Calling all mighty moms! April is Autism Awareness Month

SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - Calling all mighty moms! April is Autism Awareness Month, and a local nonprofit is getting a head start by helping families get the help they may need.

“Your child has autism” are words no parent wants to hear, but one Texoma nonprofit is hoping to help families make one of the biggest adjustments imaginable a little more safe.

“We continue to develop our mission and purpose and so we see what they need and help fill in the gap for those needs,” Founder and Executive Director of The Owen Foundation Brina Dutton said.

Dutton heard the diagnosis for her child six years ago. Since then, she and foundation president Dedra Gallegos have been working tirelessly to help others.

“What we tried to do is gather up all the resources that they might need and we can help them and they can just come to the one place with us and sort of direct them where they need to go.” Dutton said.

Dutton and Gallegos want to connect with Texomans wherever they are.

“We are going to hopefully reach a pretty wide audience, hopefully moms, who have gone through or are going through similar situations that Dede and I have gone through with our sons who are on the autism spectrum,” Dutton said.

One thing they do for moms is host “mighty mom” talks to help parents navigate and speak about their journey.

“These are for families who have children on the autism spectrum to just kind of hang out with us, drink some coffee, wear your comfy clothes and just come chat with us,” Gallegos said

And for families who don’t have a loved one on the autism spectrum but still want to help their community.

“April is Autism Awareness Month and one way you can show your support for autism families is to wear blue, blue is just the color that represents the autism spectrum,” Gallegos said.

The next “mighty moms” meeting will be Saturday, March 25 at the opera house in downtown Durant starting at 9:30 a.m.

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