New group connects families of children with autism in Windham area

Alisha Ramsey of Windham, whose son has autism, has
founded the group 'A Friend in Me,' an organization that
connects parents and families of children in Windham
with autism spectrum disorder.
SUBMITTED PHOTO 

By Daniel Gray

In Windham, there is a growing number of families that have children or adults with autism spectrum disorder, or ADS for short. With Windham being a smaller community than Portland or other neighboring towns, it can be difficult for ASD families to get together to support one another. Now Alisha Ramsey, a longtime resident of Windham, has created a group just for that.

Ramsey is currently raising her son Ezra, a 3-year-old with autism. When he was diagnosed, Ramsey became determined to find more information about ASD.

"I just instantly became really passionate about educating myself to understand him better," she said, "I obsessed with making sure I was doing everything I could, so that he had everything he needs."

She had joined a few online groups for ASD parents in order to help herself and her son. She was met with so much positivity, kindness, and knowledge from other parents in the same situation as her, she said it was utterly heartwarming.

People across the globe are in these groups just to share information and spread kindness to other parents, which is something truly amazing, Ramsey said.

It's a great resource for parents to have but having friendly ASD families across the country has its downside, Ramsey said, such as a lack of local friendly faces.

As a result, she created the group “A Friend in Me” in early October, a special-needs and ASD-centric group to solve that problem for families in the Windham area.

"I just thought it would be really nice to connect with people in our own community that either have been diagnosed themselves or have children with ASD or other special needs," she said.

While Ramsey has never led a group like this before, she's determined and wants the group to be a space for ADS parents and adults to have their questions answered, create play date plans, and even to create events to raise awareness. And most importantly, she wants to build friendships and to bring local ADS families closer.

Interactions with other ADS children is an important aspect of the group for Ramsey and her son.

According to Ramsey, it's important for any child to have friends, especially if it's friends similar to them and was another reason Ramsey started the group. She’s already arranged play dates with other families of children with ADS.

The group is still small, sitting at 37 members so far, but that number is steadily increasing. There are plans in the works for events in the future, but nothing is set in stone quite yet, Ramsey said.

"A few of us have talked about having some events for the kids that will also raise awareness, we are still discussing on the best ways to go about everything," she said.

On Facebook, the group is called 'A Friend in Me!' and Ramsey welcomes anyone to join the group and join their path to raise awareness in the community, as well as making wonderful friends in the process. <