LOUISVILLE, Ky.(Jan. 17, 2008) Eleven-year-old Michala Riggle has continued to garner national attention for her efforts to raise more than $200,000 by making and selling bracelets as part of her mission of “beading to beat autism.” Michala appeared as a guest on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show in mid-January to discuss her efforts. Her story was also featured on
Good Morning America in December and on several other local and regional programs.
In 2007, Michala set a goal to raise $200,000 to help fund an autism research study at Kosair Children’s Hospital. Within a few months, Michala reached her goal and has decided to continue her efforts with a new goal of raising money to fund an autism research and treatment center in Louisville.
Michala’s efforts on behalf of autistic children stem from her experiences with her youngest brother, Evan, 7. In February 2006, Evan, who is autistic, began receiving IV infusions of glutathione, a tri-peptide (three amino acids linked together). Prior to receiving the treatment, Evan was combative and needed speech therapy. Since being on the glutathione treatment, Evan is much more manageable and has made tremendous progress with his speech. His mother, Emlyn, credits Evan’s improved ability to learn to the glutathione.
After seeing the results with Evan, physicians at Kosair Children’s Hospital and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville School of Medicine plan to conduct an eight-month study to see if the results can be replicated for other children with autism. When Michala heard of these plans, she made it a personal mission to ensure that the study was funded to give hope to other families dealing with autism.
Michala raised more than $22,000 making and selling bracelets at and craft shows and community events, but the story of her efforts has inspired gifts above and beyond the $3 donation for a bracelet. With the additional donations and a $100,000 gift in December from the Ephraim and Wilma Shaw Roseman Foundation, the fund now totals more than $200,000. Although Michala has reached her initial goal of providing funding for the study, she knows that in the next year more children will be diagnosed with autism than with
diabetes, cancer and AIDS combined. For that reason she is determined to help find a cure for autism and is continuing to bead bracelets in hopes of meeting her new vision – building an autism research and treatment center in her hometown of Louisville.
