Autism Connections
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    • Home
    • About Us
    • Programs
    • Resources
    • The Harris LaCosta Award
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Family Membership
    • Merch
    • Meet Our Staff
    • Superhero Fun-Run/Walk
    • Spares & Strikes
    • Drive-By-Santa
    • Art is a Spectrum Gallery
    • Adult Services Tour
    • Contact Us
    • Virtual Resource Guide
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Programs
  • Resources
  • The Harris LaCosta Award
  • Donate
  • Volunteer
  • Family Membership
  • Merch
  • Meet Our Staff
  • Superhero Fun-Run/Walk
  • Spares & Strikes
  • Drive-By-Santa
  • Art is a Spectrum Gallery
  • Adult Services Tour
  • Contact Us
  • Virtual Resource Guide

What is the award?

The Harris LaCosta Merit Award was created to increase awareness of the achievements of persons on the autism spectrum.  


Autism Connections recognizes that individuals who receive a diagnosis of autism face many challenges not faced by individuals who do not have an autism diagnosis.  We also know that diagnosis is not destiny. Individuals on the spectrum have demonstrated exceptional achievements in almost every walk of life.  There are many examples of autistic individuals who have achievements well beyond what we see among the general population (e.g., winning gold medals at the World Special Olympics; becoming a world leader in the climate activist community).   Sometimes achievements may not be exceptional by general population standards, but the achievements show incredible personal growth and development (e.g., an individual who has very limited communications skills as a child but over the years becomes fluent in both speech and written word; an exceptionally shy child goes on to become a comedian). 


Many of these individuals go unrecognized or receive limited recognition.  We believe it is important for the public to understand what persons on the autism spectrum can do with adequate supports.  In addition to the celebration of the personal achievements of the recipient, this award will include a prize of $500.


Nominations: 

Nomination applications may be submitted at any time during the year. Those received by October 31st will be considered for an award to be announced at the Annual General Meeting of Autism Connections (usually held in January).  A committee will be appointed annually by the Board of Directors to make the selection.  While the recipient will be announced at the annual AGM, a presentation will be made at a reception at a later date. 


The award will be given to a person who best meets the selection criteria set out below. 

 

• A person diagnosed with autism who lives in the province of New Brunswick.


• The person nominated will be at least 16 years of age.


• The nominee has demonstrated exceptional and/or consistent achievements.


• Specific achievements must be clearly documented in the application.  


• These achievements may be in any area, but the areas of achievement typically could include academics, arts, athletics, business, entertainment, literature, music, and social enterprises.


ACF Board members or their family members are not eligible during their term of office.

Individuals will not be considered if they have received an award within the last five years. 


If you know a person living in New Brunswick who may qualify and you wish to submit a nomination for consideration for this award, please complete the online application, or complete a paper copy and submit it to us in person or by e-mail to: admin@autismconnections.ca with the title Harris LaCosta Award Application. 

Selection Criteria

 

Selection Committee:

The Board of Directors will appoint a selection committee annually. The committee can be made up of Board members and other individuals from the community. Typically the committee should be composed of at least one Board member, at least one autistic adult, and at least one parent.  The Committee should have a maximum of 6 members.  No person on the selection committee can nominate or serve as a reference for any of the candidates for that year. The committee members will review all applications received prior to October 31st.  They will have November and December available for their deliberations. Once they have selected a candidate, they should prepare a brief citation explaining the rationale for choosing the candidate.  They will then forward the name, details, and citation to the Board Chair and the Executive Director.  The Chair of the Board will advise the Harris-LaCosta Group of their candidate. 

The award will be given to a person who best meets the selection criteria set out below.  As well the Committee members may wish to consider some of the following panel guidelines listed below.


Selection Criteria:

•  A person diagnosed with autism who lives in the province of New Brunswick.


•  The person nominated will be at least 16 years of age.


•  The nominee has demonstrated exceptional and/or consistent achievements.


•  Specific achievements must be clearly documented in the application.

  

•  These achievements may be in any area, but the areas of achievement typically could include academics, arts, athletics, business, entertainment, literature, music, and social enterprises. 


ACF Board members and their family are not eligible during their term of office.

Individuals will not be considered if they have received this award within the last five years.  


Additional Selection Guidelines:

The nominee must demonstrate at least one of the following three criteria:


• The person has demonstrated consistent achievements over an extended period of time, (e.g., 5 years) such as acquiring a high degree of verbal fluency, musical talent, success in an athletic competition, high degree of artistic creativity, etc.).


• The person has demonstrated exceptional achievement in a relatively short space of time (e.g., rescues a person; completes an exceptional work of art).


 •  The individual demonstrates unusual creativity or talent in a specific field.


In addition,  the nominee must demonstrate:

• The person has demonstrated exceptional achievement in a relatively short space of time (e.g., rescues a person; completes an exceptional work of art)

• Excellent references – especially those that are able to list detailed examples of achievements.  

 This annual award is generously funded annually by the Harris LaCosta Advisory Group.  This advisory group is part of CIBC Wood Gundy and CIBC Private Wealth which has over 1000 advisors in 80 locations across the country. They provide clients with premium financial services and investment advice that spans across global markets.  

About The Harris LaCosta Advisory Group

Jeff Harris

Nicole Flemming

Jeff Harris

BA, CIM, Senior Wealth Advisor, Portfolio Manager, Branch Manager

Dan LaCosta

Nicole Flemming

Jeff Harris

MBA, Investment Advisor

Nicole Flemming

Nicole Flemming

Nicole Flemming

Financial Associate

Privacy Policy

 AUTISM CONNECTIONS PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Autism Connections Fredericton inc. collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users of the ACF website. Users may visit our website anonymously.  We will collect personal identification information from users only if they voluntarily submit such information to us.  Users may be asked for, as appropriate, name, email address, mailing address, phone number.  Users can always refuse to supply personal information, except that it may prevent them from engaging in certain site related activities. 

Personal identification information

We may request and collect personal identification information from users in a variety of ways including when users visit or register our site, place an order, fill out a membership or registration form, and/or in connection with other activities, services, features or resources we make available on our site.

Non-personal identification information

We may collect non-personal information about users when they interact with our Site. Non-personal information may be used to gather statistical information related to the site (e.g., number of user visits to the site or pages within the site).

Web browser cookies

Our site may use "cookies" to enhance user experience. User's web browser places cookies on their hard drive for record-keeping purposes and sometimes to track information about them. The user may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert them when cookies are being sent. If they do so, note that some parts of the site may not function properly.

How we use collected information

Autism Connections may collect and use personal information provided by users only for the following purposes:

  1. To offer member services (e.g., membership applications and renewal, processing payments, enrolling in events or registering for continuing education when offered).
  2. To improve our Site (e.g., requesting member feedback to improve the website functioning and content)
  3. To send periodic e-mails (e.g.,  use the e-mail address to send information and updates pertaining to membership renewal, ACF education opportunities, and upcoming events) 

How we protect your information

We adopt appropriate data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction of your personal information, username, password, transaction information and data stored on our Site.

Sharing your personal information

We do not sell, trade, or rent user personal identification information to others. We may share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personal identification information regarding visitors and users with our members or national chapter for the purposes outlined above.

Changes to this privacy policy

Autism Connections Fredericton may at times update this privacy policy. When this occurs, a notification will be posted on the main page of our Site. We encourage users to frequently check this page to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this privacy policy periodically and become aware of modifications.

Your acceptance of these terms

By using this Site, you signify your acceptance of this policy and as any changes made over time. This policy was created and adapted from http://www.PrivacyPolicies.com.

Contacting us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, or your interaction with this site, please contact us at admin@autismconnections.ca


This document was last updated on January 30th, 2024

Copyright © 2025 Autism Connections - All Rights Reserved.

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