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“I am the proud mom of a son who is on the Spectrum.” Erinn Hannigan, along with 56 RUN FOR AUTISM athletes, will compete at the 2025 Walt Disney World ® Marathon weekend this January, representing OAR. Her son, Tommy, was diagnosed with autism at age 12. “Without the research that was available, we would not have been able to navigate his middle school and high school.” However, “By getting help, engaging in advocacy, and thinking outside the box for his high school experience, we were able to watch Tommy finish high school, go on to college (and college 2.0 when the first attempt was not successful), and GRADUATE!” Now, Tommy is working on an international IT team for a Fortune 100 company committed to neurodiverse hiring practices. “Not only was his interview process different because he was interviewed by people who were trained to interview neuro-diverse candidates, but his first manager was also trained to work with ND employees,” Erinn said. Tommy is “learning every day how to navigate adulting, teamwork, living on his own and managing his expenses. It has been and continues to be an amazing journey to be a part of.” Erinn is running Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, a half marathon and full marathon on back-to-back days. “Training for Goofy is hard,” she said. But “those hard miles remind me of the hard things Tommy had to work through to get where he is today. He is handling it…so can I!”

Jennifer Eckelkamp has run several RunDisney races and knew she wanted to raise money for a cause close to her heart. Her daughter was diagnosed with autism at age 11. “We had been on quite a journey with her after years of big feelings and big meltdowns.  Eventually, it turned into severe depression and anxiety and social issues once she moved into middle school, and a doctor FINALLY suggested we have her evaluated.  Once we got her diagnosis, everything else made sense.  We are now able to understand her in a way we never could before and we are able to get her the help and guidance she needs.”

Natalie Logsdon is running the Dopey Challenge, taking on the 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon on back-to-back days. She’s run with RUN FOR AUTISM since 2017, shortly after her son Lars was diagnosed with autism. “Lars was non-verbal until he was around 3.  At that point, he only spoke by repeating back what other people said to him (echolalia).  He actually loved Disney movies at that point in his life, and a lot of his vocabulary was taken from Disney movie quotes (he watched Toy Story and Monsters Inc. on repeat).  After about a year of frequent therapy (3 to 4 times/week), he started to build up his own language skills and, around 4 and 1/2, really started to grow his own personality. We have a wonderful community of family, friends, therapists, and doctors that have helped us along the way. Because of them, he has grown into such a kind, caring, compassionate human being (he is 11 now).  He is just now starting to get into sports and loves to play hockey.  He made his first travel team this year, which is amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of how much he has grown and all of the work he has put in.  It isn’t easy going to therapy 3 days a week for 8 years with no real end date in sight.  He doesn’t complain; he just pushes through and does what he needs to do.  He impresses me every single day of his life.”

Natalie and Lars are taking on the 5K together. “He [Lars] also recently started to get into running and ran his first 10K with me in July in Atlanta.  Lars is VERY excited about doing the 5K. I am so incredibly excited for him to run with me and will probably cry like a baby the entire time and embarrass him!”