Nonprofit Lifelong Access held “LEO's IMPACT: An Autism Awareness Expo” on Thursday at its location in Normal, bringing together volunteers, community organizations and the public to promote awareness and support for people with autism.
The titular Leo is Leo Egbers of Bloomington, a 2-year-old boy with autism who left his house and accidentally drowned in his neighborhood lake last May. Leo’s parents, Austin and Viviana Egbers, were in at the expo and have worked since their son’s death to increase access to support they lacked.
In a video with Lifelong Access, Austin and Viviana discuss long wait lists for assistance and diagnosis information that may have helped them better understand their son’s infatuation with water, as well as other facets of his autism. At the expo, Viviana was glad to see so much community support following the tragedy.
“It’s lovely that everyone is here and supporting the same cause,” she said. “Me and my husband are still healing from everything. It’s nice to put a negative event and make it into a positive one.”
That positivity includes Leo’s Library, a cache of autism resources Lifelong Access now offers. The expo also featured representatives from more than a dozen Bloomington-Normal organizations to offer information about services. Egbers found the expo's partners and turnout encouraging.
"It gives me a lot of hope that we can help others, and maybe in the future set laws to make it [autism] not as taboo as it is now," Egbers said.
Volunteers and visitors brought a positive atmosphere to the event, many with children in tow who played in spaces Lifelong Access and its partners provided. There also was support for Lifelong Access’ eponymous goal of supporting people with autism throughout their lifetime.
Visitor Carl Davis has an adult son with autism.
"I think the schools do a really good job," Davis said. "Because our son, he graduated from Bloomington High School, and they had a real good program. But I think after that it sort of falls off a little bit."
Davis added he was glad to see a representative from Bloomington Police Department, hoping officers will learn to better handle “situations” that can arise when an emergency call involves a person with autism.
Organizers at Lifelong Access were another source of enthusiasm and optimism at the event. Director of Marketing and Sales James Rivera hopes to make the systemic obstacles around autism more manageable.
“There’s so much navigation to do when it deals with autism, and being diagnosed, and going to see a doctor, and all the red tape,” Rivera said. “We want people to understand how to navigate the system the best way possible, and to not feel alone.”
Rivera said Lifelong Access works with families to find payment plans and insurance, including Medicaid, to avoid turning away anyone in need.
With rumblings of federal cuts, such as those at the Department of Education, that may impact many with autism, Rivera said his organization is preparing for further hardship, like potential cuts to Medicaid.
“A lot of that deals with us reaching out to more donors, so they can help us out to keep going. Because we do realize that if there are cuts to Medicaid, it could have a big impact on our services and the people we do serve," he said.
In addition to a “creative” outreach for more donors, Rivera said Lifelong Access also will work to hold more events, including, hosting the LEO’s IMPACT expo annually.
