SYC: Helping Families with Autism

By Justin Foss, Reporter

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By Daren Sukhram

Story Created: Dec 21, 2009 at 6:31 PM CST

Story Updated: Dec 21, 2009 at 6:31 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - About one in every 150 American children has some sort of autism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out those numbers just two years ago.

About that time, hundreds of people laced up to walk for autism in Cedar Rapids.

Since then the East Central Iowa Autism Society has raised thousands of dollars to help families and kids handle and treat autism.

When J.D. Grawe gets into something, he doesn't go half-way. One thing that holds his attention for hours: video games, especially Mario Brothers.

It's that tenacity that shows why he's unique. But that's not the only thing that sets him apart.

"You're autistic right? Yeah. So what does that mean? That I get to do certain stuff," J.D. said while being interviewed.

Autism is hard to define, and for each child, it looks a little bit different. For nine year old J.D., autism first took hold when he was two and a half.

"He stopped speaking, eating, he totally lost all those social skills where he could live," said his guardian and grandmother Sheri Grawe.

Sheri says it's been a long road, and a long seven years. But what helps, is the Autism Society of East Central Iowa, and she's now a member.

"People come to us and if they just want to sit and cry, they can cry," Sheri said.

For the last two years, the local chapter has filled the halls at Westdale Mall with the Autism walk to raise money. That money helps kids like J.D. go to camps, see doctors and even take trips.

To do all that, they get a lot of help.

"Would it be hard to do if you didn't have the support from the Show You Care?" I asked. "I think it would be very hard," Sheri said.

From what walkers earned here, J.D. got a grant to spend a weekend at Camp Courageous. It's precious time he spends with other kids going through the same challenges.

"That's one of the most important things too. We want our kids to have fun, after all, they're just kids too," said Sheri.

And given the right chance, these kids smile as big as anyone.

The next autism walk will be April 24th at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids.

Please watch our Show You Care special "Seasons of Service" that airs again this Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

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