Columbus Walk for Autism

Yesterday was the first annual Columbus Autism Speaks Walk for Autism. This even was well attended, as, from what I've heard, over 9000 people showed up in support of Autism Walk. As of the last time I looked at the site, over $390,000 was raised online. This doesn't count what was donated yesterday onsite. The event itself was great, as they had several activities to keep everyone busy. For Logan and I, the best was when the Star Wars characters came out.




The walk itself was great, just about a mile and a half. It was an awesome day to go out and walk.


There was also a resource fair for various services and groups willing to assist families who have the diagnosis, but are unsure what is out there, or for those looking for more information. Step by Step was there with a booth, as well as many other providers.

I am excited to see what the final tally is for the walk. They had a great turn out for the first walk, and I hope that next years is even bigger and better.

The Walk

Just to drop a line to let everyone know that I'll be updating this blog tomorrow with pictures and a first hand account of the Columbus edition of Autism Speaks Walk for Autism. So far, over $350,000 has been raised and it's still going up.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Walk for Autism

On October 12th, 2008, Autism Speaks is going to hold a Walk for Autism at the Schott on the Ohio State Campus. Along with my wife, we have seven people currently ready to walk to support this great cause. We are also having a friendly competition with a local celebrity, Jerod Smalley, whose son is also diagnosed with Autism. He and his wife blog on a regular basis about their life with Brady, their son who was diagnosed with Autism a little over a year ago.

If you wish to donate to myself, anyone on the Step by Step team, click here and then choose who you wish to donate to. Autism Speaks is one of the best advocates of Autism in the country, if not the world. The money raised at this walk will go towards research, advocacy, and also to families who need help with their children with Autism, among other things. Also, eighty cents of every dollar raised goes towards these efforts.

Lets help raise the Awareness.

The state is struck down again

The state of Ohio has been attempting to change the way autism services are paid for by Medicaid. Participation by states in the Medicaid system is voluntary, but once you join in, you have to follow the federal guidelines. Gov. Strickland seems to think that with the way payments are done with Step by Step, which is the only 1 on 1 ABA service in central Ohio for children with autism, does not comply with the federal guidelines. However, each arguement he and the ODJFS/MMRD consortium come up with, makes the case for SBSA stronger.

On July 1st, a federal judge placed a restraining order against the rule change that the state was to go into effect that day that was proposed by ODJFS and MRDD. This would have effectively cut funding to SBSA, and threatened several other centers. Those children affected would have to go back on waiting lists, and any progress they made would slowly erode away.

Needless to say, the state asked the judege to recind his ruling. That judge yesterday said that his ruling stands, and the state will now go to appeal. Judge Grahm said when refusing to recind the restraining order said that changes the state proposed "may have the effect of denying many children, not just the plaintiff children," access to needed services. (Source: Columbus Dispatch website). He also stated at the July 1st ruling that the plantiffs (SBSA, and other parents of children with Autism.) have a very good case against the state.

I'm sure Gov. Strickland is upset that he's been beaten back again. His continued assualt on services in this state that help children should not be tolerated by the citizens that he serves. While I do understand that we are in a budget crunch, some of our more vunernable citizens need to be protected. Helping many of these children to learn skills and contribute to society in the future is something that we can't look at from an accountants glasses. Right now, 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with some form of an autism sprectrum disorder. That number will only go up. We must act now to help them mainstream into society.

Autism Benefits galore

It's been awhile, but I'm back for now. Alot has happened, but it would take forever to explain, so I'll just worry about the good things for the moment.

First, Step by Step is still open, and looking good for a fall enrollment. It's exciting to see that. Right now, they are holding their first summer camp, and if the first week is any indication, it's a fun time. Logan comes home everyday happy and talking about his experiences that day. It's great to see and hear about those everyday.

Today was a great day. Melissa, Logan and I attended the Autism benefit in Westerville. This was a charity softball game. The teams were made up from Channel 4, Channel 6, and Channel 10, as well as QFM 96. Jerod Smalley, who is a sports reporter for Channel 4, has a son who was diagnosed with Autism. I got to meet both Jerod, and his son, Brady during the game. Jerod has a blog about his son and the daily life of a family with a child with autism. I also got to meet Dimitirous Stanley, a former wide receiver for Ohio State. They raised over $3000 for the Children's Hospital Autism Center. There were also other autism centers with booth's set up, such as Step by Step, Helping Hands, and one other that I can't remember off the top of my head.

The next big event that I'm aware of is the Walk for Autism that benefits Autism Speaks on Sunday, October 12th. I've created a team. Just click this link and you'll see the team that I've created for this event. I hope to see you there. Even if you can't walk or won't be able to attend, you can still donate and credit our team. It's all for a great cause.

Oh, and here is a picture of Logan from the event...

Three Months, Lots of Changes

In the past almost three months since my last post, alot has happened. I guess the most significant item is the fact that my son's center, Step by Step Academy will be closing. This is very disheartening. Logan was doing SO well there. One more year, and he could be put into a mainstream school and interact with other children his age that were normal, and he could have some sense of normalcy, as much as he could. However, Gov. Strickland and his appointed staff of yes men (and women) saw differently. Strickland didn't like the fact that the school was succeeding at it's job, which is trying to recover autistic children and turn them into future taxpayers, (which we all know that's what they view children as), as well as doctors, news anchors, scientists and other professions. Never mind that. It's all about the here and now. He wants that money for one of his hair-brained "education" schemes.

Now, we have no idea what we are going to do to get Logan the therapy he needs. ODJFS and OMRDD were supposed to get things lined up for us if/when Step by Step was closed or reduced. We had a care coordination meeting with ODJFS as well as the Autism Society of Ohio's Vice President Charlie Flowers come to our house. We were told that we were to basically do what ODJFS was supposed to do. Nothing like losing a month of time to find funding and places to take Logan due to a lobbyists idiocy.

Melissa has been working her tail off trying to get services for Logan. She's working the phones to try and get him respite services, maybe another ABA therapy service, anything that will help us help him achieve the goal of getting him into a mainstream school.

Logan has also been receiving in-home as well. It works very well and I'm proud of all of his progress. The BT's that come here are awesome, and work very well with him. They always remark how well he does, and how much they love working with him. I guess we did something right in raising him.


I'm very proud of him, and I'll always be there to help him, as well as all my daughters, in dealing with his autism in a positive way. It's tough at times, but I know in my heart that we will make it through this tough time. This is a very stressful time for Melissa and I. The not knowing what will happen is very scary, but I'm confident that we'll make it through.