Autism Resource Center Hosts Family Potluck

For more information, contact:

Kim Horyn, Director
Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center
646-341-3043
khoryn@autismspeaks.org [1]

In an effort to bring families of children with special needs together, the Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center will host a Family Potluck Picnic, 5-7PM, Sunday July 20th, at the Nantucket Boys and Girls' Club. The Resource Center will provide beverages, snacks and dessert, and families can bring their picnic supper.

Kim Horyn, the Director of the Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center, notes, "Many of our children on the Autism Spectrum and with other special needs can't go to the Club during the school year because they find it too stimulating, so this will give them a chance to play and hang out at the Club, and it will also give parents the opportunity to visit with one another." Horyn adds, "We've had many calls from visitors and seasonal families with children on the Spectrum, asking what is there for them to do on Nantucket. Having a child with special needs can be so isolating, and a potluck in a fun environment seemed to be a way of bringing families, who have so much in common, together." Horyn credits Executive Director Phyllis McInerney and the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors for partnering with the Resource Center.

The potluck is one of several summer activities the Resource Center has planned for families of children with autism and their friends, including movie outings, surfing lessons, and a social gathering for parents. Additionally, Stephen Shore, Ed.D., who has autism and Asperger's Syndrome and has written numerous books on the subjects, spoke in the Great Hall of the Atheneum on July 2nd, proving to be an inspiration for parents and children alike. Horyn notes that the Resource Center activities are open to all children with special needs, their siblings and their friends.

For more information, please visit www.autismspeaks.org [2], or contact Kim Horyn, Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center Director, at khoryn@autismspeaks.org [3],
646-341-3043.