ASCEND News: PAN & ASCEND partner for 4/23 conference, ASD in the media, events, and more!

April is Autism Awareness Month and it's jam-packed with activities. Here are three standout events for families.

The Center for Autism Research at CHOP is hosting a Family Fun and Awareness Day with the Philadelphia Eagles. Join CAR as they team up for a day of fun, excitement, and education on autism. Register ASAP before it fills up! Registration opens to the general public on Monday, 3/15.
Fee: FREE
Registration info: www.research.chop.edu/programs/car
Contact: Julie Mesaric at autism@email.chop.edu or 1-866-570-6524

Entertainment throughout the day includes Steve Pullara and the Cool Beans Band, Give and Take Jugglers, Magic by Michael Bonacci, Stacey’s Face Painting, Puppets Pizzazz, Music with Miss Amy and costumed characters. Also features a resource fair and autism merchandise for sale.
Fee: $10/person; parking is $12
Registration info: www.asaphilly.org
Contact: Anna Filmyer at AutismZooDay@verizon.net or 215-884-0844

Registration is now open for this annual event sponsored by Sesame Place and Variety. On this day, the park is opened exclusively for children with autism and their families. Accommodations are made for the children’s sensory comfort.
Fee: FREE admission; $25 for parking
Registration info: www.varietyphila.org
Contact: Marissa Tabak at marissatabak@varietyphila.org or 215/735-0803

The 5th Annual Penn Autism Network Conference is filling up fast! Don’t miss this region’s premier event focused on adults with autism, as well as transition to adulthood.This year’s keynote speaker is John Elder Robison, author of the best selling book Look Me In the Eye, My Life with Asperger’s.

Date: Friday, April 23, 2010
Time: 8:15am-4:00pm
Where: Willliamson Restaurant, Horsham, PA

3/18, 7pm—Montgomery County, King of Prussia
All parents and other adult family members or caregivers of children/ adolescents/adults with Asperger Syndrome and similar diagnoses are welcome to attend any of our support meetings.
Click www.ascendgroup.org for more details. Any changes to this schedule will be posted on the ASCEND website.

Spring classes are coming up for all ages and ability levels. Sessions at our site west of Downingtown and satellite classes in King of Prussia and in Southern Chester County.
Fee: Varies
Contact: Cindy Schneider at cindy@actingantics.org or 610-913-6018
www.actingantics.org

To have your event listed in ASCEND’s enewsletter, please visit our website and fill out the online event form.

Parent Workshop: Siblings of Children with Special Needs
March 19, 6:00-8:00PM
200 Yale Avenue, Morton, PA

Disabilities affect the lives of all family members, especially siblings within a family. This workshop is designed to provide opportunities for discussion and information to help increase parents and providers understanding of the unique needs of sibling issues and strategies to help organize and provide support for all children in the family.
Fee: FREE
Contact: Nora Connell at nconnell@dciu.org or 610-938-9000 ext. 2263
http://www.dciu.org

Sensory-Friendly Screening of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
March 20, 10:00AM
AMC Neshaminy 24, 3900 Rockhill Drive, Bensalem, PA

AMC Entertainment and the Autism Society of America have teamed up to bring families affected by autism a special opportunity to enjoy their favorite films in a safe and accepting enviroment on a monthly basis. With Sensory Friendly Films, the movie auditoriums will have their lights brought up and the sound turned down.
Fee: $6
www.asaphilly.org

Special Needs Family Run
March 27, 6:00PM-8:00PM
2500 Lower State Road, Doylestown, PA

Recreation Night in the pool and gymnasium for families with special needs!! Night filled with adapted activities. For all ages.
Fee: Varies depending on membership
Contact: Brooke Johnston at bjohnston@cbfymca.org or 215-348-8131 ext, 141
www.cbfymca.org

IEP’s: Everything You Wanted to Know but were Afraid to Ask
Presenter: Kathy Zepka, Education Advocate, The Arc of Delco
March 18, 2010, 7:30PM
Cardinal Krol Center, 1799 S Sproul Road, Springfield, PA

Disability Services in a Time of Declining State Resources
Presenter: Ira Fingles, Esq., Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law
2950 Potshop Road, Worcester, PA
March 18, 2010, 6:45-8:30PM

This presentation will help to identify government resources that are available, how to apply for them, private resources, and more. Open to parents and professionals. Childcare is available with advance notice.
Fee: FREE
Contact: Marissa Tabak at marissata-bak@varietyphila.org or 267- 261-2113

In the Mix: Open Mic Coffee House and Community Art Show
March 19, 2010, 7:00-9:30PM
150 E. Beidler Road, King of Prussia, PA
This is an INCLUSIVE event. People of all ages, all different abilities and with or without special needs are invited to come and share their talents or just come and appreciate others' talents. We are looking for musicians, visual artists, poets, actors, etc. to come and offer your talents for this event! Other special accommodations will include “buddies” and a staffed sensory room.

Fee: $7-10/person or $25/family
Contact: Tori Conicello-Emery, MA, MT-BC, Tempo! Music Therapy Services, at tori@tempotherapy.com

The Wanna Play Program: Understanding Social Interaction Skills
Presenter: Ruth Herron Ross, CEO, Wanna Play
April 8, 6:30-8:30PM
1777 North Valley Road, Malvern, PA

Wanna Play is a program that incorporates learning the social strategies needed to function in society into fun interaction. Ms. Ross has successfully employed the program’s techniques with children of all ages. Participants in this workshop will gain understanding about the interaction continuum for students with special needs, receive information about selected activities, and practice specific strategies to help maintain a positive learning environment at home and at school.
For Ages:
Fee: FREE
Contact: Maria Kreiter at makreiter@vfes.net or 610-296-6725 x168
www.vfes.net

A traditional day camp for campers ages 7-17 diagnosed with learning differences and social skill needs such as high functioning Asperger Syndrome. Gives campus tours any time during the year. www.hilltopsummercamp.org
Fee:$1800.00 per 3-week session
Contact: Ryan Wexelblatt, Director, at camp@hilltopprep.org or 610-527-3230 ext.653
www.hilltopsummercamp.org
Click here for the brochure >

Our program targets social communication including friendship and conversational skills during the three hour morning session designed for 5-12 year old students. The one hour afternoon sessions target social thinking, perspective taking, and job-related social interactions for older students. Instructors include two Speech Pathologists and one Occupational Therapist.
Fee: See website
Contact: Barbara MacNamara at phillymacs@hotmail.com 215-247-6540
www.sociallyspeakingsuccess.com

From the segment: “Statistics on the unemployed have been dominating the news for months. And while the current portrait of the jobless might seem dire, consider this: According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 20 percent of the disabled population in the country has work. But Aspiritech, a nonprofit in the suburbs of Chicago, is trying to help improve the job outlook for people with Asperger's and high-functioning autism. The company trains people in data entry and computer program testing — skills that come naturally to many with the disorder. read more >

How TV shows try (or choose not) to depict Asperger's syndrome
The Star-Ledger, February 28, 2010
From the article: "’Parenthood’ is not the first TV show to feature a regular character with the condition, but it’s one of the first to openly acknowledge that. Both physicist Sheldon Cooper played by Jim Parsons on the CBS sitcom ‘Big Bang Theory’ and forensic anthropolgist Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) on the Fox crime drama ‘Bones’ would appear to be classic ‘Aspies,’ as many of those with the condition call themselves.” read more here >

Why autism is different for girls
The Independent, February 23, 2010
From the article: “With hindsight, Nicky Clark says early signs of autism were present in both her children. The elder one, though very bright, had a love of routine and was not interested in fantasy games like other children. The younger one liked to line things up in rows and would watch the same video clip over and over again for hours. When she got the diagnosis it came as a huge shock, as it would be for any parent. But there was an additional reason why it was unexpected – both her children are girls.” read more >

Concocting a cure for kids with issues
New York Times, March 10, 2010
From the article: “If you’re the parent of a child who’s having trouble learning or behaving in school, you quickly find yourself confronted with a series of difficult choices. You can do nothing — and watch your child flounder while teachers register their disapproval. Or you can get help, which generally means, first, an expensive and time-consuming evaluation, then more visits with more specialists … For many parents — particularly the sorts of parents who are skeptical of mainstream medicine and of the intentions of what one mother once described to me as “the learning-disability industrial complex” — this experience is an exercise in frustration and alienation.”
read more >

From the website: Since 1972, thousands of men and women with developmental and physical challenges from all over the world have achieved greater independence through the travel experiences provided by The Guided Tour, Inc., based in Elkins Park, PA. The Guided Tour is a program that offers opportunities for personal growth, recreation and socialization through travel. www.guidedtour.com

An Online Resource for Families in Pennsylvania, the goal of this Wiki is to establish a community of collaborators who will add relevant and timely content to this site to ensure that individuals with autism disorders and their families have access to the most current and comprehensive information on transition services in Pennsylvania. For more info: autismwiki@devereux.org
www.autismhandbook.org

Two Web sites launched by members of the Penn State faculty aim to support the development of language and communication skills in children with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other disabilities. The “Early Intervention,” site is an online, five-step intervention to introduce augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to enhance the language and communication skills of infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The second site, “AAC and Literacy,” provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs.
http://aackids.psu.edu/
http://aacliteracy.psu.edu/

The "Mission Accessible" National Disability Media and History Project is looking for volunteers to transcribe historical state documents and oral history videos. Transcriptions will be included in a new database and video editor scheduled for launch on 7/26/10, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Volunteers can work from their own computers. This could be a meaningful volunteer project for students with disabilities in work-based learning and other secondary transition programs. Participation would allow students to develop and use their reading, keyboarding, and other job skills and could serve as a springboard to discussions of disability rights and the disability rights movement.
https://sites.google.com/a/pinedafoundation.org/ios/home

It is with heartfelt thanks that ASCEND acknowledges a donation from the Santivasi Family.

Please send items for consideration for our enews to info@ascendgroup.org
with “Enews Idea” in the subject line.

ASCEND's enewsletter is partially funded via a generous grant from CCRES.

ASCEND Group Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. We do not endorse any specific professional or therapeutic treatment. We are not meant to be a replacement for medical or legal advice. Our mission is to raise public awareness about Asperger Syndrome and related disorders, to advocate for improved education and services, and to provide support and information to the Asperger and autism community.

This newsletter is for informational purposes only. Any link or mention in our newsletter should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation.

The official registration and financial information of ASCEND Group Inc. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.