This February, I'm running the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon with Autism Speaks in honor of one of my favorite little princess.  My daughter, Shoshana, was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. At that time, when we knew so little about autism, we felt lost, alone and scared. Through organizations like Autism Speaks, we found families like ours, friends for Shoshana, and siblings for Shoshana's brother and sister to relate to.  We found resources to help us talk out Shoshana's autism to our friends, family and strangers.  We found BCBA's, RBT's, SLP's, OT's, PT's, social workers and paras who love Shoshana for who she is and taught us how to join her in her princess-filled world.  We learned ways to communicate with Shoshana without which we would never be able to meet her needs.  We found sensory hours, camps, horse therapy, after school activities, respite programs, and playdates where we are accepted for who we are as a family without having to worry about all the things that make it challenging for families like ours to go out in public. 

Now, we see how special our little princess is.  We see her grab her friends' hands to initiate connection.  We watch her act out elaborate scenes from her favorite Disney movies with dolls, stuffed animals and other props.  She recently graduated to adaptive riding in horse therapy with her horse, Heldi.  Almost 5 years into this journey, we have a happy 7 year old in a wonderful autism classroom at a inclusive public school, an enormous support network, an extended family that has taken time to learn and understand autism, two budding advocates in Shoshana's little siblings, and parents who are finding their footing in this strange, new world

Every autism family deserves access to the resources that helped us get to where we are. Please help me reach my goal and donate to Autism Speaks, so all autism families can be as lucky as we have been. 

Thank you for helping me reach my goal. Your support is greatly appreciated!