Dear Friends,

Welcome to our Walk page, where you can learn more about Autism Delaware’s longest-running and largest community event. To those of you who are new to the Walk, we hope you will get a sense from these pages of the camaraderie and joy that our families have experienced over the years of coming together in support of autistic individuals and the important members in their lives.

This year’s Walk has extra significance because it is taking place during Autism Delaware’s 25th Anniversary year. Like so many aspects of what we do here, the Walk has endured and grown with the passing years, thanks to the tireless efforts of families, volunteers, staff, and sponsors and community partners that have provided us with countless support services we have needed to make the walk a success. Without your help, the Walk would not have evolved into the signature community event that it has become.
 
Today, the Walk for Autism is about sharing information, making new friends, raising funds to support others, and simply having a good time. To those of you have been with us for the Walk before and are visiting these pages in anticipation of the 2023 Walk, we appreciate your continued support. You are the folks who have made the Walk as much a family reunion as a fundraising event.

The rate of autism continues to increase--one in 36 children now have an ASD diagnosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control, up from one in 44 just a few years ago. That means a growing demand for our services and our ability to meet this demand is directly related to the engagement, action, and generosity of the families, individuals, and businesses who support events like the Walk.

As we continue to emerge from the pandemic and its stifling impact on all of our events and services, we are ready to come out in full force on October 7 at Delaware City’s Fort DuPont for the northern leg of the Walk, and on October 14 at Milton’s Hudson Fields for the southern leg. In 2024, the Walk will return to its traditional scheduling in April in honor of Autism Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. Whether the Walk is in October or April, I invite you to be a part of this celebration of our remarkable families and their supporters who share our goal of autism acceptance and inclusion. It is time for our families to come together, rejoice in each other, celebrate the good, and acknowledge the challenges. Like any family, we have truly had our good days and bad…but it all means more when you can share it with folks you have not seen in a year or so! I am excited and I hope you are… we have much work still to do together.

Best,

Brian Hall
Executive Director