Our Story...
Our organization has been in existence for approximately twenty-two years. The organization was created to fill a great void that was present in Laredo. Once a child was diagnosed with Autism, there was no one to turn to and nowhere to go in our community. Community Leaders such as school personnel, physicians, and law enforcement people were not very knowledgeable about Autism and did not know how to deal with the disability, the children and their families. The nearest help was 150 miles away.
During the past twenty years, our organization has been holding monthly support meetings where we focus on SUPPORTING each other, share our ups and downs, discuss effective strategies that work for our children, and discuss ways to advocate for our children.
We have also hosted annual Autism conferences in Laredo: a first for this city. Because of the high incident rate of this disability, we have had a constant increase in the number of participants in our meetings, social gatherings, and especially our conference. In order to target the children’s social deficits and help aid the families’ acceptance and support, we also host social gatherings that include Christmas and Halloween parties and our annual Thanksgiving banquet.
Mission Statement:
Our mission is to promote Autism Awareness and to create a non-biased compassionate community where individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders can become lifelong productive members of our society while still keeping their uniqueness and integrity.
Our objectives include, but are not limited to:
Empowering parents and caregivers to better serve their children’s needs.
Increase community awareness about this disability.
Offer more social activities for families.
Work hand in hand with the local school districts to provide the best education for the children.