OARacle Newsletter

OAR recently awarded $78,918 to support 17 projects led by the fall 2024 winners of the Peer Education Grant program. In total, OAR has awarded $107,497 for 27 projects in 2024. With these grants, OAR has helped educate over 237,000 children through the Kit for Kids program since 2012.

Launched in 2012, the program supports projects that promote autism awareness and acceptance among nonprofits, communities, libraries, and K-12 public schools using OAR’s peer education resources.

OAR expanded this year’s peer education grant funding with the support of Jewelers for Children, a nonprofit founded by the U.S. jewelry industry dedicated to helping children in need. In 2024, Jewelers for Children donated $100,000 to support OAR’s programs, including the peer education program. With this generous donation, OAR expanded the program’s fall round to include larger grants focused on peer education across school districts.

“Jewelers for Children is thrilled to increase our support for the Organization for Autism Research so that they can continue to support the community of educators making sure that kids on the spectrum are getting what they need to thrive,” said Sara Murphy, Jewelers for Children’s executive director. Since 2018, the nonprofit has donated $395,000 to OAR to benefit autistic children.

Congratulations to the grant recipients!

Grady Bailey
Be Aware, Show You Care!
Van Buren School District, Van Buren, Arkansas                                     
Bailey will use the Kit for Kids materials to reach students in grades K-6 and teach them about autism awareness. Bailey hopes that through teaching these materials in the classroom, students will become more knowledgeable about their autistic peers and learn how to respectfully ask questions to better understand autistic people.

Garv Bakshe
Lincolnshire Autism Awareness Project
Lincolnshire Autism Awareness Project, Buffalo Grove, Illinois 
The Lincolnshire Autism Awareness Project team will use the peer education materials to teach middle school students about autism while fostering kindness toward and acceptance of all neurodiverse people. The team hopes this initiative will help the students develop into empathetic and accepting adults.

AnnMarie Bates
Increasing Autism Acceptance in Shepherd Public Schools
Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan
For the fourth time, Bates and the Central Michigan University team will use the Kit for Kids materials to increase autism acceptance in local schools. This year, Bates and her team members will include the Autism Tuned In program in their lesson plans to deepen students’ understanding of autism acceptance. Bates hopes to expand into the greater Mount Pleasant area to increase autism acceptance.

Bonnie Buckelew
Creating Change Through Awareness
Jackson Parish School Board, Jonesboro, Louisiana
Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School serves students in preschool through fifth grade. Buckelew and the staff plan to use peer education materials and funds to empower the students to be kind, see value in differences, and work together as a team. These materials will continue the school’s mission of using a whole-child approach to ensure all students can reach their full potential.

Leah Carbone
Inclusion Program Special Weekend Meet-Up and Play Date
MAEVE Burbank, Burbank, California
Carbone and other staff members at MAEVE Burbank plan to use the Kit for Kids materials to continue to empower those they serve. Primarily serving “all who mother in support of one another and their communities,” this organization will engage both neurodivergent and neurotypical children in the local community to teach them how to be inclusive by educating them about autism awareness.

Sarah Chapman
MOORE Autism Acceptance
Moore County Schools, Carthage, North Carolina
Chapman will lead a training for staff at Moore County Schools to show them how to incorporate Kit for Kids materials into the current curriculum. Teachers will use the materials to help students understand how to better understand and work with each other inside and outside the classroom. Chapman will also use some of the funding to host a parent night where students will demonstrate what they have learned about inclusivity and autism acceptance.

Sandra Doucett
Shake-A-Leg Miami Peers on Piers
Shake-A-Leg Miami, Florida 
Doucett and Shake-A-Leg Miami plan to use the Kit for Kids materials in their programming, which provides access to the physical and mental health benefits of Miami’s environment. Offered to people with and without disabilities, the program will help foster belonging, inclusion, and respect and provide a fun, safe, and educational environment for children of all means and abilities.

Anarosa Durate and Karen Ponce
Clifton Public School District Autism Acceptance Initiative
Clifton Public School District, Clifton, New Jersey
This initiative will serve a diverse population of K-8 students. As a first step, educators and facilitators will receive specialized training to deliver the Kit for Kids materials. After that training, Ponce and district faculty will teach the material throughout the district to empower students with empathy and teach about autism awareness.

Nick Indoma
Radically Inclusive: A School-wide Autism Awareness Program
Kyrene School District, Chandler, Arizona
Indoma will lead this program to promote autism awareness and acceptance throughout the Kyrene School District. The materials and grant funds will support professional development for staff and educators and an autism awareness campaign for students, families, and the community.

Michele Maloney
Best Buddies
Bilbray Elementary, Las Vegas, NV
Bilbray Elementary, a public pre-K to 5^th-grade school, will use the Kit for Kids materials as part of its Best Buddies program. This program pairs students with and without disabilities during the school year, with each month focusing on different ways to facilitate genuine friendships and encouragement—furthering the promotion of acceptance of students of all abilities.

Brittany Mason
Autism Acceptance Project
Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Kentucky
Jefferson County Public School District includes 168 schools serving over 95,000 students. With the Kit for Kids materials, Mason will lead schools in providing resources, foundational knowledge, and training to teachers, staff, and students for the promotion of neuroinclusion across all of their elementary schools.

Constance McCarty
Accept, Advocate, Appreciate!
Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, New Orleans, Louisiana
McCarty and the faculty at Bethune will serve pre-K to 8^th-grade students by fostering an inclusive environment for all students. Students will participate in multiple activities centering on autism throughout the year. Each initiative will incorporate the Kit for Kids materials to promote understanding, acceptance, and celebration of diversity.

Kaitlyn McCord
Kochavim After School
Kings Bay YM-YWHA, Brooklyn, New York
McCord will use the materials and funds from the Peer Education grant within the Kings Bay YM-YWHA program. This program fosters an environment of understanding, acceptance, and support for all children, including those with autism. With the Kits for Kids materials, staff members will continue to create a community where every child feels valued and empowered, paving the way for a more inclusive society.

Thomas Reed and Eric Floyd
HeroicOhio Peer Education (HOPE) Project
Lawrence County Educational Service Center, Ironton, Ohio
The Lawrence County Educational Service Center will leverage the power and promise of game-based learning to deliver the Kits for Kids content through Heroic Game Day, the world’s only student-driven, online skills-learning platform. In doing so, the team will raise awareness of autism in grades 3 to 5 and build students’ skills to be supportive and inclusive peers in a fun, safe, “kids first” way.

Bryan Rivera
What Makes You Special, Makes You Unique
Naranjito, Puerto Rico
Rivera created the bCalm Project to encourage inclusivity in Puerto Rico. By using the Kit for Kids educational resources, Rivera and his team will promote understanding, acceptance, and empathy toward students with autism. The goal will be to ensure that every student with autism feels valued and supported, fostering a culture that celebrates everyone’s unique strengths.

Jenny Underwood
Branch Out! Peer Mentor Training
Branches ABA Outreach, Montgomery, Alabama
Branches ABA Outreach strives to meet the needs of individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities by building relationships, addressing needs, and creating hope through education and support. With the help of OAR’s peer education materials, the staff will train peer mentors and equip them to be better supporters and advocates for their friends with autism during social skills groups and social enrichment activities at their schools and in their communities.

Christina Veatch
Monte Vista: All Means All!
Monte Vista Elementary School, Rohnert Park, California
As part of the school’s mission to foster an inclusive environment for everyone, Monte Vista will be using OAR materials across grade levels on their general education campus to enhance understanding of neurodiversity and promote meaningful relationships among all students on campus.

Interested? Submit an Application Today!

If you are working on or are interested in creating a project that promotes autism awareness and acceptance in grades K-8 using the Kit for Kids program materials, this program is for you! The application period for the spring of 2025 is open now for projects starting as early as April 1, 2025. OAR will award grants of up to $10,000 for school district-wide projects only. All other grants will range from $500 to $5,000.

For questions and comments, contact the Programs team at programs@researchautism.org.