Nine-year-old Maddox Yates-Benter will kick off Autism Awareness Month by ringing a gong at BD's Mongolian Grill in Naperville.

Maddox, who has autism, and his dads, Joey Benter and Patrick Dalton, often visit BD's from their Sandwich home to eat and ring the gong there. When Maddox visited last year and the restaurant was unexpectedly closed, restaurant CEO Gregg Majewski eased the disappointment by gifting them a trip to Disney World in Florida.

Maddox will ring the gong at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the restaurant, 221 S Washington St. The family will share their tale during a news conference, and an expert from the Organization for Autism Research will speak.