http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134411272_award26m.html
Tuesday,
February 26, 2002 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Award-winning Girl Scout project inspired
creator to reveal her autism s
By Angela
Lo
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
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Katie Grimes
is not your typical college student. The 20-year-old from Federal Way has
autism, a disorder she did not openly reveal until three years ago when she
started working on a Girl Scout project.
That project became the
Federal Way Autism Support Group, the community's first support group for
parents of autistic children. Grimes organized monthly meetings, scheduled
speakers, distributed fliers and designed an autism-information booklet. The
group now provides support for more than 90 families in the area.
The project has earned
Grimes, a sophomore at Washington State University, national recognition from
the Girl Scouts.
She and nine other women
from across the country will be honored in Washington, D.C., next month as this
year's Young Women of Distinction. The award recognizes 10 young women who have
provided an exceptional service to their community and shown great dedication
to achievement.
The honorees will meet
several U.S. senators and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and
participate in career-development training. Each will receive a $1,000
scholarship. They'll also get to meet Elizabeth Dole, former president of the
American Red Cross; Alma Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin Powell;
designer Vera Wang; and seven other women who have been named National Women of
Distinction in honor of the Girl Scouts' 90th anniversary.
More than 300 women were
nominated by local councils as this year's Young Women of Distinction.
To be eligible, nominees
must earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, the organization's highest honor. The
gold-award project is crafted by the scout who works with an adult volunteer to
implement it over one to two years.
"I was struck by
(Katie's) project because it was so inspiring," said Colleen Ozolitis,
manager for young-adult development services for the Girl Scouts' local Totem
Council, who nominated Grimes.
"She was filling a
need for something that didn't exist when she was younger. The fact that this
was such a personal thing for her was one of the reasons it succeeded."
Autism is a developmental
disorder that encompasses a broad spectrum of behaviors and levels of severity.
Most people with autism struggle to communicate. In Grimes, the disorder
manifested itself in language-development delays and social awkwardness.
Grimes' determination and
drive were key factors in her success, said her mother, Lisa Grimes. "She
just would never accept that she couldn't do this, that or the other."
The support-group experience
not only helped her realize the extent of her abilities but pushed her to
disclose her disorder as well.
"Early on in the
project, I decided that I would let others know I have autism," Grimes
wrote in her project report. "This took courage; I had in the past felt
ashamed of my disability. ... However, I knew that doing so would help my
project and provide a chance for others to know something of who I really
am."
Angela Lo can be reached
at 206-464-3206 or alo@seattletimes.com.
Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company
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