Lenny Schafer is the adoptive parent of an autistic

Autism

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...

 child. He is the editor of the "Schafer Autism Report", an autism publication. He was a recipient of the Doug Flutie Jr. Award—given in honor of Doug Flutie Jr., the son of New England Patriot

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

, Doug Flutie

Doug Flutie

Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...

—who has autism. The award is presented annually "to a person who is devoted to research and treatment for individuals on the autism spectrum

Autism spectrum

The term "autism spectrum" is often used to describe disorders that are currently classified as pervasive developmental disorders. Pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise...

".

External links

• http://www.sarnet.org