Our 3rd Annual Autism Awareness Gala Speech
Litsa:
What is determination?
Here are four short examples:
The unconditional love, perseverance, and dedication from the mother (Rana) in war torn
The dedication, unconditional love, and relentless persistence of the single mother in China (Fue Ping), unable to find any resources for her son, goes on to establish a specialized school named Shin-Shin Yu for children with autism, that includes therapy for children and special training for parents.
From the father in Canada, Mr. Mariniou, who walked 462km from Toronto to Ottawa to talk to government officials about a national solution towards a national crisis - A diabetic father who was on a hunger strike to capture the attention of the absolute necessity of funding for therapies by Medicare, and alleviating the two year waiting time on the diagnostic lists.
From the father in Canada, Jonathan Howard who is running the dream from coast to coast across Canada, from St. John’s to Victoria, raising awareness and money along the way. He has met with all the premiers of the provinces, mayors, and business people alike. “Run the Dream” can be the next platform to the therapies, and his goal is to raise 2.5 million dollars. Jonathan’s running companion is Terry Robinson – 2 time para-Olympian champion.
Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is determination.
This evening, we are honored to have with us Senator Munson, who not only participated in meeting Mr. Mariniou at the steps of Parliament Hill at the last leg of his journey, but Senator Munson also braved roller blades at the “Run for the Dream” event. We are happy to announce he came out of it with no broken bones.
The dedication, unconditional love, perseverance and relentless advocacy of these parents are the main underlying factors in pursuing our project.
My name is Litsa Kamateros, and this is my co-writer Lea Schizas.
We’d like to thank Melissa Vitulano for her own determination in offering this exceptional and important gala for a third year in a row.
Our main goal is to bring the personal stories, with the everyday joys and struggles of parents, with our combined research and facts, to the limelight.
The intent of our book, Autism Epidemic: Shaking the System, is to give a detailed research of the heart-wrenching bureaucratic long tape on getting a child assessed and treated for autism. Throughout our upcoming book you’ll read personal accounts from parents and teachers across
Their stories need to be told and heard. Change is needed in
working excessive amount of hours,
having lost or remortgaged their homes,
racking up considerable debts,
and ending up with broken marriages.
What has been said is that the earlier these children receive their therapies the better they’ll be in the long run and they can eventually become tax paying citizens - and not tax burdens to our society.
The parents have had enough of these endless debates. The time has come for immediate action from government.
Autism must be enshrined under a universal Medicare system, specifically for
Political indifference to a national crisis must no longer be tolerated. The current patchworks of provincial programs are unacceptable.
Our book will show:
- The epidemic of people who consider autism as a disease
- The epidemic of the frightening statistical numbers rising each year
- The epidemic of some government officials who stand by and do nothing to support or help the families’ financially
And lastly
- The epidemic of officials who say no one with autism can recover or be helped.
Our intent as authors is to bring about awareness and a unified voice on this national crisis and to help battle this indifference by many in the higher ranks. Grassroot organizations can help build momentum.
Let there be more autism awareness fundraisers such as: annual autism walkathons and runathons nationwide as a unified front.
In 2008 the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Allegiance states that 1 out of every 150 children has autism. Among all children, autism is more widespread than cancer, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
Alarmingly, that number is growing at a rate of 10 to 17 percent each year making autism the fastest growing disability in the country.
Autism is a neurologically based spectrum disorder, affecting individuals by degrees from mild to severe. Children who are affected by autism exhibit a range of behavior in varying degrees of severity such as:
- Delay in language and communication skills
- Many challenges with social interaction
- Insistence on sameness and resistance to change
- And lastly, many challenges with sensory issues.
Here is a National Strategy to be considered or how many parents would say, to be implemented:
- Funding for the creation of academic chairs and departments of
- Establishing federal/provincial systems to license, register, and certify professional
- To recognize certified
- Provide easily accessible information about autism to family physicians, pediatricians and all other Canadians to raise awareness and promote earlier diagnosis.
Things that must change in
- To create a devoted division to autism
- To create a unified front for accessibility to critical information on current research and strategies
- To create a board of experts who will supply up to the minute research findings to everyone involved in this division
In other words, there is an absolute need to modify and change the public health agency to accept Autism Spectrum Disorder as part of an urgent medical need.
We are pleased to announce that we are giving back 20% of our profits from our book for autism research or an autism center.
The cry of the parents of children with autism:
Help us help our children
We want government to stand on the side of the children, and not in the way of the children.
Thank you.
Lea:
Just to show that I am not a silent partner, I’d like to add the following:
In 1943 and then in 1944, Dr. Leo Kanner and Dr. Hans Asperger both reported traits in children that we have now come to know as Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Sixty-five years later, in 2008, we are still puzzled as to the causes of autism. Although much research has been done so far, we need to continue exploring.
It is our moral obligation to our children, to the children of the future, to investigate and research all possible underlying factors, controversial or not, until the solutions are found. Only then can the healing process begin.
The long waiting lists, the cutthroat cutoff point of six years old for government funding for therapies are just two areas as Litsa pointed out that need fine-tuning and changed. With the prevalent rising of autism, our government has to seriously look into placing Autism Spectrum Disorder and its therapies as part of our Health Act and implement into our Medicare system.
Litsa and I will be offering workshops along with guest speakers in various libraries in 2009, the first being at the Dollard Library on April 30th, and an Autism Awareness Walkathon is now being planned for May 2009, which we’re hoping to rope Senator Munson and his lovely wife in attending. To keep informed on our event schedule, Melissa has included our pamphlets in her lootbag that indicate our website and email address.
We’d like to thank everyone for coming tonight and we’re looking forward meeting many of you over the course of the night.
Thank you.
