Pathfinders for Autism's 25-year mission to support families, raise public awareness about ASD

By Tom Hall,

Published December 1, 2025 at 12:45 PM EST

Special Ed activists and PFA leaders team up under a Pathfinders for Autism tent at a recent Mock Traffic Stop event at Chesapeake College in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. (L-R): QA County Special Education Citizen Advisory Committee (SECAC) Co-Chair Donna Hathaway-Beck; QA County SECAC Co-Chair, Mandy Landon; Nikki Harris, PFA Program Director; Trish Kane, PFA Deputy Director, and Shelly McLaughlin, PFA Program Director — Special Ed activists and PFA leaders team up under a *Pathfinders for Autism* tent at a recent Mock Traffic Stop event at Chesapeake College in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. (L-R): QA County Special Education Citizen Advisory Committee (SECAC) Co-Chair Donna Hathaway-Beck; QA County SECAC Co-Chair, Mandy Landon; Nikki Harris, PFA Program Director; Trish Kane, PFA Deputy Director, and Shelly McLaughlin, PFA Program Director.

For twenty-five years, an organization started by a former star player for the Baltimore Orioles has been helping individuals with autism and their families.

BJ Surhoff played for the Os from 1996–2000 and again from 2003–2005. In 2000, with his wife, Polly, he founded Pathfinders for Autism.

Public perceptions of those with autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, have changed over the years, and so has the range of services that have been made available to people with autism and those who love them.

B.J. Surhoff serves as the president of the Pathfinders for Autism board. Rebecca Rienzi is the group's executive director.

They join Tom on Zoom…

(L-R) William "B.J." Surhoff, a Baltimore Orioles Hall-of-Famer, is co-founder and president of the Board of Directors of Pathfinders for Autism. Rebecca Rienzi is the group's executive director.

Pathfinders will hold a Mock Traffic Stop workshop with Baltimore County Police on December 3. For more information and to register for the free event, click here.