Mary Kate’s Mission: The Nicholson Family’s Promise to Bring Autism Awareness

For more than two decades, Keith and Kellie Nicholson have called London their home. Both originally from Manchester, they settled in London to raise their family—two daughters, Josie, now 20, and Mary Kate, age 9, along with their honorary daughter, Gracie, who recently returned from Mexico.

Keith is the owner and operator JBN Sales, a contracting firm in the community, while Kellie is a stay-at-home mom and office manager for their company.

Over the years, the Nicholson Family’s journey has been marked by love, resilience, and a shared commitment to helping others.

As their family grew, so did the challenges they faced together, especially when it came to understanding and supporting Mary Kate’s unique needs.

Concerns grew around Mary Kate’s second birthday, and at a checkup, the pediatrician confirmed Keith and Kellie’s suspicions that Mary Kate might be autistic.

“She wasn’t talking like other kids her age,” Kellie recalls. “She wouldn’t answer to her name. She had very little eye contact. If she wanted something, she would take your hand and lead you to whatever it was that she wanted.”

The diagnosis came at age four, a moment that, as Kellie says, left both parents devastated, as any parent would be.

“You don't know what the future's going to hold,” Kellie said. “When you have a typical child, they get to a certain age they and they get married, start their own families. But when you're dealing with autism, you really don't know what the future is going to hold. She may one day be able to live on her own, and then she may not so. It's just a flood of emotions.”

Mary Kate began speech and occupational therapy at 18 months, attending sessions twice a week for years. She also participated in the First Steps program and received private, in-home support and was enrolled in preschool at age 4, something Mary Kate’s doctor recommended. Early intervention coupled with lots of faith and prayers, Kellie believes, made all the difference.

“She went from having no words and not being able to express her needs to her vocabulary exploding, and for that we are forever grateful,” Kellie said. “It’s like the best feeling in the world—it’s wonderful.”  

Today, Mary Kate is in the second grade, she also continues to go to speech and occupational therapy once a week.

As Mary Kate grew, so did her interests—hippotherapy sessions with horses, singing, cooking, swimming, going to church, and enjoying the outdoors. But her needs also highlighted gaps in community awareness and resources, especially for first responders who might encounter autistic children or adults.

“When you have a child with autism, you worry more about their future than you do with a typical child,” Kellie said. “If an accident happened and something happened to me or Keith and we were not able to speak for her, we needed some way for the first responders to know that she's autistic.

“Mary Kate also has no fear of danger and can’t be left unsupervised. There’s also concerns of an elopement risk with autism. If something ever happened, and in the event we were incapacitated and unable to speak on her behalf, first responders and police officers would have no way of knowing she was autistic and the risk with that.”

In February 2022, the Nicholson family founded Mary Kate’s Mission, becoming an official 501(c) non-profit by July.

Their aim was to ensure that first responders and police officers in Laurel County were equipped with the knowledge and resources to better serve autistic individuals. The organization has distributed Mary Kate’s Mission bags—filled with fidget toys, weighted blankets, noise-canceling headphones, and stickers—at community events and to local agencies.

“All the flashing lights, all the sirens, the noise could overstimulate an autistic person and can cause them to have a meltdown. And sometimes an autistic person might try to hurt themselves or try to hurt other people, so we just tried to find things that could help the first responders if they come upon someone who is autistic, like headphones to block out the noise.”

Mary Kate’s Mission has also donated speech tablets, which bring a voice to nonverbal children across the community.

Kellie said all the local safety departments have agreed this was a much-needed resource for their first responders, as the response from first responders has been overwhelmingly positive. Greater awareness means a greater chance that autistic actions aren’t misunderstood in the chaos of emergencies.

“When a child or adult on the autism spectrum is overstimulated with lights, sirens, and chaos, their actions can be misconstrued. The more awareness we can spread the better,” Kellie said. “We just want to continue to raise autism awareness. Until you have a loved one on the autism spectrum, you never fully understand it.”

Through Mary Kate’s journey, the Nicholsons have channeled their challenges into a mission that serves not only their daughter but countless others. With the support of Keith, Kellie, and their entire family, Mary Kate’s Mission continues to grow—bringing compassion, understanding, and vital resources to Laurel County and beyond.