In Honor of Autism Awareness Month, 29 Acres Shines the Light on JOHN!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks,  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET JOHN

My name is John, just like my dad.  Some people like to call me John Peter.  I live in Coppell, Texas, with my mom and dad.  I am mostly non-verbal, but have some single words and a few signs.  I am 22 years old and will age out of school this May.  I will miss my school and especially my teacher, Ms.Christy.

Changes in my routine are difficult for me.  I like order, and everything to be in the place it's always been.  I'm very strong willed, and have definite likes and dislikes.

My favorite thing to do is watch Barney videos on my computer, and listen to music on my iPod.  I started watching Barney before I was a year old, and it helped me to learn about lots of things, such as going to the dentist, firefighters, animals, people and life. My favorite song is Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” and I play it over and over in the car. I also go to the pet store with my dad almost every day.

Some other things I enjoy are swimming and riding my bike.  I have always loved the water, and taught myself to float and swim when I was very young.  I'm always laughing when I'm in the water.  Learning to ride my bike took a little time, but I can do it very well.

I have a very good memory. I like to draw things that I have seen on a video and can remember every detail about it.  I can go somewhere one time, and remember where everything is when I go back, even if it has been a long time.  I like riding in the car and on airplanes, and I always remember how to get to the places I want to go.

29 Acres is so exciting for everyone on the autism spectrum. It will be a great a community that understands what we are all about, as well as a safe place for continued learning and becoming more independent. It makes me think of the Barney video “Everyone is Special” and how important everyone is…like Tristen, Noah, Julia, William, Michelle, Matthew, Sam, Huddy, Bryan, Hudson, William, Ryan, Andrea, Tug, Chandler, Elijah, Jordan, Kyle, Sam, Crawford, Ryan, Landon, Weston and Jon! Today, they Shined the Light on me and I want the Light to Shine on all of them! Thank you 29Acres…people helping people!

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is a registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.

In Honor of Autism Awareness Month, 29 Acres Shines the Light on TRISTEN!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks (including the White House),  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET TRISTEN

         Meet Tristen. He is 18 years old and lives in the Dallas area. He was officially dx before 3 years old with autism.

Tristen has an in home one on one teaching program in place the last 3 years that has allowed him to excel in academics and progress in his language & communication. He has a team of 9 therapist that work  with him every week. We also work on community inclusion 2x a week. It may be grocery shopping, ordering my food independently at a restaurant, going to book stores or flea markets to add to my hobby, visiting the local fire departments, taking an art class, taking nature photos with my phone or packing a picnic lunch and taking a hike.

I am working on vocational office skills. I can sort mail, shred, copy and am working on data input as my Mom says I have amazing computer skills and problem solving abilities.

I like to bake, swim, do arts and crafts and sing kareoke. My favorite song to sing is "Born to Be Wild"

I have an extensive collection of vintage Power Rangers megazords that my parents have to find from all over the world. I also collect Disney VHS tapes and have a special closet that was customized to display them all. I am looking forward to the future as I know possibilities are endless if we reach for them with our community support.

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is a registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.

In Honor of Autism Awareness Month, 29 Acres Shines the Light on NOAH!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks (including the White House),  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET NOAH

.    
I AM PRETTY MUCH A LONER BUT REALLY DO ENJOY THE TIME I GET AT SPECIAL OLYMPICS AND CAN SOCIALIZE WITH OTHERS LIKE ME
 

I LIKE TV AND PLAYING VIDEO GAMES, I HAVE OVER 300 ASSORTED GAMES AND 300 DIFFERENT MOVIES BUT I LIKE DISNEY MOVIES BEST!!!

HERE I AM WITH A LITTLE DOG I JUST RESCUED.

 
 FOR WORK, I HELP AT THE STORE AT SCHOOL BUT NEVER HAD ANY OTER JOB.  I WOULD REALLY LIKE ONE.
 
 I THINK I WOULD DO GOOD AT 29 ACRES  BECAUSE I FEEL I WOULD BE MORE COMFORTABLE IN THE SETTING AND NOT FEEL LEFT OUT

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is a registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, 29 Acres Shines the Light on JULIA!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks,  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET JULIA

Julia is a 4 year old girl with Autism who made her debut  this month on Sesame Street. She has bright orange hair and big green eyes! Julia is performed by a parent of a child with autism who uses her own experiences to help inform the actions of the character.

Thank you Sesame Street for infusing compassion and acceptance of diversity and differences in our young children.

You have some very wonderful friends, Julia.

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is a registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.

In Honor of Autism Awareness Month, 29 Acres Shines the Light on WILLIAM!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks (including the White House),  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET WILLIAM 

  Autism is hard because I have so little language.  Sometimes it is frustrating that I can't communicate my feelings, desires, or just that something is wrong to those around me. I live on a country estate in England with my Mom, Dad and sister Joanna.  I have lived in England since I was three years old, and there they age out of school at age 19.  I have been attending a program here called Post 19.  What they are doing for young adults with disabilities has been amazing.  When we saw 29 Acres we knew it would be the same sort of program.  One that would continue my growth and education, push me to learn more, but support me when I needed help.

 I love food, and watching cooking shows.  I really love watching Pioneer Woman as it combines some of my favorite things- good food, cows, tractors and trucks.  Music excites me and is very important to making my day happy. I love musicals like “The Sound of Music:, :”The King and I”. and one you probably never heard of called “:Bride and Prejudice”.

  I enjoy working outside doing horticulture work like raking, weeding, and hauling items in a wagon or wheelbarrow.  I enjoy crafts, and anything musical. I also like to run the vacuum and help wipe up tables.

 .
29 Acres will be a special place that nurtures young people with autism.  It combines training, education, and support with fun activities to help me continue to grow. The more my life skills can improve, the easier and happier my life will be.  29 Acres offers a routine for fun, and exciting activities combined with learning new skills.  It will be hard to move back to the United States since we have been away so long.  29 Acres provides me a safe, comfortable environment to grow.  Who could ask for more than that?

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is a registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.

In Honor of Autism Awareness Month, 29 Acres Shines the light on MICHELLE!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks (including the White House),  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET MICHELLE

Sometimes being born with autism itself makes a whole lot of certain stuff so much easier to be good at, to amaze other people, & or just to do in general. Like the type of art that I do, it is a scientific fact that most near-logically normal human brains are physically & mentally NOT capable of doing absolutely 100% purely geometrically & mathematically PERFECT mosaic/geometric designs done on paper & all drawn by hand.





I love to make people react in any kind of crazy humorous way to anything that I do, say, & or show them. Like if they get/react like all dizzy to my artwork, that type of reaction cracks me up as in it makes me laugh so extremely hard like a guffaw for so long.


For work, I like customer service, helping anybody out at all however it is needed, I am a people person, I love babies, little kids, & seniors, I love to help the environment, the earth itself, & being extremely creative with ideas on how us humans can do even better at taking care of our earth planet itself, I love creative writing, & I love to volunteer with seniors.


What excites me about 29 Acres?


Because it is the ONLY type of place & or/neighborhood that my parents WOULD EVER allow/let me be in & live in away from them & I will FINALLY get what I want & that is absolutely nothing but 100% pure INDEPENDENCE!!!!!!

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is  registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.

In honor of Autism Awareness month, 29 Acres Shines the Light on MATTHEW!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Thanks to Autism Speaks, thousands of landmarks (including the White House),  businesses, houses of worship and communities in over 150 countries will  Light It Up Blue in April to raise global awareness of Autism spectrum disorder.

 29 Acres will proudly shine the light on individuals with autism  every day for the month of April. We want to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder in our own community and we hope we do that by sharing their stories.

MEET MATTHEW

Matthew with Dad, Jeff

I live in South Carolina with my mom (Kelly), dad (Jeff), and my sister, Kayla. I spent a good part of my life in Minnesota where I had some great teachers who taught me a lot about what it means to go through life with Autism. We moved to South Carolina to escape the brutal winters and also to search for a residential community where I can feel wanted, understood and accepted. Because I have trouble with communication (I am mostly non-verbal), I am looking for ways that I can express my emotions to others without them misunderstanding how I really feel.

I love to be outdoors. My dad and I like to go hiking as often as possible. There are some amazing trails in the woods here around Clemson University. We often do videos that we post on Facebook, as part of an alter-identity duo we call the DeWitt Bandana Boys. When I’m stuck in the house, I like to watch videos on my iPad and TV. (My favorites are Disney and Dr. Seuss). I also really like trains and cows.

I’m pretty good at a lot of things, as long as you explain to me exactly what you want me to do. I can stack shelves, fill soda machines, set up chairs and tables. I know I could be very helpful on a farm, although I’ve never really had the chance. Working with cows (or other farm animals) would be really cool! I could feed and help herd the animals. I’m pretty alert and have a good memory so I know I could be a really good worker.

For the past 4 years, my family and I have been searching for the type of adult community that would allow me to be me, yet help me to reach my potential. I know I need some supervision but I’m pretty good about taking care of myself. I love the idea of being able to help start a new community and establish its identity and purpose. I want to be a part of something that helps other people understand that people with autism are not strange, helpless or dangerous. I’m excited to find a place that I can call home!!

In honor of the thousands of individuals living with autism in our Texas communities who are in need of quality housing and ongoing support, please consider supporting this project.  29 Acres is a registered 501C3 and all donations are tax deductible.
You can donate at http://www.29acres.org/donate

The 29 Acres mission is to elevate the quality of life for adults across the  autism spectrum by creating a dynamic housing community enriched with customized programming and support where every person will be empowered to live with purpose and joy.