May 11, 2023 • 29 mins
Mary Partin, Chief Executive Officer of the Dan Marino Foundation joins the show to discuss autism awareness and resources for parents of autistic children. Dr. Mike Adkesson discusses the Brookfield Zoo and their summer season. Julia Jacobs tells us about Service Club Chicago's Spring Luncheon.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the weeklyshow here on iHeartRadio at ninety nine one
three KIM and Rock ninety five five. Every week, we're here to discuss
a variety of topics that matter toChicago Land, from health, education,
to finances and so much more.Today on the show, Ryan Gorman chats
with Mary Parton, CEO of theDan Marino Foundation. They'll be talking all
(00:21):
about autism awareness, including the symptomsof autism, and so much more,
including resources for parents for autistic children. Melissa Foreman chats with our friends at
Brookfield Zoo and they'll be talking allabout new things happening there. And Brittany
and Whitney Reynolds are back for anotherepisode of Whitney's Women. Here to kick
(00:41):
off the show is Ryan Gorman.I'm joined by the Chief Executive Officer of
the Dan Marino Foundation, Mary Parton. Last month, the month of April
was National Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month, and that is the focus of the
Dan Marino Foundation. You can learnmore at Dan Marino Foundation or Mary.
Thank you so much for taking afew minutes to come on the show and
(01:03):
first of all, tell us aboutthe mission of this foundation and how this
all got started for our mission isto empower people and with add to some
and other developmental disabilities. Now theterm being used rather than developmental disabilities are
neurodiverse populations, and that includes peoplewith autism. I mean, it includes
(01:25):
mental health aspects, dyslexia, ada, ADHD. So it's a pretty wide
spectrum. You know. We startedout with autism, and if you would
see that as central to everything thatwe've done, it's a foundation. But
after thirty one years in operation,you know, your scope begins to expand,
(01:46):
and so now we are serving agreater number, but the mission still
remains to empower people so that theycan live their best life possible, you
know, and that's really where wehave seen needs. That's really the pathway
of how the foundation has grown.It started in nineteen ninety two Dan and
(02:10):
Claire Marino their second son, Michael. They thought around the age of eighteen
months age two, that maybe hewas deaf. They really didn't know,
you know, back then, thirtysome years ago, you really didn't hear
about autism very much. He hadseen the movie rain Man, but that
(02:31):
was about it. And so whenthey went to the pediatrician and they went
to a neurologist. He was diagnosedwith autism and Claire talks about coming home
and Danny was at practice. Hecame home and they got in the encyclopedia
to look it up because they didn'tknow what it was. And so their
(02:53):
journey really started the foundation, andthat when they would go and they had
the means to find the best ofcare and the best practices that were out
there at the time, but theywould see so many families that did not.
And so that was the first hugeinitiative of the foundation was in building
(03:13):
the Dan Marinos Center, which isout in Weston. It was originally was
Variety Hospital. It became then MiamiChildren's Hospital, and today it's the Nicholas
Children's Hospital, and that opened innineteen ninety eight. It's actually celebrating its
twenty fifth year. And so whatthis was was really a huge new initiative.
(03:35):
It was a one stop shop.It was central that families could come
and get diagnosis and then all ofthe doctors were there. So because there's
some comorbidities, if they had hardissues or whether it be ophthalmology or behavior
or psychology, whatever the means were, all of the therapies could be found
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in this one center and that stillto this day serves about twenty nine thousand
young people a year, and thatfrom birth up until age twenty two.
And it's actually spawned that one centerabout another eleven centers in the Florida area
and actually one internationally in Sardinia inItaly. So that was the very first
(04:20):
initiative of the foundation. And thenwhat happened was over the years, children
who had been diagnosed and received treatmentat the center, they began to be
teenagers, they began to be youngadults, and the parents came to the
foundation saying, well, my sonwould like to have a summer job,
(04:41):
or my son, now that he'stransitioned out of high school, needs some
sort of post secondary or some kindof training. And that really then is
how the foundation expanded its programs.We had, like in two thousand and
seven, we started summer employment programsthat were high school programs. Then in
two thousand and thirteen we actually openedup the first post secondary program called Marino
(05:05):
Campus, and two years later weopened up a second school at FIU on
the main campus. And now atthis point in time, I actually our
new program, we've had thousands ofyoung people come through the school who are
now adults, and so for Septemberof twenty three, we're actually expanding into
(05:27):
like a club membership and they canbe people who have either graduated or been
in programs with the Foundation or not, just young people who are looking for
extra supports for employment, for socialization, and so that's something that we'll be
announcing, you know, in thenext couple of months. So we continue
to evolve, and I think that'swhat you asked me. What's unique about
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what we do. We're very individuallycentered with the young people that we served,
the bay babies that need diagnosis ortree misses are coming up, or
as adults. You know, we'realways some evolving with our population on what
those needs are. We're joined byMary Parton, chief executive Officer of the
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Dan Marino Foundation. You can learnmore at Dan Marino Foundation dot org.
Tell us when you became part ofthe foundation and some of the more notable
developments that you've been a part ofas this foundation has grown, like you
just described, well, so I'vebeen here twenty five years and when I
(06:34):
came to foundation, the Dan MarinoCenter was just opening, and so much
of the evolution, I mean weactually built a second floor, and I
think one of the most notable thingsthat I did and lad at that time,
we had a three year old atthe time at the center and he
was doing very well, but thenhe unfortunately drowned. And I really,
(06:59):
I mean, I had been awhere that. First of all, drowning
is a big thing for four yearolds and under, especially in South Florida.
It was the number one cause ofdeath. But especially children with autism
are very fascinated by the water.It's calming, and so there were a
lot of drownings in our community.And so I went to Tallahassee to work
(07:21):
on laws to that every pool thatserved young people that they would have to
have a training a disability. Andso it became known as the Marino Aquatics
Certification. And so that meant everypool, every city pool, every YMCA,
every boys and girls club that theywould have to take this course.
(07:44):
And it made them more cognizant onhow to work with children that had different
abilities, you know who maybe we'reafraid of sound or you know that they
would just reacted. So it allowedthem to train and them to swim or
these water safety and at the sametime, then in going to Tallahassee,
I was able to get the dollarsto build an aquatic center at the Dan
(08:07):
Marino Center, and working with thecity of Weston, they really helped us
to be able to accommodate that wecould do that, and that was the
only one in the state, andthat's in two thousand and three, so
that was a pretty big deal.And then really I would say the Marino
campuses. We had worked with youngadults for a long time, and then
(08:28):
you know, we did the summerprograms and we did some kind of seasonal
programs, and then I thought,you know, this is so necessary.
I see such a transformative change inyoung people that why don't we do this
year round? And then that becamethe nemesis of starting the Marino Campus a
post secondary program. And then otherthings. I'm a champion for technology.
(08:52):
One of the biggest We really focuson employment with our older individuals. And
because so much who you are iswhat you do. You're you work in
the radio. Hi, you know, Hi, I'm Mary. You know
I work at the foundation. AndI saw a lot of our young people
they didn't have an entree into thecommunity, and so that was the importance
(09:13):
of employment. Well, I sawat the time, for over two decades
the number it was thirteen percent employmentfor our population. And so I started
to look at, well, whatare the big challenges, what are the
roadblocks here? And one of themwas interviewing. And so at the time,
we people, you know, thebest practice model was these mock interviews,
(09:35):
you know, having volunteers come inand you'd interview. But I thought,
well, with technology, using avatars, we could set different scenarios,
have different demeanors of interviewers, andyoung people could practice practice, practice,
and with practice comes perfect and sothat was a huge in creating what we
(09:56):
called VITA and getting I went outto USC their Institute of Creative Technology,
because they were really leading the time, and this is twenty eleven twelve,
and actually worked with Colonel Schilling,who was the commander of DARPA at the
time, and the military had developedthese avatars, and I knew that if
(10:18):
I pitched it, I was goingto ask we could use them, you
know, but to change them upfor our population. And little did I
know that Colonel Schilling had children withautism, and the head of pediatrics for
the Defense had children with autism,and so they were wonderful and that was
really the birth of the use oftechnology, and we've continued to grow grows
(10:41):
that through the foundation on you know, on communicating at a party scenario,
you know, individual skills, howto take transportation, you know, so
it's all grown from there. Sothose are some of the more i think
notable things that I've I've been avery instrumental I'm Ryan Gorman here on her
Radio Communities, joined by chief executiveOfficer for the Dan Marino Foundation, Mary
(11:07):
Pardon. How prevalent is neurodiversity andwhat are some of the signs of autism.
Well, you know, in autism, there's not a blood test or
something like that. It's really diagnosedby professionals making a judgment on a child's
behavior. And the things you lookfor are communication where they don't communicate the
(11:31):
same Maybe they don't they don't verbalizeor you've all always heard well, gee
they were talking in now at agetwo, suddenly they don't. They're not
speaking anymore. Socializing as another thing, um, you know, not making
eye contact, not being like sound. You can get up behind a child
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and make a very loud sound andthey don't react. U Yet they're very
sensitive to the fluorescent lights that sortof say, um, they look for
unusual or repetitive behaviors. But theseare all all kind of again you really
if a parent is thinking that makeyou know, not sure what's going on,
(12:13):
Um, you go to your pediatrician, you go if they're within school,
you go to your school. Alwaysyou've given them the contact information for
the foundation you can call here.So the first thing is like anything,
if you suspect something's not quite rightor you know, developmentally, then search
out, you know, and havean evaluation because the earlier you get treatment
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and treatment basically is behavioral ABA it'scalled and it's really training to make eye
contact, training, speech, thatsort of thing. But the sooner you
get these um these therapies, thatthe better results that you have. M
So that's what i'd say. Thethe number of children diagnosed it was just
(13:00):
changed again CDC and what they dothey base this They go like in eleven
states and they go to uh thehealth and school records and they focus on
eight year olds and they look atthat number of how many children are diagnosed
in that category and right now it'sone in every thirty six, which is
(13:22):
alarming. I mean when we startedwhen the foundation was formed there, and
again the the diagnosis and stuff wasn'tas prevalent, but it was like one
in ten thousand and then a fewyears back, you know, probably about
ten years it was one in athousand and like I said, now the
latest is one in thirty six,which just two years ago is one in
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forty four. There's there. Youknow, people ask me, well as
their better diagnosis or you knows orwhat's happening? Are they just expanding what
autism is? And you know it'sit's it's real numbers. Um there is
you know they there is no causedefined or cure defined for autism, but
(14:05):
there's somewhere in between, um thatis genetic and um or environmental, I
mean either. That's the difficulty withautism is that there's a lot of genes
that contribute, but they've not foundone specific. And typically they'll look at
there's a child with autism, mayhave gastrol issues and things like that.
(14:28):
So there's certain common like I said, comorbidities, but there's still not that
one cure or that reason that thatcause. And so and I'm not an
expert, I'm not a doctor.I'm not a fair. So I always
you know, I'm just I justrun a foundation and and and try to
serve people. So you know,I don't I always say go to the
(14:50):
experts and speak with them. ButI think that I'm generalizing and they're going
to tell you the same thing.But there really are The other thing is
they say, well in the US, you know, is it diet.
Is that if you go to othercountries, that rate is about to say?
And what is um frustrating? Youknow when you work with medical care
(15:11):
and getting therapies and treatments. Youknow, if I always said, if
if one day we woke up andone in every thirty six people maybe we're
being born without an arm or somethinglike that, and it may not be
a great example, but there'd bea lot of concern, you know,
And so we really do have toput more dollars, you know, from
(15:35):
from government, from agencies. Imean, we really do have to work
together to try to understand autism more. Um. You know, it's it's
um, I'll just let it goat that, Yeah. Chief executive Officer
for the Dan Marino Foundation, MaryParton. You can learn more about all
the different programs and services they providein the work that they do at Dan
(15:58):
Marino Foundation dot org. Again,that's Dan Marino Foundation dot org. Mary,
really appreciate the tremendous work you andyour entire team are doing on this
issue, and thank you so muchfor coming on the show. Well,
we really appreciate the opportunity. Ryanand just it's anyone listening. We're here
to be your resource to help guideand so please contact us. Thank you
(16:21):
so much. Back again, onceagain, it feels like you're just here
or something. I know. Well, like he little HODDINIU. Whitney Reynolds
from The Whitney Reynolds Show is backspreading the news and the joy and all
the events and all the things Chicago. What's going on, Whitney, all
the giveback that Chicago has to offer, and all the fabulous women. And
I always say this, we loveour men too, even though the title
(16:41):
of its Whitney's women. And wehave an extra man in the seat next
to me today. Oh my goodness. Okay, so let's welcome Julia Jacobs
and Danny Miller. Welcome, thankyou, We're happy to be here.
Thank you. Yeah, I amso pumped. I always love the energy.
Now it's two for two. Wehave Brady, we have Danny,
and then we have two women.So it is equal equal playing field this
(17:03):
week, I know, so obvious. Let's call Whitney's people all Whitney's.
Yeah, there's a segment for you. Yeah, well it is that season.
Like Brady said, it feels likeI've been in back to back because
there are so many wonderful events happeningaround Chicago Land that give back to our
community. And that's what we're hereto talk about today. The Service Club,
which I'm partial too because I ama member and I belong and I
(17:26):
love all the work they do inthe city. But we have an event
coming up. Julia tell us alittle bit about it. So we have
the This is the one of threefundraising events that we do throughout the year.
And upcoming on May eighth at theLangham Hotel is our annual Hat Luncheon.
Now the hat Luncheon people know becausepeople wear hats, but we're actually
(17:47):
there's a theme with it this year, the many hats we wear because the
Service Club is an organization that lovesto get back to nonprofits in the city
and you know, people we dothe I'll let you explain how it kind
of works how we work within thecity with all the different nonprofits. But
this event is one of our bigfundraisers that goes back to the mission.
Yes, the Service Club actually wasestablished in eighteen ninety. We are the
oldest filmthropic organization in the Chicago Landarea. So you're right, Whitney.
(18:11):
We do give back. In fact, last year we gave over eight hundred
and eighty thousand dollars to sixty fiveagencies. And when we say agencies as
other nonprofits, like we're giving thatmoney away, are not money. We're
giving tangible items to nonprofits in thecity, which is amazing. Exactly.
So our mission is to award grantsthat will expand facilities, improve equipment,
(18:33):
and initiate programs for Chicago Lands.Five OC one threes. Yep, you're
exactly right. And Danny, that'swhere you come in because we have partnered,
or I want to say, wehave a presenting sponsor of the spring
luncheon this year and it is MaxMara. Oh my goodness. Yes,
we are so excited to be withyou this year. So we have secretly
wanted the Hat Club Luncheon for afew years and we are lucky enough this
(18:56):
year to be your sole sponsor.So is the first time we have partnered
on this level and we are lookingforward to it. I know that we
are sold out at the event,so I'm pretty sure we're up to two
hundred and thirty guests that will beattending this event, and we are all
very excited. We were also youknow, for us, we've been around
for quite a while too, notone hundred and thirty three years, but
(19:18):
about half of that, we've beenaround for seventy one years this year.
We're a privately held Italian luxury brandand we are in ninety countries across the
world, and we have fifteen locationshere in the United States, and Chicago
being one of our biggest hubs.So we have a flagship store in Michigan
Avenue and nine hundred North Michigan Avenue, and we are so excited to do
(19:40):
a fashion show with you and tohave this luncheon be such a success.
Well, it's so wonderful because youwhen you see brands like yours, it's
one that you I mean, peopleknow it. It's glorious, it's wonderful
and it makes you feel like,Okay, I want to wear that.
I want to feel great in acity. But it's even better when you're
wearing a brand that you know givesback to your city, because sometimes,
(20:00):
like you said, you're a bigcompany, you have all these different locations
based in Italy. Is that whatyou said, Yes, we're but yet
you still have that heart for yourlocal market, which is amazing. Definitely.
And I get to be lucky enoughto pick who we partner with,
so I'm always excited to find organizationslike yours that give back. Well,
(20:22):
we have a lot of listeners tuningin, so you never know if like
there's someone else that has a nonprofit, you know, they could potentially work
with you too. That's great gift. So let's talk about this. You
said the event is sold out,which I hate. I mean if there
was like a wampwamp button, it'ssold out. But there's still ways for
people to get involved on this day. We actually have a VIP party the
night before, which all goes backto the Service Clubs mission as well.
(20:45):
Tell us about that, Julia.So the event is going to be on
May seventh. It's from five toseven pm and this is a celebration of
the hat Luncheon and max Mara.Along with the Service Club, we also
have our featured speaker, a celebrityguest, doctor Wendy Osepho of the Housewives
of Potomac. She will be thereas well, and we're gonna We're gonna
(21:06):
have an opportunity to look at allthe beautiful fashions at max Mara. There's
going to be a roundtable discussion aboutfashion and all the proceeds when you do
your shopping at Maximara, ten percentof your profits go back to the Service
Club. So it's going to bea great event and we're so excited.
Yeah, and we do have ticketsfor that up and ready on the Service
Club's website. But I love whatyou say. Tell us about the guest
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speaker again, you said doctor Wendyfrom Real Housewives at Potomac, which she
fits in perfectly to the theme themany Hats we Wear. She's a wife,
a mom, an entrepreneur, anauthor, and she loves Max Mara.
So she'll be there that night too. Danny, what can we expect
at the VIP night For people thatwant to attend Sure the VIP Night,
We're going to do a gift withpurchase that evening for all the attendees.
(21:48):
We also will be having a roundtablediscussion, which Whitney will be leading with
me and doctor Wendy. I thinkfor us, this is one of those
moments where we all become a littlebit more intimate. It's a little more
private. It's not going to bequite the boombastic things that are going to
happen at the luncheon, but it'sdefinitely a time to really give back,
(22:10):
I think through their purchases, soyou kind of walk away with something that
you love. Um, you getto dress yourself head to toe. Spring
is popping up in the air rightnow, so what a great time to
be inside our store. And itwill be a private event, So we're
looking forward to those ticket sales goingup and up and up. And we
invited Brady. I mean he mightbe popping by, right, Yeah.
(22:33):
Prosecco and appetizers do you need?Yes, yes, they didn't he didn't
have yet. Whitney we always first, Whitney Housewife. Oh my goodness,
Well, it is going to bequite the event. I'm so proud of
everything that we're doing. Especially let'sgo back to the mission of the Service
Club, Juliet. You touch onit. You said eight hundred thousand plus
was given away last year. Tellus about more about that. Well,
(22:57):
the nice thing is that we,like I said, we give away this
the money, but we do notjust hand them a check. There's a
very extensive qualifying process. It takesabout five months. We visit all the
locations, we learn about the needsof each agency, so it's it's a
very involved process and it just takesWe take so much pride in helping so
(23:17):
many organizations throughout the Chicago Land area. Well, that's one thing that I
found amazing when I joined the clubis I learned so much about these nonprofits
here. You know, I feltlike I was a kind of store of
nonprofits in the Chicagoland area from thisradio program and that kind of stuff.
But this is actually next level.Like it go, y'all, go out
there, you go meet, yousee the need, and then you see
(23:38):
you learn more about their mission.So it's really incredible. Yeah, we're
really really thankful. This is oneof three fundraising events throughout the year,
so we look forward to starting itwith the hat luncheon. Oh that's amazing.
Okay, So where do people gettickets? Tickets are available on the
Service Club's website, the Service Clubof Chicago dot org, and I will
also have it up on my socialthing. Thank you so much, Danny.
(24:00):
Where do people find out more aboutyou? You said, Michigan Avenue,
tell us more sure. We're locatedat nine hundred North Michigan Avenue on
the corner of Michigan and Delaware.We've been there for twenty five years,
so if you haven't seen us,you should definitely stop by well, especially
on the seventh, because tickets areavailable and it goes back to a great
cause. Thank you both so muchfor coming on. Thank you, Thank
you. Leave it to you,Whitney bring in looking at an organizations and
(24:23):
fashion. It just all comes togetherwith you. Yes, you know,
it is one of those seasons thatthere is so much going on. I
can feel the vibrance of the city. I am so pumped about being in
our spring season of The Whitney ReynoldsShow because it is one of those seasons
where I'm like, you see ourgrowth, just as the flowers are budding
in the yards and everything's coming tolife in Chicagoland. You actually see our
(24:45):
new studio in this season. Youalso see these longer form interviews. So
I'm so happy that we were ableto launch two weeks ago and we're currently
on so you can watch us onAmazon Prime or the PBS app. I'd
be honest, it's always springtime whenyou're around, and even in January,
Waitning Reynolds, The Reynolds Show.We look forward to it and thank you.
Keep inspiring. Got it, DoctorAdkisson? How are you? I'm
(25:08):
good? How are you so good? Wait? I can't believe you're on
the phone with me and you're notout playing with the giraffes. It's a
sunny day, it's tempting to beout there. Oh, I know,
tell me about real quick. Howdoes so every year this happens. They're
inside the whole winter and then theycome out. Yeah, so they always
are very excited in the spring whenthe weather finally gets back up to a
(25:30):
temperature they're comfortable at They love gettingback outside. And I don't know where
I've been. I didn't realize wecould feed the giraffes. Well, I
mean the food that you could givethem. So when did we do that?
Yeah? So we have a giraffefeeding opportunity that runs starting April twenty
ninth through September feeding opportunities between tenfifteen in the morning and three o'clock in
(25:52):
the afternoon. Get the chance toget up close see the giraffes, talk
with the animal care specialists that takecare of them, and feed them a
nice big leaf of romaine lettuce.I was going to ask, what do
we get and again, don't goto the zoo and feed your own food.
Okay, remember the animal this issupervised. So we're gonna be feeding
a salad. Basically, they're havinga romaine salad basically. Yeah. So
(26:15):
they eat a variety of different feedmaterials, mostly hey and some specially formulated
pellets, but they also love thelettuce and are very eager to take that
from our guests that are part ofthe experience is that every day, every
day tents, it is every day, Yeah, ten fifteen to three o'clock,
fifteen dollars per feeding. So Ihave to ask you, doctor,
(26:37):
I've become obsessed. I know alot of people have. After we've watched
the birth of many little baby giraffesonline. This has been a thing at
many many zoos. Are we havingany baby soon at Brookfield's? What's going
on and over there with that.Yeah, So we don't have any pregnant
drafts at the moment. We've gotfour animals right now, but we are
looking to increase the draft herd sizehere in the years ahead, so hopefully
(27:00):
it won't be too long before wehave a new little one on the ground
here. I don't know what Iwould do twenty four seven, For what
felt like four hundred days, Iwas pregnant with that draft, waiting for
it to get earth at all theseother zoos. So okay, and tell
us real quick over at Brookfield too. I know you have a new primate
habitat. What's going on with that? When will that be finished? So
(27:21):
we are just getting into the groundwith this new project this spring. This
will be new outdoor habitats for ourgorillas orangutans and some of our monkeys.
Two acres worth a habitat space forthese animals. So it'll be a huge
addition to the zoo. Targeted toopen in spring of twenty twenty five.
But we are so excited about it. And I know you have a lot
(27:41):
of little baby animals. I knowyou have a brand new like critically endangered
addics calf that was just born,correct, Yes, absolute little cutie.
What's an addics calf? Like?What is it? What other animal will
that look like? Yeah? So, addicts are kind of a medium sized,
hooved animal, sort of in betweena goat and a cow and ms
aside with the big long, sortof spiraled horns that come up several feet
(28:04):
off the top of their head.Beautiful, beautiful animal, very endangered in
the wild. These are just absolutelyadorable. Oh, I can't wait to
see and all the other animals.I know there's free days at the zoo.
What's the website to visit for allthe info see z S Chicago Zoological
Society CCS dot org. CZS dotorg. All right, well listen,
(28:25):
put me on the nine one onelist if you find out we're having a
baby giraffe, because we'll do.And otherwise. I just wanted to let
everyone el there out. It's spring, check out the giraffs and everything Brookfield
Zoo has to offer. And thankyou so much doctor for caring and loving
these animals like we all do.Thank you so much, Thank you so
much, and thank you for listeningto the weekly show here and iHeartRadio.
(28:47):
We do this every single weekend andwe love hearing from you, all of
you who are making differences in ourcity and our suburbs. We place this
show and all the other episodes upon our podcast page. Just search on
our free iHeart radio app up searchfor the weekly show. Thank you so
much. We'll talk to you againnext weekend. Stay safe, Chicago,
Hello, and welcome to the weeklyshow here on iHeartRadio at ninety nine one
three KIM and Rock ninety five five. Every week, we're here to discuss
a variety of topics that matter toChicago Land, from health, education,
to finances and so much more.Today on the show, Ryan Gorman chats
with Mary Parton, CEO of theDan Marino Foundation. They'll be talking all
(00:21):
about autism awareness, including the symptomsof autism, and so much more,
including resources for parents for autistic children. Melissa Foreman chats with our friends at
Brookfield Zoo and they'll be talking allabout new things happening there. And Brittany
and Whitney Reynolds are back for anotherepisode of Whitney's Women. Here to kick
(00:41):
off the show is Ryan Gorman.I'm joined by the Chief Executive Officer of
the Dan Marino Foundation, Mary Parton. Last month, the month of April
was National Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month, and that is the focus of the
Dan Marino Foundation. You can learnmore at Dan Marino Foundation or Mary.
Thank you so much for taking afew minutes to come on the show and
(01:03):
first of all, tell us aboutthe mission of this foundation and how this
all got started for our mission isto empower people and with add to some
and other developmental disabilities. Now theterm being used rather than developmental disabilities are
neurodiverse populations, and that includes peoplewith autism. I mean, it includes
(01:25):
mental health aspects, dyslexia, ada, ADHD. So it's a pretty wide
spectrum. You know. We startedout with autism, and if you would
see that as central to everything thatwe've done, it's a foundation. But
after thirty one years in operation,you know, your scope begins to expand,
(01:46):
and so now we are serving agreater number, but the mission still
remains to empower people so that theycan live their best life possible, you
know, and that's really where wehave seen needs. That's really the pathway
of how the foundation has grown.It started in nineteen ninety two Dan and
(02:10):
Claire Marino their second son, Michael. They thought around the age of eighteen
months age two, that maybe hewas deaf. They really didn't know,
you know, back then, thirtysome years ago, you really didn't hear
about autism very much. He hadseen the movie rain Man, but that
(02:31):
was about it. And so whenthey went to the pediatrician and they went
to a neurologist. He was diagnosedwith autism and Claire talks about coming home
and Danny was at practice. Hecame home and they got in the encyclopedia
to look it up because they didn'tknow what it was. And so their
(02:53):
journey really started the foundation, andthat when they would go and they had
the means to find the best ofcare and the best practices that were out
there at the time, but theywould see so many families that did not.
And so that was the first hugeinitiative of the foundation was in building
(03:13):
the Dan Marinos Center, which isout in Weston. It was originally was
Variety Hospital. It became then MiamiChildren's Hospital, and today it's the Nicholas
Children's Hospital, and that opened innineteen ninety eight. It's actually celebrating its
twenty fifth year. And so whatthis was was really a huge new initiative.
(03:35):
It was a one stop shop.It was central that families could come
and get diagnosis and then all ofthe doctors were there. So because there's
some comorbidities, if they had hardissues or whether it be ophthalmology or behavior
or psychology, whatever the means were, all of the therapies could be found
(03:57):
in this one center and that stillto this day serves about twenty nine thousand
young people a year, and thatfrom birth up until age twenty two.
And it's actually spawned that one centerabout another eleven centers in the Florida area
and actually one internationally in Sardinia inItaly. So that was the very first
(04:20):
initiative of the foundation. And thenwhat happened was over the years, children
who had been diagnosed and received treatmentat the center, they began to be
teenagers, they began to be youngadults, and the parents came to the
foundation saying, well, my sonwould like to have a summer job,
(04:41):
or my son, now that he'stransitioned out of high school, needs some
sort of post secondary or some kindof training. And that really then is
how the foundation expanded its programs.We had, like in two thousand and
seven, we started summer employment programsthat were high school programs. Then in
two thousand and thirteen we actually openedup the first post secondary program called Marino
(05:05):
Campus, and two years later weopened up a second school at FIU on
the main campus. And now atthis point in time, I actually our
new program, we've had thousands ofyoung people come through the school who are
now adults, and so for Septemberof twenty three, we're actually expanding into
(05:27):
like a club membership and they canbe people who have either graduated or been
in programs with the Foundation or not, just young people who are looking for
extra supports for employment, for socialization, and so that's something that we'll be
announcing, you know, in thenext couple of months. So we continue
to evolve, and I think that'swhat you asked me. What's unique about
(05:51):
what we do. We're very individuallycentered with the young people that we served,
the bay babies that need diagnosis ortree misses are coming up, or
as adults. You know, we'realways some evolving with our population on what
those needs are. We're joined byMary Parton, chief executive Officer of the
(06:11):
Dan Marino Foundation. You can learnmore at Dan Marino Foundation dot org.
Tell us when you became part ofthe foundation and some of the more notable
developments that you've been a part ofas this foundation has grown, like you
just described, well, so I'vebeen here twenty five years and when I
(06:34):
came to foundation, the Dan MarinoCenter was just opening, and so much
of the evolution, I mean weactually built a second floor, and I
think one of the most notable thingsthat I did and lad at that time,
we had a three year old atthe time at the center and he
was doing very well, but thenhe unfortunately drowned. And I really,
(06:59):
I mean, I had been awhere that. First of all, drowning
is a big thing for four yearolds and under, especially in South Florida.
It was the number one cause ofdeath. But especially children with autism
are very fascinated by the water.It's calming, and so there were a
lot of drownings in our community.And so I went to Tallahassee to work
(07:21):
on laws to that every pool thatserved young people that they would have to
have a training a disability. Andso it became known as the Marino Aquatics
Certification. And so that meant everypool, every city pool, every YMCA,
every boys and girls club that theywould have to take this course.
(07:44):
And it made them more cognizant onhow to work with children that had different
abilities, you know who maybe we'reafraid of sound or you know that they
would just reacted. So it allowedthem to train and them to swim or
these water safety and at the sametime, then in going to Tallahassee,
I was able to get the dollarsto build an aquatic center at the Dan
(08:07):
Marino Center, and working with thecity of Weston, they really helped us
to be able to accommodate that wecould do that, and that was the
only one in the state, andthat's in two thousand and three, so
that was a pretty big deal.And then really I would say the Marino
campuses. We had worked with youngadults for a long time, and then
(08:28):
you know, we did the summerprograms and we did some kind of seasonal
programs, and then I thought,you know, this is so necessary.
I see such a transformative change inyoung people that why don't we do this
year round? And then that becamethe nemesis of starting the Marino Campus a
post secondary program. And then otherthings. I'm a champion for technology.
(08:52):
One of the biggest We really focuson employment with our older individuals. And
because so much who you are iswhat you do. You're you work in
the radio. Hi, you know, Hi, I'm Mary. You know
I work at the foundation. AndI saw a lot of our young people
they didn't have an entree into thecommunity, and so that was the importance
(09:13):
of employment. Well, I sawat the time, for over two decades
the number it was thirteen percent employmentfor our population. And so I started
to look at, well, whatare the big challenges, what are the
roadblocks here? And one of themwas interviewing. And so at the time,
we people, you know, thebest practice model was these mock interviews,
(09:35):
you know, having volunteers come inand you'd interview. But I thought,
well, with technology, using avatars, we could set different scenarios,
have different demeanors of interviewers, andyoung people could practice practice, practice,
and with practice comes perfect and sothat was a huge in creating what we
(09:56):
called VITA and getting I went outto USC their Institute of Creative Technology,
because they were really leading the time, and this is twenty eleven twelve,
and actually worked with Colonel Schilling,who was the commander of DARPA at the
time, and the military had developedthese avatars, and I knew that if
(10:18):
I pitched it, I was goingto ask we could use them, you
know, but to change them upfor our population. And little did I
know that Colonel Schilling had children withautism, and the head of pediatrics for
the Defense had children with autism,and so they were wonderful and that was
really the birth of the use oftechnology, and we've continued to grow grows
(10:41):
that through the foundation on you know, on communicating at a party scenario,
you know, individual skills, howto take transportation, you know, so
it's all grown from there. Sothose are some of the more i think
notable things that I've I've been avery instrumental I'm Ryan Gorman here on her
Radio Communities, joined by chief executiveOfficer for the Dan Marino Foundation, Mary
(11:07):
Pardon. How prevalent is neurodiversity andwhat are some of the signs of autism.
Well, you know, in autism, there's not a blood test or
something like that. It's really diagnosedby professionals making a judgment on a child's
behavior. And the things you lookfor are communication where they don't communicate the
(11:31):
same Maybe they don't they don't verbalizeor you've all always heard well, gee
they were talking in now at agetwo, suddenly they don't. They're not
speaking anymore. Socializing as another thing, um, you know, not making
eye contact, not being like sound. You can get up behind a child
(11:52):
and make a very loud sound andthey don't react. U Yet they're very
sensitive to the fluorescent lights that sortof say, um, they look for
unusual or repetitive behaviors. But theseare all all kind of again you really
if a parent is thinking that makeyou know, not sure what's going on,
(12:13):
Um, you go to your pediatrician, you go if they're within school,
you go to your school. Alwaysyou've given them the contact information for
the foundation you can call here.So the first thing is like anything,
if you suspect something's not quite rightor you know, developmentally, then search
out, you know, and havean evaluation because the earlier you get treatment
(12:37):
and treatment basically is behavioral ABA it'scalled and it's really training to make eye
contact, training, speech, thatsort of thing. But the sooner you
get these um these therapies, thatthe better results that you have. M
So that's what i'd say. Thethe number of children diagnosed it was just
(13:00):
changed again CDC and what they dothey base this They go like in eleven
states and they go to uh thehealth and school records and they focus on
eight year olds and they look atthat number of how many children are diagnosed
in that category and right now it'sone in every thirty six, which is
(13:22):
alarming. I mean when we startedwhen the foundation was formed there, and
again the the diagnosis and stuff wasn'tas prevalent, but it was like one
in ten thousand and then a fewyears back, you know, probably about
ten years it was one in athousand and like I said, now the
latest is one in thirty six,which just two years ago is one in
(13:45):
forty four. There's there. Youknow, people ask me, well as
their better diagnosis or you knows orwhat's happening? Are they just expanding what
autism is? And you know it'sit's it's real numbers. Um there is
you know they there is no causedefined or cure defined for autism, but
(14:05):
there's somewhere in between, um thatis genetic and um or environmental, I
mean either. That's the difficulty withautism is that there's a lot of genes
that contribute, but they've not foundone specific. And typically they'll look at
there's a child with autism, mayhave gastrol issues and things like that.
(14:28):
So there's certain common like I said, comorbidities, but there's still not that
one cure or that reason that thatcause. And so and I'm not an
expert, I'm not a doctor.I'm not a fair. So I always
you know, I'm just I justrun a foundation and and and try to
serve people. So you know,I don't I always say go to the
(14:50):
experts and speak with them. ButI think that I'm generalizing and they're going
to tell you the same thing.But there really are The other thing is
they say, well in the US, you know, is it diet.
Is that if you go to othercountries, that rate is about to say?
And what is um frustrating? Youknow when you work with medical care
(15:11):
and getting therapies and treatments. Youknow, if I always said, if
if one day we woke up andone in every thirty six people maybe we're
being born without an arm or somethinglike that, and it may not be
a great example, but there'd bea lot of concern, you know,
And so we really do have toput more dollars, you know, from
(15:35):
from government, from agencies. Imean, we really do have to work
together to try to understand autism more. Um. You know, it's it's
um, I'll just let it goat that, Yeah. Chief executive Officer
for the Dan Marino Foundation, MaryParton. You can learn more about all
the different programs and services they providein the work that they do at Dan
(15:58):
Marino Foundation dot org. Again,that's Dan Marino Foundation dot org. Mary,
really appreciate the tremendous work you andyour entire team are doing on this
issue, and thank you so muchfor coming on the show. Well,
we really appreciate the opportunity. Ryanand just it's anyone listening. We're here
to be your resource to help guideand so please contact us. Thank you
(16:21):
so much. Back again, onceagain, it feels like you're just here
or something. I know. Well, like he little HODDINIU. Whitney Reynolds
from The Whitney Reynolds Show is backspreading the news and the joy and all
the events and all the things Chicago. What's going on, Whitney, all
the giveback that Chicago has to offer, and all the fabulous women. And
I always say this, we loveour men too, even though the title
(16:41):
of its Whitney's women. And wehave an extra man in the seat next
to me today. Oh my goodness. Okay, so let's welcome Julia Jacobs
and Danny Miller. Welcome, thankyou, We're happy to be here.
Thank you. Yeah, I amso pumped. I always love the energy.
Now it's two for two. Wehave Brady, we have Danny,
and then we have two women.So it is equal equal playing field this
(17:03):
week, I know, so obvious. Let's call Whitney's people all Whitney's.
Yeah, there's a segment for you. Yeah, well it is that season.
Like Brady said, it feels likeI've been in back to back because
there are so many wonderful events happeningaround Chicago Land that give back to our
community. And that's what we're hereto talk about today. The Service Club,
which I'm partial too because I ama member and I belong and I
(17:26):
love all the work they do inthe city. But we have an event
coming up. Julia tell us alittle bit about it. So we have
the This is the one of threefundraising events that we do throughout the year.
And upcoming on May eighth at theLangham Hotel is our annual Hat Luncheon.
Now the hat Luncheon people know becausepeople wear hats, but we're actually
(17:47):
there's a theme with it this year, the many hats we wear because the
Service Club is an organization that lovesto get back to nonprofits in the city
and you know, people we dothe I'll let you explain how it kind
of works how we work within thecity with all the different nonprofits. But
this event is one of our bigfundraisers that goes back to the mission.
Yes, the Service Club actually wasestablished in eighteen ninety. We are the
oldest filmthropic organization in the Chicago Landarea. So you're right, Whitney.
(18:11):
We do give back. In fact, last year we gave over eight hundred
and eighty thousand dollars to sixty fiveagencies. And when we say agencies as
other nonprofits, like we're giving thatmoney away, are not money. We're
giving tangible items to nonprofits in thecity, which is amazing. Exactly.
So our mission is to award grantsthat will expand facilities, improve equipment,
(18:33):
and initiate programs for Chicago Lands.Five OC one threes. Yep, you're
exactly right. And Danny, that'swhere you come in because we have partnered,
or I want to say, wehave a presenting sponsor of the spring
luncheon this year and it is MaxMara. Oh my goodness. Yes,
we are so excited to be withyou this year. So we have secretly
wanted the Hat Club Luncheon for afew years and we are lucky enough this
(18:56):
year to be your sole sponsor.So is the first time we have partnered
on this level and we are lookingforward to it. I know that we
are sold out at the event,so I'm pretty sure we're up to two
hundred and thirty guests that will beattending this event, and we are all
very excited. We were also youknow, for us, we've been around
for quite a while too, notone hundred and thirty three years, but
(19:18):
about half of that, we've beenaround for seventy one years this year.
We're a privately held Italian luxury brandand we are in ninety countries across the
world, and we have fifteen locationshere in the United States, and Chicago
being one of our biggest hubs.So we have a flagship store in Michigan
Avenue and nine hundred North Michigan Avenue, and we are so excited to do
(19:40):
a fashion show with you and tohave this luncheon be such a success.
Well, it's so wonderful because youwhen you see brands like yours, it's
one that you I mean, peopleknow it. It's glorious, it's wonderful
and it makes you feel like,Okay, I want to wear that.
I want to feel great in acity. But it's even better when you're
wearing a brand that you know givesback to your city, because sometimes,
(20:00):
like you said, you're a bigcompany, you have all these different locations
based in Italy. Is that whatyou said, Yes, we're but yet
you still have that heart for yourlocal market, which is amazing. Definitely.
And I get to be lucky enoughto pick who we partner with,
so I'm always excited to find organizationslike yours that give back. Well,
(20:22):
we have a lot of listeners tuningin, so you never know if like
there's someone else that has a nonprofit, you know, they could potentially work
with you too. That's great gift. So let's talk about this. You
said the event is sold out,which I hate. I mean if there
was like a wampwamp button, it'ssold out. But there's still ways for
people to get involved on this day. We actually have a VIP party the
night before, which all goes backto the Service Clubs mission as well.
(20:45):
Tell us about that, Julia.So the event is going to be on
May seventh. It's from five toseven pm and this is a celebration of
the hat Luncheon and max Mara.Along with the Service Club, we also
have our featured speaker, a celebrityguest, doctor Wendy Osepho of the Housewives
of Potomac. She will be thereas well, and we're gonna We're gonna
(21:06):
have an opportunity to look at allthe beautiful fashions at max Mara. There's
going to be a roundtable discussion aboutfashion and all the proceeds when you do
your shopping at Maximara, ten percentof your profits go back to the Service
Club. So it's going to bea great event and we're so excited.
Yeah, and we do have ticketsfor that up and ready on the Service
Club's website. But I love whatyou say. Tell us about the guest
(21:26):
speaker again, you said doctor Wendyfrom Real Housewives at Potomac, which she
fits in perfectly to the theme themany Hats we Wear. She's a wife,
a mom, an entrepreneur, anauthor, and she loves Max Mara.
So she'll be there that night too. Danny, what can we expect
at the VIP night For people thatwant to attend Sure the VIP Night,
We're going to do a gift withpurchase that evening for all the attendees.
(21:48):
We also will be having a roundtablediscussion, which Whitney will be leading with
me and doctor Wendy. I thinkfor us, this is one of those
moments where we all become a littlebit more intimate. It's a little more
private. It's not going to bequite the boombastic things that are going to
happen at the luncheon, but it'sdefinitely a time to really give back,
(22:10):
I think through their purchases, soyou kind of walk away with something that
you love. Um, you getto dress yourself head to toe. Spring
is popping up in the air rightnow, so what a great time to
be inside our store. And itwill be a private event, So we're
looking forward to those ticket sales goingup and up and up. And we
invited Brady. I mean he mightbe popping by, right, Yeah.
(22:33):
Prosecco and appetizers do you need?Yes, yes, they didn't he didn't
have yet. Whitney we always first, Whitney Housewife. Oh my goodness,
Well, it is going to bequite the event. I'm so proud of
everything that we're doing. Especially let'sgo back to the mission of the Service
Club, Juliet. You touch onit. You said eight hundred thousand plus
was given away last year. Tellus about more about that. Well,
(22:57):
the nice thing is that we,like I said, we give away this
the money, but we do notjust hand them a check. There's a
very extensive qualifying process. It takesabout five months. We visit all the
locations, we learn about the needsof each agency, so it's it's a
very involved process and it just takesWe take so much pride in helping so
(23:17):
many organizations throughout the Chicago Land area. Well, that's one thing that I
found amazing when I joined the clubis I learned so much about these nonprofits
here. You know, I feltlike I was a kind of store of
nonprofits in the Chicagoland area from thisradio program and that kind of stuff.
But this is actually next level.Like it go, y'all, go out
there, you go meet, yousee the need, and then you see
(23:38):
you learn more about their mission.So it's really incredible. Yeah, we're
really really thankful. This is oneof three fundraising events throughout the year,
so we look forward to starting itwith the hat luncheon. Oh that's amazing.
Okay, So where do people gettickets? Tickets are available on the
Service Club's website, the Service Clubof Chicago dot org, and I will
also have it up on my socialthing. Thank you so much, Danny.
(24:00):
Where do people find out more aboutyou? You said, Michigan Avenue,
tell us more sure. We're locatedat nine hundred North Michigan Avenue on
the corner of Michigan and Delaware.We've been there for twenty five years,
so if you haven't seen us,you should definitely stop by well, especially
on the seventh, because tickets areavailable and it goes back to a great
cause. Thank you both so muchfor coming on. Thank you, Thank
you. Leave it to you,Whitney bring in looking at an organizations and
(24:23):
fashion. It just all comes togetherwith you. Yes, you know,
it is one of those seasons thatthere is so much going on. I
can feel the vibrance of the city. I am so pumped about being in
our spring season of The Whitney ReynoldsShow because it is one of those seasons
where I'm like, you see ourgrowth, just as the flowers are budding
in the yards and everything's coming tolife in Chicagoland. You actually see our
(24:45):
new studio in this season. Youalso see these longer form interviews. So
I'm so happy that we were ableto launch two weeks ago and we're currently
on so you can watch us onAmazon Prime or the PBS app. I'd
be honest, it's always springtime whenyou're around, and even in January,
Waitning Reynolds, The Reynolds Show.We look forward to it and thank you.
Keep inspiring. Got it, DoctorAdkisson? How are you? I'm
(25:08):
good? How are you so good? Wait? I can't believe you're on
the phone with me and you're notout playing with the giraffes. It's a
sunny day, it's tempting to beout there. Oh, I know,
tell me about real quick. Howdoes so every year this happens. They're
inside the whole winter and then theycome out. Yeah, so they always
are very excited in the spring whenthe weather finally gets back up to a
(25:30):
temperature they're comfortable at They love gettingback outside. And I don't know where
I've been. I didn't realize wecould feed the giraffes. Well, I
mean the food that you could givethem. So when did we do that?
Yeah? So we have a giraffefeeding opportunity that runs starting April twenty
ninth through September feeding opportunities between tenfifteen in the morning and three o'clock in
(25:52):
the afternoon. Get the chance toget up close see the giraffes, talk
with the animal care specialists that takecare of them, and feed them a
nice big leaf of romaine lettuce.I was going to ask, what do
we get and again, don't goto the zoo and feed your own food.
Okay, remember the animal this issupervised. So we're gonna be feeding
a salad. Basically, they're havinga romaine salad basically. Yeah. So
(26:15):
they eat a variety of different feedmaterials, mostly hey and some specially formulated
pellets, but they also love thelettuce and are very eager to take that
from our guests that are part ofthe experience is that every day, every
day tents, it is every day, Yeah, ten fifteen to three o'clock,
fifteen dollars per feeding. So Ihave to ask you, doctor,
(26:37):
I've become obsessed. I know alot of people have. After we've watched
the birth of many little baby giraffesonline. This has been a thing at
many many zoos. Are we havingany baby soon at Brookfield's? What's going
on and over there with that.Yeah, So we don't have any pregnant
drafts at the moment. We've gotfour animals right now, but we are
looking to increase the draft herd sizehere in the years ahead, so hopefully
(27:00):
it won't be too long before wehave a new little one on the ground
here. I don't know what Iwould do twenty four seven, For what
felt like four hundred days, Iwas pregnant with that draft, waiting for
it to get earth at all theseother zoos. So okay, and tell
us real quick over at Brookfield too. I know you have a new primate
habitat. What's going on with that? When will that be finished? So
(27:21):
we are just getting into the groundwith this new project this spring. This
will be new outdoor habitats for ourgorillas orangutans and some of our monkeys.
Two acres worth a habitat space forthese animals. So it'll be a huge
addition to the zoo. Targeted toopen in spring of twenty twenty five.
But we are so excited about it. And I know you have a lot
(27:41):
of little baby animals. I knowyou have a brand new like critically endangered
addics calf that was just born,correct, Yes, absolute little cutie.
What's an addics calf? Like?What is it? What other animal will
that look like? Yeah? So, addicts are kind of a medium sized,
hooved animal, sort of in betweena goat and a cow and ms
aside with the big long, sortof spiraled horns that come up several feet
(28:04):
off the top of their head.Beautiful, beautiful animal, very endangered in
the wild. These are just absolutelyadorable. Oh, I can't wait to
see and all the other animals.I know there's free days at the zoo.
What's the website to visit for allthe info see z S Chicago Zoological
Society CCS dot org. CZS dotorg. All right, well listen,
(28:25):
put me on the nine one onelist if you find out we're having a
baby giraffe, because we'll do.And otherwise. I just wanted to let
everyone el there out. It's spring, check out the giraffs and everything Brookfield
Zoo has to offer. And thankyou so much doctor for caring and loving
these animals like we all do.Thank you so much, Thank you so
much, and thank you for listeningto the weekly show here and iHeartRadio.
(28:47):
We do this every single weekend andwe love hearing from you, all of
you who are making differences in ourcity and our suburbs. We place this
show and all the other episodes upon our podcast page. Just search on
our free iHeart radio app up searchfor the weekly show. Thank you so
much. We'll talk to you againnext weekend. Stay safe, Chicago,
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