Real Housewife of New Jersey, Jacqueline Laurita, lent her hand to raise over $17,000 for autism at her event Sparkle Speaks with Suburban Speech Center of Short Hills participating. 

"I was very impressed that over 400 people attended," the founder of the Short Hills speech center, Dr. Nancy Polow, said. "It shows the importance of events like this to raise money for such a worthwhile cause."

The event was held at the Brownstone in Paterson on Sept. 20. Caroline Manzo, Laurita's sister-in-law and fellow New Jersey Housewife, also attended. 

The staff the Suburban Speech attended the event to raise awareness of an early diagnosis and treatment when a child is autistic.

Laurita, whose son was recently diagnosed with autism, hosted the event. She spoke to the sold-out crowd about how 1 in 88 children are on the autistic spectrum, Polow said. 

The Sparkle Speaks benefit raised money with $100 tickets and a tricky-tray for Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization. 

"Our Center wanted to support Jacqueline and the Autism Speaks organization," Polow said. "Jacqueline is bringing awareness and hope to parents of children with Autism."

The Suburban Speech Center moved to 748 Morris Turnpike in Short Hills 14 years ago to expand from its first office in South Orange. It currently has 12 licensed speech-language pathologists providing therapy to young children with autism spectrum disorder.