BBB AUTISM SUPPORT NETWORK/

AUTISM SOCIETY ONTARIO (YORK REGION CHAPTER)

PRESENT

THE E-NEWS

http://www.bbbautism.com/about_bbb.htm 

VOLUME 8; ISSUE 1                      FEBRUARY 5, 2003

THE NEW FACE OF BBB SUPPORT

Welcome and Happy New Year!

As we settle firmly into 2003, BBB Autism is making its new home over at MSN communities.  We have found many more interesting features that allow members even more participation and creativity than ever before.

We have also coerced a core of our very loyal members to join our support team as Assistant Managers.  Please join me in welcoming Diana, Sue and Becca who are helping me creatively and organizationally (boy, do I need help with that!).

In this issue we will talk about the changes and hopefully entice you to join our membership.  We welcome anyone who lives with, works with or loves someone with autism/PDD.  As always, all online features of BBB are free of charge!

I want to thank you for your continued support in our volunteer efforts!

Sincerely,

FIRST, A LITTLE BACKGROUND…

BBB Autism Support Network was conceived 3-½ years ago.  Times (and the Internet) have changed in that short time.  We have grown significantly in membership, expanded our website, joined forces with Autism Society Ontario York Region Chapter and implemented this very publication, the E-News.

We seemed to strike a nerve.  People in the autism field responded so positively to our newsletter that circulation grew rapidly.  We now go out to nearly 1,000 parents, friends and professionals.  Not bad for an outfit that operates out of a home office!

NEW TO THE WEBSITE:

Kathryn’s SEAC page: http://www.bbbautism.com/york_kathryn.htm

ASK (Autism Society Kids) Camp: http://www.bbbautism.com/ask_camp_03.htm

WHY A BEE?

According to the theory of aerodynamics, and as may be readily demonstrated through experiments, the Bumble Bee is unable to fly.

This is because the size, the weight, and the shape of his body in relation to his wingspread make flying impossible.

But the Bumble Bee, being ignorant of these scientific truths, goes ahead and flies anyway - and makes a little honey everyday!

~~Author Unknown

(Thanks to Lucy for submitting this!)

 

THE NEW FACE OF BBB AUTISM SUPPORT

Due to all the positive changes, we have decided to move our message board and support features to MSN.  You can find us here: http://groups.msn.com/BBBAutismSupportNetwork/

 

   

Join BBB Autism Support Network

   

 MSN Groups

At our new home you can:

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-    Create your own photo album

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-    Attach files to your posts

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-    Post in any of the several categories provided

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-    Access our website

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-    Enter contests

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-    Join discussions

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-    Participate in chats

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-    Use our calendar

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-    Post graphics – get creative!

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-    Share gfcf recipes

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-    Share favorite reading material

You can access our “Ask The Experts” where volunteer members list their areas of expertise to help you address your questions to those with the most knowledge and training.

Check out “Local Buddies” to find someone close to you. 

As always, we provide a friendly, supportive place where you don’t have to be afraid to post the odd rant or even joke for that matter!

 

A CONTEST FOR BBB MEMBERS!

We are looking for a new logo to use in our community, on our website & in the e-news and we'd like YOU to design it for us!

Winner will receive their own webpage on which they can put information about their family - anything they'd like (no offensive content), pics, poems, stories, biography - WHATEVER!  You will also get a virtual trophy using the logo you've created to display on this web page, and/or your personal pages.  The web page will be displayed here in our BBB community!

See contest details at our MSN Community here:

http://groups.msn.com/BBBAutismSupportNetwork/

Are you worried because you've never designed before?  Check out some resources we’ve listed.  It's easier than you think!  Copywrite info is also on that page.

Please take part in the fun! 

 

NEWS FROM ASO YORK CHAPTER

SUMMARY OF MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS FOR 2002 - 2003

MONTHLY CHAPTER AND PARENT SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

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-    Monday February 17th Chapter & Parent Support Meeting & Guest Speaker; Topic 'Asperger's Syndrome'

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-    Wednesday March 19th Chapter & Parent Support Meeting (this meeting will be in Room B07)

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-    Tuesday April 8th Chapter & Parent Support Meeting

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-    Tuesday May 13th Chapter & Parent Support Meeting

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-    Tuesday June 10th "Summer's Coming" Potluck/Mingle

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~ PARENT EMPOWERMENT WORKSHOPS ~

-    Sponsored by Autism Society Ontario ~ York Region Chapter

-    Refreshments: 30 minutes before Presentation Start Time

-    Cost: Free to Member families, $ 10.00 for Non-members. (Unless otherwise noted)

-    Memberships available at the door. $ 30.00 annually

-    REGISTRATION REQUIRED:

-    By e-mail asoyork@axxent.ca, by voice-mail: 905-780-1590

-    To avoid disappointment, please register so that we may ensure enough handouts, refreshments and seats. Those registered will be contacted should any workshop be cancelled due to low registration or poor weather.

 

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    LIVING WITH ASPERGER'S SYNDROME GARY WALESKI

Monday February 17th 7:00 - 9:00, Meeting Room B13 A 'first hands accounts" presentation by an adult living successfully with Asperger's Syndrome .

-     SILENT VOICES: GROWING UP AS A SIBLING OF A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD VICTOR PRETO AND CHRISTINE WOODCOCK

Tuesday March 25th 7:00 - 9:00, Meeting Room B13 Victor Preto is a social worker and a trained facilitator in Sibling Support groups for the past ten years. He is also a certified play therapist and crisis intervention worker. Christine Woodcock is a child and family resource consultant, a trained facilitator in Sibling Groups and a crisis intervention worker. Both with Thistletown Regional Centre's TRE-ADD program. The focus of this workshop will be to introduce participants to the array of issues and stressors that can affect siblings of special needs children. Additionally they will also talk about recent research findings in the area of sibling support as well as tips and strategies for overcoming family hurdles. They will give an overview of the groups they run for Siblings, promoting group cohesion, thought provoking discussions and problem solving skills training.

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TRANSITIONS DURING THE SCHOOL YEARS LINDSAY MOIR, EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT COMHNADH CONSULTING, LONDON, ONTARIO

Tuesday April 29th 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Meeting Room B13

An overview of the three transitions:

1) School Entry: attendance rights and responsibilities, the registration and initial IPRC processes, Special education programming in the primary grades, pertinent school board documents you should have, and a general overview of education legislation.

2) Transition to High school: deals with the changes between grades 7-8 and the high school system. Helpful hints on how to manage this transition are discussed.

3) Transition to work, post secondary, or community: this process begins with Regulation 181 and the Transition Plan for students who are 14 years+ and walks participants through the various stages of ensuring a smooth transition from school to community. Attendance rights and innovative cooperative programs for students over 21 will be discussed as well as Co-op Education, Job Shadowing and SALES

 

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SENSORY INTEGRATION - 'MAKE & TAKE' WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR - SHIRLEY SUTTON, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST Saturday May 24th 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

COST: To Be Advised

We have approached a corporation to sponsor this important workshop, as it is normally offered to professionals at a cost of $125. Your Chapter WILL subsidize this fee, however, regardless of the level of corporate sponsorship attained. Our goal is to again offer this workshop at a cost that our families can afford. Your registration now will strengthen our proposal for corporate sponsorship. REGISTRATION REQUIRED - LIMITED SEATING

COST WILL INCLUDE REFRESHMENTS & LUNCH

'Make & Take' is a series of 5 mini workshops dealing with sensory, oral and fine motor skills for children with special needs, with an emphasis on children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many items and a 40+ page manual are included with the S.I. 'kits'.

Who Should Attend? Parents teachers, mediators, educational assistants and 'hands-on' therapists!

And…

 

PRIVATE IBI / ABA THERAPIST AVAILABLE

Charlene C. Crane, Tottenham. 905-936-4119

Resume and references available at the Chapter office.

 

MEDIATOR AVAILABLE

Megan Nicholas, 905-830-1806 or 95-895-0038

ESTHETICIAN APPOINTMENTS

Melissa Shlanger at Wellsprings Natural Health & Beauty Spa, 905-780-6627 (Melissa is one of our teenaged Chapter members, who has graduated from high school and is now pursuing career training as an esthetician. Congratulations, Melissa! Living with ASD you have inspired us all to reach our goals.

 

LOCKS FOR LOCKERS, FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL AND JUNIOR HIGH STUDENTS WITH ASD

0, 1, 2 and 3 number Dudley combination locks can be purchased at: www.securityhouselock.com or call 905 669 5300. This means that you can buy a Dudley lock that has no combination (just pull), single number combo, only two numbers, or all three. I think you can even order a specific number. Best part is they look like every other Dudley locks the kids use.

 

ODSP WEBSITE AND NEW INFORMATION AVAILABLE

Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), is administered by the Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services (MCFCS). For over 18 years of age. Apply 6 months prior to 18th birthday.

New information is now available on their more user-friendly website:

An ODSP Handbook created to give potential clients, their family and friends, advocacy groups and community agencies a concise and easy to read guide on the application for ODSP and available benefits. The fact sheet of ODSP Employment Supports in plain language for those with lower literacy levels or learning disabilities - with more info on how to apply.

The ODSP Employment Supports application package which can be filled out on line. A complete listing of all ODSP local offices.

www.gov.on.ca/CSS/page/services/ODSP/odsp.html

 

A Letter from our President.

- printed in the Richmond Hill Liberal

Oct 27, 2002


On behalf of Autism Society Ontario, York Region chapter, I would like to thank the many parents and professionals who attended our reception Oct. 7 in celebration of Autism Awareness Month.

Our sincere appreciation goes to the councils in York Region for proclaiming Autism Awareness Month and to the community newspapers for advertising those proclamations.

In addition to a presentation by Margaret Spoelstra, executive director of Autism Society Ontario, our guests were invited to tour our new chapter office and Parent Resource Centre, which were furnished by the generosity of A & D Enterprises in Aurora.

Many volunteer hours went into planning this event and special thanks goes to the Junior League of Toronto -- North Geographic Group, our enthusiastic chapter members and Nicole Skura for providing our entertainment for the evening.

Autism Society Ontario, York Region chapter is a volunteer organization of dedicated parents and professionals who strive to fulfill our vision of acceptance and opportunities for all individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

For more information, please contact us at 905-780-1590.

CINDI BUICK,

PRESIDENT, AUTISM SOCIETY ONTARIO,YORK REGION CHAPTER

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Location: 11181 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill (unless otherwise specified)

LOYAL TRUE BLUE AND ORANGE  BUILDING - YONGE ST. NORTH OF ELGIN MILLS

 

ENEWS BITES:

“AUTISM FRIENDS: (www.autismfriends.com) Come check out our 800+ links, shopping section fundraisers for parent run sites coming soon!)  Family pages and our Community section for chats 5 days a week!  Coming soon to Autism Friends! Parent tips, ponderings and wisdom!

Autism Friends is a Member supported website run by a parent. We are always looking for parent contributions! Book recommendations, photos, best links, personal stories, poems & artwork by our creative geniuses. Contact Tina at: founder@autismfriends.com. Tina”

 

Autism Children’s Intervention Services Inc.  (http://www.aciscanada.com/) Grace Damouni, Director/Founder - 8171 Yonge Street, Suite 226, Thornhill ON, L3T 2C6, Tel   416. 219 2316, Fax 905. 832 3139 E-Mail: Grace@aciscanada.com

“Certified in PECS, Sensory Integration (went to Florida and took the course/lab with Pat Wilbarger), Greenspan’s Early Infancy and Childhood course (Floortime/DIR), training in Lovaas, workshop in Handwriting Without Tears, degree in psychology and most importantly, many, (9) years of clinical work with children with PDD/Autism. 

I work very closely with Dr. James Bebko of York University and Dr. Carolyn Lennox who are the consulting psychologists to ACIS. 

I am proud to say our IBI program is very comprehensive as it includes collaboration with SLPs and OTs as well as the educational team.  We help develop IEPs and provide trained shadows for classroom integration. 

We do travel outside of the immediate catchments region (once every month or two depending on the time of year) to administer staff training, consultations, assessments and program development.  We will travel to Guelph, Hamilton, Cambridge (for example) but only during certain times of the year.  However, we do not provide ITs (mediators) to service this region although we can train staff that the family has already recruited.   For parents who are not interested in hiring a "team" we can set up the programs/binder.

We do however, provide "teams" and oversee the program for our catchment region, which is Markham, Pickering, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, North York, Maple, and Woodbridge.  If families live within this region we can offer a "team" with full services (assessments, programs, supervision etc) and this ranges in price from $20,000 and up depending on the treatment plan the family has in mind (we offer different plans).  In this regard we are very flexible which I believe makes us unique-we customize plans so that we are able to take into consideration the families needs/expectations.   Grace Damouni, Director/Founder

Do you have your “NAVIGATING THE SPECIAL EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ONTARIO A HANDBOOK FOR PARENTS OF STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS” manual yet?

Autism Society Ontario is pleased to announce the release of its 2nd edition of Navigating the Special Education System in Ontario. A Handbook for Parents of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This updated edition includes more first-hand accounts, more information on Asperger’s Syndrome and information on various tools that was not included in the popular manual that was released a number of years ago. The hard-cover three-ring binder is approximately 200 pages long is available through ASO for $25.00/copy plus postage. Funds raised will offset the cost of printing and distribution. Thanks go to ASO's Education Committee, led by Natalie Whatley, who completed their work as a volunteer committee on this excellent project this past summer. (Copies will be available chapter meetings. Save $ 8.00 postage and handling charges ! )

 

Do you have an event, announcement, information or a request?  Email us 50 words or less at liz@deaknet.com and we’ll put it in an upcoming E-News issue.  Email early to avoid disappointment! BBB Autism is not responsible for misrepresentations of persons or agencies utilizing this service. Don’t forget to include an email address if needed.  

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

To subscribe, e-mail bbbautism@deaknet.com please provide your name and location.  To unsubscribe, e-mail bbbautism@deaknet.com please write 'unsubscribe' in subject line. If you think you know someone who might enjoy or benefit from these newsletters, kindly forward us their email address at bbbautism@deaknet.com
(C) 2003 BBB Autism

Past Issues

Archived issues (too many to list here) are available by link in HTML, plain text and PDF on our website at www.bbbautism.com/news_arch.htm

BBB PARENT GUIDES

CONTAIN PRACTICAL INFORMATION BY PARENTS FOR PARENTS Available on request, e-mail liz@deaknet.com and ask for: (also available in PDF format) NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE: OUR BBB GUIDES IN A PLAIN TEXT FORMAT SUITABLE FOR PRINTING.  FIND THEM HERE: http://www.bbbautism.com/bbb_guides_contents.htm

1.        Halloween

2.        Epsom Salts (Calcium too) – expanded version

3.        Epsom Salts – condensed version

4.        Pros and Cons of telling your ASD child his/her diagnosis

5.        How we advocate for our children

6.        Guide to holidays and large family gatherings

7.        Vaccine Concerns in Ontario

A notice to our readers...

The editor of this newsletter, founder of the BBB Autism support network and its volunteers (herein referred to collectively as BBB staff) are not physicians.

This newsletter may reference books and other web sites that may be of interest to the reader.  The BBB staff makes no presentation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained on any of these web sites or in the books, and specifically disclaims any liability for any information contained on, or omissions from, these books or web sites.  Reference to these web sites or books herein shall not be construed to be an endorsement of these web sites or books or of the information contained thereon, by the BBB Staff.

The editor/founder reserves the right to make decisions as to whether contributions are appropriate with respect to content, length, etc.  We will not publish offensive material using foul language, or contributions that are inflammatory or disrespectful to decisions by or beliefs of other parents (i.e. therapies). We do not generally accept contributions if they are ads for private service agencies/clinics. We are also unable to accept contributions after an issue has been completed. We reserve the right to edit content, but will inform you in advance if we are going to do this. J  All submissions to BBB Autism Support Network and any of its features (including but not limited to the E-News) become the property of BBB Autism Support Network and may be used in other publications or on our website.

(c) BBB Autism – February 2003

This E-News is the intellectual property of BBB Autism Support Network.

Permission to reproduce and hand out is granted, provided the document is displayed in its entirety.  Other permissions may be requested by email: liz@deaknet.com.  The purpose of this copyright is to protect your right to make free copies of this paper for your friends and colleagues, to prevent publishers from using it for commercial advantage, and to prevent ill-meaning people from altering the meaning of the document by changing or removing a few paragraphs.