Thank you so much for taking time out to visit our page.  We (Karie and Vince) are both running the Chicago marathon on October 12th in an effort to raise money for autism research.  Please feel free to donate any amount (no amount is too small) or just leave us a short note of encouragement as we continue our training.  Below is a short story about our family's fight against autism.  Thanks again for your support.

We first suspected that there was something a little "quirky" about Mack when he was only two, which was confirmed a year and a half later when he was diagnosed as being autistic.  Like one might suspect parents to feel, we felt lost, alone, and frustrated in dealing with this disease.  We first cried and then got to work.  Over the last three and half years, Mack has worked through countless hours of private speech, occupational, and ABA therapy, attended three different pre-schools, endured thousands of flashcards and cues, and experienced even more fits and tears - but it has all been worth it.  Mack is now 5 and has come a long way because of all his hard work and persistance and will be attending kindergarten (in a mainstream classroom) this fall.  He has language, can read and write, and is quite the little artist - but despite all of his progress, there is still so much more left to be accomplished.  We have been fortunate enough to get Mack the help he has needed and have enjoyed watching the awareness around autism grow, largely due to the efforts of wonderful organizations such as the Orgnaization for Autism Research, but more needs to be done to help all the families that live with autism everyday, which is why our family will never stop, and neither will Mack.