Evan Antus, 6-year-old son of Erin and Ryan Antus of Cloquet, spent the summer camping, swimming, biking, horseback riding and going to the family cabin, much like any other young boy his age. That is, except for the fact that Evan has autism.
In medical terms, Evan experiences what is called colpocephaly. Basically, that means he has abnormal ventricles in the brain that cause him to learn a little differently than others. He also suffers from cortical visual impairment, epilepsy and fine and gross motor and has been receiving speech therapy from The Scottish Rite Foundation for the past year.
This coming Sunday, Sept. 13, Evan and his family will participate in the Autism Walk 2009 at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth, raising pledges to assist with children like him who have autism. All of the pledges he raises will go to The Scottish Rite Foundation and Churchill Elementary School, where Evan is a student.
The Autism Walk Northland will feature a 5K walk, silent auction and kids' carnival. In the past two years, the walk has raised over $26,000 for autism programs in the Northland.
The number of individuals affected by autism continues to increase, and statistics show that approximately one in 150 of today's children will be diagnosed with autism.
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Registration for Sunday's Autism Walk is set for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the start of the walk getting under way at 1 p.m. There will be a free kids' carnival from 11:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and the silent auction runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Food, beverages and music will be provided. The rain location will be Denfeld High School gymnasium.
Evan is no stranger to this type of walk. Since the time he was only a toddler, he joined with his family to participate in the annual Epilepsy Walk to help raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota.
