HR1503 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1503 LRB095 22386 GRL 52724 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor the administration and staff of the "A Place for Me" not-for-profit foundation for their work in providing services to families and support for children affected by autism; and

WHEREAS, "A Place for Me" was founded by Elaine Reeves-Haywood in June of 2002; with very few resources or information available in her community to insure a good education, after school programs, recreation, or summer programs for her son, who is autistic, she created the foundation in order to help provide the tools, programs, and services that her son and other children with autism could benefit from; and

WHEREAS, The goal of the "A Place for Me" foundation is to provide services to families and support for the children affected by autism through numerous methods, including support for ongoing parent/child issues, the voicing of concerns for autism related issues, the availability of the foundation as a community resource, training and support on various autism related topics, educational assistance to regular and special education students, assisting with the creation and utilization of visual supports to enhance the learning style of students, the use of social stories and role playing for teaching social concepts, and increasing awareness of the various laws and the rights of parents; and

WHEREAS, "A Place for Me" has put forth great time and effort in raising awareness of autism within their community through education workshops, IEP support, and individual parent training sessions with visual aids; the foundation has also sponsored family outings to promote awareness, widen the inclusion and social interaction of autistic children, and to create environments where autistic children can feel comfortable; the foundation has also made a long-term goal to have a community center that will provide for after school programs, social skills programs, and a site where workshops for parents can be conducted; and

WHEREAS, The work that Elaine Reeves-Haywood and the "A Place for Me" foundation have done to raise awareness of autism and to ensure that these afflicted children have the education and care that they deserve is worthy of the greatest respect; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the administration and staff of the "A Place for Me" not-for-profit foundation for their work and wish them continued success in their future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Elaine Reeves-Haywood as a symbol of our esteem and respect.