Morgan Weissman, a junior at Jericho High School, got involved as a volunteer with Camp Kehilla last summer. The camp is run by Sid Jacobsen J.C.C. in Roslyn as a beneficiary agency of U.J.A. Federation and shares the 450-acre facilities with nearly 2,000 campers from other J.C.C. and Y.M.H.A. camps. It is the only comprehensive summer camp in Nassau, Suffolk or Queens for children with attention deficit disorder and other minimal learning disabilities or speech and language delays.

For Weissman, this experience helped her realize what she wanted to do in life as she really enjoyed the experience of working with children with disabilities, especially autism. She now works on Friday afternoons at the Y in Roslyn and plans to be a special education teacher.

Weissman learned that there was a walk for autism scheduled and worked with chemistry teacher Theone Rinaudo and fellow student Lindsay Schnitt to organize a group of students and teachers from Jericho to participate in the walk. Weissman has already collected approximately $1,400 on her own and the donations are still coming in.

The seventh annual Long Island Walk for Autism Research is Sunday, Oct. 22 at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and the walk begins at 11 a.m.

The walk is being held by Autism Speaks and the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR). The two organizations recently combined operations, bringing together two of the leading organizations dedicated to accelerating and funding biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism spectrum disorders; to increasing awareness of the nation's fastest growing developmental disorder; and to advocating for the needs of affected families. To learn more about Autism Speaks and the walk, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.

To make a donation by check or money order, please make payable to Autism Speaks and mail to Autism Speaks Walk for Autism Research, 99 Wall Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.