This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Wine & Craft Beer Tasting ASD Fundraiser Event

FRED R. VOLKMAR, MD TO SPEAK AT AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER FUNDRAISER

The Bethany Leapley Autism Spectrum Disorder Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce that Fred R. Volkmar, MD and Pam Ventola, Ph.D. will be the guest speakers at the Wine & Craft Beer Tasting Fundraiser event on Saturday, February 1st at 7pm at St. Barbara’s Church in Orange, Connecticut.  The wine & craft beer tasting event, emceed by television and radio talent Tony Terzi, will also feature hors d’oeuvres and desserts, a silent auction, and entertainment provided by DJ Jay.

Volkmar is the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology and the Director of the Yale University Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine.  He is also the Chief of Child Psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT.  Pam Ventola, Ph.D. is the Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center.  Both presenters are honored to participate in this 1st annual event to raise funds for scholarships awards to children and adults for the soon-to-be opened Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Fitness Center in Orange, Connecticut. 

The ASD Fitness Center, scheduled to open in April of this year, is a facility designed specifically to provide a safe, comfortable and structured environment for empowering individuals with ASD to improve their fitness, nutrition and social/emotional well being.  Founders Adam and Dedra Leapley were inspired to create a specialized gym for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) based on their own experience of raising a child with ASD.  Adam Leapley says, “We believe in an overall healthy mind and body and introduced our son to a personal trainer last year who had experience with ASD individuals.  This led to his improvement physically, emotionally, and socially.” Recognizing his son’s talent for mentoring others on the Spectrum through his work with “Unified Sports”, the “Best Buddies” program and the “Autism Spectrum Resource Center”, Leapley thought that a specialized gym would give his son the opportunity to translate his strength for working with others into a career.  After floating the idea to professionals in the field of ASD, he found there was a great enthusiasm for this unique concept and decided to move forward in launching the ASD Fitness Center.  The Wine and Craft Beer Tasting Fundraiser event is planned to coincide with the opening of the gym to financially support youth and adults who will benefit by attending the gym’s program.

Find out what's happening in Bethwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The ASD Fitness Center is the first of it’s kind in our region,” says Leapley.  “All of our trainers have a special education background and will offer one-on-one training and small group fitness classes.  Our intake and evaluations are thorough and Individual Fitness Plans (IFP) will be created for each member to achieve specific goals in the areas of nutrition and functional skills. “

Tickets for the Wine & Craft Beer Tasting Fundraiser, held at St. Barbara’s Church at 480 Racebrook Road, in Orange, Connecticut on February 1st, are $100 per person and must be purchased in advance.  Tickets pan be purchased online athttps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=XEFY94Q9GY7C2 or via Pay Pal at ASDcharity@gmail.com.  Payments made by checks should be payable to The Bethany Leapley ASD Scholarship Fund and mailed to: Rick Polio, Fundraiser Chair at 17 Ironwood Way, Orange, CT 06477.  Donations are also graciously accepted. 

Find out what's happening in Bethwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For questions about the Wine & Craft Beer Tasting Fundraiser or the ASD Fitness Center, please email ASDcharity@gmail.com.   To learn more about the ASD Fitness Center, please visitwww.asdfitnesscenter.com.  

#  #  #

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?