Word: alex
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...While attending Take The Lead, a leadership program for female teens at Mount Holyoke College, Alex was asked to create a program based on something she felt strongly about. "I asked my mom what she would want, and she said, 'Maybe a restaurant, an amusement park, a trip where people aren't going to be looking at us thinking, 'Why can't you control your child...
...Alex approached T.G.I. Friday's, which has a family-friendly reputation, with her proposal, and hoped that perhaps a few restaurants in her native New Jersey would consider it. When 35 T.G.I. Friday's signed on, Alex was floored. Says Bill Brayer, a vice president of operations for T.G.I. Friday's, "When Alex first contacted me I thought it was a great idea and unique for a 16-year-old girl to put something like this together. Our Long Island area restaurants have supported autism in the past pretty heavily so this was a great opportunity to extend what...
...Alex e-mailed the restaurant managers so they could prepare the staff for what to expect. "I came up with a list that said what autism is, what might happen and how to handle it. You can't keep the noise down in a restaurant but maybe not play the music so loud, be patient and if a child is having an episode get the parents the check as quick as possible...
...night of the event on April 17, Alex and her family attended a T.G.I. Friday's near her hometown of Warren. Some of the restaurants reported higher than usual attendance for a Tuesday night. One mother of a 17-year-old autistic boy came up to thank Alex and then burst into tears telling her how wonderful it was to be able to go out to a restaurant with her son and not have people make comments. She told Alex she would never forget that evening...
...After the event Alex received even more e-mails thanking her. But what she remembers most from that night is this: "My brother was facing the entire restaurant, he flipped out, he had one of his episodes. My dad had to carry him out and calm him down. It was kind of like what happened the other time, except no one was really looking at him and saying, 'What's wrong with your child? Why is he acting like that?' Instead, people asked, 'Are you okay? Do you need anything...