‘Look how much support you have’: Organizers prepare for Abilene’s 3rd annual Walk for Autism
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Big Country Spectrum Connection is preparing for its third annual Walk for Autism this Saturday. Organizers say this year’s walk is slated to have its biggest turnout yet in sponsors, walkers, and volunteers alike.
“There’s people who have no idea that they’re on the spectrum, or that their kids are on the spectrum… I want them to be able to see, ‘look, this is a huge thing in our community, and look how much support you have,'” said Jennifer Giesler, volunteer and mother of an autistic child.
Several volunteers and board members of Big Country Spectrum Connection gathered at Grounded Roots Family Development Center in South Abilene on World Autism Awareness Day Tuesday evening to pack care packages for incoming participants.
“The first 150 participants are going to get goodie bags with information and goodies from all of our sponsors,” Hailey Frazier, LPA, PMH-C and owner of Grounded Roots, smiled.
At the Walk for Autism Saturday morning at Redbud Park, treasurer and founding member, Jerri Jones said those goodie bags will be filled with not only some swag from sponsors, but also valuable resources for those who could use the help.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Abilene did host an annual walk for autism, and Big Country Spectrum Connection picked things back up in 2021. Three years later, that walk is gathering more people facing the same obstacles and needing a shoulder to lean on from time to time.
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“I hope that families really walk away with more resources in their pocket, and the feeling that they are not alone. Raising a child with a disability can be a very lonely process, and so having something like this where the whole community comes together and you can see upwards of 300 people there walking the same walk you are, is- gives hope that you aren’t alone,” encouraged Frazier.
For Big Country Spectrum Connection’s 2024 fiscal year, organizers have been able to raise about $5,000.
“Our plan is to take that money and put it towards helping families who- some of them are on a very long waiting list for a provider who takes their insurance because a diagnostic test, it’s expensive,” Jones explained. “Right now, we have enough money to pay for at least three.”
Jones explained that there are providers in the Abilene area that can administer an affordable diagnostic test, but the wait lists are long. For diagnosticians who provide speedy ins-and-outs, Jones said they often don’t accept insurance. So, people in need will often come to Big Country Spectrum Connection for help and resources.
Follow this link to register for Big Country Spectrum Connection’s third annual Walk for Autism. Participants will gather at Redbud Park at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, April 6.
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