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1498
Joined
9/5/2008
Location
St Petersburg, FL
US
Edited Date/Time
1/25/2012 8:13am
I am trying to put together a cross country ride to raise money for Autism Awareness. We are looking at starting the ride in the Clearwater, Florida area and ending in the Ventura, California area. The route we are looking at is 2,620 miles. I've always wanted to do something for Autism ever since my little brother Austin was diagnosed when he was 3 years old. If anyone is interested in this ride as far as riding in it or even just making donations to help support it send me a message and I can give you more information and details on the event. Thanks guys.
Being from Australia I obviously won't be able to make the ride but I'll give this thread a bump as I have a son with Asperger's and know of the increasing Austirm rate in both the U.S and around the world.
Again, best of luck.
Autism Awareness is very important because most so-called "normal" people don't realize how much people with autism struggle to get through each day in a world they don't quite understand dealing with people that don't quite understand them. You probably come into contact with someone on the autism spectrum almost every day but don't realize it!
My oldest son was diagnosed with autism about a year ago... at 15 years old. He is high-functioning and is quite bright in some areas but has struggled in other areas his whole life. We went through hell at times before he was diagnosed. Over the years, his school teachers told us all kinds of things... he was immature, lazy, disorganized, unmotivated, etc. We started hearing those sort of things when he was in kindergarten... and kept hearing it year after year.
What threw most people off was, for example, he was reading at the 6th grade level in 2nd grade. My wife and I knew something more was going on... but we had no idea what... and the public education system was no help at all to us. We discussed our son with pediatricians, family practice doctors, a sociologist and a school psychologist but they never had any ideas that were helpful. We had him evaluated three times but still no help. Granted, they were not autism specialists, but they still weren't able to point us in any direction. Talk about frustration! One day I read about autism in the newspaper and there were a few things in the article that made me go hmmmm. After researching autism online, I knew we were finally on the right track.
When we had him evaluated by an autism specialist and we told him of our experiences over the years, he was visibly upset that our son had to go through all that. He was disgusted by the fact that so many professional educators and doctors who should have at least suspected autism never had a clue. To him, the autism was obvious and he thought at least one person over the years should have at least suspected it. Well, through increased Autism Awareness, hopefully other kids won't go through what my son did.
MCfan, I suspect the autism rate is not necessarily increasing but rather it is finally being recognized and diagnosed. It has been around a long, long time... it's genetic. The experts in the field say something like 1 in 10 people are on the autism spectrum... the spectrum being from severely autistic to high-functioning autistic.
Those on the severe end of the spectrum are pretty easy to spot but those on the higher end of the spectrum are typically viewed by most "normal" people as a bit odd or strange or quirky. So the folks who are on the high-functioning end... and perhaps have struggled through life undiagnosed... or misdiagnosed... are finally beginning to be properly diagnosed. With a diagnosis, they are able to learn about the disorder, better understand themselves, and learn how to function in a "normal" world.
The Shop
As for a time frame for the ride we are looking at trying to do it sometime in September or October because weather would be best or so we hope.
If anyone has any idea or input towards this on how i could present it to the Autism Awareness foundation and to MX companies for support and donations I'd really appreciate it. I'll be launching a Facebook page for it once i speak with them.
I watched several videos and could'nt detect clear evidence of Asperger's in him (and my son is a high functionning autistic child, so I am very familiar with those syndroms)...
But I guess if he has been diagnosed, he must be Asperger's.
Makes me wonder if any of the famous MX'ers could be affected, while not diagnosed??...
https://youtu.be/HKRIRZEV4B4
I was in the process of writing a reply to YZ that, in essence, said the same things as the video.
The biggest issue facing people with Aspergers or high-functioning autistics, is the so-called "normal" people. The video calls them "typical" which is a better descriptor than "normal".
About 6 months ago when discussing some "typical" kids at school, my son said to me, "Dad, sometimes I think people with autism are the normal ones".
Looking at society today, I strongly suspect he is correct.
This is your baby, YZ so obviously it's your call.
Sean Hamblin is on here from time to time. Maybe he could mention it to Grant as a sort of heads-up? The motocross community is generally a wonderful bunch of people and I would guess those affected in some way by autism would be more than happy to help in whatever way they can.
BTW, get this thing rolling and I will do what I can to help. I know some folks in the industry that will most likely want to do something to help make it a success.
Pit Row
Grant Langston
My favorite memory of our Autism Awareness event was in 2001 when we gave a way a new XR70 away. With over 170 drawing tickets sold, my son who always picked the top prize at the event, pulled one ticket for a 17 autistic young man who's single mom bought just one ticket. They were at the event and I'll never forget the look on that young mans face when he finally realized that new motorcycle was his. Amazing that my son picked that one ticket! There was not a dry eye in the crowd. Even Jim Pomeroy, Barry Higgins and Brad Lackey were choked up as they were at the event supporting our cause. To this day that bike sits in their living room and he sits on it and makes motor sounds. He is a low functioning Autistic young man now but still loves that shiny red Honda he won. Best of luck and if I can help, please let me know!
If your trek brings you down IH10, my house is one block off the interstate, about 16 miles after you cross into Texas from Louisiana. I have RV hookups here for your chase vehicle, a soon to be complete guest area in the mancave, pool and red meat always on the grill. Maybe plan a rest day. I'm hoping to help out Jimmy Button and his crew on their way through in March.
I started my post about an hour ago. Finally got back to the computer to finish it up and saw this after hitting submit. Sounds too familiar!
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