Becky Galli & Polly Surhoff on 25 Years of Autism Impact

Rich & Wendy 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning ten this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we shared laughs, tears and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next ten years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios. Harford County Living presents conversations with Rich Bennett. 

Today, I'm going to get kind. 

No, no, no. The truth is. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
Today on Conversations with Rich Bennett. I'm honored to welcome two incredible guests who have dedicated their lives to making a difference in the autism community. Polly, Wendy, Sarah Hall, an internationally recognized swimmer and co-founder of Pathfinders for Autism, has spent decades advocating for families navigating the challenges of autism. Joining her is Peggy Kelley, a prolific author and columnist whose journey of resilience led her to co-found Pathfinders for Autism alongside Polly as Pathfinders for Autism, marks its 25th anniversary. We're diving into their mission, the impact they've made in the ambitious new Community Connector campaign. How are you doing, ladies? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 1:45
You're doing great. Thanks for having us. 

Rich Bennett 1:47
Oh, my pleasure. I when I started this podcast ten years ago, one of the first people I wanted to get on was you guys. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 1:57
I love. 

Rich Bennett 1:57
Or anybody from Pathfinders for autism. And we always we love to talk about different things on here and raise awareness of things. I love talking to nonprofits especially. And one of my co-host actually has kids, actually to Micah, who's I believe have kids that have autism. We have to talk more about this and raise awareness because. Well, it's important, first of all. But I think and you guys can hit on this later, but I think a lot of things have changed throughout the years, if I'm not mistaken. I think people with autism are accepted more. I believe. And as far as the research goes, a lot more has happened, I I'm hoping so. But you two are the experts on that. So what inspired you both to actually co-found Pathfinders for Autism? Oh, 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 2:56
Do you want to start or you want me to start? You start. Okay. So, Mason. Ah, we have B.J. and I have four children. Our second born son was born with autism, and he was diagnosed at 2.2. So two years. Two months. And we went through a lot of navigating, trying to find what to do with him and how to best serve somebody on the autism spectrum developmentally. At two and a half years of age, two, three years old. I found the therapy that worked for Mason, and when we moved to Baltimore, Mason was in a inclusion situation at an elementary school near where we lived. And in his backpack I put a note and the note was asking the parents in this class to come to my home and learn about the therapy that had been successful for Mason. And you couldn't really you had to find out about it through a friend, which we've talked about in the past. 

Rich Bennett 3:56
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 3:56
And all the parents in Mason's class came to my home and learned about this therapy, started it, and one of them was Becky. And she implemented it with Madison, and it was successful with her as well. And finding out that there had to be other parents in in Maryland that needed some information. So from that, we used with other parents, we started Pathfinders for autism. 

Rich Bennett 4:26
And that was 25 years ago. And Mason at the time was you said two point wow. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 4:31
This interaction with the the flyer. Mason and Madison are now 32 years old. And so they were two five when we met. 

Rich Bennett 4:43
Mm hmm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 4:44
So this this interaction happened a little bit more than 25 years ago 

Rich Bennett 4:49
Okay. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 4:49
with the evolution of pathfinders. Starting was 25 years ago. So I remember it well because Maddison brought home this it was a yellow flyer in her Barney backpack and and BJ was playing ball and alongside Cal Ripken 

Rich Bennett 5:09
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 5:09
it. Right time. And my my daughter Brittany was a huge fan. She was older six. I had four children as well. Matthew Madison was my third child. And so when she came home with this this flyer to go to B.J. Sirleaf's house, I'm like. 

And by the way, maybe we'll learn something or get better. Yeah, but the truth is, we were desperate. 

Rich Bennett 5:39
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 5:39
Was nonverbal at that time. She was five years old. I'd had her in every kind of therapy that was available traditionally. Will there be a specialized school? Specialized speech therapy I'd learned about through my doctor. But then we get this flyer about something different. I'd never heard of from Polly. And so we went to the that session, met other family members or. And and other parents in that classroom, learned about this therapy, started using it with Madison, and she began to speak and. 

Rich Bennett 6:16
While. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 6:17
She live. She learned, you know, her name, her address, her phone number, her colors, her shapes, all because of this bold move of this lady to share what she'd learned. And. 

Rich Bennett 6:31
Wow. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 6:32
We've got to do that. We've got to share what we learn. And in 1997, this is 1997. The Internet was just becoming around. There wasn't a Google, there wasn't social 

Rich Bennett 6:44
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 6:44
media, it wasn't a way to really learn. So we said we got to put an organization together to share what we've learned. And that's how we started. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:54
And so 25 years ago. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 6:58
Yes, we incorporated in 2000. 

Rich Bennett 7:01
And correct me if I'm wrong, but 

Mason's on the board, right? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:07
Mason. 

Rich Bennett 7:08
Yeah. Is 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:08
Now 

Rich Bennett 7:08
he? He's not. I thought 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:09
he works 

Rich Bennett 7:09
you. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:10
for Pathfinders. He does volunteer work. He does data entry. 

Rich Bennett 7:13
Oh, sure. Okay, so he's part of the staff. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:16
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 7:17
a fine. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:17
He's a volunteer at Pathfinders. He works there once a week. 

Rich Bennett 7:20
Okay. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:21
He works for Neil and Trish on the reserve side of Pathfinders. 

Rich Bennett 7:26
What about Madison? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:28
Madison is still very limited, although we had many of the same services, you know, she can't read or write or ever be left alone. 

Rich Bennett 7:40
Mm hmm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:40
And since my paralysis a lung also in 1997, I've had to get a specialized care for her. And now she's thriving in a group home with a day program at a local. I get to 

Rich Bennett 7:59
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 7:59
see her whenever I want to, And and I think that's really about what it you know, what we're about is it's a spectrum disorder that needs a spectrum of services. And so we're here to make sure that that happens for the population, no matter how they're impacted. 

Rich Bennett 8:19
Have you guys seen the organization evolve over the past 25 years? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 8:23
Oh, my 

Rich Bennett 8:23
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 8:23
gosh. I would have never imagined this in my home where this would have taken us. I mean, we're the largest organized state organization in the state of Maryland serving people with autism and their families. But, you know, the programs are so diverse. We train on first I mean, first responders. We have free family, fun events. 

Rich Bennett 8:44
Oh, 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 8:45
It's just so much information out there to give. And everything we do is for free. 

Rich Bennett 8:52
right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 8:52
So I had a text message from a really good friend whose daughter I mean, whose son is on the autism spectrum, same age as Jonny and Madison. She works local hospital. One of our our trainers from Pathfinders was training the staff over at this hospital. And I got a text because my friend was in the training and she said, What a great job. You know, they're doing training. The nurses, the frontline know EMTs, police. And then, you know, in the next minute you have we have 800 some odd people come to the Science Center for free with their children on the autism spectrum. So it's just grown so exponentially. And, you know, we could sit here and tell you the numbers, but they're changing every day. 

Rich Bennett 9:41
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 9:42
And who we serve is just so diverse. It's not only people on the autism spectrum in their families, but people who interact with our individuals on the autism 

Rich Bennett 9:52
Which is important. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 9:53
spectrum. Very important. Very important. 

Rich Bennett 9:56
So with pathfinders for autism, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys are still strictly in Maryland, right? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 10:04
Yes, we are. Our bases in Maryland is a statewide organization, 

Rich Bennett 10:08
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 10:09
but we do have a huge, very helpful website that people from all over the world can access. So we'll never refuse a call from any. 

Rich Bennett 10:18
No. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 10:19
Ah, but our services are actually provided in Maryland. 

Rich Bennett 10:23
Do you know if there's any other organizations like you guys anywhere else in the States or in the world or for that matter? All 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 10:32
We're not quite sure. I know there's there's organizations that provide information, resources, you know, whether they're training first responders and doing all of the amount of the broadness of our services as well as activities. And I'm not quite sure. 

Rich Bennett 10:52
Actually, I tell everybody why it's so important to train the first responders, 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 10:57
You can elaborate on that. Well, if you don't mind. Well, the first responder. Yeah. So the the that's where we call the rubber meets the road, you know, where you get a a a legal professional, an authority, someone in, in, in charge here that is at a traffic stop stopping someone that might have autism and to train them on they might not be able to process information or process a conversation as quickly as as someone else might. And one of the the trainings we give is is the ping pong ball training where you've got the answer to a question in a jar of ping pong balls. And when you ask the question, you've got to wait and search for the answer out of the ping pong balls and to give them a sense of that's how long processing takes for a lot of the people on on the autism spectrum to to to grab that answer. 

Rich Bennett 12:04
right? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 12:04
And so to be more it's not that they're being disrespectful. It's not that they don't understand the question. It just takes a moment for them to process what they hear and think through how to best answer. And when we train the emergency room folks, it's like your next patient has autism. Are you ready? You know, that's that's the the lead question and perhaps people can respond written but not be able to talk. 

Rich Bennett 12:35
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 12:36
Then the option of another way to communicate. So those kinds of things just heighten their awareness and give them some other tools for interaction besides the traditional way that you would talk. 

Rich Bennett 12:50
Do you guys actually offer workshops and everything as well? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 12:53
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 12:54
You do. Okay. So when you mentioned, especially with the emergency room thing, now I'm thinking of businesses. Do businesses send employees to any of these workshops? Because I think it's very important for employees and business owners to be able to, you know, know how to communicate with somebody if autism or somebody wants to work there or somebody is working there for autism. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 13:21
Well, we provided the trainings in the hospital 

Rich Bennett 13:23
hmm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 13:24
to the law enforcement. And if businesses would like a training like that, absolutely we can create create one for those. And we're not even going into a restaurant. We've 

Rich Bennett 13:34
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 13:34
trained a staff in restaurants how to navigate taking an order from somebody that with delayed processing, somebody like Mason, for example, he he talks. But for him to tell him, tell a waiter or waitress what he wants for dinner off a menu, there's a delay. There's. 

Rich Bennett 13:55
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 13:56
Three, four, five minute, I mean, five second delay, and then he starts saying it. But if they say sorry, it starts back over again, like. 

Rich Bennett 14:04
Right? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 14:05
So there is a way there's a there's a cadence that is specific, just amazing. But if they're aware that the population is around, I mean, it really going back to the frequency of autism, it's it's not a matter of how many people have autism. It's 

Rich Bennett 14:23
Mm 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 14:23
just 

Rich Bennett 14:23
hmm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 14:23
a matter of how when are you going to meet them and 

Rich Bennett 14:26
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 14:26
what are you going to do? My biggest fear when it comes to the emergency is that I'm I'm by myself a lot with Mason in the car. 

Rich Bennett 14:37
Hmm. Hmm hmm hmm 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 14:37
Something were to happen to me in an accident and he was still 

awake and conscious. There's 

Rich Bennett 14:46
hmm. Hmm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 14:46
through this safety program at Pathfinders, we have placards on our cars that say Occupant with autism. And in the glove boxes, a full description of what Mason can tolerate and what he can't 

Rich Bennett 15:00
Hmm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 15:01
turn off the sirens. He can tolerate the lights, but he can't tolerate sirens. You got to speak to him clearly. This is his name. He has an ID bracelet, what his medications are. And that goes on and on and on. But to have that little piece of information for versus responder, if there's a chance that I'm left without able to help him. 

Rich Bennett 15:24
Yeah, I not get off subject here, but I play Santa professionally. And the one place we do it, we have a gentleman there that has autism. And this is something I've told others, senators, is that because, you know, we all like, have our own circle. Oh, but, you know, when you have people with autism, even dances or anything like that, you have to learn how to communicate with them. And I'll never forget this. The first year this young man came, he didn't want nothing to do with Santa. We had Frosty out front. He was happy to give frosty fist bumps. But he would not come up and talk to me. So I had to keep my distance. And then the following year he came a little bit closer. This year I got the fist bumps and everything, but it just 

it made me feel so good. And you have to have patience. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 16:24
That's exactly right. 

Rich Bennett 16:25
Yes. And I had to laugh because people are saying, Rich, you know, he's got autism. You just can't rush it. I said, I know, I know. I know how to deal with it. And that's I look forward to seeing him every year. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 16:41
You know that patience is so important. When when Madison was, we were trying to another thing that we we have trained in the past is dentists. 

Rich Bennett 16:51
Oh. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 16:51
How to get her comfortable going to the dentist. And so we had this dentist that wanted to work with us was extremely patient. And the first time we would go to the dentist office, all we did was go and sit in a chair. Madison sat in the chair and he just he got. And then the next time we came in, sat in a chair, open the mouth with the light in the mouth. Next time we came in, open the mouth light, and then he would count her teeth. Just count them. And then the next time he was able to clean them. And since we went through that graduated process. She didn't mind going to the dentist at all. He didn't enforce anything. He didn't make it 

uncomfortable for her. He met her where she was at. That's so much about what we try to do is kind of level that field that you meet them where they are. 

Rich Bennett 17:49
There. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 17:50
And understand who they are. That's the awareness piece. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 17:56
Thanks, Peggy. I don't have any tissues next to me, 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 17:59
It's great. 

Rich Bennett 18:02
See, And I just love to hear the stories. You're listening in on the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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4404120. Speaking of stories, can you besides Madison or Macy, can you share a feel good story of somebody that you guys have helped or even a family and you have to use names? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 19:33
That we have personally helped or. 

Rich Bennett 19:35
Well, the organization. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 19:38
Oh, my gosh. 

Rich Bennett 19:39
I know there's there 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 19:40
I 

Rich Bennett 19:40
are several. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 19:41
guess mine is going to be I keep going back to is not a specific person, but we rent out or take over the aquarium for our families once a year and they come for free. And Mason and I. So that service of the free family fun events that's my like that's I really think those are important and Mason I went one year it was you know the ever popular wintry mix here in Baltimore. It was sleeting raining and snowing and the line out the aquarium waiting to get in. It went all the way around. Pass the light, I mean, the flagpole back down to the harbor. It was like and people were waiting, waiting to get in. They finally got in and Mason and I went in as well. And I'm just standing there thinking, the need is so great. These people, all they want to do is come to the aquarium with their children for free. But at the same time, in a sensory friendly situation, a place that normal kids could go any day of the week and be fine. But here and I'm standing there thinking, Oh, this is incredible how many people are coming in, The children are enjoying the time and and then there's one, you know, having a difficult time. But the other parents are like, it's okay. They'll come around any minute now. You know, that kind. 

Rich Bennett 21:08
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 21:09
Camaraderie of, for lack of better words. But the impact, like if that flyer hadn't happened, whether these people would be able to go to the aquarium or the science center or any of our free family fun events. So it's not really a particular person. But I do think the families that the moments of that like that and we've had a lot of feedback for that to just parents being relieved that they could kind of safely take somewhere their child somewhere if they had an upset, you know, everybody would be like, oh, well, you know, they're having a bad moment. It's not such like, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with your child? It's like that's just part part of their life with autism. Yeah. And they're very comfortable with that and creating that comfort area. It's it's a wonderful thing to feel like that You've been a part of that in some way. 

Rich Bennett 22:03
So throughout the 25 years, what milestones actually really stand out to you guys? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 22:13
Boy. Yeah. That's a lot of years. You know, just make. 25. 

Rich Bennett 22:19
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 22:20
We celebrated 20, unfortunately, during the pandemic. Type and we had the fundraiser. We did a amazing fundraiser then. 

Rich Bennett 22:30
During the pandemic. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 22:31
During the pandemic. We did an on on Gowalla and it was all Internet and live feeds and it was in my house. It was like. 

Rich Bennett 22:42
Oh, wow. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 22:43
PJ We jumped out of an airplane, 

Rich Bennett 22:46
What? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 22:47
I mean, on tape, but now it was silly. But, you know, we just. I guess, also implementing the safety portion of our of our platform. You know, that safety initiative is just huge and that has actually come up just at the same level as resources for pathfinders. It's just so important. 

Rich Bennett 23:11
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 23:12
We started out the art. Our claim to fame when we first started was you will have an actual person to talk to. That will pick up the phone and you can talk to this person. Nobody else had that. It was all research in libraries, because then when the Internet was 

Rich Bennett 23:32
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 23:32
not a real resource that you could talk to a person. It was it was huge. And then we were able to hire, you know, gradually more and more staff. And then we did the police training where we were out training police all over Maryland for that. And just and then the first responders. So there's been these waves of what other communities can we serve with. What our goal is, is to make people aware and make people aware, prepared to deal with those on the spectrum. 

Rich Bennett 24:09
So tell us about this Community Connector campaign. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 24:17
Oh, so we don't. So Becky and I, we know a lot about it, but we don't know everything about 

Rich Bennett 24:25
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 24:25
it. So we're expanding to various parts of Maryland, the Community Connector. So like western Maryland, all the way down to the ocean. We're going to try to have satellite 

areas, satellite offices 

Rich Bennett 24:41
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 24:41
where we can serve a broader population, broader amount of people in these areas, a way if not, we're not leaving Baltimore. 

Rich Bennett 24:51
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 24:52
But most of our resources and our the hotbed for pathfinders is right around the Baltimore metro area. We're going to try to expand out from the mountains to the sea. And it's in three particular areas. We focus on safety programs. So I can focus on community and we focus on resource. So those are the three areas that that will have expertise in currently. And we serve the state currently. We're just going to try to strengthen those and provide onsite 

staff to help with that. But it's a it's a rollout program, but we've got to gear up, raised a lot of money first. 

Rich Bennett 25:36
Well, actually, something very important, and I'm glad you said that, because usually I wait till the end, but I want to get it out now. Tell people how they can donate. donate. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 25:45
Well, we have a so is our 25th anniversary, which we've covered. And we have a specific website for the 25th anniversary. It's a 25 dot org. 

Rich Bennett 25:57
That's the number 25, not 25 spot out. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 26:00
Correct. PFA. 25. org and it'll direct them directly to our new website, our old website, our resource side. A regular website is still very much active, but this new PFA one has like the front page has a video of B.J. telling about our new campaign. And then on the about page, there's a video of Becky and I of how Pathfinder started. It has all our wonderful events that are going to be coming this year. A great way to donate just one click of a button and you get many choices of what to donate towards. So it's a it's a very, very rigorous website. It has our, you know, from where we started meaningful events for the last 24 years. I mean, 25 years. So. 

Rich Bennett 26:52
It's a good looking website. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 26:53
Yeah, it's really cool. 

Rich Bennett 26:54
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 26:55
And our new logo is even cooler. 

Rich Bennett 26:58
Minute. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 27:00
It's got a little path of merit. It's a path to possibility. That's what we're about. We are possibility driven. 

Rich Bennett 27:07
Wait a minute. That's a new logo. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 27:09
What would the 25. Yeah. And the. 

Rich Bennett 27:11
Oh. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 27:12
Swishy path. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 27:14
I always for some reason, I always thought that little path was there. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 27:18
Well, the path was there in the original logo. Our original 

Rich Bennett 27:22
Okay. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 27:22
logo was pretty rigorous. Yeah. A lot. Yeah. And then we've evolved through the years. We're a little retro there. We got to pay homage to the path. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 27:32
Okay, So besides donations, how can people of the community or communities help you guys help Pathfinders? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 27:43
Well, you know, donations are great, But also, if people want to have an event, you know, second, I forget what it's called something events, the events where like, let's say like a restaurant wants to have all the proceeds from that night go back to Pathfinder. We have a local restaurant here in Hunt Valley that's opening as restaurant for a full week, and all the proceeds go to two pathfinders doing two signature cocktails all summer. So, I mean, like the these smaller events keep the word going. And anybody that wants to do that, we're appreciative. There are some Ravens roost that do events for us. You know, there's a whole wide range of things people could do. 

Rich Bennett 28:34
You guys. From what I've seen throughout the years, you have a lot of love from the community. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 28:41
Well, we love the community like it's reciprocated. 

Rich Bennett 28:44
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 28:44
We feel the need. And when we supply the need, the information that we have, the community receives it and gives back to us. 

Rich Bennett 28:54
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 28:55
Not it doesn't have to be a financial thing. But you know, the are true and blue families that, like I keep going back to these free family fun events, but the ones that keep showing up are so appreciative. And when you feel that appreciation and you hear the positive responses, that's what keeps us going. 

Rich Bennett 29:15
Yeah. So how do you see? I'm sorry, Becky. Yeah, I see. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 29:18
I was just going to say we we also have volunteer opportunities as well. We have our our Pathfinders run, which is coming up in September at the zoo. At the zoo. And so that's 

a5k and a3k walk. And people 

Rich Bennett 29:39
Okay. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 29:39
can, you know, be a part of that, participate in that, volunteer at that. And also the golf event. Probably do some golf and pickleball volunteer events for that as well is participation. 

Rich Bennett 29:56
So you guys jumped on the pickleball wagon and now you have a pickleball tournament, 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:00
Ask 

Rich Bennett 30:00
right? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:00
her all about that. Well, I'm a great observer. Yeah. Yeah. So, P.J., we've had a golf tournament, I guess, 20 years now, which is pretty much runs. With a really nice committee. And then pickleball. We started pickleball two years ago and it's taken off. I have a great committee behind me and support with that and we do it on the same day as the golf tournament. So it's lot of people and a lot of energy. 

Rich Bennett 30:36
Do it at the same place. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:37
Yes. This. 

Rich Bennett 30:38
Oh, okay. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:39
This year it would home 

what may 19. 

Rich Bennett 30:44
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:46
Yeah. Look, we're. We're looking forward to it. 

Rich Bennett 30:48
And all that. All the events people can find is that's going to be 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:51
So 

Rich Bennett 30:51
on. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 30:52
that is not so. If you go on our Pathfinders website, go into events, you can find those. And then there's events specific to the 25th anniversary on the 2425 dot org website. And then I'm going to go back though, to our run. So our our run is is really well subscribed. But there in lies also that when families come to our run, they get free admission to the zoo. So it kind of parlays into our fee free family fun events. 

Rich Bennett 31:23
You listening? Don't worry. They don't let the cat the animals out to chase you to make you run faster. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 31:29
Well, they bring animal ambassadors out to our to show everybody. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 31:35
Really? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 31:36
You just can't bring your own animals in. We had to have people that have showed up with dogs and they've had to go home. 

Rich Bennett 31:41
Oh, you. Not be good. That would not be good at all. So how do you see autism awareness and advocacy change in the future? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 31:54
Mm. So that's a good she's going to probably elaborate better than I. But now autism awareness is now autism acceptance. And that acceptance. 

Rich Bennett 32:04
Oh. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 32:05
Becomes part of the awareness piece. So now everybody's saying autism acceptance, because if you're open minded, you're patient, you are willing to learn, then it's you're going to be able to accept this difference. Whereas it used to be awareness was just learning about it. It's. 

Rich Bennett 32:26
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 32:27
Is now you accepting it and. 

Rich Bennett 32:29
I love that. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 32:30
So that that is a new thing that's worldwide autism acceptance like April's Autism Acceptance Month. 

Rich Bennett 32:40
I didn't know that either. See, I told you I was going to learn some stuff from you, too. I love that. The autism acceptance because we've talked about this. If remember, I mentioned Down's syndrome. One of the things that I. The term disability I don't like. So we always now we say differing abilities because you can learn so much from anybody, I believe. But go ahead, Becky. You were going to elaborate on that. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:09
No, I think 

Rich Bennett 33:10
Oh. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:10
that's that's really what is is moving from awareness to acceptance was just 

Rich Bennett 33:15
Mhm. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:15
makes it again where the rubber meets the road these are you know yeah I'm aware of it but what does it mean when you meet somebody 

Rich Bennett 33:22
Right. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:23
and what does it mean to engage with somebody. What does it mean to participate in their life or have them participate in yours? What accommodations might you have to make? 

Rich Bennett 33:32
Mm hmm. So what are some of the next big hurdles to overcome that you guys see? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:37
For us personally 

Rich Bennett 33:38
Well. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:38
or Pathfinders. 

Rich Bennett 33:39
For Paris? No, not for you two for Pathfinders. I know what yours is. Polly. You just want to be able to win at the pickleball, right? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 33:50
Now I'm not winning anytime soon. Become. I'm I'm a fun player. I'm not a player. 

So I think for Pathfinders is just staying true to ourselves, but also expanding. And with the expansion of spreading out through the state of Maryland, got to raise money. You know that that holds true to every organization like ours. 

And we just hope to continue to serve our population the best we can. Amen. 

Rich Bennett 34:27
I like the way she adds to that. 

Okay. So probably my second to last question. If you could go back and give yourselves advice at the start of the journey, what would it be? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 34:42
Hold on. Mm hmm. You know, it was just so unexpected that it would would be that helpful. And last this long. And I just think we kept leaning into possibilities and. And trying to stay true to helping people. That's what Polly did to me. She shared what she learned. And I think that's we are becoming more knowledgeable as we expand throughout the state and we're going to share what we learn. We're going to share it in ways that it can be actionable, that we learn something, and what can we do to put that into action? 

Rich Bennett 35:22
That it would. So my last question for both of you. What's What's been the most rewarding part of your involvement with Pathfinders for autism? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 35:36
That's a I don't she's just the whole evolution of it. 

Rich Bennett 35:40
Yeah. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 35:40
Who would like. I'm going back again. Who would have thunk? Who would have thunk? We got from a flyer in a backpack going home and Barney backpack that we would grow to be this big, serving this. This many people, but also the awareness of and acceptance of autism has grown since Madison and Mason were diagnosed. 

Rich Bennett 36:04
Yes. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 36:04
I mean. Bad subject. But when Mason was first diagnosed, we were told to put him in an institution and forget about him. And, you know, that wasn't good enough for me. And the resources weren't there for me. So I had to find them peeled back the layers. So for it to come this far with the also the world accepting autism in the way it has and pathfinder's growing, I think that's just been so gratifying. And for me it was 

reassurance that I'm not alone. 

And to hear another parent share something and then see a community of other parents struggling to and to find something that that worked. And through each stage, I'm not alone with worrying about my child when they go to the dentist or when they get a haircut or when they're in an emergency room, then I'm not alone with that. And that we have this kind of repository of experiences through pathfinders that we can tap into. You know, we don't it's the person on the phone, but now it's on Facebook and social media and the Internet. And what we learn, we share, we turn it around. And for people with early diagnosis, you are not alone. You are not alone. 

Rich Bennett 37:28
Yeah. Is there anything either of you would like to add? 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 37:34
Just. 

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:38
Oh, no, no, no, no. Thank you. And the door's open Any time. You guys or anybody else from the organization wants to. Come on, it's open. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 37:49
I appreciate it. 

Rich Bennett 37:50
I want to definitely get the word out more. 

I just 

I learned so much from from. And it's the funny, the weird thing is a lot of times and I've noticed this throughout my 30 years of life. Yeah, right. Oh. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 38:12
Yeah, me too. No, I'm even more. 

Rich Bennett 38:18
I mean, there's a lot of times you could be standing next to somebody and not even know that they have autism. And And you which one of the things I always tell my kids, no matter what, you see somebody smile at them. And because you could basically I mean, you could make their day, first of all, but learn about everybody as well. And I just keep thinking of that young man. I cannot wait for Christmas again. To see him again and some other ones that I know of. I just I look forward 

seeing them all the time, you know, And even the one, you know, people of different abilities, period. I just because I learn so much from them. And also, I want to thank you both once again. And like you said, the door is open and those of you listening, make sure you go to PFA. Two five, dawg. That's PFA. Two five, dawg. Go ahead and donate. And if they need volunteers, volunteer because time is valuable to us. A lot of times time is more valuable than money. And look for the events coming up Pickleball baby. 

No swim competition. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 39:37
Now? No. 

Rich Bennett 39:39
I will stick it to pickleball. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 39:40
Yeah, we'll stick 

Rich Bennett 39:40
I 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 39:40
with pickleball 

Rich Bennett 39:41
think. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 39:42
and get more people to do that as opposed to swimming. 

Rich Bennett 39:45
Well, yeah, I can understand. Pickleball is growing is big time. I think it's becoming bigger than cornhole. 

Latest. 

Becky Galli & Polly Winde Surhoff 39:57
All right. Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 39:59
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoy today's episode and learn something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at conversations with Rich Bennett. Com for updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care. Be kind and keep the conversations going.