Nau mai, haere mai to our newest charity partner, the Children’s Autism Foundation!
Children’s Autism Foundation (CAF) provides all important support for children, families, and communities affected by Autism. Their vision is for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder — although the CAF would love for communities to replace ‘Disorder’ with ‘Difference’!) to have rewarding and meaningful lives within their families and communities.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a time of great uncertainty and change for everyone, but this added stress has been especially difficult for families affected by Autism. Children with ASD are very vulnerable to the added stresses of complicated and unpredictable changes. This means that the transitions of moving into online learning, and then back into a school environment, have been very challenging for children with ASD and their families.
Changes to the all-important routines of children with Autism have resulted in extreme anxiety and sensory challenges. For some children, this means violent or self-harming behaviours, creating additional stress and desperation for parents and families.
When schools reopened and lockdowns eased, children with ASD had become so accustomed to their safe home bubbles, making the transition back into normal schooling incredibly difficult.
To help families deal with these substantial challenges, the Children’s Autism Foundation had to act quickly and innovate new ways to provide nationwide support to families and communities. CAF began using digital channels, such as email, YouTube, and Zoom, and set up online support groups, webinars, and online training to provide much needed, additional assistance.
Despite this increase in demand for their services, CAF has lost more than 50% of their usual revenue. This is due to a decrease in donations, an inability to fundraise, and a major loss of grants.
We are so happy to be able to support CAF in helping families affected by ASD receive the additional services they require. It’s super easy to take part in helping families affected by ASD receive much needed support, just donate to CAF through our Good Registries and Gift Cards.
Your donations make a big difference for families affected by autism.
- $10 will enable one parent or caregiver to attend an online support group
- $20 will provide a 30 minute Autism “CHAT” session for parents/caregivers
- $50 will provide 1 hour of Family Support via phone/email or Zoom
- $100 will provide a Family Support home visit
- By Tilly van Eeden
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