8th Annual ‘Tee It Up Fore Autism’

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The National Autism Association of Southeast Ohio hosted their 8th Annual ‘Tee It Up Fore Autism’ golf outing this morning.

The event, which took place at the Zanesville Country Club, was designed to raise money for local families battling autism.

“Most autism treatments come out of pocket. Insurance usually doesn’t cover autism and a lot of the treatments that are successful aren’t mainstream, so a lot of the families have trouble paying for them or they just go without these therapies,” said Shannon Coconis, president of the National Autism Association of Southeast Ohio.

Successful treatments like art, music and horse therapy are what children with autism tend to respond best to, according to Coconis, but are typically not covered. She said that in previous years the event has raised nearly $70,000 that stays local to help families afford these treatments.

“There’s a lot that we do to try and raise money locally. Our biggest thing is that we don’t want to turn any family away and we don’t want any child to stay locked inside of autism because of a lack of money because that’s not okay. Every kid should have the opportunity to heal their bodies, it shouldn’t be about money,” said Coconis.

Approximately 140 golfers participated in the event. There were also silent auctions and raffles. The autism associations next event will be a yard sale in Cambridge.

For more information or to apply for financial aid as an autism family visit their website at http://www.naaseo.org/.