About Us
The Northwest Indiana Chapter of the National Autism Association is dedicated to bringing hope, support and information to all families in Lake and Porter Counties affected by Autism. Our Mission is:
- To raise public and professional awareness of autism spectrum disorders
- To further the advancement of preventative studies, therapy, and research of individuals with autism
- To advocate on behalf of those who cannot fight for their own rights
- To empower those in the autism community to never give up in their search to help their loved ones reach their full potential
- To work in partnership with other organizations dedicated to breaking down the barriers currently standing against those with autism and related disorders
- To solicit and receive funds to accomplish the above purpose
Board of Directors
Lisa Fox - President
Lisa is the mother to Nathan, who was diagnosed with Autism in October 2006. Realizing early on that the quality of her son's interactions were not typical, it wasn't until the age of 22 months that Nathan was referred to First Steps
for lack of speech. A complete evaluation found multiple delays and after 3 years of successful Floortime, biomedical treatments and lots of love and hope, Nathan is now
fully included in a regular Kindergarten class.
Lisa resides in Hobart and is married to Rob. She is a big fan of the Harry Potter books. She'd like to thank Grandma and Papa for always being available to babysit and her amazing husband Rob, for cooking, cleaning and for playing with Nathan so that she can get some work done!
Maria Janik - Vice President
Maria and her husband Alan are the proud parents of Nathan and Joshua. Nathan and Joshua were diagnosed with severe autism in May 2006 at the ages of five and three. After much research and testing, Maria and Alan began biomedical interventions in April 2006 to reverse their children’s vaccine induced autism and improvements are still being seen.
While gathering information on causation and treatment options, Maria began a campaign to educate as many families as possible about environmental triggers, and alternative medical therapies which can be used in conjunction with traditional therapy. She Co-Founded Indiana Biomedical Kids with Lisa Fox and Natalie Schwemlein so parents of children on the Spectrum, and those diagnosed with other behavior disorders or developmental delays, would have a helpful resource online to find out about DAN! Ddoctors, testing, treatments, and to share personal experiences.
Maria is excited to add Board Member of the NWI NAA to her resume. Her goal is to continue to educate the community and to help other parents find the right treatment and therapies to improve the quality of life of their precious children. She is a research junkie and she subscribes to various science magazines so she can spot future treatment options and make connections to other health related illnesses.
Maria and her family live in Griffith, love to read, and are still saving for Nathan and Joshua to go to college.
Secretary
This position is currently open. Please contact us if you ware interested in helping out!
Dennis Anders - Treasurer
Hi! I’m Dennis Anders. My wife, Shelley, and I have a daughter named Hannah. Hannah was diagnosed with PDD NOS in November 2006 while at the same time we were moving back to Indiana from Pennsylvania. Since we were moving and had decided to build a new house, we decided to make our new home a "greener" one. If anyone needs some advise on how to make your home environment safer and less toxic, we would be happy to share. Once we got settled, we started a biomedical treatment program with a DAN doctor. We first saw our DAN doctor in June 2007 and have seen nothing short of amazing progress with our daughter. Hannah continues to grow socially, emotional, cognitively, and most importantly, in May 2008, Hannah began talking!!! It is awesome to hear Hannah say "Mommy" and "Daddy" all the time. We are making great progress at recovering our child. In our journey, we have done biomedical treatments, the GFCF diet, supplements, hyperbaric chamber (HBOT), speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and, to assist in speech, we are doing acupuncture of the tongue (no needles just a red laser that doesn’t hurt).
We reside in Valparaiso. We like going to movies, and Hannah loves playing on the playground equipment. We are happy to be members of the NAA, where we have received tons of support and encouragement from others going through similar experiences. We are happy to offer support back to anyone who may need it. Call and ask anytime!