I’m helping people on the autism spectrum to live a life of inclusion and participation and I hope you will join me!
My name is Iefke, and I am a Fourth Year Occupational Therapy student and open water swimming enthusiast. April is Autism Awareness month and Sunday 2nd April is World Autism Acceptance Day. To celebrate life on the spectrum, I will be doing a long-distance open water swim with a few other keen swimmers. I want to raise $500 this month to support Autism Queensland.
We all have challenges in our lives, but for people with neurodevelopmental differences, these challenges are often associated with things we take for granted. This may include self-care, communication, and interacting with the world.
It’s known that “If you know one person with Autism, you only know ONE person with Autism.”
My goal is to support individuals with neurodevelopmental differences, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) across lifespan to live their best life. This includes helping children and adults manage every day activities in ways that feel natural to them.
We can all learn from each other by fostering truly inclusive and diverse environments (schools & workforces) representative of the people they serve.
How to support this cause?
1. Every small bit helps. Donations are appreciated.
2. Our little team of distance swimmers are swimming ~13-15km in a body of water in Townsville surrounds on World Autism Day (Sunday 2nd). I am welcoming other swimmers interested to join - choose your distance. If interested, I can arrange for you to swim a section to your own ability and confidence. No matter what you do on the day, no one gets left alone at any point. We have a paddler joining us. However, all swimmers need to be self-sufficient with nutrition. Tow-float and light are also required.
OR
3. Not a swimmer at all but like the water? Bring a kayak and paddle.
Message me by Saturday 1st April if interested in swimming for a little bit or kayaking.
All donations will go directly to support Autism Queensland and their work which I encourage you to read about.
Specific details re: location and time will only be shared with those joining.
