Hello and welcome to my fundraising page. Autism awareness and autism outreach are at the forefront of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. Because of this, I felt compelled again to raise money and run for this organization again in 2026.
My son was diagnosed at the age of 3 with Asperger’s Syndrome, which at the time was considered an Autism Spectrum Disorder. More than fifteen years later, as he turned 19 this year, I was struck by the amazing journey that he, his mother and I have traveled. It’s been hard to accept his differences over the years. I often had to be reminded that he was not neurotypical and my ideas of “common sense” were antiquated and hurtful. His needs helped me to always give grace and patience to my children first and look deeper into their struggles. While some things may always be on the surface, if we had not looked deeper when he was 3, who knows what could have happened.
In recent years, I feel I have been consistently called to be an allied voice. There is a lot of misinformation in the world today and we NEED to find and fund those organizations that will continue to use the scientific method for study and provide assistance and hope to those families that, at first, just don't know what to do.