SPEARS Southwest Tour Series to Support Autism Awareness
Bakersfield, CA – In 2014, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will do its part for Autism Awareness and form an alliance with the Carlos Vieira Foundation to direct those efforts.
“Carlos has been a longtime competitor in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series, and we’ve witnessed and admired his efforts to help families living with Autism,” stated the SRL’s Larry Collins. “My wife is a Behavioral Specialist with the school district and works daily in the classroom with children who have been diagnosed with autism, so I hear the stories daily of the struggles of these kids and their families, it’s heartbreaking.” Collins added.
Throughout 2014, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will work with the Carlos Vieira Foundation to promote Autism Awareness and support programs in place such as Race for Autism, Autism Speaks, F.E.A.T (Families for Effective Autism Treatment), in addition to their own grant program which directly provides support to local families with autistic children they have recently teamed with Medic Alert providing GPS tracking units for autistic children.
Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder of development that last throughout a person’s lifetime. Because persons with autism exhibit different symptoms or behaviors, ranging from mild to serious, autism is considered a “spectrum” disorder, or a group of disorders with a range of similar features. Autism is characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior. At worst, a person with more profound autism may never learn to speak or care for themselves.
At all California SPEARS Southwest Tour Series events, Carlos and his team will display their “Autism Money Car” in the spectator area. The “Autism Money Car” is a real racecar with a slot in the roof for people at the races to drop money. The money collected is used to help families living with Autism.
All the teams of the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series and SRL S2 Series will display a Race for Autism decal during the 2014 season.
For more information on the Carlos Vieira Foundation go to www.carlosvieirafoundation.org. The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will begin its 2014 season at Madera Speedway on Saturday, March 15th with the “Melo’s Gas & Gear 125 presented by DC’s RV Center.”
