Hope for Autism recently honored West Hialeah Gardens Elementary School principal Sharon Gonzalez, as one the organization’s biggest supporters and fund-raisers during the group’s annual dinner and award ceremony.
“She has always been a supporter and friend for our Hope for Autism team and the Autism community,” said Julie Salas, Autism Speaks executive director of South Florida.
The annual dinner is just one of many events for the organization to raise money for the 2014 Autism Speaks Miami Walk for Autism Research.
Each year, the event has been sold out by families on the spectrum, friends and many organizations who are supporting a worthy cause for kids who are affected by a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication.
The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child turns three-years old, and autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize.
Researchers say they have been unable to discover the cause of Autism.
Salas and Alberto Lopez, chairman of the Board of Directors of Autism Speaks-Miami Chapter congratulated the team for continuing to be the leading team in raising funds.
“Hope for Autism Community Team not only supports the annual fundraiser for Autism research, but helps to create awareness by promoting acceptance and inclusion of our population of people affected by Autism,” Lopez said.
Lopez and Salas also expressed gratitude to other 2014 sponsors, including Pedro Alvarez DDS and Associates P.A., IMUSA USA, Fountain of Youth Wellness Center, the Northwest Dental Group, Nicole Borrego, Latin American of Miami Lakes, Miami Dancity Studios, and the Havana Group Cigars Club.