Group items tagged

Who Should Attend: • School Based Personnel • Physical Therapists • Psychologists • Occupational Therapists • Marriage & Family Therapists • Nurses • Educators • Counselors • Teacher Assistants • Speech Language Pathologists • Special Education Teachers • Social Workers This program is appropriate for all levels of knowledge regarding Asperger’s Syndrome, Nonverbal Learning Disorder, and High-Functioning Autism. 

In fifth grade, Cali McClelland Beeson was diagnosed with low-level autism, also known as Asperger Syndrome. She couldn’t make eye contact. She clenched her hands and she struggled with tests, but she was determined not to let autism define her. In eighth grade, she dropped out of public school in Illinois because the large classes broke her focus. She was home-schooled through high school and then attended McHenry County College. Today Cali attends the University of Montana, sticking out from the crowd with her untamed hair, infectious smile and creative outfits.

Click here for more information! What:MCT in Missoula is putting on two special performances of Once Upon A Mattress, designed specifically for people with Autism and Aspergers.  This means they will be moderating noise levels, using increased visual aids, eliminating any lights shining into the audience and making other adaptations to make the play accessible and enjoyable for people with different sensory processing. Quiet areas will be provided for children who want to withdraw for a break.  A company in New York originally did an adaptive play for school children on the autism spectrum to great success and heartfelt appreciation by the children and their families. MCT is adopting some of the lessons learned by the NY company and doing some adapting of their own. MCT plans to put on at least two performances and may extend if that seems desirable. To help apprehensive theatre-goers who might not know what to expect, a website is being created so that families can travel step-by-step through the evening and be fully prepared for the fun to follow. When:Tuesday, January 24, 2012Show begins at 6:30 pmWhere:Missoula, MTMissoula Childrens TheatreContact and Reservations:Alexandra Volkerts - (406)449-2344 or email her at Alexis@disabilityrightsmt.orgTickets are available at the MCT Box Office or to make your reservations call (406) 728-7529. All seats are $10.

This month, Dorfman, now 22, will graduate from St. Joseph's University. He's a film major, a former NBC intern, and a paid mentor at the school's Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support.

He's also part of the newest wave of diversity to reach college campuses. As a generation of young adults - the first to be diagnosed with Asperger's as children - comes of age, it is demolishing stereotypes about its condition and prompting universities to respond to its needs.

Much of the growing prevalence of autism, which now affects about 1 percent of American children, according to federal data, can be attributed to Asperger’s and other mild forms of the disorder. And Asperger’s has exploded into popular culture through books and films depicting it as the realm of brilliant nerds and savantlike geniuses. But no sooner has Asperger consciousness awakened than the disorder seems headed for psychiatric obsolescence. Though it became an official part of the medical lexicon only in 1994, the experts who are revising psychiatry’s diagnostic manual have proposed to eliminate it from the new edition, due out in 2012.

Click here to download the full flyer (PDF) What: Presentations focus on effective communication training for students with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, other autism spectrum disorders, nonverbal learning disabilities or other communication, learning or behavior challenges. Programs are designed to provide a framework for understanding the unique communication needs of targeted students.Presentations are packed with lots of examples of practical intervention strategies that have been used successfully to improve communication, behavior, and participation in school and home routines. When: August 16, 2010 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM Where: Front Street Learning Center 815 Front Street Helena, MT 59601

Click here to download the full flyer (PDF) What: Presentations focus on effective communication training for students with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, other autism spectrum disorders, nonverbal learning disabilities or other communication, learning or behavior challenges. Programs are designed to provide a framework for understanding the unique communication needs of targeted students.Presentations are packed with lots of examples of practical intervention strategies that have been used successfully to improve communication, behavior, and participation in school and home routines. When: August 16-17, 2010 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM Where: Front Street Learning Center 815 Front Street Helena, MT 59601

In early 2006, 12-year-old Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, interviewed his mother, Sarah, at StoryCorps. Their one-of-a-kind conversation covered everything from cockroaches to Sarah’s feelings about Joshua as a son.

Zac Browser is a totally free software package. It is the first Internet browser developed specifically for children living with variants of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, PDD not otherwise specified and PDD-NOS, also called atypical autism. Zac Browser was designed to offer a pleasant, rewarding and secure experience. Children sing, play and discover the best that the Internet has to offer with only a few clicks of the mouse.

We receive many questions from parents, teachers, and health care providers about special education services for children with autism. If you are a parent, you need to educate yourself about your child's disability, effective educational methods and medical treatments, and how to present your child's problems and needs to school staff so they want to help. On the Autism, PDD & Asperger Syndrome page, you will find FAQs, articles, legal resources, recommended books, free publications, and a short list of information and support groups.

Although there are a variety of school-based services available for children with learning, emotional, and social disabilities, one critical need often goes unfulfilled: providing guidance and strategies that instill self-advocacy.       Most students have only a superficial notion of the reasons they receive these special accommodations, and many children are completely uninformed. Resource teachers and specialists do not generally have the authority to label and enlighten students about their disabilities, the foundation for building self-advocacy. If children are to learn how to become better consumers of educational resources, especially as they grow older, someone must take the lead.      Parents of children with disabilities can fill this role by doing the following: Introduce children’s diagnoses to them in elementary school so that they can make sense out of their struggles Use a matter-of-fact tone of voice when explaining to children that they learn/behave/relate differently from other students and, therefore, need extra help to ensure that they can succeed just like their classmates Don’t leave out the disability label—such as writing disability, ADHD, or Aspergers Syndrome—since labels are a reality of their educational life Emphasize that the teachers and special staff at school who help them will be aware of this label and prepared to help in certain ways to make school a fairer place for them to learn and grow      It’s important to review with children the ways in which their school must provide special help and services. Emphasize that these accommodations are rules the school must follow. “You have the responsibility to do your best job, and teachers must follow the learning/behavior/friendship helping rules that make things fair for you,” is one way to put it. Explain how extra time on assessments, decreased homework, or social skills groups are examples of the helping rules that schools must follow. Discuss how there is a written promise called the individualized education plan (IEP), which includes all the helping rules and makes all of this clear.      Find child-friendly resources—such as books, websites, and videos—that explain in detail their specific disability and the ways other children have learned to cope and achieve despite these limitations. Use these materials as a springboard for deeper discussion about past times when their disability created significant stress or barriers to success. Reassure them that this was before their problem was known and that there is so much that can be done to build a plan for success now that it has been identified.      Point out that one of their most important responsibilities is to be able to discuss their disability with teachers and ask for extra help and accommodation when struggles are too great. Make sure that these discussions take place before middle school, when developmental factors make it harder to get such discussions started. Ensure that they know what practical steps are in their IEP at each grade so that they can respectfully remind teaching staff if necessary.      Having a disability is like having to wear glasses; students with glasses have accepted this fact as necessary to seeing clearly.

Two students with Asperger syndrome—an autism spectrum disorder that can make it tough to interact in social sitatuations—are featured heavily in "Bully," the new education shock-you-mentary, opening in wide release Friday.

Imagine a world that goes something like this: To succeed according to societal norms of success, you must learn to do some things that are impossible. Yes, that's right, I said impossible. And yet, somehow, you attempt the challenge because, after all, it's the only way to succeed according to societal norms. And we all know how important success is.

Wineman, of Cut Bank, was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder, including borderline Aspergers Syndrome, when she was 11 years old. The diagnosis followed a two-year process that included counseling, an exhaustive battery of tests and at least one misdiagnosis.Wineman was often teased and bullied at school and said she usually avoided interaction with others when she was younger.“I felt so alone growing up, and I still do at times,” she said Thursday during a conference on autism at the Montana State University Billings downtown campus. “Nobody understood what I was going through. I separated myself from my classmates and spent most of my time alone. I stayed quiet to hide my speech problems. Due to these overwhelming and daily struggles, I looked at myself as a punching bag for others, and a burden to my family.”

In a nutshell, my son is 7 years old, going into 2nd grade next year. He is diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, ADHD, and Anxiety Separation Disorder. He has been receiving Special Education Services since age four. His strengths are in Fluency/Comprehension and Spelling. His weaknesses are in the Personal & Social Development area. His placement is in a self-contained/ small class setting for Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics and in mainstream classes with adult support for all other subjects. I want to learn to create SMART IEP goals for his areas of weakness. I am having a hard time figuring out how to make to make behavior goals SMART – specific, measurable, use action words, realistic, and time-limited. I appreciate suggestions or examples.

For the nearly one and a half million people living with autism in the United States, life can be a struggle.

But for one local woman, a four-legged companion has helped her find her voice, and given her the strength to share her message.

Statistics on the unemployed have been dominating the news for months. And while the current portrait of the jobless might seem dire, consider this: According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 20 percent of the disabled population in the country has work.But Aspiritech, a nonprofit in the suburbs of Chicago, is trying to help improve the job outlook for people with Asperger's and high-functioning autism.

Asperger's syndrome is really just a form of autism and does not merit a separate diagnosis, according to a panel of researchers assembled by the American Psychiatric Association.

I used to envy my friends who had children with learning disabilities and Asperger Syndrome. I watched their sons and daughters move from special education classes to regular classes--some even landed in our school district's gifted and talented program. My understanding at the time was that since these kids were on the "graduation track", they would likely go to college, enter the work force and go on to live independently. I would later learn that academics alone are not enough.

On the Spectrum Jonathan Mitchell is a writer from Los Angeles. He wrote a novel about his life experience with Asperger's syndrome, an autism-spectrum disorder. Independent producer Tamar Brott met Mitchell in a writing class a few years ago.

Blythe Corbett Autism researcher Blythe Corbett explores the connection between autism and creativity. She addresses the controversies surrounding autism, including the debunked link to vaccinations and the emerging neurodiversity movement among adults, which says that autism isn't worse - just different.

NEW YORK, NY (March 18, 2010) – Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the launch of Version 2.0 of the 100 Day Kit, a personalized resource designed to assist families in getting through the critical time following an autism diagnosis. It has also created a separate Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Tool Kit.