The Gray Center News

Visit our office to speak with our staff or peruse our bookstore or resource library. Please check our online calendar for a listing of our summer hours. Click here to access our GRAY CENTER CALENDAR. (If you would like to arrange to visit at another time, please contact annmary@thegraycenter.org or call 616-954-9747. If you wish to return library materials when our office is closed, you may use the box located outside our office door).

LOCATION: 4123 Embassy Dr. SE, Kentwood, MI  49546

We’ve added several NEW resources to our ONLINE STORE! Click here to shop. You can also download our order form to be printed here.
If you have benefited fromThe Gray Center's programs and resources, we encourage you to show your support by making a tax-deductible donation! Click here to donate safely and quickly online.
Do you ever SHOP ONLINE? Now your purchases can benefit The Gray Center! Join at NO COST at www.iGive.com/graycenter, and up to 25% of your purchases will go directly to The Gray Center to enable us to provide information and support to those affected by ASD! (Don't forget to log on through that page whenever you do your online shopping!) First-time purchases (made within the first 45 days after registering) through this program enable The Gray Center to receive an additional $5.00!

 

Help The Gray Center
The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that one in 166 people are now being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

There are numerous organizations focusing on ASD. Some are researching a cause. Others are hoping to find a “cure.” Still more are providing helpful therapy or resources needed to meet the various sensory, motor skills, diet, and communication needs faced by individuals with ASD.

The Gray Center has a unique focus. We believe that “Social” is a two-way street. Although individuals with ASD are characterized by differences in their abilities in the areas of “social understanding” and “social communication,” their differences would not be noticeable if we did not impose social and communication demands on them. We as parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, therapists, social workers, peers, and employers, are both “part of the problem,” and “part of the solution.”

Thus, the mission of The Gray Center is to promote mutual social understanding between individuals with ASD and those who interact with them. This mission is supported in the following ways:

  • Office staff and volunteers, who provide information and support by phone, e-mail, and in our office, and assist in the development and management of programming;

    • Networks providing parents, grandparents, individuals with ASD, and service providers with opportunities to gain information, and for personal, community, and Gray Center support
    • A growing web site (you're here!): a valuable resource for visitors throughout the world;
    • An annual conference and frequent workshops, providing practical information, applications, and new research results;
    • An expanded selection of applicable resources available for purchase from our web site and bookstore;
    • The development of new resources

  • Your contributions, whether through financial support, the gift of autism-related materials for our new resource library, or through acts of service that you are doing to promote social understanding, are greatly appreciated. The Gray Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization; all donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate now.

Your involvement is an encouragement to us as we continue to promote mutual social understanding.

Thank you for partnering with us!

Do you ever SHOP ONLINE? Now your purchases can benefit The Gray Center! Join at NO COST at www.iGive.com/graycenter, and up to 25% of your purchases will go directly to The Gray Center to enable us to provide information and support to those affected by ASD!

You can also shop through this link: http://www.shopforcharityday.com/shopping.asp?sorgid=182001 to have online sales benefit The Gray Center.

*Note: The Gray Center is often in need of the following items (which can be delivered to our office or mailed to us--or consider sending us a gift certificate that can be used at a local office supply or grocery other store):

  • Books for our resource library (new or gently used)
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Paper products (facial tissues, copy paper, paper towels, paper plates, etc.)
  • Snacks for network meetings
  • Coffee, juice, soda, bottled water
  • Crayons, markers, dry erase boards, chart paper
  • Volunteer or employment opportunities for members of our Young Adult Network
  • Volunteer hours to benefit The Gray Center:
    • Help with marketing
    • Help with fundraising/grant-writing
    • Teach skills to children/young adults
      • sewing
      • budgeting
      • woodworking
      • stamping
      • Others
    • Do you sell on e-bay? Could you sell items for us, or teach some of our young adults how to do that?
    • We are looking for mentors for our young adults. Contact christy@thegraycenter.org for more information.

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