May 2013 – Mar Vista Mom

Meet David Sharif, Teenager, Mar Vista Resident, Star of a Viral Video on Youtube about Autism called My Name Is David, and Autism Awareness Advocate. David wrote a speech about being autistic for his Bar Mitzvah project a few years ago, and has performed the speech all over, to crowds of students and adults, in an effort to raise awareness about Autism. The organization Autism Speaks loved his speech so much, they had it made into a claymation video by Matt Manning, one of the creators of the claymation hit series Robot Chicken. It was a huge thrill for David to be a part of it (even though he told me he's never seen Robot Chicken), and also to be honored for his work at the premiere screening when he was presented with the figure model of himself that was actually used in the movie. The other reason it was so thrilling was that he got to meet both Matt Asner, Executive Director of Autism Speaks in Southern California, and his Father Ed Asner, who stars in one of David's favorite films: Up. David's goal of raising awareness about autism got a big boost from the exposure the Youtube video has received. As of the publication date, the video has been viewed over 622,700 times. With David's 16th birthday approaching on May 28th, he and his family are hoping to get to 1 Million by that symbolic date, so take a moment and please help spread autism awareness by watching his video. And then check out the video interview I did with him and his adoring Mom.