“I chose Emerge because it offers individualized education for all the students, and they focus on small classroom sizes so that each student gets exactly what they need,” said Theresa Lawson, current president of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at the Emerge School for Autism. Loft is the mother of Maci, an Emerge first grader. When Theresa and her husband enrolled their child at Emerge, Theresa knew that being part of the PTO will allow her to make a difference in the lives of children like Maci. She wanted to create an atmosphere where parents feel supported, and that includes creating events such as Fall Fest in which parents can see the growth in their students, as well as monthly play dates that can bring the community together. When Theresa found out Maci had autism, the first thing she did was to search online on ways she can help support Maci throughout life. Theresa credits a quote from the website Father in Autism by changing her thinking, “You have the exact same child before you found out she had autism.” For Theresa, Maci will be Maci, and she will still be the child she brought into this world. The Emerge School for Autism uses a combination of therapeutic support with specialized education for those students who have special educational needs. They create a child's individualized education plan based on their needs and include speech, occupational and applied behavior analysis from The Emerge Center. Theresa wants more families to know about the opportunity at Emerge, and that all you have to do is apply. She explained “It is the best experience if you have a child with special needs. You get to work with the same people, and you will see the growth in your child.”