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Welcome to Forum.

I'm Mina Kim.

We take a closer look this hour at efforts to help address the high rate of suicide among autistic kids and teens.

And if anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, resources include calling 988 or texting the word home to 741-741.

It was only after their son Anthony died by suicide in May of 2024 that his parents, Neil and Samara Tricarico, learned about the specific risks facing autistic kids and how the warning signs can look different from non-autistic teens that attentive parents can miss. Now the

Tricarikos are determined to help others understand that missing peace through a nonprofit they found

it called the Endurant Movement. And Neil and Samarro join me now. Thank you both for joining us.

Really appreciate it, Neil. Thank you, Mina. Thank you for having us. Yeah, and welcome to you,

Samara. Thank you. I'd love to hear more about Anthony to start. He just sounded so oriented

toward helping others.

Anthony really was. He was a bright life in everyone's life that he had the opportunity connect with, especially his friends, was just caring, giving, often, or always putting

others' needs before his own.

Yeah, I understand Samara, that Anthony did have a large friend group, but he worked hard to mask his autism.

Yeah, I mean, he really, I would say, studied and became an expert in sort of social behavior, so much so that, you know, he presented in such a way, like, everything was great and going really well and almost that, you know, he was disguising his autism.

Many of his friends had no idea just because he really leaned into and understood sort of what were these societal norms and what was expected and presented in that way.

Yeah, he was diagnosed at seven, is that right? Yeah. And all the interventions you were

able to provide for him, at what point did he say that he actually didn't want those services any longer?

Yeah, I mean, he went to a Montessori school, which is a charter school, and so they

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