Community Corner

Andre Moore Puts Aside His Own Disability for His Children

The Milton resident wants to be the 'Jerry Lewis' of autism awareness.

Andre Moore of Milton puts aside his own disabilty to create awareness for the autism that affects two of his sons.

He's managed to get his son, Hayden, a sophomore at , personal visits to Gov. Nathan Deal in his offices and with former President Jimmy Carter at his presidential library. They and other Georgia celebrities have made sure Hayden gets plenty of mail at summer camp.

Moore's first success in helping the community came when he asked Hayden's teacher if she could do anything to help the children in the special needs programs, what would it be.

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Hayden's teacher said "we would love to have an adaptive playground for kids with special needs," Moore said.

Fulton County gave the school a grant to build just one swing.

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"I was disgusted," Moore said.

The adaptive playground would cost $17,000 to build, and the school had $1,000.

"It took me like about six or seven hours to raise about $10,000," Moore said.

He remembers the date, Sept. 10, 2001.

"We raised the money and we built that playground, which was going to take seven years to build completely," Moore said.

But that was just his first family inspiration. Back in high school in Grafton, Wisc., a boy named Dan Morgan's locker was next to his.

"He had MDA, he was a Jerry's kid, and he had trouble getting around," Moore said.

So the high school-aged Moore helped push his friend around to classes. They graduated in 1983.

"I actually pushed him to get his diploma, so I always had a soft spot in my heart for kids with disabilities," Moore said.

When he had his own sons, he had dreams of being their coach, being a former high school All American as a linebacker for his school's football team.

But his sons had autism.

"I always thought of Dan Morgan, and I said he was a good guy. He recently passed away, but he lived life to the fullest. And so now what I'm trying to do...yeah, my kids have disabilities, but I'm not just having them sit in the back of the classroom and color coloring books," he said.

Last Christmas Hayden was given the microphone by Mayor Joe Lockwood to just say "Merry Christmas everyone. That's only three words, but five years ago, his goal for the year was to say one three-word sentence

"Now we can't shut him up, he'll talk all day," Moore said with a laugh.

"When he met the governor, you would have thought he was the governor," Moore said.

What he's able to do for all the kids with autism is taking away the pain that comes with his own disability, ankylosing spondylitis, a long-term disease that causes inflammation of the joints between the spinal bones. His medications affect his immune system, so Atlanta Braves games are out. His doctor even said to go to church 10 minutes late to avoid the friendly handshakes.

On Sept. 17, Moore held the first Hayden's Walk for Autism Awareness in Milton.

"It's a good feeling to have a community behind us. I'm going to keep this up. Hey, Jerry Lewis had to start somewhere with MDA, and I'm going to be the Jerry Lewis of autism," Moore said.


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