2008 Woodie Awards
Autism conference draws 500 attendees
Doug Graham
Issue date: 6/26/08 Section: Campus Life
Mandy Commons says the first ever autism conference in Kansas was a "dream come true" despite the withdrawal of keynote speaker Jenny McCarthy because of a family emergency.
"Although it was a huge disappointment that Jenny was unable to come, she is still wanting to come and will come," said Commons, a Pittsburg woman who organized the event. "She's where she needs to be."
Regardless, Commons says telling the crowd Friday morning that McCarthy would not be attending was "one of the hardest things (she'd) ever done."
But McCarthy's absence didn't seem to bother many of the 500 or so attendees on Thursday and Friday, June 19 and 20, at Pittsburg High School.
Lynley Summers drove from Arkansas for the conference, but it wasn't to see actress-turned-activist McCarthy. She was there for her daughter.
"My daughter is speaking at 3," Summers said, after pointing out some of the news articles, books and artifacts on display in the booth she set up in the school's main hall. "She was never going to speak at all."
Like many parents of autistic children, Summers was told that her daughter Jessica "Jazz" Summers would never live a normal life. Summers says Jazz was diagnosed with autism soon after receiving a series of vaccinations at 18 months of age.
"She was putting sentences together ... then we just had nothing," Summers said.
Following years of intense therapy, Summers says Jazz recovered and has now become a fully functioning adult, having just finished her freshman year at the University of Central Arkansas. Jazz now composes, draws, designs jewelry, and sings - and she loves the spotlight.
Now both Summers women travel across the country to autism conferences to share their experiences - and they're not alone.
In fact, Commons says that was precisely what she wanted parents of autistic children to glean from the conference: that they are never alone.
"This is a dream come true for me," said Commons, president of the Kansas chapter of the National Autism Association. "I wish this would've happened eight years ago."
"Although it was a huge disappointment that Jenny was unable to come, she is still wanting to come and will come," said Commons, a Pittsburg woman who organized the event. "She's where she needs to be."
Regardless, Commons says telling the crowd Friday morning that McCarthy would not be attending was "one of the hardest things (she'd) ever done."
But McCarthy's absence didn't seem to bother many of the 500 or so attendees on Thursday and Friday, June 19 and 20, at Pittsburg High School.
Lynley Summers drove from Arkansas for the conference, but it wasn't to see actress-turned-activist McCarthy. She was there for her daughter.
"My daughter is speaking at 3," Summers said, after pointing out some of the news articles, books and artifacts on display in the booth she set up in the school's main hall. "She was never going to speak at all."
Like many parents of autistic children, Summers was told that her daughter Jessica "Jazz" Summers would never live a normal life. Summers says Jazz was diagnosed with autism soon after receiving a series of vaccinations at 18 months of age.
"She was putting sentences together ... then we just had nothing," Summers said.
Following years of intense therapy, Summers says Jazz recovered and has now become a fully functioning adult, having just finished her freshman year at the University of Central Arkansas. Jazz now composes, draws, designs jewelry, and sings - and she loves the spotlight.
Now both Summers women travel across the country to autism conferences to share their experiences - and they're not alone.
In fact, Commons says that was precisely what she wanted parents of autistic children to glean from the conference: that they are never alone.
"This is a dream come true for me," said Commons, president of the Kansas chapter of the National Autism Association. "I wish this would've happened eight years ago."
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