<div>On Monday, January 16, 2023, our family received some clarity. Our son Alexander turns 2 in March but a part of me has known since he was an infant. I was told I was overreacting. I was told that he was just a baby, and he will outgrow it. I was told that “he doesn’t seem that bad.” I was even told I was just finding reasons to worry.
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<div>But somehow, I knew that being my son’s advocate and his voice was more important than just bringing my concerns to his doctor just once. Every day I watch him learn to be a playful, curious, and persistent little boy, and every day the urge to find answers grew on me. And on that day – of January 16, his doctor confirmed all my suspicions and my deepest fears all at once. He was diagnosed with Level 3 ASD; in Ontario, Canada it is also known as <em>Level A</em> (the highest level on the spectrum).
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<div>At that moment I was hoping, I was just overreacting, that he was just a baby, and he will outgrow it, that “he actually didn’t seem that bad” or that I was just finding reasons to worry. Except… I was told I was right. I immediately started to grieve who I thought my son could have been. I mourned at the fact that I felt like he was going to be stripped of a normal functioning life.
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<div>However, I didn’t realize his authentically autistic-self, <em>IS</em> his normal and that he <em>IS</em> living <em>HIS</em> normal functioning life. Every day he wakes up and takes a leap of faith into <strong>OUR</strong> world and forces himself to catch up. Every day he takes risks and tries to accomplish achievements that of a neuro typical child can achieve easily. Alexander; like many other autistic children face challenges over the most simple tasks that many of us take for granted.
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<div>Therefore, as his parents; we’re taking our own leap of faith by asking for support to have him continue to be the playful, curious, persistent boy he is. We wish to be able to provide him with assistance he needs to flourish at his own pace while everyone around his becomes kind to his mind.
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<div>Although there are government funded programs that can assist us and allow us as parents to be equipped with the right knowledge for raising an autistic child, the therapy that has been suggested to us by his developmental paediatrician: Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI), is <em>not</em> funded and is only offered through pay-per-service specialists and or private care. This type of therapy has been quoted to us ranging from as little as $6,000 for 2 days a week for 12 weeks to $60,000 for 5 days for 24 weeks. He is only 2, we understand he is autistic for life.
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<div><em>“Fee for Service Options.” ErinoakKids, </em><a href="https://www.erinoakkids.ca/autism-services/fee-for-service-options." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><a href="https://www.erinoakkids.ca/autism-services/fee-for-service-options." target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.erinoakkids.ca/autism-services/fee-for-service-options.</a></em></a><em> </em>
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<div>Our hope is to be able to raise funds for his on-going support with specialists. While we remain on the waiting lists for government assistance for his programs, we are hoping that enrolling him into 1:1 sessions and daycare at an early stage will benefit his social development and God-willing, the rest of his development.
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<div>Our names are: Leslie, Andrew and Caitlyn and we thank everyone whole heartedly for any support you donate.
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/70916625_167563788473832_r." width="100%" />
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Judy Liou

Anonymous

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Edward Ham

Chris Ortiz-Luis

Justin Whittaker

Keeran Birwah

Maria Domingo

Tia Anderson

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Tyger Lauw

Alex’s Journey Fund

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

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Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

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Streaming widgets beta user

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Platform is Android

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Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

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International Only

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AUD Donation Upsell audience

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Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

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Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

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Person ids

United States (US) users

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iOS at or above 12.4.0

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Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

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UC Tipping v20250115 International

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Android at or above 12.2.0

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Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

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Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

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AI Chatbot Audience

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UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

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Custom users

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Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

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Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

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NPO upsell cancer category

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PYMK has donors

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Alex’s Journey Fund

Still $20,849 to go. Help us build momentum.