Announcing The Autism Community in Action

Dear TACA Members and Supporters,

I am excited to share with you the launch of our new name: The Autism Community in Action. The great news: we are still TACA! More great news: the new name better describes what we do.

As we launch into our 19^th year, I know what TACA does best. TACA helps families find solutions along the lifespan of their autism journey.

We originally created the TACA name because of our desire to help better the quality of life for our children (1.)  That desire has not changed. We are moving forward with a name that better describes what we do.

Here are some important points to know about our name change:

What will change? The name. The programs, volunteers, leadership and dedication will remain the same.

In this process we have also created a new mission and vision statements, as well as values that define our purpose. I am happy to share these with you.

Mission:  TACA provides education, support and hope to families living with autism.

Vision:  For every individual diagnosed with autism to lead an independent life.

Values:

Authentic:  We are honest, transparent and hold ourselves to the highest level of integrity.
Caring:  We care deeply about families living with autism.
Tough:  We help families overcome challenges and take action.
Informed: We believe knowledge is power and value families’ abilities to make informed decisions.
Optimistic:  We believe the future is not set and tomorrow is going to be better than today.
Never:  We will never give up!

These points will be in the training for all new board members, staff and volunteers and will be the basis of day to day efforts. They will also help us drive ACTION and share with the country our hopes and dreams for people living with autism.

Why change the name?  Our founding name was created at a time before there was an autism recovery story. The first recovery story became known a few years after we started TACA. The Autism Community in Action better describes what we do 365 days a year many hours each day. The words action and community have long been what TACA is all about and we are happy to now have these words be represented by our letters “T.A.C.A.” Moving the word “autism” to the forefront of our name is a move we hope leads more families to us.

We looked at more than 100 different possibilities.  When this name was shared (Thank you Dr. Fritz!) it just felt right.

With this name change, we still believe in what the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported on in 2013 and in autism recovery (2.) We also know not every family experiences recovery.  We will continue to be here for all families that need us.

What you can expect going forward?  More of the same with additional growth in several areas. We know with the rate of autism increasing we need to be here for even more families. We have been working hard to make sure our programs and services are scalable to meet those needs. After all, most of what we offer is still free. Where there is a fee, a scholarship is available.

I realize it will take a little time to get used to the new name. I expect sharing this name of the non-profit that helps your family will become easier and easier.  After all it better describes what we do! I look forward to having you as part of The Autism Community in Action!

Hope always,

Lisa Ackerman
TACA Co-founder & Executive Director

References:

1)      https://tacanowblog.com/2013/06/24/where-did-the-name-taca-come-from/

2)      https://tacanowblog.com/2014/06/09/recovery-from-autism/

For more information on our name change please see: https://tacanow.org/news/