This is a re-posting, by request, of an amazing young man with a jaw-dropping talent that otherwise would have gone unnoticed if not for his supportive Mother. Be sure and ‘vote’ for Grant Manier in a on-line Wells Fargo contest that would allow Grant the funding to continue his Eco-Art! It just takes less than a minute: Vote Here
by: Jennifer Allen/Aspergers101.org
Grant Manier’s (pronounced maun-yay) life began as an unsolved puzzle. With his mother and father divorcing school life was a challenge as his elementary teachers and fellow classmates quickly grew tired of his ‘unusual’ behaviors. To cope with the school room triggers, Grant retreated to his own world of art which included tearing paper. The steady long ripping of the paper soothed him and lessened the stressors of loud sounds however teachers soon became tired of the interruption of outbursts and deemed Grant a distraction that was unsuitable for the mainstream classroom.
Enter someone who completely changed the direction of this young mans life. Grant has an amazing Mom that turned this story (and her son’s future) around with some aggressive moves. She knew something was different with her son and definitely wasn’t working in the neuro-typical world she grew up in so she removed Grant from the school setting, decided to home-school her son and began the path of learning who he is and how they together could find a way to put this puzzle together once and for all. She knew her son had a form of High-Functioning Autism called Aspergers Syndrome.
I first met Julie Coy Manier through a mutual friend and upon talking with her over the phone, I quickly learned this quicksilver of a mom first loved her son and second held nothing back on his behalf!
After an extensive career broadcast marketing, Jennifer and her husband searched for answers when their oldest son hit the kinder years with great difficultly. After finally learning that their oldest son had Aspergers Syndrome, she left her career in television and became a full time mother to both of her sons. Jennifer elicited the participation of her sons and together they produced several independent programs including a children’s animated series titled Ameriquest Kids (now distributed by Landmark Media) as well as her documentary and book titled, Coping to Excelling: Solutions for school-age children diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism or Aspergers Syndrome.
The need for more information encouraged Jennifer to elicit a team of autism experts to provide weekly, original content to a website free to anyone seeking to live their best under the diagnosis of High-Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome… appropriately titled: Aspergers101.com.