All About ASCI: Helping Area Families Impacted by Autism

The month of April that you are requesting is a very special month for Autism and their families as it is National Autism month.  Local ASCI Board members Barry Tobias and Mary Pelich will give us some insights regarding autism and how families cope with the challenges it presents.

Barry Tobias is one of the newest members of the Rotary Club of Springfield.  He has worked for Cisco Systems for 21 years and is currently the Senior Acct Manager heading up the State of Illinois team in the Public Sector. He had previously worked at ROLM Telecommunications for 17 ½ years in both engineering and sales roles.  He also owns a local real-estate company called Leisure Concepts Property Solutions which invests in Springfield and the surrounding areas.

Barry has been an active member of our community serving on a number of boards including as Chair of the American Diabetes Association and is currently a board member of the Autism Support of Central Illinois.  Barry is married to wife Shaun and they live in Sherman with their two children Alec 10 and Ashley 35, and their grandson Taylor who is 15.

Mary Pelich-Kelly has spent years "living with autism" as the parent of a young teen diagnosed with autism.  Her professional experience includes working in the career office of a local community college where she worked with neurodiverse and nontraditional students as well as work for The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP).  Currently, she provides autism sensitivity training, education and consultation for Illinois librarians, through her work with the Targeting Autism grant project.  She also works with grant partners Dominican University and Syracuse University to deliver in-person Train-the-Trainer workshops as well as autism content for online librarian education.  Mary is also active in statewide and local community engagement, serving on the board of directors for The Arc of Illinois, the state’s largest advocacy organization for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, and serving as President of Autism Support of Central Illinois, a local non-profit that provides supports, resources, education, grants and sensory-friendly programming for families in the central region of the state.

Mary is the mother of four children: Mike age 23, Ignatius (Iggy) age 18, Philomena (Nina) age 17 and Gerard age 15, a freshman in high school with a diagnosis of Asperger's.  She is married to Michael and the four kids keep both of them very busy.