Business of Sports Network’s Autism Awareness Challenge

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April 30, 2009

The Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown is good people, and I’d say that even if he wasn’t championing a most worthy cause:

At midnight tonight, the calendar sheds another page, and April turns to May. With that ends what has been designated as World Autism Awareness Month.

But, for millions of families around the globe, autism awareness is a daily affair.

I, and my family, are but one of a growing number that deals with autism’s effects.

Last year, when my wife and I learned that our youngest son Travis had been diagnosed as being on the autism scale as “classic”, I reached out to the sports community and offered up a challenge:

Spread the word. Help parents with young children look for the signs of autism. Be aware of your surroundings and realize that the boy or girl next to you in the checkout line may be on the autism scale. After all, it is a growing developmental disorder.

Please click through to Maury’s post and help get engaged and raise awareness of autism. Bonus: when you get to the end of the post you will be treated to a picture of a little boy way too beautiful to have issued from Maury Brown’s gene pool.

Nothin’ personal, Maury. Just sayin’.


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Maury Brown
14 years ago

I laughed so hard I nearly spit my latte on the “gene pool” comments. The boy is beautiful because my wife is. I was simply the straw that stirred the drink.

On a serious note, it is due to guys like Craig that the second annual autism awareness campaign has thrived. As I said to Craig in email, there is a parent somewhere right now seeing the signs of autism in their child, and wondering if it is indeed the case.

On a personal note, the most difficult thing is not raising a child with autism. The most difficult thing is dealing with how society sees children on the autism scale. There are days when Travis simply isn’t in the mood to go into a bustling public place, and when it’s time to go for him, it’s time to go. The public stares, mutters under their breath, often times, the word “brat”. The word “autism” is not tattooed on his forehead. The public simply sees a child having a meltdown.

My personal plea is this… When you see a parent dealing with a difficult child, don’t always assume that the child is unruly and know better. The child you see could well have a disorder, such as autism. As they say… never judge the book by its cover.

Thanks for the shoutout, Craig. Thanks to all that clicked through to read information on autism.

—Maury

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