My journey into the autism community started with my daughter, Niya. Like a lot of parents, I had to learn a world I knew very little about. I knew nothing about therapies, resources, providers, waiting lists, and most importantly, how to advocate for my child.

As I became more involved and began learning more about autism, I started attending resource fairs, community events and autism programs. When I would attend these events, one thing became very apparent. I didn’t see many fathers. When I did, the mothers were often leading the conversations with providers while the dads stayed in the background. At the same time, women in the autism community kept telling me how much they wanted to see more men actively involved.

I saw a gap so I took action. I began creating content, based on what I was learning and started calling myself “The Big Advocate”. I talked about my experiences raising and advocating for Niya. What started as one father advocating for his daughter was becoming something bigger.

Eventually, I realized awareness wasn’t enough. While Niya had many of her needs taken care of, there are so many children that do not have access to the resources they need. So if I wanted something to change, I had to DOSUMthin. Now we are here, just trying to DOSUMthin for Autism and make a meaningful impact in the community and build legacy.