A Story for Thomas

I was asked to write a story for a magazine to be published in August for the September/October issue. It's about Thomas and what our upcoming fundraiser is and what our efforts have been. I haven't sent this to them yet, but I did send it to my family. After my previous blog I have a feeling that some "other" people read that so if they are reading this.... READ this story, truly understand what is going on here. This is lifelong, every day, every second and it affects not just Thomas but all of us. Here is Thomas' Story

On March 30, 2010 Thomas Summers was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, a form of Autism. For his family this meant that life would forever change. Thomas is a loving, sweet 4 year old little boy with a twin sister and a 9 year old brother. His mother decided that there should be more awareness for Autism and decided to raise money for the Autism Society of North Carolina by doing fundraisers. Right now 1 out of 110 children are diagnosed with Autism and it is four times more common in boys than girls. With the help of her friends and family they formed “Team Thomas” to walk in the upcoming Run/Walk for Autism in Raleigh on October 9 in Moore’s Square. The team got together and started going to local businesses and asking for donations for t-shirts and seeing who would allow them to do fundraisers. They were pleasantly surprised by the amount of support that was shown not only to the cause but also to the Summers family. “Team Thomas” has had a Partylite fundraiser, Chick-fil-a Spirit Night, an ongoing 31 Gifts fundraiser and they will be at three of the First Fridays on the Lawn. All of these combined were great but they all had one big one in mind. Heather Summers, Thomas’ mother, contacted Steve Raper owner of the Doghouse Grill and asked him if he would be interested in helping out. Steve ran with the idea and an enormous event was created. On September 11 from Noon-Midnight “Team Thomas” and the Doghouse Grill will have an Autism Fundraiser. Starting at Noon we will have games, face painting, the start of our silent auction, music, candy and much more! Stop in and have lunch and see what we have going on. We will have our t-shirts, lots of information to hand out, Autism Awareness bracelets, pins and magnets. The team is all there to answer questions, play and have a good time. The Easy Street Band will be there to play around 8pm until Midnight and “Team Thomas” will still be going strong. There will also be a bake sale and we would love to have the community involved. Stop by the table and sign up for the walk while you are there.
Finally, Mike and Heather would like to thank our friends and family for their love and support. We want to thank the businesses who have donated their time, effort or money to us or the Autism Society. We deeply appreciate all of the prayers and concerns from our community!
*”Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a group of developmental disabilities—including classic autism, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger’s Syndrome—that affect a person’s ability to understand what they see, hear, and otherwise sense. It is a brain disorder that impacts communication, social interaction, and behavior. Individuals with ASD typically have difficulty understanding verbal and nonverbal communication and learning appropriate ways of relating to other people, objects, and events. No two people with ASD are the same. As its name implies, ASD is a spectrum disorder that affects individuals differently and with varying degrees of severity. Additionally, ASD is often found in combination with other disabilities.” (Autism Society of North Carolina)