Sunday, August 30, 2009

Seminar: How to Keep Your Child Safe and Talk to Law Enforcement Officers

The Autism Society of Collin County presents: "How to Keep Your Child Safe and Talk to Law Enforcement Officers" this Tuesday, September 1st, at St Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano at 7:00pm.

Officer Matt Miller of the Wylie Police Department and the Police Academy at Collin College will show a short video produced by Dennis Debbaudt: http://www.autismriskmanagement.com/

He will also give safety tips and address how police officers are trained to handle individuals with special needs.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

"A Dose of Controversy": NBC to Air Story on Thoughtful House and Andrew Wakefield

This weekend NBC will air a story on The Thoughtful House (of Austin, TX) and the autism-vaccine controversy titled "A Dose of Controversy." Matt Lauer will interview Dr. Andrew Wakefield and other doctors and therapists at the Thoughtful House, as well as journalist Brian Deer and Dr. Paul Offit (author of Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure).

You can read The Thoughtful House's statement regarding the segment on its website, which lists the broadcast schedule as follows:
Friday – The Today Show
Sat/Sun - NBC Nightly News
Sun 7PM EST – Dateline NBC

I know there are many DFW families that support Dr. Wakefield and the Thoughtful House, and even visit the Thoughtful House for services. There are also those in our community who doubt the autism-vaccine link and distrust the biomedical movement. No matter which side of the controversy you are on--or if you are unsure--this should be a very interesting program.




Saturday, August 15, 2009

Free Workshop: “The ARD Process: Admission, Review, and Dismissal Meeting”

free Parent

Education Workshops

presents

The ARD Process: Admission, Review, and Dismissal Meeting

with

Daphne Cunningham,

PATH Project Regional Coordinator

Thursday,August 27th, 2009

6:15pm to 8:15pm

at

Our Children’s House at Irving

3337 Stovall St. Irving 75061

(One mile south of the Irving Mall & 183/Airport Freeway, off Belt Line Road )

RSVP by calling

972-790-8505 x262

This Workshop focuses on the public school’s ARD process, from its most basic concept to more specific areas of importance.

Daphne will guide you every step of the way throughout this process, so that you’ll be best informed on what you need to know in order to enter the ARD meeting prepared, knowledgeable and confident, to insure that your child receives all appropriate andvavailable services through the public school system.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Allstate Foundation, Baylor/OCH Parent Education Workshops are open to the public, to parents & professionals, and are always at NO CHARGE!

A light dinner, along with snacks & beverages are served, at

NO CHARGE

Also, childcare during the Workshops is provided at

NO CHARGE. However, space is limited, so please RSVP early!

For more information, please contact OCH Social Worker, Mitch Hill at 972-790-8505 x262

Thursday, August 6, 2009

ABC's 20/20 this Friday: "Teen Locked in Autistic Body Finds Inner Voice"

This Friday, ABC's 20/20 will feature a story on a nonverbal autistic girl who, at the age of 11, was finally able to express herself through typing:

One day, three years ago, when Carly was 11, she was working with two of her therapists when she started to feel sick. Unable to communicate what she needed, she ran to a computer and began to type for the first time.

First she typed the word "H-U-R-T" and then "H-E-L-P" and then she threw up. Her therapists were shocked: They had never specifically taught her those words, and they wondered where she had learned them.

Carly's typing showed them that there was a lot more going on inside her head than they had thought. For the first time she was able to communicate independently. After nine years of intensive therapy, and not much to show for it, Carly was finally emerging out of her silent, secret world.


You can read her story on ABC News website here, and watch the segment on 2/20 Friday 9pm CST.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

IACC Soliciting Input for the Next Update of the Strategic Plan

Request for Information (RFI): Updating the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research:

On behalf of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), the Nation Institute of Mental Health is seeking comments to inform the annual update of the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research, as required by the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-416).

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input from ASD stakeholders to inform the next update of the Strategic Plan. In the RFI form, there will be an opportunity to provide input on each section of the IACC Strategic Plan. Please include suggestions regarding missing or underrepresented knowledge areas, new opportunities needed for advancing research and knowledge about ASD, and suggestions for prioritizing research objectives.

The RFI will close on August 21, 2009.

Responses must be submitted electronically via the web-based form.

Background:

The IACC was established as a result of The Combating Autism Act. The act requires that the IACC develop a strategic plan for autism research and update the strategic plan annually. The IACC is composed of both Federal and public members. The first IACC Strategic Plan for ASD Research was developed through an extensive process engaging a wide range of Federal agencies and public stakeholders. The Strategic Plan is organized around six questions that are important for people with ASD and their families:

I. When should I be concerned?

II. How can I understand what is happening?

III. What caused this to happen and can this be prevented?

IV. Which treatments and interventions will help?

V. Where can I turn for services?

VI. What does the future hold?

Please Note: The responses that you provide will become part of the public record. You have the option of posting your responses anonymously or you may choose to have your name associated with your response. In your responses, please do not include personally identifiable information that you do not wish to make public.

For more information about the IACC, please visit www.iacc.hhs.gov.

Now follow the IACC on Twitter (www.twitter.com/IACC_Autism).

Contact Information:

Attention: RFI on Updating the Strategic Plan for ASD Research
Office of Autism Research Coordination
Office of the Director
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8235, MSC 9669
Bethesda, MD 20892-9669
Email:
iacc@mail.nih.gov