#2 special needs and Katrina

[Guest guest]

I know a lot of you are on several lists so I decided to send this on.

http://www.autismrescue.com/campyocona.htmlhttp://www.autismrescue.com/campyoco\

na.html>

PRESS RELEASE Contact:

For Immediate Release: Peg Pickering,

September 6, 2005 Fournier, NAA

CAMP FOR DISABLED TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY SHELTER TO 350

MISSISSIPPI CAMPGROUND OPENING ITS DOORS TO THOSE WITH AUTISM, DEVELOPMENTAL

DISABILITIES

VOLUNTEERS NEED HELP RELOCATING FAMILIES, SPREADING THE WORD

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ARE WORKING TO

GET CLEARANCE FOR VOLUNTEERS

TOCCOPOLA, MS – Volunteers are asking the media, relief workers, and hotels to

spread the word to families with disabled children who have become victims of

Hurricane Katrina. Peg Pickering of Mississippi is the mother of an autistic

child and also runs Camp Yocona in Toccopola, MS. The good Samaritan is opening

her doors to the campgrounds, which can accommodate up to 350 people.

The biggest challenge right now is reaching those who have a child with autism

or a developmental disability. Department of Justice and Homeland Security

officials are doing what they can to help, but non-profit organizations

participating in the effort are asking the media to post the campground contact

information on their web sites, crawls, or give live mentions of the emergency

shelter.

" We need to reach these families as soon as possible, " says Pickering. “We’ve

been told that some of these children have been separated from their families

which poses an immediate threat if volunteers are unaware of their specific

needs. We need this information to reach those in the shelters so that these

children and their families may be relocated to an atmosphere that tends to

their specific needs,” she says.

Volunteers are also needed at evacuation sites to help identify children with

autism and their families and let them know that assistance is available.

Flyers that list the symptoms of autism and contact information for the camp

can be found at www.NationalAutism.orghttp://www.nationalautism.org/>.

Anyone with information on families of children with developmental disabilities

needing shelter as a result of the hurricane, are asked to contact the National

Autism Association toll free at , or Peg Pickering at .

A new web site has also been established at

www.AutismRescue.comhttp://www.autismrescue.com/>. A relief fund

for the campgrounds has also been set up. Tax-deductible donations can be

directed to www.NationalAutism.orghttp://www.nationalautism.org/>.