Our special Parents Talk Autism (PTA) group was formed in January, 2009.

The main idea behind the PTA is that parents of people with autism are uniquely qualified to speak about what it is like to raise a child or young adult with autism and help them reach their fullest potential.

Easter Seals is very excited to be working with this wonderful group of parents through the PTA which has three main goals.

PTA Parent Ambassadors
The first important goal of PTA is to select, train and support Parent Ambassadors to share their experiences of raising a young person with autism and share their experience through involvement with Easter Seals.  Easter Seals invites PTA spokespersons to receive support and training to prepare them to most effectively share their personal stories as well as the Easter Seals Mission with other individuals and organizations in the local community.  PTA parent ambassadors may be asked to accompany an Easter Seals staff member on meetings with:

• Community leaders
• Current and potential donors
• School administrators
• Teachers
• Parent support groups and advocacy groups and
• Representatives of the media

PTA is unique because it offers Parent Ambassadors opportunities to share their own journey helping their family member grow toward independence—as well as talk about their own experience working with Easter Seals.  Easter Seals encourages its Parent Ambassadors to speak about the importance of early intervention and other evidence-based interventions for children with autism.

PTA Parent-to-Parent Support Network
A second but equally important function of the PTA is to serve as a support network to families new to the diagnosis of autism as well as families of current Easter Seals students who may be facing new milestones in their children’s lives.  Parents who have had similar experiences working with their own child are particularly able to help address the concerns of parents of children with autism who may have anxieties or misperceptions about aspects of growth and development of young people living with autism.  Other parents may have faced the same challenges themselves! 

PTA parent-to-parent advocates are encouraged to spend time with families who are new to the autism community and to Easter Seals.  Parents sharing their own stories firsthand, parent-to-parent, can help dispel anxieties and answer the many questions that often come with a new diagnosis and new challenges along the way.  Our PTA Parent-to-Parent advocates can also help fellow parents understand the true benefits of early intervention and how Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago can help young people with autism reach their fullest potential and greatest level of independence.

PTA Fundraising Support
By telling their own story first-hand, families who have directly benefited from Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago’s autism programs and services can encourage others to support Easter Seals.

For more information about the PTA, please contact:

Colleen Shinn
312-491-4110