The Display 
Dedicated to Our Sons
Brandon and Stephen
That Sums Up Our Thoughts Nicely
Our two boys, Brandon (born in 1996) and Stephen (born in 2003), were both diagnosed with Autism at age 2. They have received many benefits from early
diagnosis and associated therapy. Both of our boys are considered "mild" on the Autism spectrum, but they have significantly different issues and challenges.
Brandon's issues are mainly due to anger (behavioral), while we are working very hard with Stephen to increase his language skills. Stephen has a very pleasant
disposition, and doesn't seem nearly as prone to the severe tantrums that Brandon has had over the years. Along with his behavioral issues, Brandon can be very
abusive verbally and physically when he doesn't get his way. It's one day at a time with Brandon.
2008 has been a very difficult year for Brandon, and at times his behavior has been a central issue for our family. We have sought out extensive help this
year from his teachers, doctors, and therapists, and have had some success (as well as many difficult moments). Brandon is currently receiving special therapy
and counseling to help him deal with his anger. We are committed to getting him all the help that he needs to function, both academically and socially.
We definitely have our hands full dealing with both of our boys and their various issues. While it would be very easy to let all of these issues get us down,
Ann and I try to maintain a positive attitude (admittedly not easy at times). We are committed to investigating whatever services, therapies, and activities we can
find that can provide benefits for our boys.
During the Christmas season in 2005, Brandon suddenly got very interested in all the lights and decorations in our neighborhood. For the first time that year,
we were able to drive around and look at other Holiday displays without the usual tantrums and other behavioral issues that had previously caused us to cut our outings short.
Even though we've developed a feel over the years for which activities will be "okay" and which ones can potentially cause a tantrum or
unexpected anger, Brandon's behavior can be quite unpredictable at times. When we saw that he was very interested in other Christmas Light displays, we got
the idea that maybe we could catch his interest by building our own outdoor Christmas display and it could be something that Dad and Brandon could work on together!
Brandon was very enthusiastic about the idea, so we decided to jump in with both feet after Christmas in 2005. We started early and worked all year in 2006
to create our first large scale Christmas lighting display from scratch.
Our first effort debuted in Christmas 2006 and was a huge success. We had a great time planning, purchasing, building, and installing all of the pieces
of the display. We were featured by local TV station KFMB that year with a live broadcast on the 5pm news and we were also interviewed by the local newspaper
for an inspirational story that ran on Christmas Eve day in 2006 (see the Links page). In addition, we also received many nice comments from the folks that
came to see the display last year. But the main thing for us was that Brandon LOVED the display. We made a special connection that year, and were determined
to keep the momentum going.
In 2007, we added more home-built decorations to the display and also added more songs and announcements as well.
We had more TV coverage (including CNN Headline News - see Links page), and collected many positive comments in our display guestbook. Brandon's interest was
shifting from the actual lighting display to the "behind the scenes" equipment that it took to run the display. We focused much of our spare time working together
in the garage on various items for the display. Autism or not, how many parents can say that their 11 year-old has the skills to program lighting effects via computer
or test lighting samples and prototypes? Our display has now become a tradition for our family as well as the community. Even when outside doing yardwork during the year,
most people walking by have nice things to say about the previous display. "We can't wait until next year" is the common theme. We want to publically thank everyone
for their support. For our 2008 display, we're stepping up the complexity and fun factor by adding more decorations and lights. This is your personal invitation to stop
by and pay us a visit when we get the display up and running this year. It is going to be a fantastic holiday at Belardo Lights!!!
There are lots of challenges raising two boys with Autism. For every good day, there seem to be plenty of challenging days. Fortunately, we have received a lot of help
and support from our families, and the various teachers, doctors, and therapists that we see for the boys. Brandon in particular has always had a great time with Dad when we're
planning, building, installing, testing, or otherwise puttering around with the Christmas Display. It usually puts him in a good mood because of his love for all things electric,
gives him peace, and provides a purpose or goal that we can both look forward to throughout the year.
We've had so much fun that we're now committed to keeping the Christmas Lighting tradition alive! Brandon wants to work on it all the time.
Not a day goes by that we don't have some sort of activity or at least conversations revolving around "The Display." It's brought us closer together, which is a good thing. Even Stephen
loves to spend time in the garage with all the construction activities going on throughout the year. So, in the end, The Display has become a way for us to make memories for our boys.
And for us, that is what it's all about.
We hope you have enjoyed our story and now understand how inspirational the Christmas Light display is for our family. Thank you for coming to our website! We
really hope you will be able to stop by and see our Belardo Lights display during the upcoming Holiday season...We'll have a guestbook placed by the mailbox if you'd like to write us
a note about the display or a special message for Brandon and Stephen. There's also an electronic version of the Guestbook on this website.
As the fortune cookie says so well above, "You can fix it with a little extra energy and a positive attitude." We believe that, and we invite you and your family
to stop by and check out the 2008 Belardo Lights display. We'd like to help build lifetime memories for your family as well...Dream Big!
Sincerely, Randy, Ann, Brandon, and Stephen Schimka
rschimka (at) san.rr.com
