From Our President

A Letter from the American Autism Association President on Our Autism Initatives

Dear Friends,

The state of autism initiatives in the United States is better than ever before. But there is still much work to be done. Too often, I hear of children slipping through the cracks of our education system, lacking the autism support groups or access to schools for autism that would nurture and understand them.

And all too often, I hear of parents who are unable to locate sources of autism funding that will support their children directly. Such funding is available, but many times, struggling parents just don’t know where to look for it, or what to do with it once they’ve got it.

That’s why we’re here: to change the face of autism support by helping families directly.

It all started when my company decided to donate to a charity that focused on autism initiatives. When we started doing the research, however, I was disappointed by what I saw: a lack of money going to help children directly. Research on such things as what causes autism is important, to be sure. But in the meantime, we have some really beautiful, important young people in our community who need our support now.

So we decided to start our own charity, to help improve the lives of autistic people in New York. From working with schools for autism to provide after-school programs and life-skills workshops, to helping connect families to autism funding they can depend on, I’m proud to say we’ve come a long way in our efforts.

There’s nothing better than seeing a bright smile on a child’s face, and knowing you helped put it there. And that’s where you come in.

As we move to an even brighter future, expanding our therapy for autism programs and creating more resources for parents looking for autism programs, we know the support of our donors and volunteers will make all the difference in the world.

With your help, we plan to open our own highly specialized autism support center, where we will help more families every day learn just how much brighter their future can be, starting today.

Now if you’re like I was, you want to help, but you’re not sure what you can do. At American Autism Association, we believe every single person can make a difference.

We welcome new volunteers on an ongoing basis, working with them to determine the best way to match their skills with our autism program needs. Donations and corporate sponsorships are also very powerful ways to help support our efforts. When you contribute to our nonprofit work, you can bet that your dollars are going straight to our autism programs.

What’s more, you can help simply by participating in our community. Share your child’s story. Learn more about autism and help educate your friends and family. We’re grateful for any amount of your time and support.

Together, we can brighten a lot of lives in New York. I personally thank you for your interest in our work.

In friendship,

Eduard Rozenfeld, President