Children’s Voice, My Voice

It’s been my privilege these past four years to be a frequent contributor to Children’s Voice, the signature publication of the Child Welfare League of America.  This excellent publication has kept me abreast of legislation, research and current best practices affecting at-risk children across many categories, and I’ve drawn from their staff, authors and clients the inspiration for many of my own essays and articles. So I was excited to be invited to become a regular; beginning with the September-October 2008 issue, my column, Exceptional Children: Navigating Special Education and Learning Differences will appear in every issue. Please let me hear from you if there are issues within this topic area that you’d like to see addressed.

Come browse a recent issue of Children’s Voice here.  Articles include:

• Making the Case for Infant Mental Health:   Pointing to the need for more investment in healthy infant brain development
  
  
• Extending Support for Extended Families: “Front end” subsidized guardianship programs are supporting relative caregivers
  
  
• Learning Styles versus Learning Disabilities

My September 2008 column is Ready or Not, Here I Come: Gauging your teen’s college readiness.

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Participants wanted: Autism Parent Survey and Study at Portland State University

Parents and guardians of children with autism are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Dr. Helen Young in the Special Education Department of the Graduate School of Education, at Portland State University (PSU). This study will examine the perceptions of parents of children with autism regarding the experiences of their children in general education classrooms.

Learn more about the survey here. 

To participate in the survey, click here.

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Ten Things part of Autism Speaks’ New School Community Tool Kit

Autism Speaks has launched an online School Community Tool Kit designed to help school administrators talk with staff about how students with autism can best be supported and included in the school community.  The 203-page kit is available for free download at http://www.autismspeaks.org/school and includes the following features:

What is autism? - An explanation of the symptoms of autism, the unique abilities that often accompany autism, features of Asperger’s Syndrome, and challenges that may be associated with an individual's autism.

How might a child with special needs be a part of our school?– Information about a child's right to public education, a definition of special education services and a description of instructional methods used in teaching students with autism.

General strategies for intervention– An exploration of the benefits of a team approach, supporting communication, means of improving social interaction and development, and strategies for promoting socially-appropriate behavior.

For specific members of the school community– A guide tailored to various school administrators and staff – from bus drivers and lunch aides to teachers, security staff and school nurses – based on the likely nature of their interaction with students who have autism.

Resources– A guide to recommended books, web sites and videos that can be consulted for more in-depth information.

Appendix– A compilation of articles, peer support information, teaching tools and assessment information, including Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew, articles about inclusion and visual strategies by Paula Kluth and Linda Hodgdon, and more.

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Back on my Soapbox: Unbundle Me Some More, and, On the Feedbag

Two of my recent Soapbox subjects have called me back. I’d love to get the last word on both of these subjects, but I think it’s more likely we are in for a long discussion on both.

Didn’t we have fun a couple of months back with my op-ed Unbundle Me, lampooning the airline industry for their ever-escalating attempts to charge extra for what used to be standard? Things have gotten, as Mark Twain might say, ridiculous-er with one airline’s announcement that they will charge $7 for a “comfort kit” consisting of pillow and blanket, but to soften the blow, they will give a coupon to a home furnishings store with the “kit.” (Will the weight of the coupon be included in your 50-lb baggage limit?) Well, it looks like it’s the wadded-up sweatshirt for me for that nap at 35,000 feet; how about you?

Yeah, charging for a pillow is downright comical, but I stopped smiling when I read that another carrier planned to stop serving “free” water and offer only $2.00 bottled water. That’s right, they won’t even give you a drink of water unless it’s a “medical emergency.” That crosses the line from annoying into disturbing. Withholding life essentials is a slippery slope that simply should not be allowed. Do you even need to wonder what’s coming next? Coin slots on the lavs, my friends. Pay-per-pee.  ’Course, if they make more money on the toilets than the bottled water, they will return to giving out free water, right?

All kidding aside, in the face of little to no pushback from consumers, the airlines are taking the concept of unbundling to extremes. I’m getting very uncomfortable thinking what might happen if this concept were to somehow creep into the arena of public education. If your tax dollar bought you a “base” education for your child, enough to meet narrowly prescribed benchmarks in “core” subjects, and everything else became a fee-based add-on. Don’t think it’s possible? Are you sure?

I will address these thoughts in my November Autism Asperger’s Digest column, “Don’t Unbundle Me.”

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Because I am a rabid believer in the garbage-in, garbage-out theory of  nutrition, especially as it pertains to special needs children, I last month recommended Michael Pollan’s book  In Defense of Food.  “Most of what we're consuming today is not food, and how we’re consuming it -- in the car...is not really eating...” says Pollan, who goes on to distinguish between what people do, “eating” or “dining,” and what animals do, which is “feed.”

The July-August issue of Via, AAA’s magazine, published a statistic that caught my eye:  the average American eats 34 restaurant-purchased meals per year in his or her car. I admit to being outside the mainstream on this; our family doesn’t eat fast food and the last drive-through I went through was US-Canadian Customs at Neche, North Dakota. (No waiting!) But that’s the reason I find these kind of averages scary. It means that for every person like me who eats zero meals per year in the car, there is someone who eats 68! That’s over two months of drive-through chow-downs. If we are very, very honest with ourselves, we will admit that Pollan is right; this is feeding, not eating. Food traditions are passed from generation to generation, an important part of any culture. Is this one we want to perpetuate? Rockin’ on the porch, telling the great-grandkids about the good old days at the BK drive-through? (Assuming we survive to tell the tale...)

Interesting twist: while staying in Edmonton earlier this summer, I read discussions in several Canadian cities regarding the possibility of banning drive throughs. Was it an attempt to limit access to junky food? Nope. It was an anti-idling discussion, prompted by pollution concerns and escalating fuel costs.

I’ll be watching to see how this food-for-thought develops.

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This month in Autism Asperger’s Digest

Storm Troopers: A Team Approach to Handling Meltdowns
Postcards from the Road Less Traveled, Autism Asperger’s Digest
September-October 2008

Excerpt:

Meltdowns are frequently part of the landscape when you have a child with autism in your classroom or home. Understanding that this behavior is almost certainly a result of a sensory or emotional overload, not deliberate or malicious sabotage, is the first step toward constructive handling of a meltdown. Having a plan in place when one hits is essential to minimizing the impact of these events to both child and environment, whether classroom or home.

Father Robert Tywoniak was no stranger to dealing with crisis when Hurricane Andrew hit his Florida community in 1992. As CEO of Catholic Charities Child Welfare Division, his agency was a frontline responder. They were able to save hundred of lives per day, track all children in the devastated area, rebuild and come back as a stronger agency that before the storm hit. The key to his success? “Good leadership, strategic planning, rehearsal and doing it all together.”

A child with autism in the midst of a meltdown is a little hurricane unto himself...

Autism Asperger’s Digest
Two-time MarCom Gold Award winner
Two-time NAPPA Parenting Resources Gold Award winner

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People in your neighborhood

Following are some groups and organizations who have contacted me recently. These groups are all actively involved in supporting families living with autism.

PLEASANTON, CALIFORNIA
Child Care Links is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources that strengthen and support children and their families. We have a contract with First 5 of Alameda County, California to provide Inclusion Services to our community. Our Inclusion webpage is:

http://www.childcarelinks.org/Inclusion/inclusionpage.html

For more information contact:
Andrea M. Finley
Director of Program Development
www.childcarelinks.org
925-417-8733
Oakland 510/268-0106

DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA
Autism Parent Support Group meets the 4th Monday of each month.
Time- 6:30pm to 8:30pm. 
Location: Danville Child Development Center, Danville, PA
Child care available.
Contact: Kathy Baas & Jerry Stropnicky (570)-275-8904
Bill Jones  (570)-784-7876

Our first meeting after our summer hiatus will be September 22. 

BASTROP, TEXAS
Bastrop, TX Area Yahoo and Support Group:  contact Debbie at  debsnest6@yahoo.com for more information on the online group and in person meetings.

VALDESE, NORTH CAROLINA
SOS-FAST: Surviving On the Spectrum - a Family Autism Support Team 
SOS-FAST meets weekly at 6:30 PM on Fridays at the Valdese First United Methodist Church, 217 Saint Germain Avenue SE, Valdese, NC 28690

Visit www.sosfast.org for more information about our group and our monthly schedule

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