Brian Patrick of New York is inline skating across the country to raise money and awareness for autismspeaks.org. His journey brought him through DeKalb County Tuesday.
Patrick’s journey began in Montauk Point, New York on September 20 and it has taken him through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and now through Tennessee.. He is traveling by himself with a 22 lb. backpack “I am working my way to California. I’m on my own, I don’t have an entourage. I don’t have a travel companion in a car that can go up ahead of me and check out the road conditions. I am limited on my resources. I don’t have the privilege of spending every night in a hotel. Its probably every three days. There are sacrifices that I am making but this is not about me. Its about helping people that are part of the Autistic Spectrum,” said Patrick.
“On my journey, I’ve been speaking to parents and others, some of whom have children on the Autistic Spectrum to give them some insight into my experience. I have a child, Riley and he was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was about three years old. Up until fifteen years ago, Autism was something that was never really discussed until AustimSpeaks came along and really pushed it to the forefront. Austim is no longer an issue. Its an epidemic. Even though you may not have anyone in your life that is on the spectrum and you may be thinking everything is okay, at some point it could affect you or someone you know because of the amount of kids that are being diagnosed,” he said.
Patrick, who is also on the Autistic Spectrum with Aspergers, encourages you to learn more about autism by visiting AutismSpeaks.org or checking out his website at at li2lb.com.
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