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Past Accomplishments

2022

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2021

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2020

2020_accomplishments

2019

2019_accomplishments

2018

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2017

2017_accomplishments

2016

2016_accomplishments

2015

2015_accomplishments

2014

COMMUNITY SERVED

1. Membership increased from 38,000 to over 45,000 families. An average of 600 new families joined our membership every month.

2. Our programs were available to the entire U.S., maintaining a Chapter presence in 22 states with the help of over 500 volunteer Chapter Coordinators, Mentors and program volunteers. These incredible volunteers gave 37,981 volunteer hours to help TACA deliver our mission.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

3. All programs and services are provided at little or no cost to families. To ensure access for all families, we provided scholarships for any fee based programs we offer. Read more about our programs and services.

4. Parent support team and volunteers responded to 40,648 requests – 72% of them handled by our volunteer TACA Chapter Coordinators and Mentors. Requests were in English and Spanish – via phone, email and live chat.

5. TACA made 401 Mentor introductions of families needing assistance on their autism journey. Mentoring occurs in 16 languages.

6. Provided education, community and support at over 372 Chapter MeetingsCoffee Talks and events at no cost to participants in 65 cities. TACA added 2 chapters in Florida and Michigan.

7. Distributed 2,739 Autism Journey Guides (in its 9th revision) and over 150,000 “My Child has Autism” information cards were distributed to families.

8. Hosted almost 50 family events where over 4,000 parents and children gathered in autism- friendly environments.

9. Continued to provide critical advocacy and Spanish Community parent education along with support programs for families.

A) The Spanish Community Outreach program presented and participated in 13 local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community. This program supported close to 300 parents at Spanish Coffee Talk meetings in the Los Angeles area, San Diego and Orange County, CA, Texas and Las Vegas, NV.

B) Our Legal Advocacy program (Orange County only) provided 11 free legal clinics and helped over 40 families navigate the complex educational maze for their children.

10. We provided 67 scholarships to families for treatment through our Family Scholarship Program, Hawaii Autism Foundation (HAF) Scholarships, TACA MAPS Doctor Scholarships, TACA North Dakota Chapter Project Lifesaver Scholarship, TACA Pennsylvania Chapter Summer Camp Scholarships, SNL Reading Tutor Scholarship, TACA Autism Community Scholarship for an EEG with Dr. Stein, and Mendability therapeutic scholarships. We also provided 215 TACA Program scholarships.

11. TACA Staff and Autism professionals presented 36 free webinars reaching approximately 1,100 families across the United States. Surveys reflected that 97% of webinar participants received information that will help them on their child’s autism journey.

12. TACA provided a job skills training and weekly learning environment for adults with autism through our TACA Adult work program.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

13. We partnered with epilepsy organizations from across the country in the inaugural Epilepsy Awareness Day at Disneyland Resort. Over 1,200 individuals attended the event increasing the community’s awareness of this disorder that affects 40% of children with autism.

14. Happy Family Brands continued supporting TACA via their MOMS ON A MISSION campaign assisting our Parent Support program and Ante up for Autism event.

15. Current membership and participation in the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to parent-driven research and other united efforts.

16. Present at 6 national conferences where TACA Mentors provided individualized support to over 5,000 attendees.

17. Due to collaborative efforts with the Autism Hawaii Foundation, 21 families received medical and social skills camp scholarships.

18. Two new physicians became members of the TACA Physician Advisory Group, Dr Anju Usman and Dr Nancy O’Hara. This group continued to help review new medical information and research to broaden physicians and parents’ knowledge about the treatments available for autism.

19. TACA partnered with My Autism Team for their autism resource provider directory.

20. Festival of Children hosted their 7th annual Carousel of Dreams at Disneyland to raise awareness and provide funds for 10 California foundations. This effort raised over $240,000.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

21. Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Autism Sunglasses launched in April 2010. Since created, Oakley has sold over 18,000 pairs of glasses to support the TACA mission and raise autism awareness.

22. Six new members were invited to join our Ambassador Committee (now with a total of 16 members) who raised almost $100,000 and awareness for the organization.

23. Continued our partnership with 93.1 Jack FM for Jack’s 9th Show, a concert benefitting TACA. This nine-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of almost $300,000.

24. TACA’s 8th Annual Ante Up For Autism held in Orange County, CA raised over $372,000.

25. We received in-kind donations of products and services to help offset expenses with an estimated value totaling $200,000.

LEADERSHIP

26. We welcomed Keith Banning to our Board of Directors.

27. TACA has hosted Autism Conferences every year for the past 9 years. In 2014, TACA held Real Help Now Conferences in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and California with nearly 1,000 people in attendance. Survey results indicated that 100% of attendees would recommend other families to attend. Over 700 conference workbooks were distributed to attendees to utilize during the conference and serve as a take-home resource.

28. TACA held its 8th Annual Leadership Conference in January for 65 Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers from 22 states. Attendees received in-depth training on TACA’s Mission, Programs, Services, and Chapter Operations.

29. Created a 3 year Strategic plan.

MEDIA

30. Almost 20 national and local media articles featured information about our organization and Chapters, highlighting TACA’s relevance in autism related issues http://tacanow.org/category/news/.

31. Our website, tacanow.org, received 1,900,000 page views from users. 37 new parent education articles and major updates were added to our website.

32. The TACAnow blog had a record 42 posts and almost 250,000 readers (Including 19 guests posts from our Physician Advisory Board and other TACA volunteers).

33. As part of ongoing web updates, we added 10 family stories to the website (now a total of 58 stories) that included photos, ATEC and Treat Autism Chart to detail their autism journey and help inspire other families regarding treatment and therapies.

34. We shared over 12,000 updates including, support, tips and news through social media outlets: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA) (total subscribers 3,000), National & Chapter specific Facebook (total subscribers of 36,800) and Twitter (total subscribers of 8,400).

35. Our member list received more than 300 e-newsletters from TACA’s national office and chapters with a circulation of more than 42,000.

36. Completed TACA’s 2013 Annual Report and made it available through our website.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

37. TACA’s 9th Family & Friends Campaign produced over 100 personal family stories and raised over $170,000.

38. Our 3rd annual Family Celebration campaign set sail to collect family stories about children living with autism and their improvements. For more info: www.flickr.com/photos/talkaboutcuringautism/sets/72157649994456792/

39. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program expanded from 30 to 35 high school and college campuses.

2015

COMMUNITY SERVED

1. Membership grew to over 38,000 families, nearly 7,000 in one year. An average of 600 new families join each month.

2. Maintained a chapter presence in 21 states with the help of 498 volunteers and 30,056 volunteer hours.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

3. All programs and services are provided at little or no cost to families. To ensure access for all families, we provided scholarships for any fee based programs we offer. Read more about our programs and services.

4. Parent support team and volunteers responded to 33,813 requests – in English and Spanish – via phone, email and live chat. This is a new record for TACA a 113% increase from 2012. Over 60% of these requests were answered by trained volunteers.

5. In our Mentor Program, mentoring matches increased by 23% to a total of 641. Seventy-nine mentor training events took place and with assistance provided in 7 languages.

6. Provided education, community and support at over 400 Chapter MeetingsCoffee Talks and events at no cost to participants in 51 cities. TACA started new chapters in Texas and Connecticut.

7. Distributed 3,100 Autism Journey Guides. Complimentary journey guides are provided to families at their initial visit to a TACA meeting.

8. 150,075 “My Child has Autism” information cards were distributed to families.

9. Hosted 20 different autism-friendly events where over 2,000 parents and children gathered.

 

 

10. The Spanish Community Outreach Program expanded its presence to include the state of Texas. Spanish Coffee Talk meetings are now being held in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange Counties, Las Vegas, NV and Texas.

11. The Spanish Community Outreach Program presented and participated in 10 local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community.

Through this program we responded to 365 calls, 539 emails, and provided one-on-one support to 550 parents.

12. The Southern California Legal Advocacy Program responded to 572 requests for legal consultation and advice via phone, electronic communication and in-person meetings.

It provided information to families about navigating the IEP process; legal information to nearly 207 participants through legal education seminars; reviewed and evaluated 20 IEPs and consulted with parents on potential compliance issues to help parents advocate on behalf of their children.

13. We provided 175 scholarships to families through our Family Scholarship Program, Hawaii Autism Foundation (HAF) Scholarships, HAF Vision Therapy Scholarships, TACA Dr. Rossignol Scholarships and TACA Philadelphia Liberty Me Grants.

14. Webinars were introduced to the TACA membership. Over 1,400 families participated in 56 parent centric and 19 mentor specific sessions.

15. TACA crafted 71 new recipes, and partnered in 12 new online cooking classes with Autism Live creating WHAT’S LEFT?--an allergy free cooking class series to meet allergy needs.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

16. We partnered with epilepsy organizations from across the country in the inaugural Epilepsy Awareness Day at Disneyland Resort. 1,200 individuals attended the event raising the community’s awareness of this disorder that affects 40% of children with autism.

17. We joined Happy Family by becoming a national partner to the leading premium organic food brand. Founder and CEO, Shazi Visram supported the partnership with a $50,000 grant to fund parent support programs.

18. Our organization participated as a member of the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to public education, autism awareness, global collaboration and research.

19. Through our partnership in AutismCares financial assistance was provided to 132 families in crisis.

20. TACA Mentors provided individualized support to over 5,050 attendees at 6 national conferences.

21. Our Physician Advisory Group: Robert W. Sears MD, Dan Rossignol MD FAAFP, Elizabeth Mumper MD FAAP, Cindy Schneider MD, David Berger MD FAAP, and Richard Frye MD PhD, continued reviewing new medical information and research about the treatments available for autism.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

22. Over 18,000 pairs of Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Sunglasses have been sold since April 2010 helping to support our mission and raise the awareness of autism.

23. Flashback Jack, a concert benefitting TACA continued our partnership with 93.1 Jack FM. This eight-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of over $277,000.

24. Family picnics were held across the U.S. including California, Georgia, and Hawaii. Nearly $100,000 dollars were raised and 400 families participated through scholarships.

25. Our 7th Annual Ante Up For Autism was held in Orange County, CA raising $259,000.

26. In-kind donations of products and services were received to help offset nearly $300,000 in expenses.

LEADERSHIP

27. We welcomed Robby Saggu to our Board of Directors.

28. TACA celebrated 10 years of Real Help Now Conferences; with conferences in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.

29. TACA held its 7th Annual Leadership Conference in January. Sixty-five Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers attended from 21 states to receive training on mission delivery, programs, services, and chapter operations.

MEDIA

30. National and local media articles featured information about our organization and Chapters, highlighting TACA’s relevance in autism related issues.

31. Our website, tacanow.org, received 1,800,000 page views from users. Thirty-nine new articles were added to our website.

32. The blog TACAnow had a record 88 posts, including 30 guest posts from our Physician Advisory Board, Chapter Coordinators, and other TACA volunteers.

33. We introduced 39 additional family stories to the website.

34. We shared 10,300 updates including, support, tips and news through social media outlets: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA), National & Chapter specific Facebook, and Twitter.

35. TACA’s 2012 Annual Report was available through our website.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

36. TACA’s 8th Family & Friends Campaign raised over $150,000.

37. Our Family Celebration Campaign was launched to document stories about children living with autism and their improvements.

38. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program expanded from 30 to 35 high school and college campuses.

 

2014

COMMUNITY SERVED

1. Membership grew to over 38,000 families, nearly 7,000 in one year. An average of 600 new families join each month.

2. Maintained a chapter presence in 21 states with the help of 498 volunteers and 30,056 volunteer hours.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

3. All programs and services are provided at little or no cost to families. To ensure access for all families, we provided scholarships for any fee based programs we offer. Read more about our programs and services.

4. Parent support team and volunteers responded to 33,813 requests – in English and Spanish – via phone, email and live chat. This is a new record for TACA a 113% increase from 2012. Over 60% of these requests were answered by trained volunteers.

5. In our Mentor Program, mentoring matches increased by 23% to a total of 641. Seventy-nine mentor training events took place and with assistance provided in 7 languages.

6. Provided education, community and support at over 400 Chapter MeetingsCoffee Talks and events at no cost to participants in 51 cities. TACA started new chapters in Texas and Connecticut.

7. Distributed 3,100 Autism Journey Guides. Complimentary journey guides are provided to families at their initial visit to a TACA meeting.

8. 150,075 “My Child has Autism” information cards were distributed to families.

9. Hosted 20 different autism-friendly events where over 2,000 parents and children gathered.

 

 

10. The Spanish Community Outreach Program expanded its presence to include the state of Texas. Spanish Coffee Talk meetings are now being held in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange Counties, Las Vegas, NV and Texas.

11. The Spanish Community Outreach Program presented and participated in 10 local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community.

Through this program we responded to 365 calls, 539 emails, and provided one-on-one support to 550 parents.

12. The Southern California Legal Advocacy Program responded to 572 requests for legal consultation and advice via phone, electronic communication and in-person meetings.

It provided information to families about navigating the IEP process; legal information to nearly 207 participants through legal education seminars; reviewed and evaluated 20 IEPs and consulted with parents on potential compliance issues to help parents advocate on behalf of their children.

13. We provided 175 scholarships to families through our Family Scholarship Program, Hawaii Autism Foundation (HAF) Scholarships, HAF Vision Therapy Scholarships, TACA Dr. Rossignol Scholarships and TACA Philadelphia Liberty Me Grants.

14. Webinars were introduced to the TACA membership. Over 1,400 families participated in 56 parent centric and 19 mentor specific sessions.

15. TACA crafted 71 new recipes, and partnered in 12 new online cooking classes with Autism Live creating WHAT’S LEFT?--an allergy free cooking class series to meet allergy needs.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

16. We partnered with epilepsy organizations from across the country in the inaugural Epilepsy Awareness Day at Disneyland Resort. 1,200 individuals attended the event raising the community’s awareness of this disorder that affects 40% of children with autism.

17. We joined Happy Family by becoming a national partner to the leading premium organic food brand. Founder and CEO, Shazi Visram supported the partnership with a $50,000 grant to fund parent support programs.

18. Our organization participated as a member of the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to public education, autism awareness, global collaboration and research.

19. Through our partnership in AutismCares financial assistance was provided to 132 families in crisis.

20. TACA Mentors provided individualized support to over 5,050 attendees at 6 national conferences.

21. Our Physician Advisory Group: Robert W. Sears MD, Dan Rossignol MD FAAFP, Elizabeth Mumper MD FAAP, Cindy Schneider MD, David Berger MD FAAP, and Richard Frye MD PhD, continued reviewing new medical information and research about the treatments available for autism.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

22. Over 18,000 pairs of Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Sunglasses have been sold since April 2010 helping to support our mission and raise the awareness of autism.

23. Flashback Jack, a concert benefitting TACA continued our partnership with 93.1 Jack FM. This eight-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of over $277,000.

24. Family picnics were held across the U.S. including California, Georgia, and Hawaii. Nearly $100,000 dollars were raised and 400 families participated through scholarships.

25. Our 7th Annual Ante Up For Autism was held in Orange County, CA raising $259,000.

26. In-kind donations of products and services were received to help offset nearly $300,000 in expenses.

LEADERSHIP

27. We welcomed Robby Saggu to our Board of Directors.

28. TACA celebrated 10 years of Real Help Now Conferences; with conferences in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.

29. TACA held its 7th Annual Leadership Conference in January. Sixty-five Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers attended from 21 states to receive training on mission delivery, programs, services, and chapter operations.

MEDIA

30. National and local media articles featured information about our organization and Chapters, highlighting TACA’s relevance in autism related issues.

31. Our website, tacanow.org, received 1,800,000 page views from users. Thirty-nine new articles were added to our website.

32. The blog TACAnow had a record 88 posts, including 30 guest posts from our Physician Advisory Board, Chapter Coordinators, and other TACA volunteers.

33. We introduced 39 additional family stories to the website.

34. We shared 10,300 updates including, support, tips and news through social media outlets: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA), National & Chapter specific Facebook, and Twitter.

35. TACA’s 2012 Annual Report was available through our website.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

36. TACA’s 8th Family & Friends Campaign raised over $150,000.

37. Our Family Celebration Campaign was launched to document stories about children living with autism and their improvements.

38. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program expanded from 30 to 35 high school and college campuses.

 

2013

COMMUNITY SERVED

1. Membership grew to over 31,000 families, nearly 3,000 in one year. An average of 400 new families join each month.

2. Our programs were available to the entire U.S., maintaining a presence in 18 states.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

All programs and services are provided at little or no cost to families. To ensure access for all families, we provided scholarships for any fee based programs we offer. Read more about our programs and services.

3. Parent support team & volunteers responded to almost 15,450 requests - in English and Spanish - via phone, email and live chat. This is a new record for TACA: 59% increase from 2011. Over 5,000 requests for support were responded to by TACA volunteers.

4. Our TACA Mentors made over 500 mentor-mentee connections reaching out to support thousands of families needing assistance on their autism journey. The number of connections this year was another record setting accomplishment for TACA. Thirty-two mentor training events took place and assistance via mentors is also provided in 7 languages.

5. Families benefitted greatly from the support, hard work and caring of over 500 volunteers in our chapters, mentor program and parent support programs.

6. Provided education, community and support at over 325 Chapter Meetings, and Coffee Talks at no cost to participants.

7. Distributed over 3,000 free Autism Journey Guides (in it’s 6th revision) and over 150,000 “My Child has Autism” information cards to families. TACA introduced our guides for families as a two volume series: Early Childhood Development – Volume 1 and the newly created Volume 2 for Maturing Adults.

8. Hosted a variety of family events where almost 10,000 parents and children gathered in 25 different autism friendly environments.

9. Continued to provide critical parent education and support programs for families.

A) Our Spanish Community Outreach program presented and participated in nearly 10 local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community. This program responded to over 373 calls, 517 emails, and supported close to 345 parents at Spanish Coffee Talk meetings in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Las Vegas, NV.

B) Our Legal Advocacy program (Orange County only) responded to 737 requests for legal consultation and advice by way of phone call, electronic communication and in-person meetings. The program provided one-on-one support to families about navigating the IEP process; delivered pertinent legal information to nearly 130 participants through legal education seminars; reviewed and evaluated 20 IEP’s and consulted with parents on potential compliance issues empowering parents to advocate on behalf of their child.

10. We provided 51 families with scholarships toward treatment through our Family Scholarship Program, Hawaii Autism Foundation (HAF) Scholarships, HAF Vision Therapy Scholarships, TACA Dr. Rossignol Scholarships and TACA Philadelphia Liberty Me Grants.

11. More than 200 copies of books and DVDs were added to TACA Chapter Libraries.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

12. Our organization participated and is a current member of the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to parent-driven research and other united efforts.

13. Through our partnership in AutismCares, TACA and four other national non-profit organizations provided financial assistance to 280 families in crisis.

14. We were present at 6 national conferences where TACA Mentors provided individualized support to over 5,000 attendees.

15. Due to collaborative efforts with the Beautiful Son Foundation/Autism Hawaii Foundation and Liberty Me Foundation families received dedicated assistance in Hawaii and Pennsylvania.

16. The TACA Physician Advisory Group featuring Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. Dan Rossignol, Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, Dr. Cindy Schneider, Dr. David Berger and Dr. Richard Frye continued to help review new medical information and research in an effort to educate physicians about the treatments available for autism.

17. We participated in an iPad Autism & Communication study, created a project video and a parent tool kit for families, so they could learn more about the benefits in using this type of device for individuals with autism. For more info: https://tacanow.org/miscellaneous/ipads-and-autism/

18. TACA partnered with Autism Live to create WHAT’S LEFT? an allergy free cooking class series and parent education effort.

19. We now collaborate with My Autism Team for their provider directory.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

20. Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Autism Sunglasses launched in April 2010. Since created, Oakley has sold over 16,000 pairs of glasses to support the TACA mission and raise autism awareness. This year, Oakley created more awareness by featuring TACA in their ONE ICON Magazine with an in-depth article and video of TACA’s efforts families we serve. For more info http://tacanow.org/miscellaneous/oakley-one-icon/.

21. TACA’s Ambassador Committee (comprised of 10 members) raised almost $70,000 and awareness for the organization.

22. Continued our partnership with 93.1 Jack FM for Jack’s Seventh Show, a concert benefitting TACA. This seven-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of over $260,000.

23. We held three family picnics: in California, Georgia and Maryland where we raised $80,000. Over 2,100 people attended and 200 scholarships were granted for families to able to attend.

24. TACA’s 6th Annual Ante Up For Autism held in Orange County, CA raised over $260,000.

25. We received in-kind donations of products and services to help offset expenses with an estimated value totaling almost $200,000.

LEADERSHIP

26. We welcomed Elizabeth McCoy to our Board of Directors.

27. For the 9th year, TACA held Real Help Now Conferences in Nevada & Georgia serving over 300 families.

28. TACA held its 6th Annual Leadership Conference in January for 65 Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers from 20 states. Attendees received in-depth training on TACA’s Mission delivery, Programs, Services, and Chapter Operations. Through these volunteer efforts, leaders in their communities were able to reach 30% more families in 2012.

MEDIA

29. Almost 20 national and local media articles featured information about our organization and Chapters, highlighting TACA’s relevance in autism related issues. For more info: http://tacanow.org/category/news/

30. TACA Founder Lisa Ackerman was featured as the OC Metro CEO Centerfold and OC Family Magazine as an Orange County Supermom. For more info: http://tacanow.org/category/news/

31. Our website, tacanow.org, received almost 1,000,000 visits by users who accessed over 1.6 million pages of information. Ten new articles and major updates were added to our website.

32. The TACAnow blog had a record 83 posts and over 125,350 readers (Including 20 guests posts from our Physician Advisory Board and our own staff attorney).

33. We shared over 10,000 updates including , support, tips and news through social media outlets: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA), National & Chapter specific Facebook, and Twitter.

34. TACA member list received more than 300 e-newsletters from TACA’s national office and chapters with a circulation of more than 31,000.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

35. TACA’s 8th Family & Friends Campaign produced over 100 personalized family stories and raised almost $120,000.

36. Our year end celebration campaign was launched to collect family stories about children living with autism and their improvements. In just two days, we received over 200 inspirational stories about individuals with autism making great strides. For more info: http://www.flickr.com/photos/talkaboutcuringautism/sets/72157632301247683/

37. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program expanded from 22 to 30 high school campuses.

2012

COMMUNITY SERVED

1. Membership grew to over 31,000 families, nearly 3,000 in one year. An average of 400 new families join each month.

2. Our programs were available to the entire U.S., maintaining a presence in 18 states.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

All programs and services are provided at little or no cost to families. To ensure access for all families, we provided scholarships for any fee based programs we offer. Read more about our programs and services.

3. Parent support team & volunteers responded to almost 15,450 requests - in English and Spanish - via phone, email and live chat. This is a new record for TACA: 59% increase from 2011. Over 5,000 requests for support were responded to by TACA volunteers.

4. Our TACA Mentors made over 500 mentor-mentee connections reaching out to support thousands of families needing assistance on their autism journey. The number of connections this year was another record setting accomplishment for TACA. Thirty-two mentor training events took place and assistance via mentors is also provided in 7 languages.

5. Families benefitted greatly from the support, hard work and caring of over 500 volunteers in our chapters, mentor program and parent support programs.

6. Provided education, community and support at over 325 Chapter Meetings, and Coffee Talks at no cost to participants.

7. Distributed over 3,000 free Autism Journey Guides (in it’s 6th revision) and over 150,000 “My Child has Autism” information cards to families. TACA introduced our guides for families as a two volume series: Early Childhood Development – Volume 1 and the newly created Volume 2 for Maturing Adults.

8. Hosted a variety of family events where almost 10,000 parents and children gathered in 25 different autism friendly environments.

9. Continued to provide critical parent education and support programs for families.

A) Our Spanish Community Outreach program presented and participated in nearly 10 local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community. This program responded to over 373 calls, 517 emails, and supported close to 345 parents at Spanish Coffee Talk meetings in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Las Vegas, NV.

B) Our Legal Advocacy program (Orange County only) responded to 737 requests for legal consultation and advice by way of phone call, electronic communication and in-person meetings. The program provided one-on-one support to families about navigating the IEP process; delivered pertinent legal information to nearly 130 participants through legal education seminars; reviewed and evaluated 20 IEP’s and consulted with parents on potential compliance issues empowering parents to advocate on behalf of their child.

10. We provided 51 families with scholarships toward treatment through our Family Scholarship Program, Hawaii Autism Foundation (HAF) Scholarships, HAF Vision Therapy Scholarships, TACA Dr. Rossignol Scholarships and TACA Philadelphia Liberty Me Grants.

11. More than 200 copies of books and DVDs were added to TACA Chapter Libraries.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

12. Our organization participated and is a current member of the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to parent-driven research and other united efforts.

13. Through our partnership in AutismCares, TACA and four other national non-profit organizations provided financial assistance to 280 families in crisis.

14. We were present at 6 national conferences where TACA Mentors provided individualized support to over 5,000 attendees.

15. Due to collaborative efforts with the Beautiful Son Foundation/Autism Hawaii Foundation and Liberty Me Foundation families received dedicated assistance in Hawaii and Pennsylvania.

16. The TACA Physician Advisory Group featuring Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. Dan Rossignol, Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, Dr. Cindy Schneider, Dr. David Berger and Dr. Richard Frye continued to help review new medical information and research in an effort to educate physicians about the treatments available for autism.

17. We participated in an iPad Autism & Communication study, created a project video and a parent tool kit for families, so they could learn more about the benefits in using this type of device for individuals with autism. For more info: https://tacanow.org/miscellaneous/ipads-and-autism/

18. TACA partnered with Autism Live to create WHAT’S LEFT? an allergy free cooking class series and parent education effort.

19. We now collaborate with My Autism Team for their provider directory.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

20. Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Autism Sunglasses launched in April 2010. Since created, Oakley has sold over 16,000 pairs of glasses to support the TACA mission and raise autism awareness. This year, Oakley created more awareness by featuring TACA in their ONE ICON Magazine with an in-depth article and video of TACA’s efforts families we serve. For more info http://tacanow.org/miscellaneous/oakley-one-icon/.

21. TACA’s Ambassador Committee (comprised of 10 members) raised almost $70,000 and awareness for the organization.

22. Continued our partnership with 93.1 Jack FM for Jack’s Seventh Show, a concert benefitting TACA. This seven-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of over $260,000.

23. We held three family picnics: in California, Georgia and Maryland where we raised $80,000. Over 2,100 people attended and 200 scholarships were granted for families to able to attend.

24. TACA’s 6th Annual Ante Up For Autism held in Orange County, CA raised over $260,000.

25. We received in-kind donations of products and services to help offset expenses with an estimated value totaling almost $200,000.

LEADERSHIP

26. We welcomed Elizabeth McCoy to our Board of Directors.

27. For the 9th year, TACA held Real Help Now Conferences in Nevada & Georgia serving over 300 families.

28. TACA held its 6th Annual Leadership Conference in January for 65 Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers from 20 states. Attendees received in-depth training on TACA’s Mission delivery, Programs, Services, and Chapter Operations. Through these volunteer efforts, leaders in their communities were able to reach 30% more families in 2012.

MEDIA

29. Almost 20 national and local media articles featured information about our organization and Chapters, highlighting TACA’s relevance in autism related issues. For more info: http://tacanow.org/category/news/

30. TACA Founder Lisa Ackerman was featured as the OC Metro CEO Centerfold and OC Family Magazine as an Orange County Supermom. For more info: http://tacanow.org/category/news/

31. Our website, tacanow.org, received almost 1,000,000 visits by users who accessed over 1.6 million pages of information. Ten new articles and major updates were added to our website.

32. The TACAnow blog had a record 83 posts and over 125,350 readers (Including 20 guests posts from our Physician Advisory Board and our own staff attorney).

33. We shared over 10,000 updates including , support, tips and news through social media outlets: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA), National & Chapter specific Facebook, and Twitter.

34. TACA member list received more than 300 e-newsletters from TACA’s national office and chapters with a circulation of more than 31,000.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

35. TACA’s 8th Family & Friends Campaign produced over 100 personalized family stories and raised almost $120,000.

36. Our year end celebration campaign was launched to collect family stories about children living with autism and their improvements. In just two days, we received over 200 inspirational stories about individuals with autism making great strides. For more info: http://www.flickr.com/photos/talkaboutcuringautism/sets/72157632301247683/

37. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program expanded from 22 to 30 high school campuses.

2011

COMMUNITY SERVED

1.TACA’s membership grew to over 28,000 families, nearly 8,000 more than in 2010. On average nearly 500 new families join each month.

2. 27 chapters in 18 states, including the newly added New York Chapter.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

Ninety-five percent of programs and services continue to be offered at no cost to families. Read full list of available programs and services.

3. TACA staff and volunteers handled almost 2,500 phone calls and almost 6,500 e-mails from families across the country seeking support.

4. TACA conducted 250 mentor introductions for new families to obtain support and guidance, from experienced and trained TACA mentor parents.

5. TACA held 15 mentor training events

6. Our Live Chat provided instant online responses to over 1,000 separate support requests messages.

7. TACA provided education and support at almost 250 Chapter Meetings, and Coffee Talks provided at no cost to participants.

8. TACA distributed 1,850 free Autism Journey Guides (6th revision) and over 150,000 “My Child has Autism” information cards to families at TACA Chapter Meetings.

9. TACA, through a grant from the Pacific Life Foundation, continued to provide critical programs for families.

a) Spanish Community Outreach & Materials

This department presented and participated in local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community, such as the Fiesta Educativa Los Angeles Statewide Conference, Fiesta Educativa Fiesta Familiar meetings, Autism/Aspergers Annual Conference at University California/Irvine and Pasadena, Orange County Health Fair Expo for UDWA (Home Care Providers Union–Orange County) in Garden Grove, CA, The Exceptional Kids Autism Fair, and the Parent’s Place Family Resource Center Annual Conference and Autism Research Institute Conference answered over 200 calls, 550 emails, and met close to 139 parents at Spanish Coffee Talk meetings.

The department provided assistance and support to 150 Latino parents at its Orange and Los Angeles County Spanish Coffee Talk meetings and an additional 100 parents were provided support through a variety of outreach efforts.

b) Legal Advocacy Program (Orange County only)

This department responded to 558 requests for legal consultation and advice by way of phone call, electronic communication and in-person meetings resulting in one-on-one support to families navigating the IEP process; delivered pertinent legal information to nearly 40 participants through two legal education seminars; and reviewed, evaluated 20 IEP’s and consulted with parents on potential compliance issues empowering parents to advocate on behalf of their child regarding these compliance points and ensuring more appropriate education for their children.

10. TACA provided enhanced parent education programs including five Autism Journey Seminars.

11. TACA provided 32 families with scholarships for treatment and therapies through our Family Scholarship Program, Beautiful Son/Autism Hawaii Foundation and Liberty Me Grants.

12. More than 200 copies of books and DVDs were added to TACA Chapter Libraries.

13. Hosted an online provider resource directory of over 13,000 autism product and service vendors across the United States.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

14. TACA participated as a member of the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to parent-driven research and other united efforts.

15. Through our partnership in AutismCares, TACA and four other national non-profit organizations provided financial assistance to 76 families in crisis.

16. TACA was present at 7 national conferences where TACA Mentors were on hand to provide individualized support to nearly 6,000 attendees.

17. TACA continued its The Autism Book tour featuring author Dr. Bob Sears (co-sponsored with Nordic Naturals).

18. Due to collaborative efforts with the Beautiful Son Foundation/ Autism Hawaii Foundation and Liberty Me Foundation families received more assistance in Hawaii and Pennsylvania.

19. The TACA Physician Advisory Group featuring Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel and Dr. David Berger continued to help review new medical information and research in an effort to educate physicians about the treatments available for autism.

20. Autism One – Most Community Focused Non-profit 2011.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

21. Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Autism Sunglasses launched in April 2010. In 2011, almost 5,000 pairs of glasses were sold to support TACA’s mission.

22. The 10 members of TACA’s Ambassador Committee raised almost $70,000 for TACA and educated their circles of influence on TACA and autism.

23. TACA again partnered with 93.1 Jack FM for Jack’s Sixth Show, a concert benefitting TACA. This six-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of nearly $240,000.

24. TACA’s 8th Annual Family Picnic was a huge success with over 1,500 attendees raising over $90,000.

25. TACA’s 5th Annual Ante Up For Autism held in Orange County CA, raised over $250,000.

26. TACA expanded its outreach through relationships with other organizations, and participated in a variety of collaborative events including; An Evening for Autism, A Ride for Autism, Hope 4 Hanna, and the TBigT Golf Tournament, raising more than $60,000 collectively.

27. TACA received in-kind donations of products and services to help offset expenses with an estimated value totaling nearly $250,000.

LEADERSHIP

28. TACA welcomed Dan Carney to our Board of Directors.

29. For the 8th year, TACA held a Real Help Now Conference. It was attended by nearly 300 people with participation from six nationally known DAN! Doctors including Dr. Nancy O’Hara, Dr. Anju Usman and Dr. Stuart Freedenfeld. TACA’s own Holly Bortfeld also took part in this conference.

30. TACA held its 5th Annual Leadership Conference in January for 65 Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers from 20 states. Attendees received in-depth training on TACA’s Mission delivery, Programs, Services, and Chapter Operations.

MEDIA

31. Thirty national and local media articles featured information about TACA, our Chapters, and highlighted TACA’s relevance in autism related issues.

32. Our website, tacanow.org, received more than 1,000,000 visits by users who accessed nearly 1.2 million pages of information. Fifteen new articles and major updates to 25% of our content were added. New teen and adult resource articles were included to address our members’ growing and changing needs.

33. The TACAnow blog was created, and featured 29 unique articles with over 3,200 subscribers.

34. TACA shared information and news updates through social marketing networks including: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA)Facebook, and Twitter.

35. TACA sponsored the Age of Autism, and has supported the nation’s only daily web news that covers autism-related news for the past six years.

36. TACA’s partnership with 93.1 Jack FM included frequent public service announcements (PSA) about autism and TACA.

37. TACA members received more than 22 e-newsletters and two printed newsletters, each with a circulation of more than 30,000.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

38. TACA’s 7th Family & Friends Campaign produced over 100 personalized family stories and raised over $90,000

39. Autism Awareness Days were hosted by the LA Dodgers, Volcom and Wahoo’s

40. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program grew from 2 to 22 high school campuses

2010

COMMUNITY SERVED

1.TACA’s membership grew to over 28,000 families, nearly 8,000 more than in 2010. On average nearly 500 new families join each month.

2. 27 chapters in 18 states, including the newly added New York Chapter.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

Ninety-five percent of programs and services continue to be offered at no cost to families. Read full list of available programs and services.

3. TACA staff and volunteers handled almost 2,500 phone calls and almost 6,500 e-mails from families across the country seeking support.

4. TACA conducted 250 mentor introductions for new families to obtain support and guidance, from experienced and trained TACA mentor parents.

5. TACA held 15 mentor training events

6. Our Live Chat provided instant online responses to over 1,000 separate support requests messages.

7. TACA provided education and support at almost 250 Chapter Meetings, and Coffee Talks provided at no cost to participants.

8. TACA distributed 1,850 free Autism Journey Guides (6th revision) and over 150,000 “My Child has Autism” information cards to families at TACA Chapter Meetings.

9. TACA, through a grant from the Pacific Life Foundation, continued to provide critical programs for families.

a) Spanish Community Outreach & Materials

This department presented and participated in local educational conferences catering to individuals with disabilities in the Latino community, such as the Fiesta Educativa Los Angeles Statewide Conference, Fiesta Educativa Fiesta Familiar meetings, Autism/Aspergers Annual Conference at University California/Irvine and Pasadena, Orange County Health Fair Expo for UDWA (Home Care Providers Union–Orange County) in Garden Grove, CA, The Exceptional Kids Autism Fair, and the Parent’s Place Family Resource Center Annual Conference and Autism Research Institute Conference answered over 200 calls, 550 emails, and met close to 139 parents at Spanish Coffee Talk meetings.

The department provided assistance and support to 150 Latino parents at its Orange and Los Angeles County Spanish Coffee Talk meetings and an additional 100 parents were provided support through a variety of outreach efforts.

b) Legal Advocacy Program (Orange County only)

This department responded to 558 requests for legal consultation and advice by way of phone call, electronic communication and in-person meetings resulting in one-on-one support to families navigating the IEP process; delivered pertinent legal information to nearly 40 participants through two legal education seminars; and reviewed, evaluated 20 IEP’s and consulted with parents on potential compliance issues empowering parents to advocate on behalf of their child regarding these compliance points and ensuring more appropriate education for their children.

10. TACA provided enhanced parent education programs including five Autism Journey Seminars.

11. TACA provided 32 families with scholarships for treatment and therapies through our Family Scholarship Program, Beautiful Son/Autism Hawaii Foundation and Liberty Me Grants.

12. More than 200 copies of books and DVDs were added to TACA Chapter Libraries.

13. Hosted an online provider resource directory of over 13,000 autism product and service vendors across the United States.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

14. TACA participated as a member of the Global Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to parent-driven research and other united efforts.

15. Through our partnership in AutismCares, TACA and four other national non-profit organizations provided financial assistance to 76 families in crisis.

16. TACA was present at 7 national conferences where TACA Mentors were on hand to provide individualized support to nearly 6,000 attendees.

17. TACA continued its The Autism Book tour featuring author Dr. Bob Sears (co-sponsored with Nordic Naturals).

18. Due to collaborative efforts with the Beautiful Son Foundation/ Autism Hawaii Foundation and Liberty Me Foundation families received more assistance in Hawaii and Pennsylvania.

19. The TACA Physician Advisory Group featuring Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel and Dr. David Berger continued to help review new medical information and research in an effort to educate physicians about the treatments available for autism.

20. Autism One – Most Community Focused Non-profit 2011.

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS

21. Oakley’s Special Edition TACA Autism Sunglasses launched in April 2010. In 2011, almost 5,000 pairs of glasses were sold to support TACA’s mission.

22. The 10 members of TACA’s Ambassador Committee raised almost $70,000 for TACA and educated their circles of influence on TACA and autism.

23. TACA again partnered with 93.1 Jack FM for Jack’s Sixth Show, a concert benefitting TACA. This six-year relationship has raised a cumulative total of nearly $240,000.

24. TACA’s 8th Annual Family Picnic was a huge success with over 1,500 attendees raising over $90,000.

25. TACA’s 5th Annual Ante Up For Autism held in Orange County CA, raised over $250,000.

26. TACA expanded its outreach through relationships with other organizations, and participated in a variety of collaborative events including; An Evening for Autism, A Ride for Autism, Hope 4 Hanna, and the TBigT Golf Tournament, raising more than $60,000 collectively.

27. TACA received in-kind donations of products and services to help offset expenses with an estimated value totaling nearly $250,000.

LEADERSHIP

28. TACA welcomed Dan Carney to our Board of Directors.

29. For the 8th year, TACA held a Real Help Now Conference. It was attended by nearly 300 people with participation from six nationally known DAN! Doctors including Dr. Nancy O’Hara, Dr. Anju Usman and Dr. Stuart Freedenfeld. TACA’s own Holly Bortfeld also took part in this conference.

30. TACA held its 5th Annual Leadership Conference in January for 65 Chapter Coordinators and Key Volunteers from 20 states. Attendees received in-depth training on TACA’s Mission delivery, Programs, Services, and Chapter Operations.

MEDIA

31. Thirty national and local media articles featured information about TACA, our Chapters, and highlighted TACA’s relevance in autism related issues.

32. Our website, tacanow.org, received more than 1,000,000 visits by users who accessed nearly 1.2 million pages of information. Fifteen new articles and major updates to 25% of our content were added. New teen and adult resource articles were included to address our members’ growing and changing needs.

33. The TACAnow blog was created, and featured 29 unique articles with over 3,200 subscribers.

34. TACA shared information and news updates through social marketing networks including: TACA’s national Yahoo! Group (TACA-USA)Facebook, and Twitter.

35. TACA sponsored the Age of Autism, and has supported the nation’s only daily web news that covers autism-related news for the past six years.

36. TACA’s partnership with 93.1 Jack FM included frequent public service announcements (PSA) about autism and TACA.

37. TACA members received more than 22 e-newsletters and two printed newsletters, each with a circulation of more than 30,000.

AUTISM AWARENESS EFFORTS INCLUDED

38. TACA’s 7th Family & Friends Campaign produced over 100 personalized family stories and raised over $90,000

39. Autism Awareness Days were hosted by the LA Dodgers, Volcom and Wahoo’s

40. The Autism Youth Ambassadors Program grew from 2 to 22 high school campuses

2009

Our 2009 accomplishments include the following:

  1. TACA was founded November 2000 in Orange County, California with 10 families meeting in the Ackerman living room. In 2009, TACA provided support to more than 15,000 families affected by autism. Each month we are adding almost 400 new families.  In addition to these numbers our Friends of TACA now number close to 4,000.
  2. TACA continues to provide 95% of program services at no cost to families.
  3. TACA launched new chapters in Arizona, Alabama, California, Indiana, Maryland/Washington DC, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, & Wisconsin. TACA now has 28 chapters across the United States providing support for families. Last year TACA held more than 250 educational and support meetings at no cost to the participants.
  4. In January TACA held its third annual Leadership Conference for approximately 80 key volunteers from 21 states.  Volunteers were trained on best practices and how to represent our mission and programs in their local communities.
  5. TACA trained staff and volunteers responded to more than 2,000 phone calls and 4,500 e-mails from families across the country seeking support.
  6. Live Chat aided more than 1,500 separate instant message support requests throughout the year through our website.
  7. TACA distributed 3,250 free Autism Journey Guides and more than a quarter of a million “My Child has Autism” business cards to families at TACA meetings.  The updated Journey Guide, now it is 5th revision, stands at over 350 pages to provide families with best practices for their journey.
  8. Good News for Kids Recognition of your support - 2008
  9. A Childs Place Learning Center- award of appreciation, for many contributions made toward the success of the center- 2008
  10. TACA released Autism Journey Blueprints – visual tools to help families plan their journey.
  11. TACA held its 7th Annual Real Help Now conference with close to 300 attendees and six nationally known speakers including Jerry Kartzinel, MD, Cindy Schneider, MD, Doris Rapp, MD, Koren Barrett, MD, Timothy Adams, Esq., and parents Lynne Arnold, Michael and Moira Giammatteo.
  12. TACA took part in 61 national and local media articles on our organization and autism-related issues.
  13. TACA partnered in the Autism Collaboration, a collection of organizations dedicated to parent-driven research and other united efforts.
  14. In addition to the TACA USA national Yahoo Group, TACA expanded its online presence to include a Facebook cause page with more than 29,000 members, and Twitter updates.
  15. TACA conducted 261 mentor introductions as a means for new families to obtain support and guidance from an experienced and trained TACA family. With nearly 200 mentors TACA held more than 18 mentor training events. TACA currently provides mentoring in seven languages.
  16. TACA was present at eight national conferences where mentors were on hand to provide one-on-one support to more than 8,000 attendees.
  17. TACA held five Autism Journey Seminars geared specifically for families at the beginning of their journey.
  18. Through its partnership in AutismCares, TACA provided financial assistance to 40 Families in Crisis to cover emergency needs. Nine additional families were provided with treatment scholarships through the TACA Family Scholarship program. Forty families were provided assistance through existing TACA resources, Autism Angel services, and other programs.
  19. For the 2009 holiday season our Adopt-a-Family Holiday Campaign helped 176 families in need from across the U.S. up from 75 families in 2008.  In total, 712 received holiday cheer and support from TACA.
  20. TACA is a founding sponsor of Age of Autism and for the past three years has supported the nation's only daily autism web news alternative.
  21. In a difficult economy, TACA increased fundraising by more than 9% over the previous year. Unfortunately expenses increased exponentially due to assistance requested by families in these difficult economic times.
  22. Almost $400,000 in expenses were offset via in kind donations of products and services for families affected by autism. Donations also helped defer fundraising costs through products and services.
  23. In 2009, TACA received a continuation grant from Pacific Life Foundation to provide three new programs for families.

    Spanish-language community outreach:  translated parent support materials available in print and on the website; parent support and educational meetings in Spanish; outreach at three Spanish language conferences; translation services in conjunction with attorney/legal advocate for Latino families; and outreach into the Latino communities to provide information on TACA services.

    Advocacy: provided education seminars to 126 people, 33 individual meetings, 183 phone consults, 84 emails, and 5 in depth support for families navigating the autism journey through TACA’s special education attorney.

    Scholarships:  TACA underwrote four independent assessments to families of children affected by autism.

  24. The relationship with 93.1 Jack FM radio now in its fourth year resulted in frequent public service announcements on autism and TACA. Jack’s Fourth Show, a concert benefiting TACA, raised almost $30,000 and the Inaugural Jack Open Golf Classic raised an additional $40,000.
  25. TACA was also awarded $30,000 from Buchanan Street Children’s charities through a matching grant that was supported by friends of the Orange County Community Foundation.
  26. In 2009 TACA held a variety of special events; the much cherished annual events were joined by some new to the organization. TACA’s 7th Annual Family Picnic was a huge success with over 1,500 attendees; the 3rd Annual Orange County Ante Up event was joined by an Ante Up held in Phoenix AZ that celebrated the world of Major League Baseball. This year TACA was the beneficiary of the TBigT and Ingram Micro Golf Tournaments and we held our inaugural Walka for TACA. All in all TACA held or was the beneficiary of over 20 special events.
  27. TACA expanded its outreach through relationships with other organizations and this year participated in a variety of collaborative events:  An Evening for Autism (held in conjunction with Easter Seals and ASA), A Ride for Autism (Autism Speaks & ASA), Down for Life (Ryan Sheckler Foundation), Santa Ana Country Club Golf Tournament and fundraiser, Huntington Beach Police Officers AssociationInland Empire 66’ersLA Galaxy, Anaheim Ducks, and more here!
  28. Our website received more than 700,000 visits with more than 22 million pages of support and information provided to users (almost 50 new feature articles were added to the website).
  29. TACA educated and updated members and foundation friends with over 50 e-newsletters & two printed newsletters each with a circulation of more than 19,000.
  30. We continued to educate and update with articles published in Autism File, Spectrum Magazine, and on a variety of blogs.
  31. In collaboration with Howcast – launched a new video: "How to help a child with autism" to educate families and friends.
  32. Kirkman 2009 Humanitarians of the year Glen and Lisa Ackerman
  33. Autism Awareness efforts this past year included:

    Family & Friends campaign which ran April thru June

    Autism Awareness days were hosted by the following:  Santa Monica High School (Sept), Chick-fil-A Autism Day (April), LA Galaxy and IE66ers Autism Awareness Days, 93.1 Jack FM PSAs, Jack’s Fourth Concert  and the Jack Open Golf Classic, HBPOA Golf Tournament, Anaheim Ducks event, the Volcom shirt, partnerships with United Stationers, employee giving campaigns with Microsoft and SCE, and Buchanan Street’s Challenge for the Children

    Festival of Children outreach and education that ran month long in September

  34. The Passkeys Foundation / Ethical Edge awarded Executive Director Lisa Ackerman with a Social & Community Leaders of Integrity Award.
  35. Military outreach continued via relationships with the Marine Corps Exceptional Family Member Programs at Camp Pendleton, MCAS Miramar, and MCRD San Diego.
  36. Over 500 books and DVDs were added to the TACA chapter libraries.

2008

Below are our key accomplishments from 2008:

  1. TACA was founded in November 2000 in Orange County, California with 10 families meeting in the Ackerman living room. In June 2008 TACA moved into its office headquarters in Costa Mesa, California to provide support throughout the nation to families reaching out for help.  In 2008 the number of families TACA serves has more than doubled – from 6,500 to almost 14,000.
  2. TACA continues to provide 95% of program services at no cost to families. Information on TACA programs and mission can be found at tacanow.org.
  3. TACA launched new chapters in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
  4. TACA coordinators handled more than 1,000 phone calls and more than 4,000 e-mails from families across the country looking for support.
  5. TACA doubled the number of educational meetings across the country from 100 in 2007 to more almost 200 in 2008.  These meetings were held in 17 locations across the country.
  6. Distributed 4,250 free Autism Journey Guides to families at TACA meetings.  More than a quarter million “My Child Has Autism Cards” were also distributed.
  7. TACA held our 6th Annual one day Medical Conference featuring Dr. Jerry Kartzinel and Dr. Dan Rossignol.
  8. TACA was prominently featured in a front page Orange County Registerarticle.  More than 50 media reports featured TACA in 2008.  TACA representatives were also interviewed on a variety of local and national news programs on a variety of topics.
  9. TACA published two printed newsletters distributed to more than 30,000 people.
  10. TACA participated as a partner in the Autism Collaboration, a group of organizations that have joined to coordinate parent-driven research and other efforts in a united effort – www.autism.org.
  11. For the first time in TACA’s history, we sponsored more than $45,000 in research through the Autism Collaboration parents as partners in research program which is focused on finding treatment options for families.
  12. In addition to our national Yahoo! Group, TACA expanded its online services to include a Facebook cause with more than 5,000 members, and Live Chat feature on the TACA website for families looking for help.
  13. TACA added a new board member, Pat McIlvain.  Pat is the Vice President of Sports Marketing for Oakley, Inc.  In his present role, Pat is responsible for all athlete endorsement, event sponsorships and brand engagement within all sports globally.  Pat has  a 9-year-old son with autism.
  14. TACA provided almost 200 mentor introductions for new families to obtain support and guidance from an experienced TACA family.   TACA also held seven new parent seminars across the country.  TACA mentors attended national conferences and were available to the more than 9,000 attendees to provide one-on-one support.
  15. Hosted the Second Annual TACA Leadership Conference where 60 key TACA staff were trained and updated on best practices for serving families
  16. Through its partnership in AutismCares, TACA provided financial assistance to 35 families in crisis to help with emergency needs and to 95 families who were victims of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Fourteen additional families were provided with treatment scholarships to assist with medical care for their children.
  17. This holiday season TACA adopted 75 families from across the U.S.  We were helped by Northrop Grumman, National Charity League and more than a dozen volunteers and staff members who helped us shop, pack and ship (with the generosity of Kirkman Labs) to more than 400 people a holiday package of cheer, grocery gift cards and a small gift for the children.
  18. TACA was one of four autism organizations that orchestrated the largest autism and vaccine rally, Green Our Vaccines, in the country. More than 8,000 people marched in Washington, D.C.  TACA secured support and attendance from 50 autism and child-related non-profit agencies.
  19. TACA Parent Support and Media Relations Manager, Rebecca Estepp, attended the Omnibus Vaccine Court Hearings in Washington, DC and provided specific support for military families living with autism.
  20. TACA is a founding sponsor of the Age of Autism web site, the nation's first daily Web newspaper for the environmental-biomedical community.
  21. TACA increased fundraising efforts by more than 35% in 2008, from 2007, with diverse funding sources that can be replicated annually.
  22. TACA was the beneficiary of 30 special events – two were hosted by TACA, and the remainder were developed and managed by others in the autism community.
  23. Received a $300,000 grant from Pacific Life Foundation to begin three new programs for families in 2009.  TACA was also awarded $50,000 from Buchanan Street Children’s charities through a matching grant that was supported by The Mill and the Orange County Community Foundation.
  24. Continued relationship with Jack FM radio that resulted in frequent radio spots featuring Lisa Ackerman on autism and TACA.  Jack’s Third Show, a concert benefiting TACA, raised $50,000.
  25. TACA 6th Annual Family Picnic was our largest ever, with more than 1,900 in attendance and more than $110,000 raised.
  26. Held the second annual Ante Up for Autism gala and poker tournament in Newport Beach, California, hosted by Lance Armstrong and Jenny McCarthy. This spectacular evening raised more than $300,000 with 400 people in attendance.
  27. Sponsored our first Law Day to educate parents about their child’s legal rights. This event was attended by more than 300 parents.
  28. Our website, tacanow.org, received almost 900,000 visits with more than 5.5 million pages of support and information provided to users.
  29. The first TACA e-newsletter was sent in January 2002. In 2008 we more than doubled the subscribers, bringing the total distribution list to more than 15,000 autism parents and professionals.
  30. Almost 250 additional books were added to libraries in TACA locations for families to utilize at no cost.
  31. TACA held three marriage and family counseling groups in Orange County and Los Angeles with each including 10 people over 8 weeks. In a post-group survey participants consistently felt that attending the group improved their martial relationships.

2007

Below are our key accomplishments from 2007:

  1. TACA was founded in November 2000 in Orange County, California with 10 families meeting in the Ackerman living room. In September 2007, TACA went national, hiring part-time regional managers who are parents or grandparents of children with autism to provide support throughout the nation to families reaching out for help. In 2006 TACA served 2,200 families, in 2007 TACA served more than 6,000 families.
  2. Actress and New York Times best-selling author Jenny McCarthy becomes a TACA mom! Jenny volunteered to serve as TACA celebrity spokesperson and spread a huge amount of autism awareness and hope through a publicity tour for her book Louder than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism with appearances on Oprah!, the View, Larry King Live, and 20/20.
  3. The first TACA e-newsletter was sent in January 2002. In 2007 we added almost 4,000 subscribers, bringing the total distribution list to more than 6,800 autism parents and professionals.
  4. Continued to provide 95% of program services at no cost to families. Information on TACA programs and mission can be found at tacanow.org.
  5. TACA coordinators handled 300 phone calls and 3,500 e-mails per month from families across the country looking for support.
  6. Held more than 100 education and support group meetings including three new parent seminars helping almost 150 families as they began their autism journey.
  7. Distributed almost 2,000 free Autism Journey Parent Guides to families at TACA meetings. This is double the number distributed in 2006.
  8. Held our largest ever TACA medical conference, with more than 400 people attending.
  9. TACA prominently featured in three Orange County Register articles. Over 2 dozen articles featured TACA in 2007. TACA representatives were also interviewed on a variety of local and national news programs on a variety of topics.
  10. TACA published two printed newsletters that were distributed to more than 10,000 people.
  11. TACA partnered with Pediatric Partners in Florida for Dr. Jerry Kartzinel to see more than 50 Southern California families. TACA also provided 10 medical treatment scholarships to children affected by autism, who otherwise would have been unable to afford treatment through our California Medical Fund.
  12. The TACA website was visited by more than 600,000 individuals looking for autism support and information.
  13. Almost 500 books were added to libraries in TACA locations for families to utilize at no costs.
  14. TACA provided more than 75 mentor introductions for new families to obtain support and guidance from an experienced TACA family. TACA mentors traveled to five national conferences (Autism One, two DAN! Conferences, USAA Conference and the National Autism Association Conference).
  15. Through the Families in Crisis Fund TACA provided financial assistance to 20 families in crisis to help with emergency needs. Twenty-nine additional families were provided with information to access existing programs outside of TACA to help solve their crisis. TACA also adopted 20 families over the holidays.
  16. TACA held three marriage and family counseling group in Orange County with each including 10 people over 8 weeks. In a post-group survey participant’s consistently felt that attending the group improved their marital relationships.
  17. TACA held two social skills group, each for 10 high functioning or Asperger’s teens and provided mandatory simultaneous parent support. The group worked on social skills, life skills and each participant walked away with at least one friend. Three months post group, the participants are still getting together and maintaining friendship.
  18. TACA signed on to be part of the Autism Collaboration, a group of organizations that have joined to coordinate parent-driven research in a united effort – www.autism.org
  19. Lisa Ackerman participated in American Academy of Pediatrics meeting held in October, 2007 with the goal of soliciting the AAP’s support and encouragement of biomedical treatments in autism.
  20. Becky Estepp attended the first week of the Omnibus Vaccine Court Hearings in Washington, DC held in June. She represented TACA in the audience as well as provided daily reports on the proceedings for Autism One Radio.
  21. TACA held a thoughtful debate, Vaccines and Autism, Is There a Connection? with David Kirby and Arthur Allen at UC San Diego.
  22. TACA created a national e-mail discussion group, TACA-USA, which currently has more than 400 members.
  23. TACA sponsored the Age of Autism web site, the nation's first daily Web newspaper for the environmental-biomedical community.
  24. Increased fundraising efforts by more than 200% in 2007 vs. 2006, from diverse funding sources that can be replicated annually.
  25. TACA was the beneficiary of 18 special events – two were put on by TACA, and the remainder were developed and managed by others in the autism community.
  26. Received grants from Boeing Employees Community Fund, the S. Mark Taper Foundation, Ingram Micro, and Pacific Life Foundation.
  27. Continued relationship with Jack FM radio that resulted in frequent radio spots featuring Jenny McCarthy and Lisa Ackerman on autism and TACA around Southern California and held a concert benefiting TACA that raised $36,000.
  28. TACA 4th annual family picnic was our largest ever, with more than 1,900 in attendance and almost $90,000 raised.
  29. Held the first Ante Up for Autism gala and poker tournament in Newport Beach, California, hosted by Jenny McCarthy. This spectacular evening raised more than $370,000.

2006

Below are our key accomplishments from 2006:

  1. TACA was founded in November 2000 with 10 families meeting in the Ackerman living room. By the end of December 20006, TACA has grown to serve almost 2,200 families.

  2. The first TACA e-newsletter was sent in January 2002. In 2006 we added 800 subscribers, bringing the total distribution list to almost 2,800 autism parents and professionals.

  3. Continued to provide 95% of program services at no cost to families. Information on TACA programs and mission.

  4. Held over 83 education and support group meetings including three new parent seminars helping almost 150 families as they began their autism journey.

  5. Distributed almost 1,000 free Autism Journey Guides to families at TACA meetings. This is approximately 250 more than were distributed in 2005, and double the number from 2004.

  6. Held first TACA medical conference with exhibitors drew more than 200 attendees.

  7. TACA a prominently featured in Orange County Register article promoting social awareness of autism in the community.

  8. For the first time TACA published two printed newsletters that were distributed to over 10,000 people.

  9. In collaboration with Thoughtful House Foundation, TACA provided 30 medical treatment scholarships to children affected by autism, who otherwise would have been unable to afford treatment.

  10. Web site hits from 20,000 hits per month in 2004 to over 60,000 average hits per month in 2006. This is up almost 10,000 from the previous year.

  11. The free TACA Resources list has grown from 1,300 to over 1,400 resources provided at no charge to families in an easy to use web accessible format. In 2006 each resource was called and all information verified.

  12. 200 books were added to libraries in TACA locations for families to utilize at no costs.

  13. Provided over 75 mentor introductions for new families to obtain support and guidance from an experienced TACA family. 12 TACA mentors, nine moms and three dads, traveled to Chicago for the Autism One conference in Chicago to provide onsite mentoring for families.

  14. TACA launched three new programs, Families in Crisis Scholarship Fund, a marriage and family counseling group, and a social skills group for teens with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s.

  15. Through the Families in Crisis Scholarship Fund TACA provided financial assistance to 11 families in crisis to help with emergency needs. Six additional families were provided with information to access existing programs outside of TACA to help solve crisis. TACA adopted 14 families over the holidays.

  16. TACA held one marriage and family counseling group in Orange County with 10 people over 8 weeks. In a post-group survey participant’s consistently felt that attending the group improved their marital relationships. Based on the initial success of this group Orange County Regional Center has agreed to fund partial expenses for continuing this program.

  17. TACA held one social skills group for 10 high functioning or Asperger’s teens and provided mandatory simultaneous parent support. Group worked on social skills, life skills and each participant walked away with at least one friend. Three months post group, the participants are still getting together and maintaining friendship.

  18. Increased fundraising efforts by over 80% in 2006 from diverse funding sources that can be replicated annually.

  19. Developed relationship with Jack FM radio that resulted in frequent radio spots on autism and TACA around Southern California and concert benefiting TACA that resulted in almost $45,000.

  20. TACA 3 rd Annual family picnic increased revenue by 57% and increased attendance by 200.

  21. TACA’s family liaison and families in crisis coordinators handled 200 calls & 3,000 emails a month from TACA members.

2005

Below are our key accomplishments from 2005:

  1. Membership increased from 1,600 to almost 2,000 families.
  2. Continued to provide 95% of program services at no cost to families.We continue to provide our mission to families affected by autism.
  3. Held over 75 education and support group meetings including three new parent seminars helping almost 100 families as they began their autism journey.Approximately 50 meetings were held in 2004.
  4. Distributed 750 free Autism Journey Parent Guides to families at TACA meetings.More than 500 guides were provided in 2004.
  5. Increased fundraising efforts by over 280% in 2005 from diverse funding sources that can be replicated annually.
  6. TACA provided 30 medical treatment scholarships to children affected by autism, who otherwise would have been unable to afford treatment.
  7. Web site hits from 20,000 hits per month in 2004 to over 50,000 hits per month in 2005.
  8. The free TACA Resources list has grown from 1,000 to over 1,300 resources provided at no charge to families in an easy to use web accessible format.
  9. Rolled out the TACA library to all locations and increased the materials for families to utilize at no costs.
  10. Provided over 60 mentor introductions for new families to obtain support and guidance from an experienced TACA family.
  11. Thanks to a grant from Northrop Grumman TACA was able to adopt 23 families in need during the holiday season.

2000-2005

  • TACA founded in November 2000 in the Ackerman living room with 10 families.
    • By the end of December 2002 TACA had grown to over 500 members.
    • In December 2003 TACA had grown to 1,000 members.
    • Moved TACA meetings from Ackerman home to Vineyard Church in Costa Mesa May 2002.
  • First TACA newsletter (ENEWS) via email to parent in January 2002.
    • TACA enews now reaches over 2,300 parents and professionals
  • TACA and Executive Director was recognized on the California State Capitol floor for April 2002 Autism Awareness month.
    • Follow up recognition received April 2003 for Autism Awareness Month
  • OC Register article on TACA and our efforts April 2002.
  • TACA created our New Parent Information Binder May 2002.
    • As of June 2004, TACA distributes approximately 50 binders (now over 250 pages each) to new families each month.
  • First physician training and dinner on autism treatments occurred in June 2002. Follow up training in May 2003 & June 2004. These efforts have now cultivated four new Southern California doctors specializing in autism treatments.
  • Created parent mentor program of volunteer, seasoned parents assisting families with a newly diagnosed child in November 2002.
    • Almost 50 parent mentors are now available
  • Creation of this website as our primary communication mechanism December 2002.
    • Average hits per month: 10,000
  • Added TACA West Hills location in December 2002.
  • TACA requested 501C3 status and was granted the status February 13, 2003.
  • TACA social events for families created in February 2003 at South Coast Plaza.
  • Added TACA Corona location in April 2003.
  • TACA's Executive Director receives the McKinley Center Honors "Heroes of the Heart" award - May 2003
  • Cure Autism Now - Honor of your Leadership & Contribution for parent support- 2003
  • The Autism Perspective - Hearts N' Arts Autism Awareness Award presented to Lisa and TACA - 2004
  • Initial fundraising efforts successful with first $150,000 raised in May 2003.
  • Added TACA San Diego location in May 2003.
  • Creation of TACA's lending library of books, audio, video and other materials free to families in November 2003.
  • Added TACA Torrance location in November 2003.
  • Added TACA Visalia and Santa Rosa locations in May 2004.
  • First new parent seminar 8-hour orientation in June 2004 with over 45 attendees. These are now held on a quarterly basis. To date over 100 families have attended.
  • TACA's Executive Director receives the Jae Davis Award for Community Service from the Organization for Autism Research - December 2004
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