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What: Teenagers with social challenges often lack a safe, accepting context where they can be themselves and develop relationships with their peers, which can place them at risk for a multitude of emotional challenges and can negatively impact their quality of life and self-esteem. MT CAAN is organizing a Teen Social Network to provide a context for any interested local teenagers, both those who are struggling socially (for whatever reason), and for their peers who want to connect with and support them, as healthy communities ideally do. The teen members will determine the direction of the group, meeting times, places, and activities as it evolves. It has been our experience that these diverse social networks benefit those who are doing fine socially as much as those who are struggling at whatever level. It's positive for everybody. All involved learn and grow. When: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 6 - 8 p.m. Mountain Where: Atonement Lutheran Church (Space Courtesy of the YMCA) 2205 34th Street • Missoula, MT  59801 Pizza and beverages will be served. Those with dietary restrictions or special preferences are welcome to bring their own snacks and beverages. Contact: If you have questions, contact us via e-mail or call 406-360-8673.

The ability to self-advocate is important for kids to learn in order to be successful at all stages of their lives. In the past, self-advocacy was a term applied mostly to adults with disabilities, but recently more focus has been placed on teaching this skill to preteens and teenagers.

"Montana's suicide epidemic is a public health crisis,” said Matt Kuntz, executive director of the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.During 2010, at least 227 Montanans killed themselves. In 2011, the number was closer to 225. That’s about 22 people per 100,000 residents, nearly twice the national average.The victims are military veterans, American Indians, senior citizens and teenagers. Often, they are depressed and hundreds of miles from the nearest mental health professional. Even where they can get help, they tend to "cowboy up," afraid their illness will be seen as weakness.

In her last post, Parent Contributor Ellyn Levy discussed the experience of getting an initial Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for her teenage daughter. Now, Ellyn’s daughter is a successful college graduate, and Ellyn is back to share the lessons she has learned in advocating for her daughter throughout her learning disability (LD) journey.

Teenagers who have difficulty making and maintaining healthy friendships with peers at age 13 continue to struggle with relationships long after high school, according to a new University of Virginia longitudinal study. Early secondary school is well-known as the time social pecking orders are established, bullying and gossip proliferates, and kids start seriously thinking about jumping off that bridge if all their friends do. The study suggests that a student's ability to balance peer pressure with social desirability in early adolescence can predict how well they will handle social relationships in adulthood.

“When I was a kid, I didn't realize that you were different.”

Bonnie Brown came to StoryCorps with her teenage daughter, Myra. Bonnie is intellectually disabled with a low IQ. For the past 18 years she’s worked at the same Wendy’s. Here, her daughter asks her about being a mom.

Myra is enrolled in gifted and talented classes at her high school. She hopes to attend Cambridge University when she graduates. Recorded in Lansdowne, PA.

Imagine walking into a public library filled with PlayStations, Wii game consoles, and electric keyboards pumped up to maximum volume. Teenagers are munching on snacks, checking out laptops and slouching on sofas or beanbags. A carousel of computers sits in the middle, navigated to Facebook. That’s exactly how one enormous room on the ground floor of the Chicago Public Library’s main branch functions. And this noisy library model is expanding around the country.

Click here to download registration form (PDF) What: Being a parent is a hard job. This seven week training is designed to help you find the answers to questions like: "How do I get them out of bed in tiem to catch the school bus?" "How can I stop my children from bickering and fighting?" "How do I get my children to help with the chores without and argument?" " Is there a way to discipline my toddler in public without creating a scene?" "How can I get my teenager to come home at the agreed-upon time?" "How do I get him to stop spitting his peas and whining at dinner?" And many other day-to-day parenting challenges... The cost is $8 which includes a workbook participants keep and a commitment to attend on a weekly basis.  It is a 7 week class for 1.5 – 2 hrs. Click here to register or contact Lance Isaak at 406-755-4622 for more information. When: Fridays beginning January 6, 2012 6:30-8:30pm Where: Serious Juju 1896 Airport RD Kalispel, MT

The 13-year-old author of The Reason I Jump invites you, his reader, to imagine a daily life in which your faculty of speech is taken away. Explaining that you’re hungry, or tired, or in pain, is now as beyond your powers as a chat with a friend. I’d like to push the thought-experiment a little further. Now imagine that after you lose your ability to communicate, the editor-in-residence who orders your thoughts walks out without notice. The chances are that you never knew this mind-editor existed, but now that he or she has gone, you realize too late how the editor allowed your mind to function for all these years. A dam-burst of ideas, memories, impulses, and thoughts is cascading over you, unstoppably. Your editor controlled this flow, diverting the vast majority away, and recommending just a tiny number for your conscious consideration. But now you’re on your own.

Neurotypical is an unprecedented exploration of autism from the point of view of autistic people themselves. Four-year-old Violet, teenaged Nicholas and adult Paula occupy different positions on the autism spectrum, but they are all at pivotal moments in their lives. How they and the people around them work out their perceptual and behavioral differences becomes a remarkable reflection of the "neurotypical" world — the world of the non-autistic — revealing inventive adaptations on each side and an emerging critique of both what it means to be normal and what it means to be human.

Siblings of children with autism are in a unique position; they face overwhelming challenges (similar to those that parents encounter), but at a time before they’ve developed appropriate coping strategies. As a result, they need support to ensure that they’re informed, feel respected, and know how to be compassionate advocates for their brothers and sisters on the spectrum. OAR’s “Autism Sibling Support” initiative is designed to guide young children, teenagers, and parents through the issues that brothers and sisters of children with autism face.

Epilepsy Foundation Northwest Camp Discovery August 31–September 3 The Epilepsy Foundation Northwest’s Camp Discovery, located at Camp Fire USA’s Camp Killoqua in Stanwood, Wash. (Snohomish County), is a 4-day, 3-night camp for children and teenagers, ages 7–17, with epilepsy. It’s a great opportunity for kids to experience the fun of camp activities—swimming, fishing, sports, hiking and more—all designed to be accessible and adapted to campers’ individual needs and abilities, all in a safe, medically monitored setting. The camp is free to kids with epilepsy and costs $150 for siblings. Scholarships are available for qualified individuals, based on availability and financial need. Contact Brent Herrmann at 206-547-4551, or register at www.epilepsynw.org.

What: A seven-chapter, video intensive, parent training program designed by the Love and Logic® Institute, Inc. This parenting program is designed to give you practical skills that can be used immediately! Answers to: “How do I get them out of bed in time to catch the school bus?” “How can I stop my children from bickering and fighting?” “How do I get my children to help with the chores without an argument?” “Is there a way to discipline my toddler in public without creating a scene?” “How can I get my teenage daughter to come home at the agreed-upon time?” And many other day-to-day parenting challenges… This parenting program is designed to give you practical skills that can be used immediately! Dates: January & February Wednesdays (12th-23rd) Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (or as agreed by class) Local Phone: 939-5591 Location: Glendive - To Be Announced (Visit the MCYF Facebook group for updated information) Cost: $20 for book – scholarships available E-mail: mcyf@midrivers.com

Believe it or not, Facebook and Twitter aren't the only cool social networking sites on the Web. If your kids are too young for Facebook, or you're concerned about privacy, consider looking into some lesser-known social networking sites geared for tweens, preteens, and yes, even teenagers. We've rounded-up some of the top social networking sites that allow kids to keep a tighter rein on their privacy. Our choices include sites that limit the ways you connect with friends, offer greater control over how you interact, or home in on specific interests. Some of the sites for kids on the younger end of the scale offer more parental controls, too, so you can have a better sense of what your kid is doing online.