WEBVTT - Loud and Clear: How Bobby Weed’s Daughter is Changing the World 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:08.080 When Lanier started typing on the iPad, the first thing 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:13.360 she typed was thank you for releasing my voice, and 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:16.920 the second thing she typed was tell my mom I 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:21.279 love her. Tell my dad He's my hero. When she 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.239 told me what Lanier had typed, I can honestly say 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:29.600 it took me upers of two years before I could 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:39.440 ever say that without crying. Put another log on the 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:51.360 fire everybody hears give it time. Welcome to the fire 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:56.880 pit with Matt Janella. It was January twenty six, twenty eighteen. 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.840 I was reporting on the PGA merchandise show for Golf 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.760 Channel's Morning Drive. I was on the set they had 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.560 in the middle of Orlando's Convention Center, and I was 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.160 joined by Bobby Weed, the golf course architect, who was 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.119 sharing details of the course he was designing and building 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.600 in Hope Sound, Florida, for none other than Michael Jordan. 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.160 At the end of that segment, we talked about technology, 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:23.040 how it was helping him professionally but also personally, which 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.360 is what led us to a conversation about his daughter, Lanier, 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:31.640 who at eighteen months old, was diagnosed with nonverbal autism. 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.920 He told me that when she was fourteen years old, 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:39.040 they heard about facilitated communications, a therapy developed in Australia 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.440 and Denmark in the nineteen seventies which was greatly advanced 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:47.800 by technology and specifically iPads. According to Raising Children dot 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:54.280 dot au, facilitated communications involves a facilitator physically supporting the hand, 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.080 wrist or arm of an autistic person while they spell 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:02.400 out words on a keyboard or ler device. What Bobby 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.880 Weed told me that day and what Leslie Weed says 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:08.600 in the intro to this podcast, which is from the 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.919 video feature we just published on Firepit Collective dot com 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.760 and on the Firepit's YouTube channel. When Lanier Weed got 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.520 in front of a keyboard, the first thing she typed, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.120 thank you for releasing my voice. If you haven't seen 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.720 that feature or read the story, I suggest you do 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:29.440 so before listening to this podcast. As you learn in 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:33.359 the video, Jailed my entire life was another one of 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:38.400 Lanier Weed's first messages. But now she is free, and 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.800 one letter at a time, she's sending profound messages and 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.960 perspectives that are having a significant impact on the world 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:49.000 we live in. Her goal, which she also typed, is 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:53.640 just that to change the world. Ever since that interview, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.560 with Bobby Weed back in twenty eighteen. I've wanted to 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:01.239 track him down and hear more of Lanier's story. This podcast, 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.960 a recent interview with Bobby and Leslie Weed, is a 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:08.680 follow up to that feature on Lanier and the Weed family. 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.160 In this podcast, we hear about where Lanier is now 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.360 at the age of twenty four, ten years after typing 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:20.399 her first sentence. We hear about Heal and the impact 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.639 their foundation is having in its twentieth year of existence. 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.239 We talk about the impact the PGA Tour has had 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.959 on that foundation. They talk about Arnold Palmer, Dean Beamon, 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:33.360 and Jay Monaghan, just some of the people who have 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:37.080 helped the Weeds along the way. Bobby and Leslie also 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.760 reflect on Pete and Alice die and what Players Championship 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.520 Week means to them in their community. I start the 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:52.240 conversation by asking, how are the Weeds. Everybody's good here. 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.880 You know, it's checking in almost you know, a couple 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:02.600 of times a week whatever daily. Lanier's doing great. R 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.640 and her group home. The girls were still in Nashville. 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.080 I think our middle daughter, Carly is coming in to 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.520 mar for the Players Championship. So we're here this week 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.800 I was gone all last week on the road, so 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.960 um I got back this weekend, so we're all going 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.440 to be together and it should be a good week. 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.840 Weather's great for the players championship. The only thing we're 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:31.400 missing is you. I'm actually arriving on Sunday. I'll tell 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.800 you about that later. But Leslie, how are you doing? 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:42.479 I'm doing great. Lanier's progress is she's just doing so good. 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.880 She's in an adult program this year. She's out of 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:51.000 school and her group they make candles and soaps and 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.120 they're selling them online. And we had a little showing 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.799 and made like four thousand dollars, so you know, she's 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.680 got purpose and she's making things. And she picks out 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.920 the colors and the sense and pours the candle wax 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.599 and they're all she names them all. It's really cool. 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:11.800 Quite the entrepreneur. Yeah, well, yeah, not surprising. What what 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:17.599 you know, having now learned, you know, learned about Lanier 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:21.400 and her story and then your story and how this all. 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:24.080 I mean, I get chills just even starting to talk 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:27.680 about it. You know, Bobby, this goes back to that 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.719 original conversation we had on the set of Morning Drive 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.599 at the PGA merchandise show. I don't know how many 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.400 years ago that was, maybe let's say five years ago. 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.880 And from that point forward, I was always so curious. 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.200 I mean, I obviously knew of you. I knew of 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.840 your work. I had talked a lot about your relationship 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:50.280 with the Dies and your impact in the world of architecture. 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.680 But when you told me that when you gave an 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:58.039 iPad to your nonverbal autistic daughter and she was able 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:03.039 to type, I finally have a voice, that just that 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.360 just that just knocked me over. I mean, uh, and 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:10.080 in in so many ways, And from that point forward, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:14.280 I always was more curious to understand more about Bobby 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:18.080 Weed and his family, which is what brought us to Pontovidra, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.840 in which we were able to actually learn more about 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.160 this story. Uh. I you know, in so many ways, 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.600 something like this that happens to a family, Leslie, Like 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:30.840 you said, everything was going along and then all of 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:35.400 a sudden, Lanier started going backwards. That can that can 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.960 that can tear a family apart, or it can make 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.960 a family closer together. I you know, that's just from 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.960 my casual observations from families that go through things in 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.080 which they really get tested and challenged, and I'm just 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:54.840 inspired by how you as a family just seemed to 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:57.760 get closer together. I know it's not always that easy, 0:06:57.760 --> 0:06:59.880 and I know there's probably been a lot of urb 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:04.440 in days and stretches, but it just and now looking 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.440 getting to know you guys and observing through various aspects 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.520 of social media just really makes me inspired to see 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:15.920 how close you guys are as a family unit. Yeah, 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.920 you know, Bobby set that in motion when she started 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.360 regressing him. We took her in for all these testings 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:27.480 and it was words. I had to learn a whole 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:29.560 new language. I had to, you know, And it was 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:31.960 just the shock of it all. And I remember calling Bobby. 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:33.840 I think he was in Texas. I could hear him 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.240 hammering mistake and I was like, I can't be there 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.560 for the girls. And because I was volunteer coordinator at 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.280 their school, I was at their school every day for 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.680 at least three or four hours, volunteering everywhere, and I 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.760 was always in the halls. And I'm never gonna be 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.040 able to do that anymore. I'm gonna not be a 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:52.520 good mom and it's just going to ruin our lives. 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.360 And that's when Bobby said, wait, a minute, Wait a minute, 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.560 You're gonna be a much better mom. Now we have 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.040 an aunt, so we have answers. Now we have a 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.760 list of things we need to start doing. And she 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:08.000 will be the blue, the glue, and the bond of 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:12.040 our family. And we're going to be Team Weed. And 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.840 we set the girls down and said, you know you 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.280 all play soccer. You don't like sitting on the bench. 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.880 You like to get out on the field. Well, Lanier's 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:21.960 on the bench and we're gonna get her off the 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.560 bench and on the field. And Team Weed is going 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.000 to do that. And Bobby really set that in motion 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:31.600 because I was a mess, and he just said, yeah, 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.400 day by day, we're gonna do this, and you know 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:38.599 we're here today. Well maybe so, but Matt, in reality, 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:42.559 she was. She was as much the glue as anything 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:49.679 for being a mom, being a mother, being a wife, 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:55.760 and just just totally immersed herself in all of this. 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.720 I mean, we were pioneering. We didn't know anything about 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.480 the mission we were on or where we were going 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.400 with it. We just knew we were in a crisis 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:11.360 mode and it was twenty four seven and and um, 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:13.800 we just had to figure it out. We had to 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:15.200 deal with it. We had to figure it out and 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.880 deal with it on an hour to our basis and 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.920 a m and with the rest of our family and 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:25.200 our children. Um, it was. It was a mess. It 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.600 was a true mess. And while I was traveling and working, 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:34.280 um uh you know, we didn't have the benefit of 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:39.360 We had plenty of insurance, but insurance didn't recognize they 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.120 do now, but then they didn't. Back then they didn't. 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:48.079 So we were loading up, we were loading up with therapist. 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:54.280 Um we were. Leslie was seeking out information on how 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.680 who we needed to go see what kind of uh 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.920 I mean because you looked up autism and dictionary or 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:06.080 Encyclopedia or medical journal and there was virtually nothing. Yeah, 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:11.520 there was nothing substantial, nothing substantial about it. And so 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:16.000 we we basically had to learn on our own. And 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:18.920 Leslie was the one that really took the bull by 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.440 the home. Remember I came home one day and I said, 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:23.040 I have to we have to get Lanear to the 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.960 specialist in Chicago. We had to get her to Chicago. 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:30.200 I'll just drive and because we knew she couldn't handle 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:34.080 me in an airport, and Bobby came, you know, very 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.120 nonchalantly came home that afternoon and he said, Arnold Palmer's 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.240 given us his plane to fly us to Chicago to 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.120 see the specialist. And it was like wow, it was 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.000 just we had to go to New Orleans and we 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:50.000 had to run a plane. We you know, everywhere we went, 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.520 we had to do. That's beam and we had to 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:56.400 charter plane. Helped us get his plane, you know, you 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:58.480 know the guy. As you know, the golf world is 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:03.120 really small, so uh uh so small circle of folks 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:07.520 and um, you know when you have friendships and relationships 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:13.040 uh in business and uh and personal relationships, you know, uh, 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.360 it's okay to reach out and um that's that's what 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.760 we did and uh um you know, we got a 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.320 lot of help and uh and then ultimately when we 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.760 started our foundation. Our foundation are the pillar of our 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.600 foundation was the support of the PGA Tour, you know, 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:35.079 which I worked for for thirteen years. And they were like, look, 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.560 you know, we we want to we want to choose 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.720 some charities to help and um, we think you have 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.280 a good cause and we want to be part of 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:50.679 you and your family because we know you personally and uh, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.199 we know how much time you spent with the PGA 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:57.120 Tour and um, you know, we want to is called 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.480 adopt a charity. We want to adopt your charity. And 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.560 they gave us their clubhouse. We had the very first 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.640 gala and the brand new clubhouse. It gives the golf 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:10.120 course and I mean, I just couldn't even believe it. 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:11.679 I didn't when I met with them. I didn't even 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:13.200 have a board, and they're like, where are your people. 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.200 I'm like, Oh, they couldn't make it. I's like, man, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.200 I got to get the word fass. But you know, 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:22.200 our first gala, I think we raised five hundred and 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:25.120 eighty thousand dollars or something crazy like that. So it 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:30.560 was really great. That's been good. Al this relationship with 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:35.400 the tour, Bobby and specifically saw Grass and the dies 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:40.000 and all the TPC properties that you've been a part of, 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.520 that is that's a big That's a that's an you 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:46.440 look you got you know from what I'm hearing, you 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:48.680 guys look at that as almost an extent. All of 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.960 this is an extended family for you. Is that what 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.080 I'm that what I'm hearing. You know, the whole time 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:55.880 I was at the PGA tour, it was a family. 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.240 And I think Dean Beam unset that in motion as 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:04.200 much as anybody. And you know, even to this day, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.280 the players, the players feel like they are part of 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.000 a family being the PGA Tour. And I think that's 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:15.280 one reason why the PGA Tour has sustained itself to 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:21.240 the highest level over many, many many decades. And basically 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:27.320 the history and heritage that comes with the PGA Tour. Um. 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:29.520 You know, we have so many people to think to 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.720 be thankful for, um, from so many decades ago, and 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:35.920 now all of a sudden we have this new millennial 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:40.120 generation playing on the tour and UM, you know, they've 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:45.200 just they've bought in, they've bought into the family. And 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.839 UH and and and that's truly what it is in 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:51.440 our sense. And certainly, certainly I found that to be 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:56.280 true within my years of working with the PGA Tour 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:01.920 and uh from an administrative standpoint, and in all my travels, 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.800 it's very close knit. And to this day, I've been 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.840 gone a long time and I still have a lot 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:12.160 of very close friends associated with a PGA tour well, 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.480 and our neighbors J Monahan, and you know, he's very 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.840 generous to heal and to us, and he brought us 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:22.320 the stack stack of iPads one time and you know, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.920 here or your mission and it was just you knocked 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.040 on my door. Hey, I've got some iPads for you. 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:34.400 So it continues, well, so many really cool things that 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.200 you guys just mentioned. The Arnold Palmer loaning he was 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.160 playing Dean Beamon helping you guys get and obviously the 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.920 dies I'm sure had a lot of big role in that. 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.560 All to the stage J Monahan now giving you guys 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:49.840 a stack of iPads. Technology gets, you know, a bad 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:53.240 rap sometimes as it relates to you know, we've got 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:58.280 teenagers kids, we're trying to balance the understanding of you know, 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.520 how much is okay, how much is too much? You know, 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:06.760 social media all that. But in reality, technology changed your lives, right, 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:10.440 changed the life of Lanier and a lot of a 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:12.800 lot of people like her. Tell me a little bit 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:17.920 more about that. That moment in which you guys go 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:22.680 from having a nonverbal autistic daughter who you you know, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:27.560 you're trying to understand and to you know, to to 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.960 raise as as you know, as as your daughter, and 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.600 then she gets then she gets a voice, and now 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.520 you get a look into who she really is. That 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.840 to me, is where this whole story just goes to 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.640 a whole other level. I wouldn't got trained. It's just 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.680 not handing an iPad. And then she starts typing. It's 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:52.120 a technique. And we started this technique. We went to Syracuse, 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.720 New York, a bunch of US moms and teachers and 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.120 got trained and came back and I was like, there's 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.960 just no way, there's you know, I believe these other 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.920 kids were doing it. I just didn't. I couldn't, you know, 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:06.440 fathomed that Lanier could do this. And she sat down 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:08.920 with her coach and the first thing she typed was 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:12.920 thank you for releasing my voice. Tell my dad, Tell 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.560 my mom I love her, Tell my dad he's my hero. 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.080 Stop the baby talk. Now. That is when I was like, 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:21.600 oh my gosh, said that's her. And it took her 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.240 at least forty five minutes to get that out because 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.400 she typed a letter and then I have to, you know, 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.960 get that letter in her head and then you know, 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.120 hand eye coordination and hit hit it on the iPad. 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.560 Now she's we called turbotyping. She types pretty fast, just 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.440 pecking with one finger. But it is really just an example. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.640 Last week, we three three or four weeks ago, we 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:49.640 changed her onto a different medication, and so we went 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.600 in with her doctor and he's like, on a scale 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.720 to one to five, one to ten, you know, where 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:57.480 are we on this? You know, how are you feeling? 0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.800 And she goes, we're out of five, which means we're 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:05.080 getting there, but just to monitor her medication or I 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.520 have a headache, or you know, where do you want 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:09.399 to go? I want to have pizza today. You know, 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.720 just little things like that are so huge for us. 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:19.280 It's feedback, it's it's communication, it's it's insight also, and this, 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:22.520 you know what she says and we talk about this, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.800 but what she says in the in the in the 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:29.639 piece about like people who judge, you know that incredibly 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.480 perceptive quote, people who judge, people who think they know 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:39.119 people are like, that's an indictment on them, as you 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.320 know what I'm saying, Like that to me is also 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:45.600 what kind of turns everything is when she's absorbing all 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.880 of that for so much of her life and now 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.240 she's able to turn that back around and say no, 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.160 no, no no, no. If you think you know a person, 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.520 whether whoever that is color of skin or autistic or what, 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.560 you know, what you know any kind of handicap or 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:07.119 looks or appearances. You don't you got it? That the 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.720 fact that you're judging that person and you think that, oh, 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.159 an autistic person has no ability to like process the 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:18.040 world around them. That's wrong. And we've we've were all wrong. 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:21.600 I mean, look at Stephen Hawkins. You wouldn't have if 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.760 you walked up on him, You would have never known 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.120 how brilliant he was had he not had his ability 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:30.320 to communicate. I think he did with the eyes m 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.160 But that's the same thing. You know, somebody could walk 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.240 up on him and judge him ago you know, who's 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.920 that over there? And but he's brilliant, and our daughter's brilliant. 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:43.520 And all these kids in Pontovitra now who are non verbal, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.639 I think we have thirty kids who've never spoken a 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.760 word in their life. Who are you know, typing away? 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:56.040 And are they're brilliant, brilliant, genius. They are incredibly Lanarius's 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.160 words I have to go look up. I'm like, wait, 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:00.560 is this a word? I don't think that's a word. Gosh, 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:05.040 it has worked, and it's it's amazing, it's it's really 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:10.399 it's it's powerful, it's very heavy, it's powerful, it's inspirational, 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:14.200 it's informational. It's like it's just all of these different 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.479 things that that fold into one and uh and you 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:21.640 guys have lived it. Um. I just uh heal, tell 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.160 me a little bit more about where you're at with 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.719 your foundation and the progress you're making to try to 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.720 help so many more people other than just linear. Yes, 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.960 he'll stands for helping enrich autistic lives. Next year is 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.320 going to be our twenty year anniversary. Makes me feel old, um, 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.120 and we guys looked great by the way you look. 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:48.600 We've pulled out about over five million dollars uh since then. 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:52.320 And we're just a tiny, little, tiny little um foundation. 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:56.600 I have a one paid employee that's executive director. I'm 0:19:56.640 --> 0:20:01.120 you know, major volunteer. I don't I don't pay mysel self. UM. 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:06.000 I consider my ministry to help others. UM. In the summers, 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.320 we have about fifteen camps. We have one at the 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:12.159 PGA tour um hug help us Golf. We've done that 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.000 camp probably sixteen or seventeen years. And all the teaching 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:20.040 pros take three days off, half days off and come 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.480 and do golf camps with our kids. They'll let them 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.879 ride in the ball picker up thing they get with 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:29.240 the maintenance, they cut holes in the greens. I mean, 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:34.080 so it's very holistic almost. They'll they of course, you know, 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:37.280 they go out on the course with um um. They 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.080 have a checklist of all the native plants and all 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:44.480 the animals and they'll you know, spot an eagle and 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:47.440 check that off their list. So that's you know, they 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:52.679 incorporate the whole golf and to not just putting and hitting. 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:55.199 And then the last day they get hit on number seventeen. 0:20:55.400 --> 0:21:00.480 And these boys and girls you know, started to fifteen 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.080 years ago and now you know they're out playing on 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:06.680 the olymp you know, the Golf Olympic Special Olympics, and 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:10.240 they can't wait for that week and they video them all. 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.520 They can see themselves on videos, and the teaching pros 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:15.720 tell me, this is truly we do TPC, We do 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.560 all that, but this is really a fun are really 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.879 fun week and they can see each year how the kids, 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:24.639 you know, get better and better. But the Surf Camp 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:28.480 is Surf Campus full as soon as we announced it. 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:34.520 Two hundred volunteers, unbelievable volunteers. We have bowling, we have fishing, 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:40.320 we have we go to the museum, so I mean 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.919 horseback riding. Um, if the lyst goes on, and then 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.760 we've raced enough money. We've given out five hundred iPads 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:52.119 to five hundred teachers in a five county area. And 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:55.280 then the trips, the three real trips as big trips. 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.320 We realize these these kids can't ride a bike, they 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:02.760 can't balance, So we've given three hundred trikes, two hundred 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:05.720 fifty schools two trikes so that coaches can get on, 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:07.840 we get we do it through the pe and then 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:09.879 the kids get on and ride in the track and 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.600 the whole classes like running beside them, so they're you know, 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.200 learning coordination and it's just so much fun to ride 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:18.399 a bike. So that's our big initiatives that we've been 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:20.920 doing it. It's just so much fun to deliver them 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:24.800 and see the kids get excited and um, you know 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:27.879 get on the bike and ride around the track. To 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:31.240 go from you know, feeling like we are in crisis 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:35.560 mode to now you've raised over five million, you're giving 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:40.640 ipat year, You now have this, you know, you strengthened 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:45.080 relationship with your daughter and your family is where it's at, 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:47.719 Like does that just feel like lives ago that you 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:50.159 that you went through all that it does. And you know, 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:53.280 my daughter's Haley and Carly. I mean they just they 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:56.080 were like little mamas. They were just running around helping me. 0:22:56.280 --> 0:23:00.160 They never complained ever. I think they're like moms out 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:02.280 of pretty bad. So I think we're you know, we're 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:04.600 I can go through that teenage stuff. We're just we're 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:07.480 here to help, you know. Um. And you know, I 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:11.760 tell moms now because I was always felt like I 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.040 was in a sprint sprint sprint sprint, you know, and 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:18.840 it's a marathon, you know, pace yourself day good day 0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:20.919 by day. It's easier to say, but when you're in 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:23.560 the middle of it, you're just you're gonna hardly breathe. 0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:25.720 You're like, I gonna help my daughter. You know. I'd 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:27.919 be somewhere at a cocktail party or something and somebody's 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:29.960 talking about something, and all in my head is like, 0:23:30.359 --> 0:23:32.280 my daughter can't talk. I gotta help her. I gonna 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:34.720 help her. I just I couldn't get out of that 0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:39.760 total um. You know, sprint. I'm in the sprint. I 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:42.480 gotta keep going, I gotta keep running. And I look 0:23:42.560 --> 0:23:45.400 back now and I could have relaxed a little bit 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:46.760 along the way, but I didn't know what I was 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:50.760 dealing with. Doctors didn't you know, Autism just sprang up 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:54.920 out of nowhere. Really, these type like my daughter, the 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:57.160 non verbal, and you know, they were trying to figure 0:23:57.200 --> 0:24:01.040 it out too. So we're all there in and out. 0:24:01.640 --> 0:24:03.840 There's something to that, right. I know you've spent a 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:07.159 lot of time researching, but you know the idea that 0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:10.800 autism is and I know you know the numbers, but 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:14.679