Knoebels 2026

Posted on July 9, 2026

It is that time of year again. This past May was the 10th anniversary of the Knoebels Autism Day event. This event took place on May 31st from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I finally got my photo and biography displayed on a wall of influential Pennsylvanians with autism. This will be the highest honor that has ever fallen to my share of my life’s prizes. It is the one I would have chosen as outranking all and any others. Even though I did not have to write a short speech at Knoebels like I did last year, I knew my friends would want me to make some sort of remarks for the occasion. This is what I might say: I would like to thank Mr. Mitchell, who works for Knoebels and works hard to put on this event each year. He has given me this special recognition of my work in the disability and autism field. I would also like to thank my friends and my colleagues who work in the autism field for being here today to cheer me on for this special occasion. In the many years I have been on my own autism journey, I have joined our adult spectrum friends’ autism support group, have been a long-time board member of the Autism Society Greater Harrisburg area affiliate, and now am also an advisor to the Self Advocates United as 1 board. I never expected to receive any sort of awards for the work that I do. I think God had a special calling for me to help others on their own autism journey. This is why I am here as a well-respected autism self-advocate. I am here to testify to the truth and spread the gospel of autism. I still have plenty of work to do, but I hope some young man or young woman will see what I do and want to pick up the torch of autism and run with it when I am gone.

The day started out with my friend, Rebecca, picking me up around 7:30 am. Then we drove to pick up two other support group members, and we got on the road by 8 am. It took just over an hour to get to Knoebels Amusement Park and Resort. Knoebels is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, plus the park has been chosen by visitors as the number one park in the nation. The number one ranking is because parking is free and admission is free also. When we arrived at the park, the resource pavilion L was close by to where we parked. There were just a couple of vendors already set up, and I got our Spectrum Friends adult autism support group park bench set up too as other vendors were getting ready. Several other support group members came to the park not only to ride the rides but to see my photo and bio displayed on a wall of important people with autism. This included people like Kelly Magro, State Representative Benham, Temple Grandin, Dan Ackroyd, and several other notable people. Soon, families living with autism started getting info from the eighteen vendors who were there. Around 12:30 pm several of my friends from the adult group, plus my friends Delilah and her husband Tom, and Claire, walked down to the wall near the Alamo Restaurant, and I got to stand very close to my photo/bio. On the way to the wall, I was able to take several photos of rides and other things in the park. My friends Claire, Delilah, and Tom took photos of me with my photo, and a few of my friends took pictures with me and my photo/bio in between. Then we headed back to the resource pavilion for a little while, and when things slowed up a bit, we went to lunch. I had lunch with one of our support group members, and I took him to see my photo/bio as well.

After showing my friend the portrait/bio, we made our way back to the resource pavilion for a while to see how busy it was, so I was there for a period of time. Every once in a while, I would go back to the portrait/bio by myself. I did see a few visitors looking at the wall, and I was kind of hoping they would recognize me with the portrait. On one of my trips, I did want to buy some sort of souvenir from the park. I already have a refrigerator magnet, a hat, and a tall drinking glass, so I went to two of the shops in the park to get a jigsaw puzzle featuring the park because I have gotten back into putting together jigsaw puzzles again. I finally purchased a puzzle at a nearby shop closest to the resource pavilion. After getting back to the pavilion, other vendors were packing up to leave because people coming there had slowed up quite a bit, so I decided it was time to pack away our stuff; this was around 3 pm. I left for home with two friends of mine. I got home just after 5 pm. Much to say, it was the best day of my life in a very long time. I got one of the biggest honors of my adult life so far; my friends also got to see my portrait/bio. It’s been about a week out from the event at Knoebels, and I am not sure how I feel. I think last Sunday I was on an emotional high getting to see my important portrait hung on that wall with my peers who also have autism; most of them are famous or well-known people

I am not famous or well-known; I am just a hard-working autism self-advocate, and good things have happened at the right times in my life which have led to this big moment in my life. I hope this portrait and bio will be part of my legacy, and it will show families living with autism that their son or daughter can achieve whatever they want in their lives if they work hard and are dedicated to a certain career choice. Maybe they can also one day have their portrait on that same wall! Since last Sunday, I have still been getting congratulatory posts from friends on Facebook, and I just received word from my friend Claire that she is planning an event in October, which it seems I will be given a chance to speak at. I would love to be able to give more talks in the future to schools or families living with autism about my perspective on autism and as an aging adult on the spectrum.