Help Oliver, a Bright Autistic 6-Year-Old, Thrive

Dear friends, family, and kind-hearted strangers,

I’m reaching out to ask for your support helping our amazing 6-year-old autistic child get the summer care and enrichment he needs to continue developing his communication skills, address sensory challenges, gain new levels of independence, and participate in meaningful activities of daily living.

Lat summer he attended a wonderful program that helped immensely with his ability to communicate his needs. He has aged out of that program. He is now in kindergarten and the school has a special needs program for part of the summer (at no cost) that Oliver will benefit from especially since its held in the same building he attends school at. He does have a difficult time with transitions to new environments and new people. In addition there is a half day summer program through the town we live in that Oliver qualifies for ($600).

Oliver is full of curiosity, creativity, and kindness—but like many autistic children, he really benefits from structure, specialized support, and therapeutic programming that isn’t always covered by insurance or school services. This summer, we’re hoping to enroll him in a high-quality program tailored to neuro-diverse kids.

We’re raising $2,500 to cover:

Specialized summer day programming with trained staff - Oliver can self regulate his emotions but he can also engage in self harm when he becomes upset. For his own safety it is important that he is in a small group and under the care of trained professionals who know how to respond to his behaviors.

Weekly occupational and speech therapy sessions - We are working on potty training with Oliver right now. Over the summer we are hopeful that we can accomplish this goal (he is so close) as well as help him to learn other self care skills like brushing his teeth and bathing. He has struggled with water sensory issues but has made good progress with hand washing. We also would love to see Oliver expand his preferred foods. Right now he has a very small menu of not the most healthy things. He has overcome some of his food sensory triggers. When he was younger he would vomit at the sight of certain foods and could not be in the same room with people eating things that triggered him. He can now sit in the cafeteria at school with his classmates and tolerate the sight of the different foods they eat. There is an interesting process that occupational therapists use to help kiddos like Oliver with their food sensory issues that goes way beyond anything we could do on our own at home. In the last few weeks Oliver has been stating that he is hungry but not wanting anyof the foods he does eat. I try to offer other options but without success. There is a very particular set of steps that can be followed to get kids like Oliver to expand their tolerated foods but we really need professional help to get him there.

Oral Hygenine and Dentists vists - Oliver had his first dentist visit a week ago, he was able to sit in the chair for a minute but once he realized what was happening he ran back to the waiting room crying and hitting himself on the head. The dentist suggested that we set up regular monthly visits to desensitize Oliver and help him have a successful dental visit. This will not be covered by insurance and time off of work will be reqired.

Social skills groups to help build confidence and friendships - Oliver is a verbal communicator with limitations, we would love to see him build on this skill and become more able to talk to us about his feelings, wants, and needs as well as develop the ability to interact with kids his age through play.

3 weeks home with mom and dad - dad has some vacation time to use, mom works 3 part time jobs with no vacation time. Some of the funds would enable mom and dad to take time off from work to implement a potty training program within the home and work with the occupational therapist using their strategies to introduce new foods.

These programs don’t just fill time—they build skills, foster connection, and give this child a chance to thrive, learn, and feel included.

Every donation—no matter the size—gets us closer to giving Oliver the chance to grow and learn. If you can’t give right now, sharing this fundraiser would mean so much.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting this journey. Your kindness makes a real difference.

With gratitude,

Danielle

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