Acceptance Changes Everything.
And It Starts with YOU.
For autistic children, the greatest barrier is a world that isn't ready for them.
This April, help us build a world that is.
Children on the Autism Spectrum are capable of remarkable things. With the right support at the right time, they develop the skills, confidence, and independence to participate fully at school, in friendships, in workplaces, in life. That is what community acceptance and specialized pediatric care make possible.
Early intervention changes outcomes. The right therapy at the right time helps autistic children find their voice, build connections, and move toward the life they deserve. But access to that support is limited, and the window for each child doesn't stay open forever.
Children's Specialized Hospital Foundation is working to change that. Donor investment funds innovation, specialized programs, community education, and research that will increase access to care for more children.
This April, sign the Acceptance Pledge and stand with every child who needs a world that welcomes, values, and includes them.
ACCEPTANCE STARTS HERE, TAKE THE PLEDGE.
Acceptance isn’t awareness, it’s action. When we choose acceptance, we commit to seeing individuals on the autism spectrum as whole people, listening to their voices, and building communities where they can thrive.
I pledge acceptance.
I will respect autism as part of neurodiveristy.
I will see and build on the strengths of people in my life who are on the autism spectrum.
I will listen to their voices and help create spaces in which people with autism can belong.
Acceptance changes everything.
Acceptance starts with me.
👉 SIGN THE ACCEPTANCE PLEDGE
How Acceptance Changed Everything for Tommy
Tommy Marcketta was seven years old when he finally had a word for who he was. Autism.
His mother, Elizabeth, had spent years watching her son navigate a world that didn't quite fit him. The sounds that felt like pain, the social currents he couldn't read, the sense that he was always working harder than everyone else just to keep up. When the diagnosis came, she cried. But they were tears of relief. We finally had an answer. A starting point. A way to let Tommy be the best Tommy.
From there, the work started. Years of therapy at Children's Specialized Hospital (occupational, physical, and individual counseling), each round built around where Tommy was and what he needed. His care team didn't try to make him less autistic. They helped him understand his own mind and build from there.
In the pool, everything clicked. Water had always calmed him and there's a neurological reason for that, they learned. Tommy joined Special Olympics swimming, trained hard, and set his sights on something bigger: a spot on his high school swim team. He made it. That season, he swam every meet, helped his team win its section, and showed up for every pasta dinner and team tradition along the way.
He has since won nine gold medals at Special Olympics competitions, earned his lifeguard and swim instructor certifications, and been honored with a formal township proclamation for his advocacy. At seventeen, he's applying to college with plans to study medicine and build a swim program for kids with special needs.
None of this happened because Tommy's autism was “cured.” It happened because the people around him chose to accept him and to build around who he is, not around who they wished he were.
"Autism is part of what makes me, me."
This April, Children's Specialized Hospital Foundation is raising funds to make specialized care possible for every child in New Jersey who needs it. Because acceptance doesn't just change one life. It changes everything.
