Group items tagged

Download the flyer here!What:Dancers, choreographers and teachers with and without disabilities from the US and abroad are invited to attend  AXIS' annual Summer Intensive located within a thriving dance and disability hub. This week-long creative laboratory is guaranteed to push your limits and break new ground as you experiment, collaborate, and create. Attendees will participate in a creative exchange alongside AXIS' talented dancers as all share their knowledge and experience. Includes: Physically Integrated Contact Improvisation Technique, Choreography & Performance Evening Video/Film Showing Final Informal Showing Apply by April 24th, 2012, 5pm:www.axisdance.org/education_summerintensive.phpSpaces are limited and will fill fastWhen:August 5-11, 2012Where:Oakland, CAContact:Phone: (510) 625-0110Email: info@axisdance.org

#addressBook { width: 550px; font: normal 11px Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; } #addybook_title { padding-left: 100px; } #addybook_title span { display: block; padding-top: 10px; } #address_book_login_error { font-size: 16px; } #addressBook a { color: #0f6ffe; text-decoration: underline; } #addressBook_alphabet { margin-top: 4px; } #addressBook_alphabet span { color: #ccc; font-weight: bold; } #addressBook_alphabet a { text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; } #addressBook #addressBook_name { border-left: 1px solid #dbd9d9; border-right: 1px solid #999; } #addressBook #addressBook_email { border-right: 1px solid #dbd9d9; } #addressBook .title { background: #dbd9d9; font-weight: bold; padding: 5px; } #addressBook .list { margin: 0 auto; border: 1px solid #c4c3c3; margin-top: 10px; height: 195px; width: 500px; overflow: auto; } #addressBook .list table { width: 100%; min-height: 195px; height: 0; } #addressBook ul { margin: 1em 0; } #addressBook li { height: 1.7em; padding-left: 10px; } #addressBook_email li{line-height: 1.7em;overflow: hidden;} #addressBook_name li{line-height: 1.7em;overflow: hidden;padding-left:20px;} #addressBook_name li.friend{background: transparent url(http://dingo.care2.com/ecards/v1/friends_frog.gif) no-repeat scroll 3px 3px;} #addressBook li.over { background-color: #daf6d1; cursor:pointer; } #addressBook li.selected { background-color: #e9e5c7;/*#fdf9db;*/ } #addressBook_add_button, .button_generic { font: normal 11px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; display: block; color: #000; text-decoration: none !important; padding: 6px 0 9px 13px; background: transparent url(http://dingo.care2.com/ecards/v1/button_generic_left.png) no-repeat scroll 0 0; } #addressBook_add_button span, .button_generic span { color: #000; padding: 6px 13px 9px 0; background: transparent url(http://dingo.care2.com/ecards/v1/button_generic_right.png) no-repeat scroll top right; } * html #addressBook_add_button, * html .button_generic { display: inline-block; } .importer_buttons li { padding: 0 !important; } #plaxo_div { margin-top: 12px; border-top: 1px solid #ccc; padding-top: 12px; font: normal 12px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } #plaxo_div .powered_by { clear: both; background: transparent url(http://dingo.care2.com/ecards/v1/plaxo_powered.gif) no-repeat scroll top left; width: 132px; padding-top: 26px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin-left: 37px; margin-bottom: 15px; } #plaxo_div .import_button { display: block; background: transparent url(http://dingo.care2.com/ecards/v1/plaxo_import.png) no-repeat scroll top left; width: 173px; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin: 15px auto; } #addybook_box { position: absolute; width: 570px; height: 366px; z-index: 999999; } #addressBook_alphabet .active { cursor: pointer; color: #0f6ffe; } Address Book Loading... /* tell a friend styles */ .tellafriend_container { color: #666; background-color: #ececec; line-height: 16px; padding: 10px 0 10px 25px; } .tellafriend_container .taf_error{ color: red; } .tellafriend_container .naturalState{ border: 1px solid black; } .tellafriend_container .errorState{ border: 1px solid red; } .tellafriend_container_extended { padding: 10px 0; width: 535px; background-color: #ececec; color: #666; } .tellafriend_container .send_success, .tellafriend_container .send_error { font-weight: bold; } .tellafriend_container .send_success{ color: green; } .tellafriend_container .send_error{ color: red; } .tellafriend_container .smallerFont{ margin: 0; padding: 10px; background: #ececec; clear: both; } .tellafriend_container label { padding: 0px; margin: 10px 0 0; display: block; clear: both; } div.tellafriend_container textarea{ padding: 5px; } .tellafriend_container input.inputwidth { width: 350px; padding: 3px; } .tellafriend_container textarea.inputwidth { width: 500px; } .tellafriend_container .inputborder { border: 1px solid #5E5E5E; } #addressBook_textarea { width: 500px; height: 75px; border: 1px solid #5E5E5E; color: #999999; } .addressbutton_section { padding: 15px; float: left; background-color: #D6D6D6; margin-top: 20px; position: relative; } .addressbutton_section img.taf_arrow{ position: absolute; left: 150px; top:-14px; } .addressbutton_inner { border: 1px solid #5E5E5E; background-color: white; color: black; padding: 10px; } .addressbutton_inner table.nologin{ width: 325px; } .addressbutton_inner a, .addressbutton_inner a:visited { color: #0000cc; text-decoration: none; } .addressbutton_inner a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } .addressbutton_inner img { border-width: 0px; } div.addressbook_care2btn { width: 139px; height: 24px; float: left; } div.addressbook_otherbtn { width: 192px; height: 24px; float: left; } .addressbutton_container { margin-top: 5px; } /* Care2 addressbook button */ div.addressbook_care2btn a, div.addressbook_care2btn a:visited { background-image:url(http://dingo.care2.com/c2/petitionsite/taf_button_sprite.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration:none; display: block; width: 138px; height: 24px; } div.addressbook_care2btn a:hover { text-decoration:none; background-position: 0px -23px; } /* plaxo button */ div.addressbook_otherbtn a, div.addressbook_otherbtn a:visited { background-image:url(http://dingo.care2.com/c2/petitionsite/taf_button_sprite.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration:none; display: block; width: 192px; height: 24px; background-position:-137px 0; } div.addressbook_otherbtn a:hover { text-decoration:none; background-position: -137px -23px; } /* plaxo button in Care2 Address book popup */ a.ib_other, a.ib_other:visited { background-image:url(http://dingo.care2.com/petitions/home/addressbook_otherbtn.gif); background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration:none; display: block; width: 192px; height: 24px; float: left; margin-top:10px; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; } a.ib_other:hover { text-decoration:none; background-position: -192px 0px; } /* tell a friend specific styles */ .tellafriendSection h3 a, .tellafriendSection h3 a:visited { color: #2B769C; text-decoration:none; } .tellafriendSection h3 a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } div.tellafriend_container ul.errorlist { list-style: outside; } div.tellafriend_container ul.errorlist li { color: #ff0000; margin: 5px; padding: 5px; } div.modal_box{ background-color: #FFFFFF; } div#tell-a-friend-form div.tafheader{ padding: 10px; background: #ececec; } /* send and cancel buttons */ a.tafpopupsubmit, a.tafpopupsubmit:visited { text-decoration:none; display:block; width: 94px; height: 27px; background-image:url(http://dingo.care2.com/petitions/home/tafpopupsend.gif); background-repeat:no-repeat; float: left; margin-right: 15px; } a.tafpopupsubmit:hover { text-decoration:none; background-position: -94px 0px; } a.tafpopupcancel, a.tafpopupcancel:visited { text-decoration:none; display:block; width: 95px; height: 27px; background-image:url(http://dingo.care2.com/petitions/home/tafpopupcancel.gif); background-repeat:no-repeat; float: left; } a.tafpopupcancel:hover { text-decoration:none; background-position: -95px 0px; } #addressBook_newGroup, #addressBook_newGroup table { font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; } #addybook_box, #addybook_box table { font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; } .floatright { float:right; } .largefont { font-size: 13px; } .sharetitle { font-size: 18px; color: #F4713B; } .tafShareSection { width: 580px; margin-left: 25px; margin-top: 25px; font-size:12px; } .tafShareButtonSection { padding-left: 25px; width: 535px; padding-bottom: 10px; background-color: #ECECEC; } From Your Email To

Autism spectrum disorders are surrounded by a haze of misconceptions, many of which are harmful for autistic children and adults. It’s time to straighten a few things out, and to spread the word on this complex series of cognitive and intellectual disabilities with a little good old-fashioned debunking. 1. Autistic people have no empathy. This is a common belief about autism; people think that because autistics are sometimes blunt or have difficulty navigating social norms, they aren’t empathetic. In fact, just the opposite seems to be true. Rather than not feeling enough, many autistics feel very intensely, and are easily overwhelmed by the emotions of those around them. 2. Autistic people can’t communicate. Autism spectrum disorders take a variety of forms, and some people with autism are nonverbal, but that doesn’t mean they can’t communicate. Some use communication boards and other methods to communicate with the people around them, but it requires patience to establish and maintain communication with them. Historically, people with more severe forms of autism were often isolated in institutions, but more modern treatment of autism encourages the use of therapy and other techniques to interact with patients and find a communication mode they feel comfortable with. 3. Autistic people are violent. This particularly damaging assumption about autism was widely bandied around in the aftermath of the horrific Sandy Hook shooting. In fact, autistic people are no more likely to commit acts of violence than anyone else, and when they are violent, self-harm is a much more significant concern. Autism and other disabilities also put people at an increased risk of violence, which means autistics have far more to fear about the world around them. Some autistic people do act out or have what are known as “meltdowns,” usually as expressions of frustration with themselves or situations, but this doesn’t equate to violence against other people; an autistic might throw objects in frustration, for example, without any desire or intent to hit people with them. 4. Autistic people are savants. Everyone who’s seen Rainman thinks autistic people are savants, capable of extreme feats of memorization and other amazing skills. While it’s true that some savants are autistic, not everyone with an autism spectrum disorder has these capabilities; some in fact have significant learning disabilities that require accommodations in the classroom. 5. Autism is the result of “refrigerator mothers.” This awful myth about autism has been largely debunked, but it’s still worth a mention. Some people used to believe that autism was caused by bad parenting, with a specific focus on cold or isolated mothers. The result was a lot of misinformation about autism, and terrible pressure on mothers who were already learning about how to navigate the world with autistic children. In fact, autism has no clear cause. 6. Autistics can’t make friends. Along with the belief that autistic people lack empathy comes the assumption that they live isolated lives and have difficulty making friends. Just like everyone else, though, autistics are perfectly capable of establishing and maintaining not just friendships but other kinds of relationships with the people around them. Isolating autistic people in a misguided attempt to protect them can be very harmful, just as it would be for anyone else. 7. Stimming (repetitive behavior like flapping or rocking), is undesirable and should be stopped. Stimming is familiar to many people who are at least vaguely familiar with autism — sadly, it’s often used in mockeries of autistic people, by individuals who think that making flapping gestures or imitative noises is funny. For autistic people, stimming is one way to deal with chaotic environments or stress, and rather than being something that should be suppressed, it can actually be a healthy method of personal expression and sometimes communication as well. Autistics who are forced to modify or hide their stimming behaviors can develop even more stress, which can interfere with focus, completing tasks of daily living, and other activities. It’s important to be aware that the autism spectrum is vast, and that autism spectrum disorders can manifest in a huge variety of ways. Every autistic is different, and every one deserves respect and dignity. That includes not perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and correcting people who falsely repeat them.

A new intensive program for very young children with autism has produced impressive results, leading to substantial gains in I.Q. and in listening skills after two years of therapy.

The program, called the Early Start Denver Model, or E.S.D.M., was part of a two-year study of 48 children as young as 18 months old. Half the children received the intensive therapy, while the rest received a community-based autism intervention, according to a report in the journal Pediatrics.

NEW YORK -- Rebuffing an intensive lobbying campaign, a task force of the American Psychiatric Association has decided not to list the disputed concept of parental alienation in the updated edition of its catalog of mental disorders. The term conveys how a child's relationship with one estranged parent can be poisoned by the other parent, and there's broad agreement that it sometimes occurs in the context of divorces and child-custody disputes. However, an acrimonious debate has raged for years over whether the phenomenon should be formally classified as a mental health disorder by the psychiatric association as it updates its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for the first time since 1994.

There seems to be some confusion as to what Response to Intervention is and how teachers and schools can use this approach to help children. So, let’s start with some basics: RTI is not an action verb. You cannot RTI a student to support his or her learning and behavioral needs. RTI is not a place or a room in your school; you cannot send a student to the RTI room. So what exactly is RTI, then? RTI was added to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004 and became part of the nation’s approach to identifying and helping students who are struggling academically or behaviorally in school. It is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. Struggling learners are provided with interventions at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning, and you, general education teachers, special educators, and specialists, provide th0se services.

There are many programs for kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An expert panel recently created some best practice guidelines for these programs. The experts agreed that programs should cover all the core problem areas for kids with ASD, like language, social skills and behavior. They also suggested programs should start soon after diagnosis, involve family members and have an intensive weekly schedule.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $5.3 million in initial one-year funding to the latest two recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. With these awards, announced on World Autism Awareness Day, these and nine other ACE centers around the country are now being funded for up to five years. The program was created in 2007 to launch an intense and coordinated research effort aimed at identifying the causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and finding new treatments.