Thank you for visiting our fundraising page!

We are again raising money for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), an organization with an impressive track record of helping families affected by autism. At our last TACA Maryland/DC meeting, I could hardly believe my own ears when I told some parents that we've been on this autism journey for more than six years.

I had a chance to reflect on those six years last week at an IEP meeting. Leah's teachers told me she got angry a couple of weeks ago when she wasn't paired with a particular student from her class during PE. I remembered an IEP meeting from her preschool days, when one of our goals for her was that she would develop the ability to tolerate sitting at a table with other kids. If you had told me then that she would not only want to work with a peer, but be mad when he was matched with someone else, I wouldn't have believed it. It's hard sometimes to recognize progress, especially when Leah's two younger sisters easily develop many of the same skills that turn up on her IEPs. With that story, I was reminded that progress has happened.

That was the good news. And some of the first people to hear it were the friends we've made in the last six years. People we probably would never have met without autism, many of them fellow autism parents, who have been sounding boards and who fight this fight alongside our family. Who have helped us retain our senses of humor, and a little bit of our sanity.

The flip side is, with the autism rate revised to one in 91, there clearly are a lot more people out there who need help. The support and friendship Mike and I have found in our local autism community is what inspired me to help bring TACA to the Maryland/DC area last year. It was time to pay it forward. In the last year, we have been building a group that can provide the support, resources, and education families need to find effective treatments for their children. At our TACA meetings, parents can get answers about IEPs or special diets, if that's what they need. They can talk about a meltdown at the grocery store to a group of people who know what that's like. They can share the news of a first spoken word to friends who understand it truly is a cause for celebration.

We're especially pleased that the lion's share of TACA's programs, including the monthly meetings and support groups, are provided at no cost to families. Fundraising for TACA makes these programs possible. Please help us continue to help families living with autism. Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.

For more information, visit www.tacanow.org. We thank you for your support, as do our TACA families.

The Hamilton Family