Autism Awareness A Family Cause For Greiss

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, but for goaltender Thomas Greiss, bringing awareness is a year-round endeavor and one that hits close to home.
Greiss wears an autism awareness sticker on the back of his mask for his niece, who is on the autism spectrum.
"It's a family cause," Greiss said. "She's a great kid. It's great to be able to help out or raise a little bit of awareness and work with those kids."

The sticker has been on the back of his mask dating back to his days in Pittsburgh, but Greiss dedicated his entire mask to the cause for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Puzzle pieces dotted the helmet, both a tribute to the pieced-together nature of Team Europe, as well as a call for autism awareness.

Autism Awareness also resonates with Thomas Hickey, who volunteers his time with the Long Island Blues special hockey team - a hockey program for kids with special needs, including players autism.
Hickey hosts Blues players and their families at Islanders home games throughout the season. They take in the game and get a tour of the Islanders locker room with the Isles defenseman. Hickey also drops by to help coach at LI Blues clinics and camps and has been joined by Greiss in the past.
"They're a great organization," Hickey said. "The kids love hockey and I'm proud to be a part of it. They are so enthusiastic and so into hockey and it's pretty special to see people like that come together and find a common goal in hockey. Everyone loves it."

The Islanders already hosted an Autism Awareness night last Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but April is World Autism Month, so there are plenty of ways to get involved.
"These kids especially, you can call it a disability, but there's something special about them," Hickey said. "They have certain ways of doing things and every kid is different. Just the enthusiasm and the focus and being around hockey is something they love."
Click here to learn more about World Autism Month
.
Click here to learn more about the Long Island Blues
and
American Special Hockey
.
Instagram from @thomasgreiss1: "Our experiences are all unique. Regardless, I do believe that it is important to find the beautiful. Recognize that there is bad, there is ugly, there is disrespect, there is ignorance and there are meltdowns. Those things are inevitable. But there is also good." #autismawareness