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About the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network Mission Statement: The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement in the world of autism. Drawing on the principles of the cross-disability community on issues such as inclusive education, community living supports and others, ASAN seeks to organize the community of Autistic adults and youth to have our voices heard in the national conversation about us. In addition, ASAN seeks to advance the idea of neurological diversity, putting forward the concept that the goal of autism advocacy should not be a world without Autistic people. Instead, it should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights and opportunities as all other citizens. Working in fields such as public policy, media representation, research and systems change, ASAN hopes to empower Autistic people across the world to take control of their own lives and the future of our common community. Nothing About Us, Without Us!

As you probably know, there are an increasing number of iPhone/iPod touch/iPad Apps for AAC available on the iTunes store.  So many that I’m having trouble keeping them straight in my own head – so I thought a blog was in order as that would be something for us all to refer to. I have listed all the AAC Apps I am aware of below – along with some salient features. Keeping in tune with the idea of user ratings encouraged by iTunes, I have also added my own rating column from one to three stars. I have also put the Apps into three groups – Apps with symbols/pictures only, Apps with symbols/pictures and text-to-speech and Apps with text-to-speech only. It has ended up being a long table – but I hope you find it useful.

Mark your calendar for GREAT presenters on universal design for learning, discipline, dispute resolution and much more. Send your ideas for speakers and topics to Cathy Haarstad, Director ptidirector@srt.com or 1600 2nd Avenue SW Ste 30 Minot, ND 58701 or call 1.800.245.5840

Parents and those who care for children who have an autism spectrum disorder (such as autism, Asperger's, pdd-nos, etc) are invited to attend a parent support group meeting to share some time with other parents of children on the spectrum. It is always wonderful to meet with others who are dealing with the challenges that come with raising a child (or children!) on the autism spectrum! Our group is a place where all parents are welcomed in a non-judgmental atmosphere.  Together we can network, share ideas, discuss problems, and sympathize with each other.  

I think it odd that I am actually seriously celebrating and thinking about the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities act. As a man who has spent well over half of his life in a wheelchair with a permanent spinal cord injury I can say that my feelings about this landmark law have generally been negative. For instance, the law famously began as a civil rights act enforced by alleged victims filing lawsuits to force compliance in individual cases. I wonder if racial desegregation in education would have happened at all if Governor George Wallace had confronted a civil complaint instead of the National Guard on the steps of the University of Alabama back in 1963. The ADA was sadly bereft of enforcement teeth when it was passed 20 years ago. There have been phased upgrades that have produced some improvements in certain kinds of workplace accommodations and in particular, the IDEA law has bolstered equality for disabled students since its passage in 2004. In general, though, the ADA’s quiet, seemingly ad hoc effort to achieve a justice and equality that I found absolutely clear and imperative in my life has been frustrating. 

Region III CSPD, in cooperation with OPI, is offering a hands-on training for special education teachers working with students ages 15 and older. Participants will have an opportunity to network with other special education teachers and share ideas and discuss best practices. Participants are required to bring two or three student files which they will work on during the session. Teachers participating in this training are required to watch the four OPI Secondary Transition webinars located on the OPI website prior to attending the Implementing Secondary Transition: Case Study Group. Participants are required to complete a brief evaluation to document attendance and participation for each webinar.

SHARE's first meeting of the year is Saturday 10/2, at 11 a.m. at the Family Outreach offices, located at 1315 E. Main St., Bozeman, MT. This is the large white building with with green trim at the intersection of Main and Highland. This will be an organizational meeting, so bring your ideas about what you want to do this year.

Suppose the typical U.S. health insurance plan didn’t cover treatment for cancer. Or suppose most American insurance companies put annual and lifetime benefit limits on cardiac care, limits that didn’t apply to other ailments. Imagine that the health plans still covering heart care applied higher deductibles to that treatment than to other health care bills. These ideas are outrageous, yet they are reality for American families living with mental illnesses.

The first Eagle Mount program started in Bozeman in 1983, and in 1990, the non-profit organization began serving Great Falls.

"20 years ago. there was a small group of people that got together with the idea that there should be a group or organization that would allow everyone the opportunity to enjoy the recreation that Montana has to offer," said Eagle Mount Great Falls Executive Director Deb Sivumaki.

IDEA 2004 requires that students with disabilities be provided with physical education. If your child has a disability and an IEP, the school must provide physical education as part of your child's special education program. Many children benefit from adapted physical education. Because physical education is a required component of special education, your child's physical education teacher should be included as a member of the IEP team.

Hello! I am a speech-language pathologist and am excited to have a place to share ideas, resources, and questions related to using iPod/iPad technology with students with special needs.

A group of moms of children with special needs of all types that meets monthly in Great Falls to share friendship, support, encouragement and ideas in dealing with their special needs families. For more information, to receive our emails or find out about the next gathering, please contact Jana at 727-2704.

The holiday season is bearing down on us again. It may be the season to be jolly, but it can be crazy, too, and challenging when it comes to gifting ideas, holiday activities, and what will "work" for a child with a disability. So here are a gift-wrapped package of resources that we hope will help make this holiday season enjoyable for all who participate.

Doctors can’t formally diagnose autism in children younger than age 2, but that’s not stopping researchers who are working to identify infants who are at risk and begin therapy. The idea is to take early intervention and apply it at ever-younger ages. Researchers at the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis are enrolling children as young as 6 months who are exhibiting signs of autism — such as lack of eye contact or failing to smile or babble — in a pilot project called Infant Start.

VSA, renowned artist Simon Mckeown, and 17 countries around the world are celebrating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with screenings of the groundbreaking video installation Motion Disabled to raise awareness of disability rights. Mckeown uses motion capture, a technique used in feature films and video games, and 3D animation to explore digitally the movements of 15 people with disabilities performing activities from kickboxing to riding a bicycle. This mesmerizing installation challenges conventional ideas of motion. Watch the video online or find a screening near you. The 650 million people worldwide who live with disabilities deserve inclusion and access to equal opportunities. Because disability knows no borders.

Click here to download the brochure and learn more information about sessions, speakers, the hotel, tentative schedules, and ideas about funding! We can’t wait to see you in February! Click here to register online. We've made your best value even better with REDUCED early rates! Rates haven't been this good since 2007! Register before January 14, 2011 and SAVE with early registration rates! Inclusive education is a process of school reform that creates equality in education and increases achievement for ALL students, including students with disabilities. PEAK Parent Center’s Conference on Inclusive Education holds the tools you need to reinvent schools to be places where all students can achieve success! With the most POWERFUL line up of speakers you’ll find at one conference, PEAK’s 2011 Conference on Inclusive Education is the place to be!

Heather Locke is a senior at Polson High School in Polson, Montana. Heather is a kid with "special needs". The Polson High School senior class took it upon themselves to make Heather the 2009 Homecoming Queen. The fact that it was Heather's classmates, the kids themselves that came up with this idea and chose to make it a reality is remarkable by any measure and restores one's faith in humanity. These kids have done a really good thing, to say the least. This is about as warm and fuzzy as it gets, folks. Warning! Have a box of Kleenex at hand!

Regina playwright and producer, Kelley Jo Burke was an orderly woman with an orderly life. In 2000, she had a perfect baby. But by 2004, order was out the window, as she tried to cope with her perfect but "special" boy. In this performance-documentary, annotated by comments from specialists and other parents, she talks about meeting and accepting her son's autism.