What started as a play date with seven kids has grown into an event drawing hundreds of families seeking community and acceptance
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Five years ago, Miranda Georgetown Riley started the Magnolia Rose Foundation with a simple goal: providing a safe space for families raising children with autism.
What began as just a play date with seven kids has grown into an event with hundreds of people, vendors, sensory-friendly activities, and a space where every child is welcomed exactly as they are.
A fundraiser walk held on Saturday is the only paid event that funds all of the other activities the foundation puts on. Georgetown Riley says the funds from this event go towards hosting the bi-monthly activities they host at places like the water park, movie theater, trampoline park, and more.
“Loving it, just trying to find community, helping other families find community, dealing with children with exceptionalities,” said Miranda Georgetown Riley, Magnolia Rose Foundation founder.
Learning a different playbook
For Raven Williams, the walk was her first time at the event. She came with her son and says parenting a child with autism means learning an entirely different playbook.
“It is different parenting-wise, because certain things that may not trigger a child who is not autistic may trigger him. He does have his moments where he may stim out, or in his case, he loves to elope,” Williams said.
Elopement, when a child wanders or runs, is a common challenge for parents of autistic children to keep up with.
“When he sees water, he wants to turn into Michael Phelps. When he sees an open field like this, he’s been running all day,” Williams said.
But Williams says the hardest part isn’t the running. It’s being misunderstood.
“For them, they just want to be understood. Honestly, they just want to be understood. And sometimes, in his case, he doesn’t say a lot yet, so it’s kind of hard for us to determine what he may need or what he may want, but with the therapy he is in, he is getting better,” Williams said.
Breaking assumptions
First-time attendee Tia King wants people to know autism doesn’t always appear how you’d expect.
“Autism will never look like autism. You cannot assume that just because a person does not look like they have it, that they don’t,” King said.
Events like this one exist to give families a break from that judgment, and a chance to just breathe.
“It warms my heart to know that there are people who are willing to understand it and help, rather than complain, or make us feel like we want to be difficult,” King said.
The foundation’s founder says the message she wants everyone to take home is a simple one.
“An autistic child will grow to be an autistic adult. So giving people grace that you would want to have given to you, just continuing to do that,” Georgetown Riley said.
For these families, the walk wasn’t just an event. It was a reminder that they are not alone.
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