the home.
While things are better in the home, that behavior change has unfortunately reached a plateau. In school Thomas has significant trouble accommodating the environment; he is reacting violently to others and situations with an intensity and duration such that he has been moved to a more restrictive environment , i.e. away from our goal of a mainstream classroom. This is not what we want for our son. We know there is so much more we can do to help Thomas develop into an independent and thriving child who loves “our world”, feels safe and trust others, however we cannot do the next step alone

Few autism treatments are covered by insurance, much less a home based/parent led/child-centered one such as ours. The class is called The Son-Rise Program® Maximum Impact and is in April 2015. This fund is to cover costs for travel and training of Traci and I at the center in Sheffield, Massachusetts. This course gives us more skills and techniques as well as train/prepare our volunteers. The expenses for travel and course fees total 8250.00. A teacher and a paramedic do not make enough to cover this large of a one-time expense.

Thomas is an amazingly bright and loving son struggling to accommodate the world surrounding him. If you can help us, even in your prayers, know that you will be supporting Thomas’ move into a mainstream environment, be independent and one day contribute in a meaningful way.