Greetings Friends and Family,

I will be participating in the Virgin Money London Marathon in April on my quest to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors. I have been given the opportunity to make my miles meaningful by fundraising for Organization for Autism Research. Over the past several years, my circle has come to include folks who know, work with, or have children who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. As the focus moves from autism awareness to autism acceptance, OAR is helping these people to navigate the challeges they encounter throughtout their lives. The fact is that whether we realize it not, each of us knows or loves someones who has autism, and I'm proud to do my part in helping this charity to continue to help people to be successful in life. 

Here's a link to the OAR: mission-history

WHAT IS AUTISM?

Autism is a neurological disorder that typically is diagnosed by the age of three. The symptoms of autism involve three major areas of development, and impact a child’s abilities to:

• Engage in reciprocal social interactions with others
• Communicate with others in developmentally typical ways; and
• Participate in a range of activities and behaviors typical of the child’s age and stage of development

One of the hallmarks of autism is that the characteristics vary significantly among different children with autism. No two children with autism are the same. That’s because the impairments can range from relatively mild to more severe. Autism spectrum disorders are found in all cultures and across all socio-economic groups, with the ratio of boys to girls diagnosed with ASD being 4 to 1.

The Virgin Money London Marathon is the largest annual single-day charity fundraising event on the planet. A record-breaking £66.4 million was raised for charity in 2019 and with your help we can make it even more next year.

My fundraising goal is $5000. A donation in any amount would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much in advance for your support of my running, of me, and of the charities that do so much to help others. It is very greatly appreciated.

Judy