Physical activity is vital for a healthy lifestyle for children with and without disabilities. But it can be particularly helpful for children with autism. The benefits of a regular, supervised program of specialised physical activity for children with autism include improved attention span and a decrease in many types of inappropriate behaviours associated with their autism.

When I Give A Buck first met Anna in 2010 she was 13 years old and suffered from quite severe autism.  As Anna was growing older she was becoming very strong and increasingly active but was unable to safely manage her need for physical activity at home.

Anna had participated in some private gymnastics lessons for a while but the financial burden on her single mum was becoming too much to manage and she was forced to go public – speaking to a reporter from her local newspaper and asking for public assistance in keeping Anna in some sort of program.

One of our long-time supporters, Caroline Whiteside, saw that article and contacted us about launching an Appeal to cover the cost of Anna’s next term of gymnastics. Anna was already seeing the benefits of the tuition that she’d already had and we were only to happy to launch an appeal to make sure that she could benefit further. $924 was needed for the next term’s tuition.

Just after we raised the funds Anna was referred to a fantastic course designed and run by Jeremy Samson from http://www.time2train.webs.com/  The course with Jeremy is specifically tailored to suit children with Autism, Aspergers and other learning difficulties. 

Jeremy suffers from Aspergers himself and completely changed his life after including regular, structured exercise into his daily routine.  He now dedicated himself to helping as many other sufferers experience that same change.

Anna completed a 12 week course with Jeremy and the improvement she showed was amazing – and more improvement was expected if her lessons could be continued – so we launched another appeal to raise the funds for her next term, which began in February 2011.

After two terms Anna had lost weight, gained confidence and her paediatrician was thrilled with the range of improvements to Anna’s overall health and well-being.

We were able to fund a third term for Anna by using some grant funding we’d received from the Grosvenor Foundation and have now launched this appeal for Anna so that she can continue with this exceptional program. Please help if you can. You can donate to Anna’s Appeal here

Appeal Target $1,200

 Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.