Another Honor is Being Bestowed on Me

Posted on May 12, 2025

I am writing this blog because on June 1, 2025, I will be getting another big honor. I will be inducted into a wall of important people who have autism. Some of the notable people who are on the wall are already notable people, such as Albert Einstein and Temple Grandin. I will be the first local person to have this honor given to me and have my photo on this wall. This event will be hosted at the Knoebels Amusement Park’s annual Autism Awareness Day, which will feature several things for special kids and their families to take part in. There will also be vendors to provide resources that families may need for their child. My adult ASD support group, Spectrum Friends from the Greater Harrisburg area, will attend this event. My big honor will take place at 2:30 pm at the wall. Mr. Mitchell Roshannon, who is in charge of this event, came down from Elysburg to take several photos of me, one of which will be placed on the Wall of Fame. I am absolutely thrilled to have this honor bestowed on me. I will be making either a short speech or saying a few remarks at the induction. I have not decided which thing I will do yet.

The last time I received an award was in 2021 for the American Public Health Association Disability Section Advocacy award. A fellow member of Spectrum Friends nominated me for and he kept it a secret until the person in charge of the APHA awards contacted me by email. He stated that I had been awarded the APHA Disability Section Advocacy Award. I feel honored to have been chosen to receive this monumental award. The award states, “This award is presented to a person or a consumer-driven organization who has demonstrated excellence in the area of advocacy to improve the health and quality of life for people with disabilities.” I could not go in person to the ceremony because it was too far away to travel. Luckily. the event was also on Zoom, so I was able to accept the award. I was even luckier to have my eldest sister, Sue, who has since passed on, watch the broadcast. She was so proud of me for receiving this award. The American Public Health Association was able to mail me the award, and it hangs proudly on a wall next to my computer desk.

My sister Sue was also there when I received my Dennis O’Brien autism advocacy award back in 2017. I never thought I would receive an advocacy award. My other siblings were always the smart, overachievers in the family. I did not get book or street smarts. But Dennis O’Brien and Nina Wall, now friends of mine, saw something in me that I did not see in myself. I never had confidence in myself, but all that changed after receiving this prestigious award. New doors began to open for me. I was asked to join a subcommittee on autism, and after that, I continued to be asked to do certain autism projects. As of today, I have lost track of exactly how many different autism opportunities have come my way. I am currently doing several different autism projects, each helping my reputation and good name. I am getting off track here a little bit, but I know I had to make the best speech ever for this award. I made sure to reference a speech given by Mark Twain when he received his Doctor of Letters award. His words seemed appropriate for the award that I was receiving, too. After both O’Brien and Wall gave their remarks about me and our adult autism group, I gave my speech. I got a standing ovation, which I never expected to happen. We all went out for lunch in Philadelphia, where the award ceremony and resource fair were taking place. After it was all over, both my sister and I said goodbye and headed our separate ways home. I have been fortunate and grateful that these things have come my way.