Good News Friday!

Benjamin Tarasewicz

Today, I’d like to share some good news about a young man who has received services through Imagine!’s Autism Spectrum Disorder Program who is making a positive impact on our community by educating his peers and teachers, as well as the general public, on the challenges of living with autism.

Benjamin Tarasewicz is a precocious speaker who is currently a student at Fairview High School. Benjamin himself has had years of intensive autism therapy, with therapeutic interventions continuing on through the years and to the present day. The daily hours of intensive therapy that he received as a toddler allowed him to begin learning how to speak around age three. By the end of elementary school and in middle school, he was very active in drama performances, sometimes garnering the lead role.

Now, he’s taking on a new role of public speaker and advocate, and has created an hour long multi-media presentation entitled Living With Autism: Breaking Through Barriers.

This past spring, Benjamin gave the debut performance of his informative and inspiring presentation to a full house at Fairview, and received a standing ovation from the audience of over 100 students, teachers, and other guests. He has since delivered his presentation to the Colorado Department of Education and the Special Education Advisory Council, and is currently scheduled to present at various local high schools and other educational institutions. Benjamin’s public efforts to educate the community about living with autism are already being recognized – on October 24 he will be honored by the Autism Society of Colorado with their “Compassionate Youth of the Year” award.

This coming Tuesday, you have an opportunity to see first-hand one of Benjamin’s rousing presentations. The University of Colorado Psi Chi Honors Psychology Club will be hosting Benjamin on October 9 at 5:30 pm in Hellems Room 252 on the CU Boulder campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Congratulations on your success, Benjamin, and keep up the good work!

PS – I’d like to thank Benjamin’s mother, Malva Tarasewicz, for sharing the information above (and Benjamin’s photo). She also asked if I would share the information below:

“Like” us on Facebook at Benjamin Breaking Barriers; the page will be up by 3:00 this afternoon. Our website: www.benjaminbreakingbarriers.com will be up after this weekend; please check out our blog!