By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Brian Aylmer said it seems that just about everyone has a family member, friend or someone else they know who, in some way, has been touched by autism.
He speaks from personal experience. He and his wife, Beth, have three daughters who have autism – Shannon, 16, Cailey, 15, and Kelsey, 13. Their 8-year-old son, Daniel, does not.
Aylmer and his wife, who live in Clayton, N.J., have been raising money for 12 years during an annual event in Sea Isle City that supports autism-related causes and contributes to the medical community’s efforts to pinpoint the cause some day.
After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, their fundraising event, called the Sea Isle City Wiffle Ball Classic to benefit Autism Speaks, returned to Dealy Field on Saturday to benefit the nation’s largest autism advocacy group.
Brian Aylmer noted that there is no cure for autism and that the medical world has not yet discovered what causes it, although researchers strongly suspect a combination of environmental and genetic factors.
“It affects a lot of people. As far as finding a cure, I don’t know if anyone will ever do that,” he said during a break from taking swings with a Wiffle Ball bat.
The Wiffle Ball teams, comprised of players of all ages, competed on a gorgeous day with temperatures in the low 80s to raise money for autism programs and awareness.
The event attracted more than 200 people from as far away as Utah, Illinois and Indiana as well as a large turnout from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. This year’s fundraiser had 40 teams, compared to the usual 55, because of space constraints at Dealy Field.
In the past, Aylmer said he was hopeful of raising $10,000 for Autism Speaks. With a smaller event this year, he was not sure whether the fundraiser would come close to $10,000. But he was appreciative of everyone who participated, no matter how much money was raised.
“People come from all over. It warms my heart,” he said. “It is my favorite day of the year.”
Ammer Plett, 48, a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, has been part of the autism fundraiser for four years. Plett said she is inspired by the dedication of Brian and Beth Aylmer and their family toward autism awareness.
“It’s such an incredible family that puts this on,” Plett said while standing next to Brian Aylmer’s 51-year-old twin sister, Annemarie Kaiser, who lives in Bear, Del.
Plett said she has learned a lot more about autism by participating in the fundraiser and hopes to educate other people, too.
“I feel that educating and talking about it with other people is the best way to make a difference,” she said.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that on average, one in every 54 children in the United States is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder each year. Overall, about 2 percent of the children in the U.S. have some form of autism.
Autism is a general term for complex disorders of brain development. Depending on the severity of the disorder, autistic people may have difficulties with social interaction and communication. They may also engage in repetitive behavior.
Sea Isle businessman John McGowan’s 17-year-old son, Owen, is a highly functioning autistic child who attends high school in Pennsylvania and does many of the same things as other teenagers, his father said. Owen’s 20-year-old brother, J.P., is a Sea Isle lifeguard.
John McGowan smiled Saturday while looking around at the hundreds of participants for the fundraiser at Dealy Field.
“It’s a great day. It means a lot to me,” he said.
McGowan’s Market, located at 39th Street and Landis Avenue in Sea Isle, was one of the business sponsors of the fundraiser. McGowan’s gave away free hotdogs and donated a portion of its hoagie sales to Autism Speaks.
John McGowan said he was elated that the fundraising event was able to return this summer following the two-year break caused by the pandemic.
“It was a bummer. It was a disappointment. But now that we’re back, it didn’t miss a beat.”
