Man Forming Hock Autism Speaks Team

Greg Kanevski didn't know what do when his son was diagnosed with autism about two years ago. It was a form of autism called Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS), also known as atypical autism.

Friends and family offered as much support as they could, but Kanevski said that someone who doesn't deal with autism on a daily basis couldn’t understand what it's like.

"Family members, as much as they love and try to help, they just can't appreciate it if they're not living with an autistic child," he said. "The stress on the [family] relationship, the stress on the family dynamics and of course the stress on the child."

Kanevski reached out and found the organization Austism Speaks. His first encounter with local Autism Speaks events was the Walk for Southern New England at the Colt State Park in Bristol, R.I.

"The first year we heard about it we were just overcome with emotion by the sheer number of people that were there," he said. "That caused us to get involved last year to raise funds."

Kanevski said that he and his wife raised about $14,000 for the walk last year by matching donations from family and friends. The Kanevskis themselves raised about $6,800 for the event.

"We know there are a lot of people in this town and this community that are faced with the same challenges we are," he said. "We know there are a lot of people who want to get involved."

This year, they want to start a team for the walk on a broader scale. He said they want to involve people from his community of Mansfield as well as Attleboro, Norton, Sharon, Foxborough and surrounding areas.

"For the families, we'll do the administrative work," he said.

Kanevski went on to say that for each community for the team there would be a different page on Autism Speaks

Autism is a broad spectrum of different illnesses that affect people in different ways. For more information on how to help and to donate to Kanevski's team, email him at greg.kanevski@comcast.net.