Christina McDonald holds a demanding position as a paralegal at Steinger, Greene, and Feiner. In addition to her career, McDonald is mother to six-year-old Lawson, a beautiful boy with a warm and engaging spirit, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) a few years ago.  In response to the diagnosis, Christina made a decision to form Team Lawson and work with Autism Speaks to raise awareness and money for ASD research to ensure “…no other family has to hear the words, ‘your child has Autism’…”

Ms. McDonald participated in this weekend’s Walk Now for Autism Speaks event in Palm Beach. She set a fundraising target of $5,000; her tenacity and passion for the cause led her to exceed her goal and raise in excess of $7,000 – monies desperately needed and put to use to combat this illness from various fronts – including research and services.

When many of us hear the term Autism, we may think of one specific disease, however, Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder, covers a wide-range of complex brain-development disorders characterized by varying degrees of difficulty in communication mechanics and social interaction.  This means that an ASD diagnosis can present itself in several different ways in different sufferers.

The prevalence of the disorder is astounding with the Centers for Disease Control reporting the following:

As with any disease, early detection is the key to gaining access to necessary interventions. From birth to five years old, children are expected to reach various milestones; first steps, smiling, speaking, waving, mimicking movements and sounds, etc. Know which milestones are appropriate for your toddler and have him assessed by your physician if you have concerns.

Steinger, Greene, and Feiner stands united with Christina, as does the rest of our firm-family, while she battles ASD for her son Lawson, and for the millions of other families worldwide that are grappling with the effects of an ASD diagnosis.  We send our continued encouragement to the children and caregivers both within our community and around the world that live and deal with this disease each day. To that end, we support Christina’s vocal advocacy for this issue and mirror her sentiment that “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”