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Gail Werner-Robertson |
Werner-Robertson, founder and CEO of GWR Wealth Management LLC, is on a mission. She wants to raise $1 million for the autism program at UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute.
Werner-Robertson has a vested interest – her two sons, Jared, 19, and Cleighton, 12, have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. She knows first-hand the challenges that are faced by parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and she knows how important it is for parents to seek early intervention and treatment for these children.
“Nebraska has been judged by the Autism Society to be at the bottom of states for availability of services and reimbursement of costs for these services,” Werner-Robertson said. “This means that parents either move their children to other states to get treatment or they settle for less than ideal services and struggle to fill in the void themselves.
“I am aware of some families that split up having one parent move with their autistic child to a state with services and the other parent stays in Nebraska with the other children. You can only imagine the burden this creates for families with young children.”
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Susan Wilczynski, Ph.D. |
Now, thanks in large part to support from the community, Dr. Wilczynski said, the MMI program is ready to take a major step forward with the creation of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
The center will focus on older children and young adults in transition, Dr. Wilczynski said. It will provide multidisciplinary training for parents and professionals to help adapt middle and high school programs for individuals with ASD.
“The center will take Nebraska’s autism program to a new level,” Dr. Wilczynski said. “It will be something the entire state will benefit from and will truly make a difference for all those families with children with ASD. It will help Nebraska become a national leader in the innovative treatment of autism.”
Dr. Wilczynski said the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders would allow MMI to:
- hire professionals to complement its existing autism program;
- present state-of-the-art seminars organized by experts for teachers and parents; and
- coordinate behavior analysis with molecular genetics to identify therapies and individual differences in the autism spectrum.
Significant funding for the center will come from two major events being chaired by Werner-Robertson – a dinner and auction at the Durham Western Heritage Museum at 5:30 p.m., June 5, and a golf tournament on June 6 at Shadow Ridge Country Club. UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., and his wife, Beverly, are serving as honorary chairpersons for the two events.
“Our goal is to raise $1 million,” Werner-Robertson said. “We know that’s an ambitious goal, but we’re excited to take on the challenge.” With the events slightly more than a month away, more than $300,000 has already been raised thanks to donations made through the Sunshine Foundation and the work of the committee put together by Werner-Robertson.
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The June 5 dinner will include silent and oral auctions with several major items being auctioned including tickets to theU2 concert at Qwest Center Omaha on Dec. 15, a Lear jet trip for six to anywhere in the U.S. on UltraAir Charter, a trip to San Diego and a ski trip to Park City, Utah, luxurious jewelry from the Alan Friedman Design, a trip for two to New York City including tickets to the Conan O’Brien late night show, as well as an autographed jersey from Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken.
The June 6 golf tournament, which is filling up quickly, will feature several sports celebrities including former Husker athletes Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost and Erick Strickland. In addition, former Navy Lt. Shane Osborn, who became an American hero when he landed his crippled U.S. aircraft in China in 2002 after a midair collision with a Chinese fighter jet, is scheduled to play.
Cost is $200 per golfer or $800 per foursome. This is the fourth consecutive year that Werner-Robertson has held a golf tournament to raise funds for autism. To accommodate more golfers, there will be two shotgun starts – one at 7:30 a.m. and one at 1 p.m.
As scientists learn more about autism, more cases are being identified that previously went undiagnosed. It is now considered the most widely diagnosed developmental disability in the nation.
“Autism comes in many forms,” Dr. Wilczynski said. “We really don’t know what causes it, and although good treatment options are available today, we need a great deal more information about how to best treat each individual child. There is so much variability in the disorder that one child might not speak at all and another goes into a long-winded monologue about an obscure topic.”
The services necessary to help a child with an ASD grow into a productive adult are staggering. “Some parents spend upwards of $60,000 per year on special services to help their children,” Werner-Robertson said. “Other parents would gladly pay that much if they could find appropriate services for their children.
“That’s why the new center at Munroe-Meyer is so important. It is essential that we help students with ASD make their way through middle school and high school. They need to experience the life skills that will take them to independence, and the key is education – educating parents on how to parent and advocate for their child; educating teachers on how to teach autistic children; and educating the medical community on how to get services to these children.”
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Werner-Robertson’s son, Jared. |
“He is following his passion and truly making something out of his life,” Werner-Robertson said. “That should be the objective of every family facing this disorder — to
help their children be all that they can be.”
April is National Autism Awareness Month. For more information, go to www.autism-society.org. For more information on the golf tournament, call 496-7200 or go online to http://www.gwrwealth.com/annualcharitygolfouting.asp.