Having an Autistic child

	About Us
		Mark Christoph, Founder CBAA

I am the father of a 10 year old Asperger son, and for me, having an Autistic child has been a blessing. Yes, difficult when you go to the store, trapped on a plane or a bus, and even church, but when you hear and see how he views the world, you come to realize just how lucky you are to be a part of his life. Like most parents with an ASD child, I combed the World Wide Web for answers. I was amazed how active and aware some parts of our country are about Autism Spectrum Disorders and felt that a need for awareness and resources existed here in the Coastal Bend. That is why I started the CBAA (Coastal Bend Autism Advocacy.

CBAA will provide money for educational and social programs for ASD kids. An example of a specialized instructional program could be for reading, writing or arithmetic. It could be a program that will help the non-verbal ASD child to speak, or Occupational Therapy to assist with motor skills. Whatever the educational, physiological or social need the ASD child or young adult has, CBAA would like to help. Research has shown that early intervention is the key to success when dealing with a child diagnosed with ASD. CBAA can assist by providing money for or to off-set the cost of some of these diagnostics and therapies so that ASD children can achieve skills necessary to lead productive lives. CBAA can also provide grants to ASD adults entering vocational programs or college. CBAA's Mission is to provide monetary assistance to all ASD children and young adults to reach their full potential.

Mom, dads and care givers with autistic children have special needs, too. Many parents with autistic children often feel isolated or abandoned by society. Sometimes we feel that nobody cares, or we feel hurt by strangers, neighbors and even family members who judge us because we can not control our child's behavior. My wife and I have been on this roller coaster ride many times, as have many of you with ASD Children have.. CBAA will be here to listen to you, and to provide you with links to many of the wonderful support groups that meet. The CBAA can assist you with grants to use for special needs. CBAA will also help ASD families in the Coastal Bend by sponsoring qualified individuals in ASD to speak and educate us so that we can help our children.

With your help, the CBAA can support our special education teachers and regular education teachers who instruct ASD children. These teachers are on the front lines, and we will provide grants to them or for them to assist teaching our ASD children. CBAA will sponsor and participate in workshops or conferences to help educate the educators so that they can learn the latest research and techniques to sucessfully teach ASD children. We value our teachers and CBAA will help them.

How can you make all of this happen? By offering your time and talent. By giving a donation to CBAA. By participating in a Walk, Ride or Run for Autism with the proceeds going to CBAA. Or by soliciting the help of business or corporations to donate money to help CBAA. CBAA is a nonprofit 501.c3 corporation, and all money raised here stays here.. For every dollar raised, 100% will go to the benefit of Coastal Bend ASD children, families and educators. So do what you can to help. Even a small amount of help can go a long way to assist the Autistic Child.

You can start today by spreading the word about CBAA. We are registering people now who want to be ADVOCATES for their children, or a for a child they know, or who just want to help.