VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Surfers Healing returned to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront over the weekend, offering hundreds with autism the chance to ride the waves and cast their challenges aside.
It's the 16th time the Surfers Healing Foundation Team has visited Hampton Roads; bringing in locally-based and international surfers to share a surfboard with children and adults diagnosed with autism and ride in the waves.
“With autism specifically, it is an incredible therapeutic difference in behavior. The water is healing, the water calms your nerves down. Your heart rate goes down," said Izzy Paskowitz, a former competitive surfer from California, who founded Surfers Healing after his son, Isaiah, was diagnosed with autism.
The two-day event has been known to attract families and organizations not only from Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads, but outside the area too.
"I love that autism is celebrated," said Adrienne Elwell, who brought her 11-year-old son, Zach, from Centreville, VA. "They have this opportunity for our kids to just enjoy and forget about the things that limit them."
One of the main sponsors of Surfers Healing in Virginia Beach is the Autism Society of Tidewater, a local organization that offers support for children diagnosed with autism and their families.
"With a lot of typical activities, they sometimes get excluded from and we believe in including," said Sharon Russell, the organization's president. "This is an event where they can come out, be part of the community, enjoy the beach, enjoy the weather."
And it's an experience the organization wants to see come back year after year.
A 5k race held Saturday morning and hosted by the Autism Society raises some of the money required to bring Surfers Healing back the following year. Russell estimates around 180 people participated.
For more information about Surfers Healing and how to donate, click HERE.
