Jay and his Granddad
Every year around this time, a bunch of people from in and around Boston go for a three mile fundraising walk along a section of the Charles River near Harvard. The walk is called Walk FAR for NAAR, and the funds raised go to autism research. Last year this one Boston walk (out of 65 such events nationwide) raised more than $670,000 for research. You can read about sponsored research from last year here.
My son Jay is autistic, so not only am I walking, I have a painfully deep and personal interest in funding this cause. I want to convince you that you do too, because autism is very expensive to treat and manage. Any progress we make to prevent, mitigate, or cure autism saves enormous sums of money and impossible-to-reckon amounts of parental effort. So give on behalf of Jay, on behalf of all the autistic kids out there, on behalf of all the parents of autistic kids, the extended families, the networks of therapists and teachers and supporters and friends, for Jay’s sake and your own, give.
The process is as easy as a visit to the Jay’s Team page. To those of you who have already given, many thanks!
If you want to learn a little more about Jay, here are some stories I’ve posted previously on this site.
- The first is an account of his birth: Meeting the Little Man.
- The second was written soon after his diagnosis: Something Happened.
- The third was written last year in the wake of the Red Sox loss in the American League Championship Series. This year will, of course, be different.
What Being the Father of an Autistic Son Taught Me About Being a Red Sox Fan (and vice versa).
Finally, and curiously, I’m not the only Boston-based Ned working in the software industry who blogs and has a son with autism. Ned Batchelder (whose blog I thoroughly recommend) will be walking with his son Nat.
Rambles Blog at Star Chamber 
Two very goodlooking men boosting the WALK! D