Therapy room at Lighthouse Autism Center with toys on a table with blue chairs and book shelves above

Great Day for our Families at “FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks”

A Day at the Speedway – A Nascar Experience for Autistic Children

 

Dover, Del. (June 1, 2014) — Dozens of families from our community got to partake in “Autism Speaks Day at The Races.”  It was a unique opportunity for those on the autism spectrum and their families to attend a NASCAR race in a sensory-friendly area in the grandstands of Dover International Speedway. Autism Speaks offered a pre-race program that morning for the families that included speakers such as Autism Speaks Vice President of Chapter Development Cathy Kanefsky, Delaware Senator Chris Coons, Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn, NASCAR driver Jamie McMurrary, Autism Speaks Vice President of Family Services Lisa Goring, NASCAR crew chief Trent Owens, Joe Gibbs and Richard Petty.

A special moment happened at the end of the program when it was announced to the families in attendance that all of them would be leaving with an autism-specific toy from Toys”R”Us thanks to FedEx!

Among the other highlights of the day included the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks Sprint Cup race. NASCAR Driver Denny Hamlin had a unique paint scheme to his #11 FedEx Toyota car which had over 2,000 puzzle pieces with the names of members from our autism community on them. In the end NASCAR Driver Jimme Johnson finished winning the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks Sprint Cup race.

We’d like to thank NASCAR, The NASCAR Foundation, FedEx, Toys”R”Us, Denny Hamlin and everyone else who made race weekend successful!

For the original article on Autism Speaks website see the original link below:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/news/news-item/great-day-our-families-quotfedex-400-benefiting-autism-speaksquot

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