About us:
Jigsaw Project Founders
Dave and Sue Skiles
Grandparents of Luke McCarthy who has autism.
Luke's Place
Jim Auman, President
Pam Auman, Executive Director
Jim and Pam are parents of 2 teenagers with autism. Jim has shared his love of baseball by coaching Challenger Baseball (division for special needs kids) for over 10 years. He has been the League President and the Challenger Director at Long Beach Plaza Little League and the District 38 Challenger Administrator. Jim has also coached soccer in the TOPS soccer program through Long Beach Youth Soccer Association. Pam earned a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Psychology and currently works part time for Long Beach Unified School district as a special education instructional aide in order to spend more time caring for her autistic children. She went back to college and earned her degree to be a licensed Speech and Language Pathology Assistant.
“As parents of two autistic children, we understand the many challenges that parents face. Our children were born in 1995 and 1997, during that time services were hard to get and we struggled to find help and support. We have found that the best way to learn about programs or how to handle tough situations is to talk with other parents who have been there. Our mission for Luke’s place is to be a place where kids with autism want to come, enjoy nature and have fun while giving parents friendships, support and respite. Family and friends have helped us along the way and we want to share our insights with the many families affected by autism. The opportunity to help create this camp has been a blessing for our family and we hope it will be for the families that come.” Jim and Pam
Jigsaw Project Founders
Dave and Sue Skiles
Grandparents of Luke McCarthy who has autism.
Luke's Place
Jim Auman, President
Pam Auman, Executive Director
Jim and Pam are parents of 2 teenagers with autism. Jim has shared his love of baseball by coaching Challenger Baseball (division for special needs kids) for over 10 years. He has been the League President and the Challenger Director at Long Beach Plaza Little League and the District 38 Challenger Administrator. Jim has also coached soccer in the TOPS soccer program through Long Beach Youth Soccer Association. Pam earned a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Psychology and currently works part time for Long Beach Unified School district as a special education instructional aide in order to spend more time caring for her autistic children. She went back to college and earned her degree to be a licensed Speech and Language Pathology Assistant.
“As parents of two autistic children, we understand the many challenges that parents face. Our children were born in 1995 and 1997, during that time services were hard to get and we struggled to find help and support. We have found that the best way to learn about programs or how to handle tough situations is to talk with other parents who have been there. Our mission for Luke’s place is to be a place where kids with autism want to come, enjoy nature and have fun while giving parents friendships, support and respite. Family and friends have helped us along the way and we want to share our insights with the many families affected by autism. The opportunity to help create this camp has been a blessing for our family and we hope it will be for the families that come.” Jim and Pam
Luke
