Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 - (Page 43)

Autism Speaks with one voice In 2001, when Glenn Tringali became the chief operating officer of the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), one in 500 children was diagnosed with autism. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 150 children has the disorder. “It is at crisis proportions,” says Tringali, executive vice president of Autism Speaks and father of Lehigh alumna Marissa Tringali ’07. To serve this ever-increasing population, Autism Speaks was founded in 2005. The nonprofit organization unified autism advocates when it merged with NAAR in 2006 and its West Coast cousin, Cure Autism Now, in 2007. “We had very lofty and optimistic hopes for what the merger would do, and they have been exceeded in a very short period of time,” he says. Autism Speaks has set for itself four goals: to support families dealing with autism, fund research, advocate for better care, and increase the public’s awareness of the disorder. Their Family Services Program gives parents a “100 Day Kit” to help parents of newly diagnosed children understand the disorder and find local resources. Detailed information about the disorder, including a video library illustrating autistic behavior and summaries of the newest scientific studies, is posted on their Web site, www.autismspeaks.org. Autism Speaks is the largest private funder of autism research, according to the organization’s 2007 annual report. Last year, it donated more than $30 million to scientists studying the disorder’s causes, diagnosis methods, best treatment practices, and possible cures. Autism Speaks also lobbies state governments to draft and pass legislation guaranteeing adequate health insurance for families of autistic children. One of their most recent successes occurred in Pennsylvania. On July 10, 2008, Gov. Ed Rendell signed the most comprehensive autism insurance bill in the nation, providing $36,000 a year for behavioral therapy and other necessary treatments. “Ultimately, our end goal is for us to go out of business,” Tringali says. “We hope that autism spectrum disorders are something you read about in the history books.” But until the disorder is eradicated, Autism Speaks will continue to be a voice for those whose speech has been muffled by the disorder. To join the Lehigh University Alumni Association’s Call to C.A.R.E. (Caring Alumni Reaching Everyone) campaign to support the work of Autism Speaks, visit www3.lehigh.edu/ alumni/events/calltocare.asp. by Becky Straw This academic year, the Lehigh University Alumni Association selected Autism Speaks as its fourth annual spotlight charity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 150 children has autism. As the nation’s fastest-growing developmental disorder, autism touches the lives of many Lehigh community members, from parents to researchers to businessmen to psychologists. Here is a look at what just some of them are doing to make a difference. At 28 months, Nigel Luke had a formidable lexicon for a toddler, but he did not understand used language as labels. how the words related to each other. Instead, he “We were at a private psychologist’s office and he said, ‘Nigel needs a fridge and a stove,’” his mother, Sally Hood Luke ’89, recalls. “A grammatically correct, perfectly pronounced preferred two words: ‘Me hungry.’” sentence—but what does it mean? I would have Two months later, at 30 months, Nigel was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, a person’s ability to communicate, interact with others, and behave normally. suite of complex brain disorders that impairs a completely stopped interacting with Luke or her husband, Graeme her perfect baby to her chest. For the past month, the toddler had Two years later, the first-time mother sobbed as she clutched fALL 2008 43 illustration BY jim frazier Nigel was the perfect baby and she would be the perfect mother. When Luke had carried her newborn home in 2001, she thought http://www.autismspeaks.org http://www3.lehigh.edu/alumni/events/calltocare.asp http://www3.lehigh.edu/alumni/events/calltocare.asp

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Cover Story: The Dalai Lama at Lehigh Heart of a Champion Around the World in 80 Years Fighting for Children wth Autism Keepers of the Flame From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News The Last Word

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

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