Arcadia salon cuts hair for autism research
The Autism News | English
Irma Castro-Espinosa cuts hair for Daniela Sullivan of Chino Hills during Elite Salon’s Cut-a-Thon to raise money for autism in Arcadia on Feb. 28. (Eric Reed / Staff Photographer)
By Stacey Wang | Pasadena Star-News
From 3 to 6 years old, Emiliano Espinosa of Arcadia couldn’t speak to his parents.
Not out of protest, but because he had autism.
To communicate with their son, father Rene Espinosa and his wife Irma Castro-Espinosa used pictures. If Emiliano wanted to go outside, he would point at a picture of a swing.
“There were so many difficult challenges we were facing. We didn’t know what to do,” Espinosa said about Emiliano four years ago.
The couple had to overcome many obstacles, which inspired family friend Sam Ruiz of Upland to spearhead a fundraiser in honor of Emiliano and his childhood friend, Castro-Espinosa.
“We just wanted to do it for [Irma] and at the same time raise awareness,” Ruiz said.
The event, “Cut-a-Thon,” rallied the help of family, friends and local businesses on Feb. 28 to raise money through haircuts for autism research.
More than 150 families showed up to participate in festivities and to get haircuts from Castro-Espinosa and fellow colleagues from Elite Studio in Arcadia.
“The Cut-a-Thon is an opportunity for us to get involved. There are a lot of people out there advocating for autistic children. We wanted to get on board as well,” Espinosa said.
Funds raised will be donated to Autism Speaks, an autism science and advocacy organization. The nonprofit is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism.
“What we want to do is raise money so that research can go into finding new methods to help our children,” Espinosa said.
“[The doctors] said that [Emiliano] would never graduate from college and he would probably never have a relationship or get married … Basically, any hopes and aspirations when you first have a child weren’t going to be possible,” the father said.
His mother recalls when Emiliano went through a “fearless” phase in which he would cross streets without looking or climb trees without concern that he might fall. It was this audacity that resulted in a broken collarbone at the age of 8.
But through the support of organizations that help children with the disorder, the couple were able to help Emiliano express himself and deal with his autism.
“He’s required a lot of behavior therapy and other types of therapy,” Castro-Espinosa said.
And although the now-12-year-old Emiliano still suffers from the effects of the disorder, he has become quite the extraordinary child, Ruiz said.
“He’s come a long way. He’s now able to verbalize and be more social, whereas in the beginning he wasn’t,” Castro-Espinosa said.
“He blossomed to be a very beautiful young man,” Ruiz said.
The youngster, a Bruce Lee fan, learned to use nunchucks on his own after watching videos of the martial artist. He’s even picked up playing the guitar, watching 1980s movies, and practices fencing.
“He amazes us every day, especially with his motor skills,” Castro-Espinosa said.
Emiliano has become an inspiration – a reason his loved ones wanted to donate to bringing more resources to those dealing with autism.
“It’s just amazing how he opened up to everything. Everything shocks us; everything surprises us in a good way,” the father said. “He’s proving wrong everything the doctors first diagnosed.”
Source: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_14505785
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