Variety Children's Charity Hosts Autism Walk Sunday

by KYW’s Karin Phillips

The Variety Children's Charity is launching a new initiative with a special autism walk on Sunday.

Since 1935, Variety, the children's charity of Greater Philadelphia, has provided programs and services for children with disabilities. Its latest initiative is Autism and related developmental disorders; a Variety Autism Center for Families.

Mark Wasserman is a Variety Board member and says the new center is badly needed because of the backlog of autism cases throughout the Region:

“For example, at CHOP, if you call and find out that your kid was recently diagnosed with autism, it could be up to two years until you could see a specialist. So this center is supposed to provide intervention in the period immediately following diagnosis where you're kind of lost without specialist care.”

Registration for the Autism Walk begins Sunday at 8:30am in the food court at the Plymouth Meeting Mall.

For more information about the walk on the web, go to varietyautismwalk.kintera.org.