It was nearly three years ago when an autistic teenager walked out of his Long Island City school, minus a single witness, and became the subject of the biggest and most intense city-wide search in recent memory.
The ending of Avonte Oquendo was met with massive empathy as his body was found far away near the East River. But it also generated series of inquiries summarized by the question, How did this happen? How can this be corrected?
The silver lining out of this may be the creation of a 1,000 scholarship in Avonte’s name, for the 2016 fall semester, by Perciman Firm, P.I. I.C– the representatives of the Oquendo family during the ordeal.
The scholarship will be open to students in the United States who have been diagnosed with autism or have a close family member that is diagnosed as such. The firm website explained why.
“We want this opportunity to be open to all students equally, especially those who have autism and often face obstacles.”
This award which honors Avonte whose life ended at the tender age of 14 was first awarded last year to Peter Despres, one out of 118 possibles.
