The love for Twilight spans age, generation, and even gender. Meet three ladies whose love for the saga has transcended into the benefit for a great cause-- children's autism.
Elena is a stay at home mom with five children: Noah 8, Ava 6, Mason 4, Callie (aka Renesmee) 3, and Eden 7 months. Her middle baby, Mason, began missing his developmental milestones around 18 months of age. Told that Mason was reacting to having a new baby in the house, Elena, a seasoned mom, trusted her gut.
“I consulted a psychologist who suggested we have him evaluated. Mason was very young at the time so he was not diagnosed right away but was placed in speech therapy, behavior therapy and occupational therapy to help him with his delays,” says Elena. “He now attends a special preschool for children with autism and is doing well but is still ‘non-verbal.’ He uses jargon (or babble) but has no purposeful words.”
Helping Mason with a minimum of 15 hours of therapy each week, and playing bus driver for his various daily appointments, Elena was in dire need of an outlet. She found just that vice last November when, feeling like a beached whale, she picked up a copy of Twilight at Costco.
“I started reading it on the way home while the Hubs drove and I was instantly hooked. I finished it the next day and sent Hubs out for the rest of the series. He was happy to appease my 3rd trimester crankiness.”.jpg)
Elena enjoys slipping off to her world of fantasy. She muses, “Twilight has always been about me. Forks is my ‘happy place.’ It's where I go when the kids go to bed and I can pretend I'm experiencing love for the first time all over again. I get butterflies thinking about Edward sitting at his table in the cafeteria. I think every Mom can agree that they are better mommies when they have ‘mommy time.’ My mommy time is when the kids are in bed and I'm reading Twilight.”
Elena, Kate and Melissa decided to take their love of Twilight and, like many others, explore the saga in blog form. Two months into their venture, the blog has over 80,000 hits. Titled “Robsten Lovers,” the trio provides a wealth of information, giveaways, and most recently began a charity auction to benefit the charity Autism Speaks, in honor of Mason.
Ending on July 22nd, the auction features a Twilight gift pack including the Director’s Notebook, a Twilight tote, jewelry and more! Check out the widget at the bottom for more information and to place your bid!
Think your child may suffer from autism? Consider these statistics, gleaned from a site endorsed by Jenny McCarthy, Generation Rescue:
- • 1 in 150 children
- • 4:1 ratio of boys to girls
- • 1 in 98 boys
- • Fastest growing developmental disability
- • Cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3rds with early intervention
- • A family with a child with autism will fund 3 to 5 million dollars of services throughout the lifetime of the child.
- • More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than cancer, diabetes, Down’s Syndrome and AIDS combined.
- • Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of most of the more prevalent childhood disorders.
- • Approximately 1 million individuals in the US have autism
A final note from Elena:
My heart breaks for Mason and the life he should have. He's supposed to start kindergarten in the Fall of 2010 and he won't. I can't be around friends who have children his age because it hurts me to see their kids carry conversations when Mason can't. It kills me when Mason is crying and he can't tell me why he's upset. I can't imagine what it must feel like to know what you want and need but not be able to tell anyone. More than anything in the world, I want to be able to talk with my son and have him be able to talk with me.
Whether the Twilight gift pack interests you or your teen, check out the auction and place your bid today!
Do you have a child who suffers from autism or another debilitating illness? What steps do you take to help your child and/or the organization dedicated to helping your child’s affliction?
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