Carter

Let me introduce you to Carter

Carter is the son of my cousin Alex and his wife Demi. He has a brother, Kevin and a wonderful mind. Carter has been diagnosed with Autism. This makes him unique but not as unique as you might think.

• 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism
• 1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
• 67 children are diagnosed per day
• A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• Autism costs the nation over $35 billion per year, a figure expected to significantly increase in the next decade
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

Source is Autism Speaks

But what makes him unique is he is part of my family. His grandmother and my mother share genes from their mother and father. Thus he is special to me as are his brother, my other cousin Nick's children and of course my brother's children. They are all my family. Thus we do much more when it is family. The sad part is that I rarely get to see Carter so it is something that I cherish when I do get those moments of face time with him and his family.

On the 24th I will circle the Reliant Center in Houston on a 5k trek with Carter and his family....plus many many of my other family members. This successful grassroots fundraising effort not only generates vital funds for autism research but also raises awareness about the increasing prevalence of autism and the need for increased research funding to combat this complex disorder.

Now some of the literature asks me to ask everyone for a certain amount and I am not going to put that out there. I am unable to give anything at this time myself (my accountant would have a heart attack if I did and I don't feel like killing my brother today). Rather I want to make people aware of this wonderful young man. Make you think about a couple of the highlights I pointed out above. But most of all this site is dedicated to my journey of repairing, learning and living and if any piece of awareness and information can be gleamed from this then I feel I have done my job.

If you want to check out the team page go here .... 2009 Walk Now for Autism.

Thank you for indulging me.