Dear Friend,

Thank you for visiting my Including Kids, Inc. fundraising page which is an extremely successful and wonderful program that provides intensive one to one intervention and treatment for children with autism using the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).  Studies have shown that nearly half the children who receive this early intensive therapy can be mainstreamed in typical classrooms indistinguishable from their peers. The children who cannot be fully mainstreamed are still much more independent and functional. 

The mission of Including Kids, Inc. is for all the children to become productive members of society to the best of their ability. The goal is to include every child with autism in their community in the way that maximizes their fullest potential. Please look at their website www.includingkids.org to see all the services they offer. I also encourage you to look at the parent letters that are on the website. They are very powerful and will help you fully understand the impact Including Kids, Inc. has on children with autism and their families.
 

We would like to share with you an excerpt from one heartfelt letter: This mother tells us that her 3 year old son was not accepted in many programs or schools until she came to InKids.  "Inside I was secretly thinking 'this is our last chance.' Jenn (InKids Director) met us smiling at the door. She addressed my son as she would anyone. He, of course, blankly stared away, but she didn't let him get away with that. We sat down and met a few minutes, she played a bit with him, and told me he could start in August. Having been hurt being asked to leave the previous schools, my defenses start rising. "He only says 2 words." She replied, "That's a great start." "Well, he isn't potty trained." She responds, "He will be." I say, "He pushes other kids." She says "they all do that at first." My son has now attended InKids for 3 years. He is not only our son, he is a talker, a friend, a big brother, a sea-life genius, a hand-writer, a pre-reader, a smiling, laughing, hopeful kid who has left his world to live in ours."
 

Therapists work with the children to help them learn how to talk, control their behavior, engage in social skills like turn taking, and how to read and write, getting them ready for inclusion in typical situations. We have seen children start with us with little or no language, uncontrolled behavior, and very little desire to interact with others and then be able to graduate into a regular kindergarten classroom.
Unfortunately in the state of Texas, this therapy is not provided in the public school, nor is there government funding for it, so not many families can afford this therapy. Including Kids, Inc. is a nonprofit program constantly trying to raise funds so that all children can receive the vital services they deserve. There is one teacher for every child so the cost to run the organization is extremely high. We are forced to raise over three hundred thousand dollars a year.
 

Autism affects 1 out of 90 children and is the fastest-growing developmental disability. Just a few months ago, the Center for Disease Control and the American Pediatrics Association warned parents of this concern and encouraged the public to get their children evaluated at least twice by the age of 2.                                     

We are asking that you donate a financial gift through this FirstGiving site to Including Kids, Inc. for our Annual Campaign that ends Christmas Day. We are very excited that this is a matching gifts campaign and for every dollar raised up to $10,000, it will be matched twice (by a wonderfully generous parent and the Board of Directors). This means that for every dollar you donate, it will turn into three dollars, every hundred turns into three hundred and every thousand turns into three thousand! Please consider a gift to this wonderful organization. They have made such a difference in many families’ lives. We want to do our part in helping them raise money to help even more children. Please be assured that the money you donate directly helps the children at Including Kids.

Thank You,

The Satff at Including Kids, Inc.