Cynthia Howroyd

Autism Light #31 is Cynthia Howroyd.  

Cynthia Howroyd

Cynthia Howroyd is an experienced speech language pathologist who specializes in autism treatment and is currently the CEO of a software company aimed at autism that is being used worldwide.  She is also a conference speaker. Cynthia Howroyd is an Autism Light because of the work she has done to improve the speech and education of children with autism.

Cynthia Howroyd is from Canada but grew up in Australia.  The following was written about her in a PR Web Press Release in March of 2007.

"Leaving Tasamnia at the age of six when her father accepted a teaching post at a Canadian university, Cynthia Howroyd went on to become one of the first speech language pathologists on the Canadian East Coast to work with children with autism. Years later, as president and CEO of a software company, she's a pioneer in the use of technology to provide autism services."

Cynthia Howroyd founded the Canadian company AutismPro in 2006 to engage technology in the treatment of autism. AutismPro is a custom intervention program she created to assist educators with improving the learning experiences of children with autism.  It utilizes a combination of online computer software and professional consulting services. Presently there are over 1,000 clients throughout the world using AutismPro. The following YouTube video explains the AutismPro workshops and website.

For more information on AutismPro and Cynthia Howroyd's work visit these websites:

• AutismPro (About Us)
• Press Release - 2007
• Press Release - 2008

You can also visit her Website at http://www.howcreative.org/ or follow her on Twitter.

Special thanks to Cynthia Howroyd for being an Autism Light. Countless children with autism have the potential for improved speech through your efforts.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 


Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Cynthia Howroyd.

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Richard Everts

Autism Light #29 is Richard Everts.

Richard Everts with Family

Richard Everts is a parent of a son with autism, an autism foundation leader, and a producer of a groundbreaking movie on autism.  He was an easy choice, because he has these three amazing qualifications, any one of which could have qualified him as an Autism Light.

Father: Richard Everts is the father of a son named Tommy who has autism. Tommy is his inspiration for the work he does with autism.

Foundation: In 2005 he founded the non-profit Tommy Foundation for Autism and serves as its VP of Technology and Communications. His website has a good summary of his involvement with autism awareness.

Film: He won a Pepsi Refresh Project to create a movie called The United States of Autism. Richard Everts and his crew spent 40 days in 2010 travelling 11,000 miles across the United States of America to document the diverse faces of autism. The United States of Autism will be released at the 2012 Film Festival Circuit. Here is a trailer on this film about autism that will be very meaningful to the cause of autism.

The autism community eagerly awaits the release of this movie. The country needs to sees the diversity of autism that will be presented in the movie.  The following is an update on the production of the film that Richard Everts provided on YouTube in October, 2011.

For further engagement with Richard Everts work you can get involved at the following social media pages and Websites on the Internet.

For Further Information on the Film: 

• Join the United States of Autism Facebook Page. They have over 5,000 fans that like their page.
• Follow the United States of Autism on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/usofautism.
• Subscribe to the United States of Autism YouTube Channel.
• The film's official website is at http://usofautism.com/.

For Further Information on Richard Everts Work: 

• Follow Richard Everts on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/RichEverts.
• His official website is at http://richardeverts.com.

Thank you Richard Everts for being an Autism Light. We look forward to the release of fruits of this project.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 

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Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Richard Everts.

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Larry Oliveri

Autism Light  #28 is Larry Oliveri.

"People say, no we can't do big things because we are autistic, but I prove to them we can do it even though we have a disability."
(Larry Oliveri)


Larry Oliveri is a musician/singer from Staten Island, New York.  He has a passion for opera and sings in Spanish, Latin, Italian and English depending on the specific song. He also has autism. But even though he has autism he shares his talent in a variety of settings and also raises money for charity. Here are a few of his accomplishments:

• He sung God Bless America at the Dover International Speedway prior to the Autism Speaks 400 in May, 2010. 
• He was called Larry Legend in May, 2010 by Silive.com.
• In October, 2010 he was named the New Yorker of the Week by www.ny1.com.  Be sure and listen to the video included with the story and hear Larry sing You Raise Me Up on it.  
• Below is the YouTube video of Larry Oliveri and Angelica Massamilo performing to Andrea Bocelli's song The Prayer at the 2010 Quarterfinals of Got Talent? 

Larry Oliveri is an Autism Light because he has a great musical talent of singing. He is a role model for all those with autism and provides hopes for parents of children with autism.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 

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Richard Evans

Autism Light #27 is Richard Evans.

Richard Evans is a musician, photographer and parent of a teenager with autism named Ricardo. In 2006 he founded M4AA and Muziccircle in order to use his music to make a difference for autism. Richard Evans is an Autism Light because he is making a difference to encourage families and raise awareness for Autism in California.


Richard Evans is the leader of a M4AA associated event called Rock Away Labor Day Autism Awareness Event. On Monday, September 5, 2011, from 11:00am-7:00pm the holiday event was held on the steps of the California state capital in Sacramento. The public was invited to come out and hear music, poetry, comedy, and other special activities for families and children. The following are a couple of electronic news articles on this Rock Away Labor Day Autism Awareness Event and they also share about Richard Evans and his families journey with autism.

• From the Sacramento Press
• From Autism Today Blog

For more information on the Rock Away Labor Day Autism event go to their website at www.m4aa.org. If you live close to Sacramento, California you may want to be a part of this exciting annual event in 2012. A story on the 2011 Labor Day event can be found at this Website. Thank you Richard Evans for being an Autism Light.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Richard Evans.

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Christian Mast

Autism Light #26 is Christian Mast.

11 year old Christian Mast is from Upstate New York. Christian has autism and he spreads light to the autism community by being an author, fundraiser, and autism advocate. Christian also is an autism sibling as his brother Carter has autism. Christian Mast is an Autism Light because he is making a practical difference in his community by being an autism advocate, partnering with causes such as the Colgate Women's Ice Hockey Team's Autism Awareness project. In addition, he is a fundraiser who is currently working on a project to benefit Autism Speaks. 


Colgate Women's Ice Hockey Team: Christian enjoys both playing hockey himself and watching great hockey. He is a super fan of the Colgate Women's Ice Hockey Team and helped designed the uniforms they will wear to kickoff their 2nd Annual Autism Awareness project the first weekend of February, 2012. Head Coach Scott Wiley said this about Christian:

Christian has become a part of the Colgate women's hockey family over the past year. He is an extremely talented, caring and inspiring individual and we are excited to give him an opportunity to show his creativity through designing this year's autism awareness jersey (Source).

For more information on the the hockey team visit their Autism Light post about their being designated Autism Lights #80. A news story on Christian Mast was written by Colgate University and a video of Christian talking about designing uniforms for the project is included here.

Fundraising for Autism Dog: Christian Mast seems to have a special gift for creative fundraising. A past fundraising venture came in 2009 when Christian authored a 24 page children's book called "Attack of the Killer Dinosaur Frogs", which helped raise some of the money needed for his family's acquisition of a Four Paws For Ability Dog, a Golden Retriever named Jetta. Christian's brother Carter also has autism. 

Fundraising for Autism Speaks: Christian is actively involved in fundraising for his local chapter of Autism Speaks, including a walk for autism, selling toys, and running a lemonade stand. He is currently working on a goal of selling puzzle pieces to raise $1 Million dollars for Autism Speaks. He has created a Facebook page called "A Million Pieces for Autism" to help spread the word about his project and also to raise awareness for autism. He has over 500 likes of the Facebook page as of January 30, 2012.

The project is gaining energy. Jeanne Sager wrote an article on Christian Mast at The Stir of Cafemom.com.   Also, the blog Developmental Disabilities in the News featured a post on how through this fundraising Christian is forming social relationships and breaking myths about how people with autism are supposed to act. If everyone who hears of this will give just $1.00, $1 million can be secured as the porject goes "viral" through the widespread reach of social media like Facebook and blogs on the Internet.


Want to support Christian's cause?
Make checks out to Autism Speaks and send to:
Autism Speaks
10 Orchard Terrace
Sodus, NY  14551.


Donations can also be made via Paypal under the email address mommyofautism@gmail.com. All it takes is $1 to purchase a puzzle piece!  Autism Light made a donation and decided the fastest way to donate was through Paypal. You can follow Christian's fundraising progress at anytime by viewing his Autism Speaks Donation Page. 

Special thanks to Christian Mast for being an Autism Light! His efforts are an inspiration to the autism community. Something tells us this Autism Light is just beginning to make a big mark for the cause of autism. 


Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 


Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Erin Mast.

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Margaret Simons

Autism Light #25 is Margaret Simons.

Margaret Simons is from Illinois and is a parent of Ralphie, a 42 year old man with autism. She was a jewel among autism parents of her generation. She raised her child with autism in the 1970's, a period when their were few resources available for autism education, because the condition was much less common back then compared to today.

Margaret Simons and her mother Suzanne Thomson

During her life Margaret gave back to others in the community and she encouraged her fellow parents of special needs children by driving a school bus for Kirk School in Palatine, Illinois. She drove the school bus for special needs children until her retirement three years ago. Margaret was frequently seen dressing up for the school bus children on holidays (she is seen wearing an Easter bunny costume on the left).

This is the first time Autism Light has designated someone posthumously. Margaret Simons, 72, passed away on Sunday, August 28, 2011. She was in a fatal automobile accident that also took the life of her mother and Ralphie's Grandmother Suzanne Thompson. Her autistic son Ralphie was in the car at the time  and had to be hospitalized before he could return home. The funeral for Margaret Simons was held Friday, September 2, 2011, in Arlington Heights, Illinois. You may sign the Legacy Obituary for Margaret Simons through August 31, 2012.

A news report on this tragedy with some additional information on Margaret Simons' life can be found at www.dailyherald.com/article/20110901/news/709019963/.  Ralphie lives in the state operated Shapiro Center in Kankakee, Illinois. In fact, Margaret and her mother became "Mom & Gram" to many residents at Ralphie's home that had no one else to remember them on special occasions.  Meg Thompson recounted this story:

I always told Aunt Marge and Grandma Thomson how lucky these children/adults were to have them. They always corrected me and told me they were the lucky ones to have these special adults and children in their lives!!

Margaret Simons is an Autism Light for all she did during her life for her son with autism and for countless others. She was a bright light to many children with autism in her community who rode her bus over the decades she served as a special needs school bus driver. And then she continued that light to adults with special needs who were residents at the Shapiro Center with her son Ralphie.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 


Photo: Photos in this post are used with permission of Meg Thomson.

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Cathy Hutch

Autism Light #24 is Cathy Hutch.

Cathy Hutch (Hutchinson) lives in New Brunswick, Canada.  Her now adult daughter Kristy has autism. She is also a professional singer that goes by the stage name--Cathy Hutch. Cathy Hutch is an Autism Light because she is using music to bring awareness to autism.

Her album called Not Goin Back also includes her first single, I'm In Here. This song I'm In Here was co-written with B.J. McKelvie in 2008 and has been known as an Anthem for Autism. It is written from the perspective of a child communicating with the world about their autism. The following YouTube video shares the song I'm in Here.

Proceeds from the sale of the single go to benefit autism. It is also helpful to autism if people request their local radio station play this song on the air.  

The following are some links with more information about Cathy Hutch.

• Cathy Hutch's Biography.  
• Cathy Hutch's Concert Schedule.

Cathy Hutch had an interview recently that appeared in by Sea and be Scene.com.

Social Media: You can find Cathy Hutch on the following social media. 

• Twitter
• Facebook
• YouTube Channel

Thanks to Cathy Hutch for being an Autism Light.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 

Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Cathy Hutch.

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