An inspirational young man will be speaking at Woburn Public Library on Thursday, April 19th from 7:00-8:30pm in honor of Autism Awareness Month. You might want to meet him. His name is Andrew Feldman. He has Autism, he just graduated from college, is living on his own, and is working on a successful Congressional campaign in the Washington DC area.
Did you know that last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 1 in 88 people have some form of Autism? It can be inferred that nearly everyone knows a family who is affected.
Andrew's type of success is what your neighbors, cousins, sisters, nephews and friends want for their own children who have a diagnosis of Autism.
Kerstin Lochrie, Chairperson of the Woburn Special Education Parent Advisory Council says the group is hosting Feldman because, "We hope hearing Andrew tell his story might help people better understand the challenges and joys families face."
Andrew Feldman was a middle school student in Massachusetts when he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome - a form of Autism on the mild end of the spectrum.
An accomplished speaker who has appeared on PBS with Emily Rooney, Andrew will speak about topics such as growing up with Asperger's Syndrome (AS), receiving and coming to terms with an AS diagnosis, what often works and what often does not work for elementary and secondary school students with AS, strategies for navigating college life with AS and increasing the odds of success, plus expected and unexpected challenges that arise after college.
His mother will probably be at the talk. She's always there to support her son.
