Autism Awareness Ride- Studio One Cycle

Help the Studio One Cycle community raise funds for all families affected by Autism! All proceeds go to THE DOUG FLUTIE JR. FOUNDATION. We will be hosting a ride at our studio located at 15 4th st. Dover, NH 03820 on Sunday, April 2nd at 11:45am in honor of Autism Awareness Day and one of our member's families who has been impacted by this. Please read below for Lisa's story <3

"The reason this charity is so close to our hearts is that 2 of our children have autism and were diagnosed at early ages. Our goal is to make their lives as fulfilling as possible and charities like the Flutie Foundation ensure that anyone with autism has the best quality of life. Our autism journey began when I was pregnant with our 3rd child. I noticed our one year old son Vincent wasn’t hitting many milestones. His pediatrician agreed with our concerns and we were able to get him into early intervention by the time he was 18 months. He received an official autism diagnosis 2 months after his second birthday. Although we were expecting the diagnosis we still felt shock and disbelief. There were many tears and sleepless nights worrying for him. After receiving this diagnosis, Vincent began receiving 40 hours a week of therapy. I would sit through and watch every session trying to learn everything I could from his team of professionals on ways to help and teach my son. Not too long had passed and I noticed my 3rd child, Joey, wasn’t hitting milestones as well. At this point, I was more aware of the early signs of autism since Vincent and Joey are only 2 years apart. Joey was officially diagnosed with autism at 19 months. My husband held me as I cried receiving that second diagnosis. We have never cared that our sons would be different it’s the worry over the many unknowns. Will they ever be able to communicate? Will they be accepted by their peers? How will this affect my daughter? Lack of safety awareness. Adulthood. What will happen when I die? Many thoughts and worries for them are always running through my head. Our daughter Bella is amazing. We could not be more proud of the person she is becoming. She and Vincent are even closer in age as she is only 15 months older. She herself has been sitting in on her brother's therapies since she was 3 years old. She knows what it is to love someone with a disability and cares deeply about accepting people with autism and anyone that is different. She could not be a better sister to her brothers or love them any more than she does. We are nine years into our autism journey and because of early intervention and the therapies they still receive, our sons have made leaps and bounds. That doesn’t mean it’s easy but in our autism world, we focus on how far they have come and progress no matter how slow at times and celebrate every milestone when it comes. We are also very lucky to have worked with amazing professionals through the years that have helped our family so much on this journey. We spend a lot of time trying to understand what they see, what they hear, and how they feel so we can be the best advocates for both of them. We often ask ourselves how we can help them understand and to live in a world that doesn’t make sense to them. They are Vincent and Joey and we couldn’t imagine them being anything other than themselves. They are best friends and they both love trains, swimming, jumping on our trampoline, playing with their big sister and scripting their favorite shows and movies.

The Doug Flutie Jr Foundation’s mission statement is to help people and families affected by autism live life to the fullest. We are fortunate our boys were able to receive the services they needed and this foundation is helping others receive the services they need. Please donate to this wonderful Foundation that does so much to help the autism community if you can.