RICHMOND, Va. — April is Autism Acceptance Month, and two moms in Central and Southside Virginia have started nonprofits to raise awareness about those living with autism after receiving their sons' diagnoses more than a decade ago.
"Every month is Autism Awareness Month," shared South Hill mom Mandi Calhoun, whose 15-year-old son Bailey was diagnosed with autism at four years old.
“It’s overwhelming for a lot of parents, not knowing where to go to navigate all the different services, finding the time as working families to be able to receive those services,” she noted.
Calhoun knows firsthand that services for those who receive an autism diagnosis are often scarce in Southside Virginia.
"It took driving, you know, back and forth to Richmond, which is an hour and a half each way to receive those," said Calhoun.
That’s one reason she founded Families Embracing Autism Together, or FEAT, in 2016 and opened The Bailey Center in January 2024, bringing in therapists like Kelly White to help provide options and treatments for families.
"We need more behavior analysts, we need more occupational therapists, we need more speech therapists here to cut down on those wait lists to allow families access to services when they need them and not have to wait months and months," White shared.
In addition to behavioral therapies, The Bailey Center also offers recreational activities for those ages 3 through 30.
"For us to be able to have those social opportunities and participate in organized activities is really important," Calhoun said.
Pam Mines, founder of the JP JumPers Foundation in Richmond, can relate to the need for activities for her son, JP.
While he is now an adult, Mines remembers the emotions she felt when she first learned of JP’s diagnosis more than a decade ago.
"You go through anger, you go through guilt, you go through embarrassment, um, frustration, sadness, all of that," said Mines. "But as long as your last emotion is acceptance, then everything will work out.”
That acceptance is something Mines hopes everyone feels who attends their free JP JumPers Trail Ride Festival at the Science Museum of Virginia this Sunday.
"Know you can be all yourself, and nobody's going to look at you twice," said Mines. "We're all going to sit up there, and we're going to dance. We're going to have fun. If your loved one has vocal stims, we're going to vocal stim with them. If they have jumping stims, we're going to jump with them. So it's all about acceptance, but it has to start with you."
The Trail Ride Festival will run from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. All are invited to come out to learn to line dance and enjoy the celebration of those like Bailey and JP.
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