Byram Hills Senior Taps Into Experience to Create 5K for Autism
who is autistic. Reese has created the Armonk for Autism 5K, which will have its inaugural running this Sunday, and will donate all proceeds to the Byram Hills Special Services Department.
Reese Tateo has had a wealth of firsthand experience in helping someone with autism.
Tateo’s younger brother Morgan was found to be autistic when he was a young child. When she reached middle school and her mother went back to work full-time, her parents needed her to make sure she was home after school to take Morgan off the school bus and look after him.
So it’s fitting that Tateo, whose father is an avid runner, has organized the inaugural Armonk for Autism 5K that will be held this Sunday morning in Armonk.
“I just thought it was such a good idea to get all these people together for this cause,” she said.
The race, which steps off at 8:45 a.m. at 111 Bedford Rd. near Wampus Brook Park and Elide Plaza, follows a route onto McDonald Avenue, Wampus Avenue, School Street, Route 128, Leisure Farm Road and Cox Avenue. It then reverses direction at the midway point and heads back to the starting line.
Tateo, a senior this year at Byram Hills High School, said the race’s proceeds will benefit her school district’s special education programs but also help the public understand autism a little better.
“So the race has two purposes – to raise money for the (district’s) department of special education and it’s also to spread awareness,” Tateo said. “If you see somebody acting differently, it’s not like they’re lower than you or something, but that’s the way they are. They’re different.”
Tateo put all of the elements of the event together – establishing Armonk for Autism as a nonprofit organization, contacting the Town of North Castle to set up the logistics and a route, reaching out to Superintendent of Schools Jen Lamia and creating the race’s website. She hopes it will be an annual event even after she heads off to college next year.
Her parents, Elena and Danny, said they have been immensely proud of Reese for many years. While some children may have bristled at the need to watch their younger sibling, especially since caring for Morgan, who is now in seventh grade, hasn’t just been about being home but required very close attention, Reese never complained, her father said.
That was true even after it forced her to relinquish participation in extracurricular activities or sports or hanging out with her friends. She also couldn’t use the afterschool hours to do much studying.
Danny Tateo said Reese would rise every school day at 4:15 a.m. to complete her homework before heading off to class.
“We admire her, we both do, because she had every right to be bitter and resentful,” he said.
But that’s not how Reese saw things. She said she always had a very close relationship with her brother and they have regularly played together from the time both were quite young.
In fact, Reese said she would sometimes help Morgan with schoolwork that was at a higher level than what he was learning in class.
“It didn’t teach me patience but it gave me patience, which has definitely helped me out at school tutoring or being a (teacher’s assistant) for a computer science class,” said Reese, an honors student who is currently going through the college search process. “When they don’t understand something, I think back to when I helped my brother and (when) he really didn’t get something.”
Her mother, Elena, said while there may have some reservations at the start about entrusting the afterschool care of their son to Reese, they quickly saw that she was more effective than most adults.
“She’s the best at it but, of course, it was a lot of responsibility for her,” Elena said.
Runners can register online at www.armonkforautisum.org for $35 in advance or $40 for same-day sign-up. There will be small cash prizes for the first three male and female finishers. A Kids Dash for children four to 14 years old will be held at 8:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.armonkforautism.org.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/