The Executive Director

For all of us, this has been a difficult year and the Institute and its students have not been spared the exceptional challenges caused by the pandemic. I am happy to report that in spite of nearly 6 months of full remote instruction, our students have continued to learn. The lion’s share of the credit belongs to the parents who have embraced mentoring from our staff to become the teachers the children need them to be. Their collective determination continues to motivate all of us to change the face of autism.

The effects of the pandemic have, however, created a dire financial reality for the Institute:

• Significant expense increases
• The elimination of:
  • our ability to bill for adult services
  • greenhouse production to support our adult programming
  • and now, limited our ability to raise funds through our usual fundraising events including our Halloween Ball

All of this results in a deficit of over $800,000 – AFTER our projected limited fundraising efforts. Needless to say, your support is now more urgent than ever.

We will be having a Virtual Halloween Ball this year with a drastically scaled back program. We will be sending details and an invitation soon. When we do, we will ask you to consider something we have never asked before, a contribution to the Ball at the same level at which you did last year.

Your generosity has always been extraordinary, we thank you for your understanding and consideration at this unprecedented time. Please stay well.

Most Gratefully Yours,

Kevin J. Brothers, Ph.D., BCBA-D