Press Release

Arlington, VA, September 12, 2024  – The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) takes great joy in announcing the recipients of its fall 2024 Peer Education Grant competition. This cycle, OAR is awarding seventeen grants totaling $78,838.00 to teach more than 20,000 students about autism.

Since 2012, OAR has helped educate more than 237,000 students and peers about autism through the Kit for Kids peer education program. OAR continues its commitment to educating students by awarding grants ranging from $500 to $10,000 through this program. The successfully funded projects will be led by teachers, administrators, parents, youth group organizers, and autism professionals who plan to teach today’s youth about autism in school or other community-based settings.

OAR expanded this year’s peer education grant funding with the support of Jewelers for Children (JFC), a nonprofit founded by the US jewelry industry dedicated to helping children in need. In 2024, JFC donated $100,000 to support OAR’s programs, including the peer education program. With this generous donation, OAR expanded the fall round of the program to include larger grants focused on peer education across school districts. When commenting on this year’s donation, Sara Murphy, JFC’s Executive Director, said, “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.” Since 2018, JFC has donated $395,000 to OAR to benefit autistic children.

Congratulations to the 17 grant recipients!

Grady Bailey
Be Aware, Show You Care!
Van Buren School District, Van Buren, AR                                     
Grady will use the Kit for Kids materials to reach students in grades K-6 and teach them about autism awareness. Highlighting the uniqueness of autism, Bailey hopes that through the teaching of these material in the classroom, students will become more knowledgeable towards their autistic peers and be able 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 (LAAP) team intends to 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, AnnMarie Bates and the Central Michigan University team will use the Kit for Kids materials to increase autism acceptance within local schools. This year, Bates and team members will include the Autism Tuned In program in their lesson plans to deepen student’s understanding of autism acceptance. As in year’s past, 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. Bonnie 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 in programs that will showcase what it means to be inclusive by educating those on autism awareness.

Sarah Chapman
MOORE Autism Acceptance
Moore County Schools, Carthage, North Carolina
Chapman will lead a training for staff at Moore County Schools on the Kit for Kids materials to understand how they can be incorporated into the current curriculum. Teachers will then lead their classes in using the materials and helping them understand how the information can be translated outside of the classroom, into other areas of collaboration between neurotypical and neurodivergent students. Additionally, Sarah will use the awarded funds to host a parent night where inclusivity, autism acceptance, and more will be incorporated through the involvement of the student body.

Sandra Doucett
Shake-A-Leg Miami Peers on Piers
Shake-A-Leg Miami, Miami, Florida 
Sandra and Shake-A-Leg Miami (SALM), plan to use the Kit for Kids materials in their programming that seeks to provide universal access to the physical and mental health benefits of Miami’s environment. Offered to both people with and without disabilities, Doucett believes this opportunity will help foster belonging, inclusion, and respect and continue to 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
Through this initiative, the Clifton Board of Education will serve a diverse population of school-aged children, specifically targeting those in grades K-8.  With educators and facilitators receiving specialized training to deliver the Kit for Kits materials effectively, Ponce and district faculty will teach the material throughout the district ensuring a supportive and empathetic learning environment to empower students and teach about autism awareness.

Nick Indoma
Radically Inclusive: A School-wide Autism Awareness Program
Kyrene School District, Chandler, Arizona
Nick Indoma will lead this program throughout the Kyrene School District with the aim of promoting autism awareness and acceptance. These materials and grant funds will provide a unique opportunity to bridge the gap in understanding autism for their large population. This program will also create professional development for staff and educators and structure an awareness campaign for students, families, and the community. Indoma and the staff throughout Kyrene hope this program will be a model for other schools within the district.

Michele Maloney
Best Buddies
Bilbray Elementary, Las Vegas, NV
Bilbray Elementary, a public Pre-K to 5 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 towards students of all abilities.

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

Constance McCarty
Accept, Advocate, Appreciate!
Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, New Orleans, Louisiana
Constance and the faculty at Bethune will serve the PreK-8th graders by continuing to dedicate time and resources to foster an inclusive environment for all students. As part of their commitment to education and community engagement, students will participate in multiple activities throughout the year revolving around Autism. Each initiative will incorporate the Kit for Kids materials to promote understanding, acceptance, and celebration of diversity amount the student population.

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 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
HeriocOhio 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 ASD in grades 3-5 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 strive toward everyday inclusivity in Puerto Rico. By using the Kit for Kids educational resources, Bryan and his team will promote understanding, acceptance, and empathy toward students with autism among their peers. The essential goal will be to ensure that every student with autism feels valued and supported, fostering a culture throughout the schools they will work with 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 the 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.

For inquiries regarding the Peer Education Grant program or for more information on the next grant cycle, please visit the website or contact OAR at 571-977-5391; e-mail programs@researchautism.org.

About OAR. The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is a national non-profit organization formed and led by relatives of children and adults with autism. OAR is dedicated to promoting research that can be applied to help families, educators, caregivers, and individuals with autism find much-needed answers to their immediate and urgent questions. Learn more at www.researchautism.org.