This year we mark a unique Autism Awareness Month, with most of us having been isolated and socially distanced for over a year. While that is hard on all of us, it is a crisis for young children. Full data on early intervention services in 2020 are not yet available, but the statistics that are out show trends that must concern us all:

• In the 2019-2020 school year, even before the full impact of the pandemic, the number of 3 to 5-year-olds receiving Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B services dropped by 12 percent versus the previous year.
• A study in New York City found 15 percent fewer infants and toddlers receiving services in the summer of 2020 versus the summer of 2019. New referrals were down even more.
• Race-based disparities are evident. On average, black children with autism receive their diagnosis almost two years older than white children and black children with autism were almost 3 times less likely to receive an autism diagnosis on their first specialist visit than white children.

This information is troubling for all of us, not just the children and families whose children are not being screened. There is ample research demonstrating the efficacy and efficiency of early intervention, and societal costs increase dramatically when interventions are delayed or withheld. That’s why I’m asking for your help!

Please do all you can to spread the word about Make the First Five Count.

This is a FREE Easterseals screening tool that enables anyone to enter observations about a young child and receive a custom report of areas of concern, if any, and ways to access early intervention services in your area. If you need any assistance, please also feel free to contact Easterseals’ Senior Director of Early Intervention and Therapy, Jill Chimka.

You can also learn more about living with autism by registering for our Candid Conversations Webinar on Tuesday, April 20 at 2:00pm EST. Join our panel of subject matter experts as they share resources on how to navigate from childhood to adulthood at this monthly Candid Conversations: Pathways through Life – Growing up with Autism.

For more information on how to ensure your children continue to thrive during the pandemic, check out other topics from our Candid Conversation series:

• Make the First Five Count: How to Ensure Your Child Stays on Track During COVID-19
• How to Talk to Our Children About Racism.

With your help, we can ensure that children continue to receive life-changing screening and therapy services. Thank you!

In one of Dr. King’s final speeches, delivered two months before he was assassinated, he shared:

“If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant…By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”

Today especially, therefore, please join me in recognizing and celebrating the greatness of the Easterseals community – volunteers, donors, staff, and participants. It’s an honor to be part of a team where every day each individual embodies Dr. King’s ideal of servant leadership by serving each other and embracing Easterseals’ vision of a hopeful, inclusive community where all people realize their potential and live meaningful lives.

I recognize and understand the stress that is a part of our daily lives during the pandemic and with so much unrest. I appreciate those whose daily efforts are helping increase the well-being of our community by creating a sense of hope and safety. Thank you for creating a more just and equal society.

Dear Friend,

The past year changed each of us. The challenges called us to question, to reevaluate, to adapt. While 2020 wasn’t easy—and self-reflection leading to change requires effort—I see many positive developments. Many of us have refined our priorities, developed greater resilience, and exhibited compassion.

Just as the year led individuals to question and to change, organizations grappled with those same struggles. l am grateful and humbled by the way clients, supporters, and staff at Easterseals DC MD VA came together to tackle the challenges and devise creative and effective solutions. The pandemic and the social unrest during 2020 caused us to reflect anew on the evolving needs of the community and our strengths.

This soul-searching process:

• Validated the critical importance of our Vision—“Easterseals creates a hopeful, inclusive community where all people realize their potential and live meaningful lives.” 2020 proved that a community cannot survive when some members are excluded or live without hope;
• Focused our future growth on areas of greatest need including (1) improving the quality and accessibility of early education, (2) employment services, and (3) expansion of mental health care services;
• Produced important innovations to meet immediate community needs safely; and
• Reinforced the importance of having a sustainable organization that can weather difficult times.

When the pandemic shut down our normal operations, we knew that the needs of our clients did not go away, but in many ways became more critical. By April, Easterseals had developed new partnerships and was delivering food, PPE, medical supplies, diapers, and wipes to our most vulnerable families, and the team keeps those deliveries going every week! But even more importantly, as we connected with our families through these deliveries, drive-bys, zoom and telephone calls, we understood that we are really delivering HOPE.

Other times hope starts with the recognition that “I have a voice” and “what I want matters.” One of Easterseals greatest contributions is helping individuals build on their own strengths.

Marsi, whose two-and-a-half-year-old son Langston has Down syndrome shared that she became more confident and competent in helping her child. With Easterseals support, Marsi learned, “That I can actually do OK! Langston has special needs, and for the longest time I’ve always thought: I’m not a therapist, I am just a mom. But I’m slowly starting to let go of the ‘I’m just a mom’ idea. I am grateful for all the strategies you have shown that I can do with Langston right at home.” Read Langston’s story here.

Sometimes hope means knowing that others are in the same boat and hearing their ideas. We recognized that within our organization and through our partnerships, we have a real brain trust. The entire staff joined together to create our Candid Conversations webinars on vital topics like: Talking to Our Children About Racism, Ensuring Your Child Stays On-Track During COVID-19, Disability Employment, and Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in the Age of COVID. Replays of these fascinating sessions are available here.

And sometimes hope means just having fun. While we won’t have large, in-person celebrations for a while, we have come up with new ways to connect and to garner support for our programs. Early in 2021, Bright Stars Bedtime Stories Presented by M&T Bank will raise vital funds for Easterseals services and bring joy to thousands of children with disabilities and those from low-income, military, and first responder families. Participants will be able to log-in to hear celebrities and other special guests read specially selected books.

The challenges call to mind the inspirational words of a great American. In his famous I Have a Dream speech, Dr. Martin Luther King called on us to “hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” As we start 2021, I look back with gratitude to the generous supporters who have enabled us to achieve so much—thank you! And I look forward with optimism to the potential of the new year—a time of health, renewed connections, and continued innovation and commitment so that we deliver the hopeful and inclusive community of Easterseals’ Vision.

Wishing all a happy and healthy New Year,

Jonathan Horowitch
President & CEO

On February 13, Easterseals hosted our signature annual family event – Bright Stars Night at Disney on Ice Presented by M&T Bank (Bright Stars) – at the Capital One Arena.

More than 2,500 children, families and supporters from the community joined Easterseals DC MD VA on this special night to enjoy enchanting ice skating performances by their favorite Disney movie characters from Toy Story to Moana and, of course, Frozen.

Even Mickey Mouse made a special appearance at our pre-event Circle of Heroes VIP reception to take photos with our honored guests and sponsors, whose generosity helped us raise more than $319,000!

I want to thank our Bright Stars Committee Co-Chairs Cecilia Hodges of M&T Bank and Craig Ruppert of The Ruppert Companies, and Founding Bright Stars Committee Co-Chair David Ross of Atlantic Realty Companies, as well as all the Committee members who did so much to make this event successful.

Their hard work and dedication to Easterseals ensures that our innovative programs and services are available to people of all ages with disabilities, special needs, military backgrounds and their families.

Now going on their eighth year as presenting sponsor of Easterseals’ Bright Stars, M&T Bank always brings a group of more than 20 volunteers to support our event and ensure that the children of all ages have a great time at the VIP reception.

Cecilia also presented M&T Bank’s latest commercial, which features Easterseals as one of the bank’s most valued community partners.

Kristen Berset-Harris, Co-Host of WUSA9’s Great Day Washington, served as Master of Ceremonies for our reception.

In early February, Kristen visited Easterseals Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Inter-Generational Center in Silver Spring and got to see two of our founding programs in action—the child development center and the adult day service center.

In addition to serving children and adults with disabilities, Easterseals is committed to serving our veterans and military families with high-quality behavioral health, employment and respite services. And we are serving even more children from Maryland’s Prince George’s County, with our Head Start programs, helping them and their families in underserved communities break out of the cycle of poverty.

Without support from our generous donors and sponsors for events like Bright Stars, we would not be able to continue to strive towards our vision of creating hopeful and inclusive communities where ALL people can achieve their potential and live meaningful lives.

We are committed to making an impact every day for the people we serve and ask that you help us continue making profound and positive differences for our communities by donating, volunteering or even spreading the message about our programs.

A large part of Easterseals’ success in achieving our mission – making profound, positive differences in the daily lives of people of all ages with disabilities, special needs, military backgrounds, and their families – is the collaborations we have with other like-minded organizations.

For National Dog Day (August 26), The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals (Cohen Clinic) and Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) hosted an event together at the clinic to introduce a different type of therapeutic strategy for wounded warriors living with mental health issues: training service dogs.

Two beautiful golden retrievers were introduced to the group by Emily McNeal, a veteran training program manager with Warrior Canine Connection. She was thrilled to introduce these canines to our veterans with the hope of drawing interests to WCC’s Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) program.

“Warrior Canine Connection’s program is unique in that we not only train service dogs for veterans, we also enlist them in the process,” said Emily McNeal, WCC service dog training instructor. “We deploy passionate and skilled trainers to teach dog psychology and commands using behavioral, cognitive and physical technique training. During the process, veterans are healing their relationships and families, discovering new ways to express themselves in a positive way, creating bonds working with our dogs and feeling a sense of accomplishment by seeing these dogs placed in a forever home. Through our partnership with the Cohen Clinic, we believe we can reach a greater veteran population of those desiring to continue the mission, seeking purpose since leaving the military, as well as participating in volunteer work that thrives on fulfilling the Warrior Ethos.”

All of WCC’s service dogs, including those in training, are named after veterans and have their own Facebook page. Beverly is 19-months old and was named in honor of USAF Major Beverly Groogan, Ret., who served with the United States Air Force for 20 years.

J.J. is 16-months old and was named after Jesse Jack Martinez, a U.S. Army Private First Class who died in Iraq in July 2004. Both dogs had the opportunity to interact with our veteran participants in an exercise of being called over, making eye contact, responding to “sit” and then of course—THE REWARD!

In less than an hour, clearly, all our veteran participants were charmed by Beverly and J.J. and found petting and playing with them to be highly therapeutic. Outreach Manager Mallary Lass, USAF Ret. with the Cohen Clinic said that many of our clients have already been asking us about service dogs, and animals have been known to be extremely helpful within the therapeutic community. This event was an opportunity to bring that to Cohen Clinic clients.

“I am interested in training service dogs because I know it worked for me. My dog was given to me as a therapy dog and she’s been my lifesaver. She helps me with a lot of my issues and I just see this as a great way to give back,” said Derrick, U.S. Army veteran.

All selected service dogs go through an initial training with a puppy parent that lasts about 18 months before moving onto more advanced training. It is estimated that by the time one WCC canine is finished with training, he or she would have helped up to 60 warriors throughout the process.

Warrior Canine Connection utilizes its Mission Based Trauma Recovery model to empower returning combat veterans who have sustained physical and psychological wounds while in service to our country. Based on the concept of warriors helping warriors, WCC’s therapeutic service dog training program is designed to mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other challenges, while giving injured combat veterans a sense of purpose and help in reintegrating back into their families and communities. As part of their training, veterans have the responsibility to teach the dogs that the world is a safe place. Through that process, they must convince themselves of the same.

“This partnership is a win-win for both The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals and the Warrior Canine Connection because it allows both organizations to help our wounded warriors find the best way to bring joy back into their lives. For the Cohen Clinic, helping veterans get better is more than just managing the mental health aspect of it. It is also about helping veterans find wellness, which is just as important,” said Mallary Lass, USAF Ret., Outreach Manager with the Cohen Clinic.

“I’ve been trying to involve myself in more stuff. So when the Cohen Clinic sent me the information, I thought it would be a good chance to work on socializing myself after I came back with my trauma. With this program, I also like that I can be flexible with my commitment and maybe participate once a week. Plus, I like the idea of giving back to the veteran community,” said Natalie, U.S. Army veteran.

Veterans interested in the program can volunteer by working alongside a professional trainer to assist in the training process for a fellow veteran.

The Cohen Clinic is also working with the Warrior Canine Connection on an eight-week training session that will be open to our veteran community. For more information on the session, please contact Outreach Manager Mallary Lass at mlass@eseal.org.

For more on the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals, please go to our website at mfc.eseal.org.