Today, April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day, also called Autism Acceptance Day. For my son Gabriel, neither acceptance nor awareness is enough. I want Gabe to be CELEBRATED for the beautiful person that he is! Gabe is handsome, and smart, and incredibly sweet. He views the world differently from many of his neurotypical peers, but in so many ways he's just like them. There are things he loves passionately, things he finds challenging, and many many things he is curious about.

Gabe is 13, and soon will be 14. So far he has led a life of relative comfort and privilege. But up until the last few months I can honestly say he has never had a true friend. He is often misunderstood and excluded because peers find his interests and his own unique style in personal interactions to be too different from the lockstep conformity of middle school. Sometimes they think he is just "too much". This is starting to change, slowly, and I am doing my best to cheer him on as he learns to develop very basic friendships where he is not ridiculed or taken advantage of.

This summer Gabe has a unique opportunity to attend a summer camp for kids who are even more like him. It is a 3-week sleepaway camp with an emphasis on helping kids like Gabe form friendships and engage with one another in enriching activities where they can truly be themselves. The camp is perfect for Gabe, but it is incredibly expensive.

I am a person of considerable means, and I have been fortunate to spend an entire career doing work that I love. But I cannot support Gabe's attendance at this special summer camp alone. To commemorate World Autism Awareness Day and to celebrate the beautiful human being that is Gabe, I'm creating this fundraiser to ask for help. I do this with humility and trepidation, fueled by the success of a fundraiser for Gabe's sibling who suffers from ADHD, anxiety and depression to go on a trip to Japan a few years ago that was truly life-changing. I believe Gabe's summer camp has the potential to be life-changing, too

For Gabe's summer camp experience, any tiny amount would be an incredible gift.

I'm asking for Gabe, and for all people on the autism spectrum who add so much beauty and dimension to the world. To quote a colleague, today and every day may we see kids on the spectrum not for the way they differ from the norm, but for the unique ways they enrich it.

Thanks for considering.

Miriam Ehtesham-Cating