25 Years of Care and Compassion With Pathfinders for Autism

Maryland organization looks back at beginnings and ahead to goals of expanding services in its 25th anniversary year

By Katie Schubert

When a group of parents founded Pathfinders for Autism in early 2000 as a place to share resources related to autism spectrum disorder, things were very different.

“We had a modest website,” says Rebecca Rienzi, Pathfinders’ longtime executive director. “A lot of stuff was sent through snail mail.”

Now, Pathfinders is “serving 20,000 people across the state [of Maryland] every year,” Rienzi says.

Information about autism is increasingly available. At the founding of Pathfinders 25 years ago, that simply wasn’t the case. Parents of children on the autism spectrum didn’t have a good source of specialized information that was easily accessible and easy to understand.

“The internet was not what it is today,” Rienzi says. Parents “were finding it hard to get just general information,” she continues.

And it’s even more needed now. According to the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, though rates were still the lowest among other studied sites when the most recent data was released in 2023, Maryland’s autism diagnosis rates are on the rise—with 1 in 43 children diagnosed compared with 1 in 49 in 2018.

Finding a Path Forward

Before Pathfinders’ official incorporation in 2000, parents like Orioles Hall of Famer BJ Surhoff and his wife, Polly, and several other families with children on the autism spectrum used to meet to trade ideas, share resources and support one another. “We wanted to try and help others who were going through what we were going through and trying to figure it out,” BJ Surhoff says.

Starting with a small resource center in 2000, the goal in the beginning was to make resources more easily obtainable to parents. “So, for example, you get a diagnosis with your child, you call us and we help you try to navigate where you need to go,” he says. “If you talk to people going through it, one of the things that helps is knowing that they’re not alone.”

Rienzi, who joined Pathfinders as the director of community partnerships in 2007, took on her current role in 2010. “The idea was to create a resource center that parents and carers could call and find any information,” she says. That information “could be about therapy, that could be about pediatricians, it could be about where to get a haircut, finding someone who does haircuts that’s aware and sensitive to the sensory challenges.”

Focusing on the Future

A quarter of a century later, the people at Pathfinders are proud of the work they’ve done and eager to look forward to what they can do next. Rienzi and her team have their eyes fixed firmly on the future to see how else they can best serve the community. “We did a survey of our clients that we serve, and basically, the information we got back is that people love the programs we’re doing: the recreational programs, which give families a chance to get a judgement-free opportunity to visit an aquarium or a ballpark or a garden … to get social and reduce isolation,” Rienzi says.

Pathfinders is determined to build on those successes by expanding programming beyond central Maryland. While there are some services provided statewide, and anyone can access necessary information on the Pathfinders website from anywhere in the world, Rienzi envisions having more Pathfinders resources outside of Anne Arundel and Harford counties.

To get those new programs off the ground, Pathfinders aims to raise $1.8 million during this anniversary year with its Community Connector Campaign. This additional money will help “bring more grassroots-level services to all the regions and hire people that are living in those regions,” Rienzi says. Pathfinders wants to find people “who know that community really, really well and are connected in that community.”

All of Pathfinders’ programming is provided to its clients at no cost. “We’re constantly trying to raise money,” BJ Surhoff says. “The more money you raise, the more you can do. The more money you have, the more you can reach out.”

In addition to providing indirect services to Maryland families, Pathfinders also provides training to people who may encounter members of the community on the autism spectrum, including first responders.

With the next 25 years in mind, BJ Surhoff is focused on increasing acceptance and understanding of people with autism spectrum disorder. “Maybe if you understand a little bit more about what they’re going through or what they’re doing … possibly you’ll be a little more aware and empathetic and understanding,” he says. “In short, we’re just trying to continue to create awareness and have people understand and help families improve their lives as best they can.”