WAXHAW, N.C. — A Waxhaw family was frustrated after insurance wouldn’t cover crucial therapies for their son who has autism, so they started the nonprofit Autism Strong to help other families in the Charlotte area facing the same fight. In just a few short years, their impact is being felt by families just like their own.
Landon Thoms was just 18 months old when his mom, Becky, remembers feeling like she lost a piece of him.
"He was just sitting there lost in a world," she said. "Like, 'Landon, where are you?'"
Doctors told the family Landon has autism.
"It was very devastating as a mom," Becky said. "I thought, 'What did I do wrong? Did I cause this?'"
Her husband, Rudy Thoms, had similar thoughts.
"It's challenging as a father," Rudy Thoms said. "You have visions of what your son is going to do — play sports, do this, teach them about girls — and when it's not that journey, it's tough. You have to realize you’re not going on a journey, you’re going on a different journey."
A big part of that journey: A unique therapy that almost immediately brought a big piece of Landon back. It’s called Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. Becky Thoms said it helped her son immensely, with one change highly noticeable.
"Eye contact, 'cause we lost it completely and we thought he was deaf," Becky Thoms said. "When he started the ABA therapy, he started to look at us again, to notice us again."
They say it was a game-changer.
"He is nonverbal, but through ABA, we’ve been able to use pictures, and now, looking at using a device for other types of communication with us," Becky Thoms explained.
With so much progress, Becky Thoms said they were stunned to get an unsettling call from their insurance company.
"About a year into it, insurance told us they weren’t going to cover it anymore and that rocked our world," she recalled. "How are we going to afford this therapy? It can cost up to $60,000 a year? It was crushing. We know this is what he needs and we can't afford it."
It took a year of fighting to get medical insurance coverage back. That time also got them thinking.
"A lot of times you question, 'Why me? Why our son?''' Rudy Thoms recalled. "And, as this nonprofit has taken shape, there's a reason why we're using Landon’s story to help other families."
In Autism Strong's first year, the nonprofit raised $8,000. In 2023, it raised more than $1.4 million. In the years since launching, it has raised more than $3.2 million.
"It's what life is about: being able to help other people and give back," Rudy Thoms said.
So far, the Thomses have helped more than 600 local families pay for much-needed therapies.
"It's everything. It's why we exist," Rudy Thoms said. "Knowing you can help a family that’s struggling [between] having to choose to pay the power bill this month or do I get my child therapy -- that’s a decision you don’t want any family to have to make."
One of the big ways they raise this money is with their annual HopeStrong gala, which is happening Friday night at Le Meridien in Charlotte at 5 p.m.
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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