ST. GEORGE — When Kenzie and Glen Bien organized “Walk with Autism” for the first time last year, they didn’t know how many people would show up. But they decided to stick with a two-word mantra to describe not giving up on their efforts and love for their autistic son: Just moving.
Last year — on April Fools Day — they had walked a quarter of the one-mile charity walk without looking back for fear they would be fooled that they weren’t walking alone. And then they looked back.
“We turn and behind us there’s over 350 blue shirts following us,” Glen Bien said. “Just to know that many people showed up in support of all this was those two things right there. Just moving, just moving.”
The second Walk with Autism will take place Saturday, April 6, on the Ivins campus of Rocky Vista University, located at 255 E. Center St. The one-mile walk around the campus will raise funds for the Washington County School District Special Education/Life Skills programs and St. George-based Root for Kids, which provides free services for developmentally delayed and disabled kids.
The Biens’ son was one of those helped by Root for Kids. The said the local charity helped them get through one of the toughest things parents with children newly diagnosed with autism have to deal with: What to do next.
“Upon diagnosis, I really didn’t know anything,” Kenzie Bien said. “ It was a chaotic year that first year, but once we were able to get into Root for Kids and start early intervention, they held my hand and walked me through preschool and resources. They said ‘This is how we can do this.’”
Bien said just about all of the funds raised from the walk will go to the charities. Registration is $10 per person and available at this website.
There will also be a car wash fundraiser for Walk with Autism on Saturday from Noon to 4 p.m. at the Bluff Street Quick Quack Car Wash at 1182 S. Bluff St.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person perceives and interacts with the world. From the sensory perspective, think of what it would be like if a person couldn’t filter out the buzz of a fly in the room, the creaking of a chair the TV and all other noises and experienced them all at once. All to that all the smells and sights, also at the same time.
Medical experts say that is what an autistic person experiences along with an inability to interpret body language and social cues and trouble verbally communicating. Autism itself is a spectrum, experts say. Some with autism are nonverbal, while others can communicate.
For parents and family with loved ones with autism, support from others is important, Kenzie Bien said. The problem is finding that support, especially in Southern Utah.
I find that in St. George, there are just there’s pockets of people who know something and unless you know the right questions to ask, you don’t find out about it,” Bien said.
That’s why, Bien said, she started Walk with Autism in 2022 not only at a yearly event to raise funds, but as a yearround organization and support group for those with autism and their families.
“We want to become like that central hub for that information,” Bien said. “The amazing thing about it is like the moms that I’ve met and the resources that I’ve found through people being able to say, ‘Hey, we tried this,’ ‘Do this,’ or ‘We know this group that helps do this.’”
Bien, whose day job is the assistant director of the Office of Testing at Rocky Vista, said the idea for Walk with Autism came after she and her husband had trouble getting services for their now five-year-old. Specifically, a speech device to aid him at preschool that medical insurance was haggling to cover.
“So I came home one day and I looked at Glen and I said, ‘This is so aggravating.’ And he said, ‘We can’t be the only other family that’s struggling” Bien said. “And then the little community advocate in me went, ‘Boom. Yeah.’ And Walk With Autism was born.”
Bien said she had to put a lot of leg work in, never having had to raise funds before or build a non-profit group. And the way to raise funds proved to be an all-abilities walk that has sensory activities, information booths and a “come-together” for the community.
Besides fundraising, the Biens each say they hope the event is a chance for the community to develop a greater understanding of autism. That when they see that a kid is having a meltdown – a behavior characteristic of autistic children – don’t assume that child is poorly behaved or their parents aren’t doing a good job of parenting.
“I think that’s one of the hardest parts for me, is without going, ‘Oh, he’s autistic’ and needing to justify it,” Kenzie Bien said. “The acceptance piece to me is even bigger than just bringing awareness to autism. I think as a parent and someone who with an autistic child, it can tend to feel very isolated and very alone.”
But, Bien added, seeing the people walking on April 6 could go a long way for building a sense of community.
“Chances are, you know someone or you love someone who’s on the spectrum,” she said. “ I walk with autism every day. Those who are diagnosed with autism, they walk with it every day. They interact with it every day. We all walk with it.”
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