NORTH DAKOTA – The Jack B. Hefner Award from the North Carolina Council on Development Disabilities was awarded to Kurt Timothy Reid of Maiden, North Carolina. Reid started his passion for learning when he was part of a self contained classroom for children with learning disabilities when he entered kindergarten.
His teacher recognized his passion for learning and moved him into a mainstream classroom setting where he flourished. As he continued with his education he fell in love with the library While in High School he interned in the school library and won the Library Club Scholarship and the Library Award.
Reid continued onto college with an associate’s degree from Catawaba Valley Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University, and a master’s degree in library science from Appalachian State.
While in college he became active in the Autism Speaks chapter on campus. Using the knowledge of his life experiences he created and presented workshops on “Social skills for Teens with Autism“. Today Reid is working on a program called “SPOT: Special Populations Orientation Training” which will help library workers assist all people, especially those with different types of disabilities.
“Sometimes the best advocacy comes from just giving an individual with a disability an opportunity to create, present, work and so much more,” said Reid’s mother, Melanie Elrod.
Source: on the Hickory Record website: Names and Faces: Area man honored for advocacy of people with autism