On Hiatus

I apologize, I am working on a case that is about to go to trial in addition to school and taking care of the kiddo. So I haven't been updating and may not for a little while.

I am evaluating whether I will be able to keep this up. It is something I care about and want to do, but I don't have much time for it. If anyone is interested in contributing or even taking over, let me know.

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.

"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.

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

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.

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

Sensory-Friendly Films: "G-Force" this Saturday, August 1st

This Saturday, August 1st at 10am, 3 local AMC theatres will be showing Disney's "G-Force" as part of their "Sensory Friendly Films" program:

• AMC Stonebriar 24, Frisco, TX
• Parks at Arlington 18, Arlington, TX, and
• AMC Firewheel 18, Garland, TX

From autism-society.org:
In order to provide a more accepting and comfortable setting for this unique audience, the movie auditoriums will have their lights brought up and the sound turned down, families will be able to bring in their own gluten-free, casein-free snacks, and no previews or advertisements will be shown before the movie. Additionally, audience members are welcome to get up and dance, walk, shout or sing - in other words, AMC’s “Silence is Golden®” policy will not be enforced unless the safety of the audience is questioned.

Obama to Sign International Disabilities Rights Treaty

From the AP article:

Obama said he had instructed U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to sign the document next week, joining 140 other nations.

"It's the first new human rights convention of the 21st century," Obama said at the White House during an East Room celebration of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

The law protects people with mental or physical disabilities from discrimination in employment, education, housing, public transportation and other areas of life.

"This extraordinary treaty calls on all nations to guarantee rights likes those afforded under the ADA," Obama said. "It urges equal protection and equal benefit before the law for all citizens. It reaffirms the inherent dignity and worth and independence of all persons with disabilities worldwide."

You can read the UN treaty ("The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities") here.

Register Now for Michelle Garcia Winner Workshop: "Thinking About You, Thinking About Me"

Note that early registration ends on 8/3/09, so there is one week left to register at lower rates!

From the Autism Society of Collin County:

More often than not, how we “work and play with others” can have a huge impact on our lives, and this is particularly true for people with autism and related disabilities. From meeting and keeping friends, to interviewing and holding a job, effective one-on-one communication is critical for success.

The Autism Society of Collin County, in cooperation with Whole Foods, the Rubin Family Foundation, North Garland Vision and The Arc of Dallas, is excited to sponsor a social skills seminar featuring Michelle Garcia Winner!

Michelle is an internationally recognized expert on effective social interaction, and has trained school administrators, psychologists, parents, and government policy makers on the importance of social thinking. In 2008 she won a Congressional award as an innovator for using social learning as an effective treatment program for students.

Michelle’s day-long seminar “Thinking About You, Thinking About Me” will teach participants how our social minds work, and behaviors which affect other people’s emotions and responses. By understanding the three levels of social interaction and four steps to effective communication, participants will learn how to create IEP goals and benchmarks for improvement.

For information about Michelle Garcia Winner please see: http://www.socialthinking.com/

For online and mail registration please go to: http://www.arcdallas.org/workshop_reg.asp Click on the Michelle Garcia Winner Workshop link.

Workshop details:
Date: September 23rd, 2009
Time: 9:00am to 4:00pm
Place: Garland Special Events Center
Address:4999 Naaman Forest Blvd, Garland, TX, 75040

Early Registration (before August 3rd): Single $55, Couple $85

Registration (after August 3rd): Single: $70, Couple: $100

Playing with a Purpose: 'Final Fantasy' Marathon to Benefit Autism Organization

Gamers over at thespeedgamers.com are playing Final Fantasy I-XII to benefit autism treatment, with a goal of raising $20,000 for Act Today, a nonprofit organization that provides funding and support for families who can't afford treatment for autistic children.

You can check out a live feed on their website and even join in on a live chat. Most importantly, you can donate money there to support their efforts.

Who says gaming is a waste of time?

Research News Roundup

ScienceDaily.com: Asperger Syndrome, Autism, And Empathy: Study Links 27 Genes

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Study finds Ability to Consider Other People's Thoughts Grows After Age 6; May Have Implications for Children with Autism

San Fransisco Chronicle: Autism: It's the Environment, Not Just Doctors Diagnosing More Disease, Researchers Say

Autism as Academic Paradigm

I stumbled upon this very interesting and enlightening essay by Professor Tyler Cowen of George Mason University, titled "Autism as Academic Paradigm":

The relevance of the autism spectrum for higher education isn't just about particular individuals on the autistic spectrum. The very nature of higher education shows how much we, often without knowing it, hold up autistic cognitive profiles as a partial educational ideal. In "special needs" education, there is plenty of effort to teach the skills of the nonautistic to the autistic, but in the regular classroom we are often doing the opposite. I view higher (and lower) education as teaching people to be more autistic in many of their basic cognitive skills. Again, some key cognitive features of autism are the ability, and desire, to process lots of information across widely different scales, from tiny details to overarching structures; focus and the mental ordering of that information; a relatively high degree of scientific objectivity; and the presence of some highly specialized cognitive strengths, even if they are accompanied by some areas of poor performance. To an educator a lot of that list ought to sound pretty good.

Read the whole article and come back and comment here--I would love to hear your thoughts.

State News: Austin Autism Clinic Raided by Federal Authorities

CARE Clinics in Austin was raided by the FBI and IRS agents today. According to the Austin American-Statesman, agents are removing dozens of boxes of documents but won't say what they are looking for. The clinic has been closed, "perhaps permanently."

Tomorrow's ARD Planning Workshop: 60% Discount at the Door!

Tomorrow's "Successful ARD Planning Workshop": Now just $20.00 at the door (a 60% discount)!

*** BCBA, BCABA & Certificates of Attendance will be Offered ***

July 15, 2009

10:00- 2:00

Presented by:

Kecia Adams-Wright, M.Ed., BCBA, Clinical Director, DFWCFA
&
Jessie Whitesides, Program Director- Outreach, DFWCFA

Location:

FEAT-NT Community Resource Center & Library
7286 Glenview Dr. Richland Hills, TX 7180

Are Your IEP Goals Measurable???

This is a critical training for parents of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and professionals working in or with local school districts. This workshop will aid participants in understanding and navigating the planning process for school age children with autism. The training will also build the capacity of parents and professionals to write measurable IEP goals, appropriate FBAs and BIPs. ARD Meetings will also be discussed with emphasis on how to achieve progress in a diplomatic fashion.
www.dfwcenterforautism.org

NYT Interview with Autism Researcher: "The Stress of Autism"

In a NYTimes.com "Well Blog" post today, health blogger Tara Parker-Pope interviews the associate director of the University of Washington Autism Center, who recently conducted a study of mothers of children with developmental disabilities.

National News: Disability Groups Unite Behind Sotomayor Confirmation

DisabilityScoop.com:

In a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the organizations’ cited Sotomayor’s personal experience as an individual with diabetes and said her judicial record indicates “a good understanding of – and healthy respect for – the rights of persons with disabilities.”

Organizations that are part of the coalition supporting Sotomayor include the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Autism Society of America, the National Council on Independent Living, the National Disability Rights Network and the National Down Syndrome Society.

Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings begin today.

Autism Speaks Launches TV Ad Campaign Calling On Congress to End Insurance Discrimination Against Children With Autism

Click Here to Take Action Now!

Research News Roundup

UPI: Autism, Poor Visual Motor Skills Linked

ScienceDaily: Difference In The Way Children With Autism Learn New Behaviors Described
(re: same study as UPI article, but more detailed)

ScienceDaily: Mothers Of Children With Autism Have Higher Parental Stress, Psychological Distress (An obvious finding! But surprisingly, the research found "no link between a child's decreased daily living skills and increased parental stress and psychological distress.")

Celiac.com: Autism Linked to Mom's Autoimmune Disease—Including Celiac Disease

In research related news:
DisabilityScoop.com: Vaccine Issue Yields Second Defection At Autism Speaks

Sensory-Friendly Films: "Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" this Saturday

This Saturday, July 11 at 10am, 3 local AMC theatres will be showing "Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" as part of their "Sensory Friendly Films" program:

• AMC Stonebriar 24, Frisco, TX
• Parks at Arlington 18, Arlington, TX, and
• AMC Firewheel 18, Garland, TX

From autism-society.org:
In order to provide a more accepting and comfortable setting for this unique audience, the movie auditoriums will have their lights brought up and the sound turned down, families will be able to bring in their own gluten-free, casein-free snacks, and no previews or advertisements will be shown before the movie. Additionally, audience members are welcome to get up and dance, walk, shout or sing - in other words, AMC’s “Silence is Golden®” policy will not be enforced unless the safety of the audience is questioned.

Final Seminar of the Easter Seals Special Care Series next Tuesday

Easter Seals of North Texas's "Special Care Series" will hold its final seminar, on the topic of guardianship, next Tuesday July 7th. The Special Care Series is a program to provide families with up-to-date information on supports available and the financial aspects for individuals living with Autism.
The seminar will take place from 6:30 to 7:30PM at the Community Room of Easter Seals North Texas, Trinity Center, 4443 North Josey Lane, Carrollton, TX 75010. They request that you register by calling 817-334-2306. The seminars are free and open to the public. Child care is not provided.

Also, now is a great time to make a donation to Easter Seals. Right now, through midnight July 6th, their corporate partner Friendly's will DOUBLE each donation!