On August 11, Sheletta Brundidge, known as “The Autism Mom,” will sponsor a community event in Massachusetts that she hope will ultimately save the lives of children on the autism spectrum.
Brundidge is on a national campaign to spread awareness about the role of special door locks in keeping autistic kids safe. Her mission next takes her to Sutton, Mass. where a 4-year-old girl with autism wandered from her home and drowned in a neighbor’s pool.
On August 11, Brundidge will sponsor a community event at the Sutton Police Dept to donate keyless electronic interior combination locks to families in the area.
Brundidge will partner with Amazon to give the locks away at a community event. The mother of three children on the autism spectrum, Brundidge has found this variety of lock to be particularly effective in her own home.
“We could ship the locks, but we want to be there in Sutton. For autism moms and dads, it’s important to connect with people who understand our stories. I want to meet these parents, shake their hands and hug ‘em,” Brundidge said.
“I want them to know that we care about their families and we understand how hard they work on behalf of their kids.”
As Brundidge knows from her own experience, children on the spectrum are prone to wandering and are drawn to water, often with tragic results. Autistic children are 160 times more likely to drown than other children, according to research by Columbia University.
Joining Brundidge for the giveaway will be the Sutton Police officers who responded to the call and led the search when the little girl named Eva was reported missing.
“This will help us with our grieving process as first responders; something like this stays with you,” said Sutton Police Dept Patrolman Riniel Liriano, who was part of the search effort and later drove the ambulance to the hospital. “We’re a small town and what happens in Sutton affects everyone.”
Earlier this summer, she partnered with Amazon for to donate keyless electronic interior combination locks in Hopkins where Waeys Mohamed, a 4-year-old boy with autism, wandered from his home and drowned in a lake.
“We want to commend Sheletta and Sutton First Responders for the important, proactive work they're doing on behalf of our employees and customers,” said Amazon Regional Spokesperson Mike Murphy, who will join Brundidge in handing out the donated door locks.
“With 18,000 employees in Massachusetts, the tragedies that occur in our communities affect us all. We have these important key-coded interior locks spread throughout our national fulfillment network, all we had to do was find and ship them.”
Brundidge also recently traveled to her hometown of Houston, Tx for a lock giveaway after a 12-year-old nonverbal child with autism wandered from her home there and drowned.
In spite of the serious nature of the giveaway, Brundidge wants to “bring love, light and laughter” to families from Sutton with children with autism. They are all invited to attend the giveaway, which promises a festive atmosphere with free ice cream from Uhlman’s Ice Cream Shop, face painting and balloon animals.
コメント