April 5, 2007

Katie Wright Joins the NAA Board

HUGE news. Daughter of GE Chairman Bob Wright, mother to Christian, the child who's autism diagnosis lead to Autism Speaks, joins the boards of both the National Autism Association and Safe Minds

Today on the Oprah show Katie will state publicly that she believes that vaccines caused her son's autism.

Katie Wright-Hildebrand and Becky Grant-Widen
Join NAA's Board of Directors

The National Autism Association is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors, Katie Wright-Hildebrand and Becky Grant-Widen.

Katie is the mother of two boys, Mathias, age 3 and 5 year-old Christian. Christian regressed into autism at 2 ½ years old. Katie completed her under-graduate studies at Boston University and received a Masters in Education from Columbia University. Studying counseling psychology, she received her professional license in 2000 and was the Clinical Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford, CT providing free and confidential counseling services to male and female survivors of rape and sexual assaults. Katie resigned her position when Christian became ill and now, with her husband Andreas, is dedicated to working to improve the lives of children and families affected by Autism. Watch for Katie on Thursday's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show!

Becky comes to NAA with 13 years experience in public health non-profits, with a history in tobacco control and community health program development. She currently works as a public health consultant, focused on grantwriting for local and national autism organizations. As the parent of two boys, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, Becky is committed to using her experience to benefit children with autism. In her home state of Maine, Becky has organized local autism events, testified before the state legislature to eliminate the use of mercury in vaccines, and helps guide parents just starting out on the autism journey.

Everyone with NAA looks forward to working with these talented and dedicated parents as we carry out our mission of providing support and hope to all families affected by autism.

Together, anything’s possible.


UPDATE!:

Katie also joined the board of Safe Minds! DAMN!

SafeMinds is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Wright-Hildebrand to the board of directors.

Katie is the mother of two boys, Mathias, age 3 and 5 year-old Christian. Christian regressed into autism at 2 ½ years old. Katie completed her under-graduate studies at Boston University and received a Masters degree in Education at Columbia University. She studied counseling psychology and received her professional license in 2000. She worked as the Clinical Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford, CT providing free and confidential counseling services to male and female survivors of rape and sexual assaults. Katie resigned her position when Christian became ill and now, with her husband Andreas, is dedicated to working to improve the lives of children and families affected by autism.

1 comment:

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Your son is beautiful. I have three girls with autism. Um, hello!

Kim