Today is the last day of Autism Awareness Month. I hope that I have honored the individuals that I covered this month and that I will continue to do so on this post. The autism spectrum contains geniuses of math, science, music, art, history and even race car driving. Armani Williams, a race car driver with NASCAR, is one of those geniuses.
Del Williams and Irena Politano, parents of Armani Williams, did not know exactly what autism was when he was diagnosed at 2 years old. As most parents, they started to do their research and found out there wasn’t a lot of therapy or education for children on the spectrum. Of course, that did not stop Armani’s parents. Armani was introduced to go-kart racing at the age of 8 and as they say, the rest is history.
Armani participated in his first race car series, Canadian Tire, at the age of 17. Armani qualified for his NASCAR speedway license after placing 21st in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Gateway in 2021. He will return to NASCAR racing on May 23rd in the Texas Motor Speedway.
As always, I don’t want to regurgitate what someone else has written. I just give a tidbit. Here are a few articles I gleaned information from:
Lately, every time I start to write, I dont want to. I still love writing, but I try to live by the saying, If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say nothing at all. I don’t have much good to say right now. Nothing really bad either. I’m just blah. I don’t know what it is about Spring, but I realize every year that is when my life takes a turn. A turn that sets the tone for the rest of my year and it usually isn’t a good tone. A tone that leaves me grasping for placement while hanging off a cliff with no one else around to save me but myself. Do you know what I mean?
So here I am trying to figure out how to change the tone. How not to go down the rabbit hole. How to reclaim my hopeful, happy mindset. That has been my focus for the last month or so. This year has to be different. This year will be different! I got shit to accomplish. This state of doing and being is not conducive to the life I say I want to live. The life that I am meant to live.
I always find when I talk about my struggles, there are others who feel the same way. Living a life that feels wrong and yearning for the life of our dreams. How do we find the path that will lead us to the life we are meant to live? I am trying to find it for us. When I do, I will make sure I share it. And if you find it first, I need you to share it with me.
I know I am a day late on my Black Fact post. I had a friend in town and I just enjoyed spending time and hanging out with her. I have made plenty of commitments to myself and so far, I am doing a terrible job of keeping them. These weekly Black Facts, is one that I have to keep. I can’t be a complete disgrace!
Holly Robinson Peete does not have autism, but her first born son Rodney Peete, Jr. does. Rodney’s diagnosis came at a time when autism awareness wasn’t really discussed and people were unclear of the limits or abilities of children with autism. Being new parents to a set of twins, one twin having a medical diagnosis most people weren’t even aware of, had to be hard. The Peetes may not have known how to handle the diagnosis, but they did not let the unknown stop them from working to create the best life for their son.
Peete started a foundation called HollyRod in 1997 with her husband, Rodney Peete, to help advocate and offer care for people and families affected by Parkinson’s disease. Peete’s dad, Matthew Robinson, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 45. Once their son was diagnosised with autism at the age of 3, the Peetes expanded their mission to include resources for autism awareness and care. Now, HollyRod Foundation offers a sensory room, family study area, vocational training and job placement at RJ’s Place. RJ’s place, named after their son with autism, also has calming lighting as not to agitate individuals with autism.
Holly Robinson Peete says, “I wouldn’t change my son for the world, but I would change the world for my son.” I believe with her family’s foundation, HollyRod, that she is doing just that. Peete has written a couple of books on autism with her children, My Brother Charlie and Same but Different: Teen Life on the Autism Express . Both books are fiction, but uses experiences from Ryan, RJ’s twin sister, and RJ’s life. Her husband, Rodney, shared his perspective of a father handling his son’s autism diagnosis in the book, Not My Boy!: A Father, A Son, and One Family’s Journey with Autism.
You can find more information about HollyRod Foundation at this link,
Here is an honorable mention. American Airlines has a program called “It’s Cool To Fly American Airlines”, that has practice flights for children with autism or other disabilities. The program has the children and their families go through ticketing, security check, onboarding and unloading. The airplane goes up and down the runway excelerating and slowing down. Now, this program should be offered by every airline. How thoughtful of American Airlines. The program started in 2014, has been inactive the past 2 years due to covid-19, but was reinstated this year. The program is only offered once a year at select airports and does have a waiting list. For the life of me, I could not find a website for families to get on the waiting list. I recommend giving American Airlines a call if it is of interest to you.
