Letter from the President

Dear Friends:

This   year   has   gone   by  so quickly! As the summer ends,  I
wanted  to   summarize   the  many things the Autism Society of
America, Lehigh Valley Chapter has done this year.   We   have held many general outings (Iron Pigs, Lehigh Valley Zoo, Snow Tubing at Blue Mountain, Bounce-U, swimming at Rodale Center at   Cedar   Crest   College),   hosted   or   co-hosted    several meetings/parties   (Legislator’s  meeting,  Christmas party, teen dance),  co-sponsored  Jed Baker’s 1 day conference, and held several   parent   run   activity   groups   (pre-teen,   Teen/Adult, Asperger’s   Teen/Adult,   bowling  Sundays).   Additionally,  we awarded      six     college   students    Todd-Roche    Memorial  Scholarships  ($500 each) and distributed 139 Child Enrichment grants to people in the Lehigh Valley.

All   of   these   activities   are   created   and  run by only a few
dedicated   volunteers,   including   board   members  Traci Cyr,
Kimberly   Heinrichs,  Tracy Bodnar,  Sheri   Miltenberger,    Liz
DeSantis,  and  myself.   Joanne Laudenslager  runs the Sunday
Bowling,   and    Monica   Halkias   and    I    together   run   the
Asperger’s     Teen/Adult   group.   Kimberly Heinrichs started a
pre-Teen   Asperger’s   group   this  year. We are very fortunate
that   Sheila   Fabrizio   and Anna Ball created a great dance for
ASA-LV  with  a  DJ  and  all!   I   also  want to thank Ellen Hunt
and   the   ARCH   staff   for   helping   with  several events and
allowing us to use their wonderful facilities.

I truly  believe   that   volunteering  to   help  others and working
together  to  create  a  friendly  environment for our special kids
is  really  important.   While  we  will  always need professional
help   and   services   from   professional   organizations,    we
should  be helping each other to create an autism-friendly world.
This is not  an  easy task.  I  am concerned that as funding gets
tighter,  we  are  going to need each other more. I would like to
encourage  parents  and  caregivers to join ASA-LV in whatever
capacity  to  volunteer  to do one event or create one activity or
volunteer to help run one meeting.

Together  we  can  create  a  better place for our children. As a
community   we   can   help  support  each  other,  and  through
volunteerism we can create a disability-friendly world.
 Thank you for your interest in our organization. We look forward to hearing from you.

Mimi Ludwig

President