NEW BRUNSWICK – The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation (DJFF), the nation’s first not-for-profit organization to focus exclusively on adult autism, will launch a groundbreaking endowment fund at Rutgers University, adding to DJFF’s existing endowed program initiatives at Brown University, Yale University and the University of Miami.
With a gift of $100,000, The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Adult Autism Family Support Fellowship and Resource Guide Fund will be established at Rutgers School of Social Work (SSW), according to information provided by Mann Media.
Its purpose will be to train SSW graduate students to work as clinicians specifically focused on improving outcomes for family members of adults diagnosed with autism. The fund will support the work of three to four fellows annually, who will work directly with family members of adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to address the concerns and challenges they face as caregivers. The fellows will also create and update bi-annually a web-based resource guide for families, organizations and agencies.
“We are excited to launch The DJFF Adult Autism Family Support Fellowship and Resource Guide Fund at the School of Social Work and share the vision of Linda Walder and the foundation’s board that more needs to be done to help the family members of adults with ASD as caregivers and navigators of their lives,” said Dr. Cathryn Potter, dean of the Rutgers School of Social Work, who will lead the program with SSW Professor Mark W. Lamar.
The DJFF university endowment initiatives continue to expand the foundation’s mission for a global focus on adult autism. Designed to increase awareness, opportunities and knowledge about aging and autism, each of the four DJFF endowed programs serve a specific area relating to adult autism: research, program development, fostering creativity and expression through the arts, and counseling and resources for family members of adults on the spectrum, according to the statement.
DJFF is named in honor of Linda J. Walder’s son Danny, who was diagnosed with ASD and passed away at age nine; she founded the organization in his honor in 2002.
“Our aim is to ensure that for generations to come there will be an impactful focus on adult autism. Today, there are more than 3.5 million Americans living with autism, and we need to do more to understand adult autism and to create as many paths as we can for adults to participate in and contribute to community life. It is a matter of human rights for all autistic adults to be accepted for who they are and to live the fullest lives possible,” Walder said in the statement. “The Rutgers program will be the first in the nation to focus specifically on the family members of adults who are navigating a complex system without much support, and we are so grateful for the vision of Dean Potter in understanding that autism impacts all family members for a lifetime.”
For more information, visit www.djfiddlefoundation.org.