ROSEVILLE, Calif. -- The parents of twin autistic boys left out of a yearbook are accusing the school of discrimination.
Darla Granger said her sons Holden and Hunter were purposely left out of their Roseville, Calif., school yearbook -- along with the rest of the school's special needs children.
"When your own school district and the people that are supposed to be there to support you and your kids and your situation sort of shun you, it is hurtful," Granger said.
Holden and Hunter Granger, who are in second grade, are students of the Placer County Board of Education, which assigns special-need students to various schools within the district.
The boys are in a collage photo in the yearbook, but the school's special needs class, including teachers, is missing.
"I got the book and was excited to look up their class and see their pictures with their names and their teachers, and they weren't in it," Granger said.
Darla and her husband, Blandon, have filed a complaint with the Placer County Board of Education, but said they aren't taking legal action and would just like to ensure that the class pictures of their children and other special-needs students are included in future yearbooks.
The Placer County superintendent who oversees the special needs program at Quail Glen Elementary said she thinks the incident was an oversight, not a malicious act.
"I do have a hard time understanding how they could have not noticed that every autistic child from their campus was missing," Darla Granger said.
The boys' father said he doesn't know if the act was intentional but doesn't think care was given to include the children with special needs in the yearbook.
"I just felt like I needed to speak out," Blandon Granger said. "I feel like we are owed an apology."
Monday, July 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Savage Comments
I live in an area in Illinois that does not carry Michael Savage's syndicated talk show. I consider myself rather fortunate in that regard. I've been hearing the outcries against this shock jock, and wondered what all the fuss was about.
Finally I was able to find a clip of the broadcast, and listened to him spew his offensive opinions about autism. My first instinct was to ignore it. He reminded me of an internet troll, that only tries to stir up trouble to draw attention on themselves. And as a shock jock, that's pretty much his occupation anyway.
But something about his rant was very disturbing to me. It was difficult to dismiss. The more I tried to ignore it, the more it would raise its ugly head in my consciousness. You know that feeling you get when you are driving away from your house, and you start to wonder if you left the stove on? That little fear that builds up in your gut? The Savage rant on autism had that same pending doom feeling for me, that I couldn't quite pinpoint at first.
Then I read an article on About.com, where Lisa Jo Rudy asks, "Can anyone explain why a shock jock can have this much impact on this many people over so much time?' Wonderful question!
After giving this some thought, I realize why I can't let this drop. Common sense tells me, Don't Feed The Troll! That's what they tell you when you encounter an internet troll out to exercise their ability to cyber bully. They say mean and outrageous things to get you riled up, because they feed off of the power they have to get you upset. Don't react, ignore them, and they go away. Don't feed them by reacting, or they won't ever disappear. Don't Feed The Troll. So why am I drawn to react to someone who is so obviously a radio troll?
The answer that first came to mind is that he is voicing what I have been struggling against all along. He is echoing the ignorance and the foolishness I face when I sat there and listened to a teacher inform me that "all he needs is discipline." Or when a principal insisted that "You need to take that boy home and beat the living hell out of him." (Yes, she really said that to me.)
You see, living with Nathan is a gift. He is so different from other kids. He is sweet, and joyful, and giving. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and a unique way of looking at things. He slows us down, and forces us to embrace all elements of our world. He is the light of my life. Autism is not our enemy. I embrace his autism, because Nathan without autism wouldn't be Nathan. I love him exactly as he is. It's living life to its fullest. My life didn't begin until I got married and created a child. (Now, I don't claim my life is easy. Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it can be quite challenging. But Nathan is worth it.) And life with Nathan isn't a burden.
What IS a burden is how people react to Nathan. People who don't understand, and stand in judgment. People who shout hateful comments, and see only evil in his differences. People who advocate punishing the autism right out of him.
Those people make my life difficult. They create stress, where no stress existed previously. They fight knowledge about autism, because it doesn't fit their nice and easy response to how to "fix" my child. They suggest drugs, as if there were some magic pill to cure autism, because they expect a drugged child to be easier to deal with. Then they don't have to learn new ways to help my son learn. So even though he is extremely bright, and eager to learn, teachers find him not worth the effort. Daycares would rather send him home, then to give him space when he's feeling overwhelmed. School personnel would rather hold him down in a chair for a half hour, then to give him five minutes or so to collect himself. They would rather tell me that it isn't the autism that is causing my son to melt down, it's just that "laziness" in him that makes him resist. (Funny, he isn't lazy at home.) Oh, and my favorite, that "it's hard to tell when it's the autism we're dealing with, or the boy." As if you can separate the boy from the autism. As if autism doesn't affect the way he IS, the way he acts, the way he functions, the way he thinks... But amazingly, a teacher thinks the autism turns itself on and off, like a switch, and she can tell that it isn't the autism affecting my child, he's just misbehaving.
So what makes the Savage rant so hard to dismiss, is that he embodies all the hate and resistance and stress that we face in our life on the Spectrum. Savage is that teacher, that principal, that daycare provider, that disapproving relative. He is the ignorance. He is the staring and judgmental passer by. He is our frustration. He is what makes life harder. And he's ENCOURAGING his opinion on others.
And for that, I do believe he owes the Autism Community an apology.
I hope very much that the father in Michael Savage's life is still around. And that his father comes forward right now and give him a V8-forehead-thump, and tells him, "Don't be a fool. Don't behave like a fool. Don't sound like an idiot." Because he does. And if his father is no longer around, then I hope an authority figure in his life will come forward and provide that same guidance. Too bad his employer didn't take that step. Somebody certainly should.
To all parents who live with autism, the man is a complete fool. He ought to be ashamed of what he said. I've heard the man has an education, though his radio broadcast certainly belies that fact. Obviously, he has no education in Autism Spectrum Disorders, and he certainly has no right to broadcast to the nation such offensive and hurtful messages about something he has no experience or expertise in. He has embarrassed himself by speaking so horribly about something he knows nothing about. People defend him by saying he has a right to his opinion. Sure he does. But he doesn't have a right to "boldly draw attention" to a problem he is completely ignorant about, in the guise of "helping" the parents of disabled children, in a broadcast to the American public. What's next? Insisting that the paralyzed population is just "lazy?" (Would his employer tolerate his words if he said that? What's the difference?)
One speech was quite laughable, though. The part where he said that autism "is a racket to collect disability payments from the government, from basically poorer families who've found a new -- a new way to -- to be parasites on the government, which is if -- if you want to collect a little money and get free medical care, you want to get the kid to take tests with help where the answers are given to him before he takes it, just say he's got an illness -- ADD, DDD, ASA. To me, there is one disease that they all have; it's called S-T-U-P-I-D. That's the main illness most of these kids have."
Wow, Mr. Savage! You mean all this time there was MONEY to be had, because my child has a disability?? Fascinating. Show me the money! Because I currently receive absolutely no money because my son is autistic. Free insurance? Where?? I have friends in Wisconsin that can't even get dental insurance, let alone prescription insurance, for their child because he is autistic. Please tell us where this free insurance is. I've read that it costs, on average, $70,000 a year more, to raise a child with autism. Considering that many insurance companies won't cover anything related to autism, I know a whole bunch of parents who would gladly accept free insurance if there truly is any to be had. Do tell where we can all find that free insurance! And that free money from the government! Or is it YOU that actually has S-T-U-P-I-D disease?
It's so fascinating to hear that Michael Savage is able to distinguish between autism and fakery. He is able to determine without so much as an exam, what a team of trained professionals has apparently "misdiagnosed." My son must have done some real fakery to pass himself off as autistic to so many people trained in diagnosing autism. Not to mention the half dozen or so autism specialists I've taken him to. Hm, not only must Mr. Savage be exceptionally qualified, to discover what all these specialists have missed, but he must be psychic as well, because he hasn't even examined an autistic child professionally, to make this claim. And boy oh by, my son must be genius, to have fooled so many doctors!
Sigh. Listening to Savage and his savage remarks, just depresses me. It makes me once again afraid of the upcoming school year, because there are a lot of savage-like people in the school district. And now they have a voice on the radio encouraging them on. And encouraging others to feel the same way.
That's the damage that Michael Savage can do. He fires up people by spouting his opinions. But some of the people he fires up, are the people that agree with his ignorant comments. And we're the ones that end up dealing with it. His words were not simply offensive. They were meant to affect the opinions of others. And that will hurt our children. And it will hurt us.
There is a bill stuck right now in the House of Representatives that was written to protect our children. SB 1900, a bill that would require insurance coverage for children with autism. What happens when you have national radio broadcasts that label autism as "fakery" and "a racket"? That autistic children are "misdiagnosed," that the autism epidemic is "bullcrap." What kind of effect will Savage have on that bill? I guess we can only hope that the 8,000,000 listeners that tune into his radio broadcast, aren't as ignorant about autism as Savage is. We can hope that Savage's voice will not influence the public that listens to him. We can hope the Representatives who decide on that bill don't share the Savage viewpoint.
Being a shock jock doesn't mean you can say anything at all, and it's acceptable. It isn't acceptable to broadcast such ignorance about autism because it is irresponsible, and it can hurt families. It can affect public opinion because his listeners could believe it's true, and that public opinion can hurt our children. It can affect the way our children are treated, it can affect how parents are treated, and it can have devastating effects.
If I could say something to Michael Savage, it would be this. "Your dad was right. You need to man up. Be a man and do the right thing. Apologize for what you said. Take responsibility for your actions. You hurt a lot of people. If you had done some personal research, you would realize what a fool you've been. It's wrong to hurt people to gain ratings. It's wrong to judge what you don't know anything about. Now make things right, in the best way you can. Say you were wrong. Say you're sorry. Idiot."
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Mark 10: 13-16
Priest Bans Autistic Boy From Church
Mom Told She'd Be Sent to Jail if She Brought Autistic Son to Church
BERTHA, Minn.
May 19, 2008 —
A Catholic priest has filed a restraining order against the parents of a severely autistic 13-year-old boy in an effort to keep him from attending the church in Bertha on Sundays.
The Rev. Daniel Walz alleges that Adam Race's unruly behavior endangers others who attend the Church of St. Joseph.
Race's parents have ignored the restraining order, calling it discriminatory, and Carol Race, Adam's mother, was cited by police and is due to appear in court on Monday for violating the order.
"He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church," Carol Race said. "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."
Carol Race said it all started last June, when Walz and a church trustee visited the Races at their home address the behavior of Adam, who stands taller than six feet and weighs more than 225 pounds.
In an affidavit, Walz said the church "explored and offered many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. The family refused those offers of accommodation."
Carol Race said the family of seven, which has attended St. Joseph since 1996, typically sat in the cry room or in the back pew to keep avoid disrupting the services and did not hear a complaint from the parishioners until Walz showed up at their home in June.
Even after the restraining order was served, the family continued going to the church and would leave during the closing hymn to avoid contact with others, Carol Race said.
The Diocese of St. Cloud issued a statement saying the petition was filed "as a last resort out of a growing concern for the safety of parishioners and other community members due to disruptive and violent behavior on the part of that child."
Walz said the boy's behavior worsened over time, telling authorities that Adam has been "extremely disruptive and dangerous" since last summer.
According to Walz, Adam struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits the church, spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights when he is being restrained.
He also one time assaulted a girl by pulling her onto his lap and, during Easter mass, ran to the parking lot and got into two vehicles, starting them and revving the engine, Walz alleged.
"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear," Walz wrote.
Adam's parents have to sit on him and sometimes tie his hands and feet to get control of him, Walz wrote.
Carol Race has an answer to each complaint.
She said her son makes spitting faces but doesn't spit and acknowledged he has occasional problems with incontinence. She says that she and her husband sit on Adam because their weight calms him down, which is why he pulled the girl onto him.
She also said they do use soft straps to bind Adam's hands and feet on occasion because it calms him, as does the revving sound of engines, which is why he started the cars.
Some disability advocates are getting behind the Races.
"It's unfathomable and concerns me that we've taken a situation with special needs and we're making it into the criminal matter," said Brad Trahan, the founder of the RT Autism Awareness Foundation in Rochester, who has asked the bishop of St. Cloud to rescind the restraining order.
Carol Race just hopes the ugly back-and-forth doesn't tarnish the image of the church.
"The church isn't bad," she said. "But it's what some individuals do within the church."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
Mom Told She'd Be Sent to Jail if She Brought Autistic Son to Church
BERTHA, Minn.
May 19, 2008 —
A Catholic priest has filed a restraining order against the parents of a severely autistic 13-year-old boy in an effort to keep him from attending the church in Bertha on Sundays.
The Rev. Daniel Walz alleges that Adam Race's unruly behavior endangers others who attend the Church of St. Joseph.
Race's parents have ignored the restraining order, calling it discriminatory, and Carol Race, Adam's mother, was cited by police and is due to appear in court on Monday for violating the order.
"He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church," Carol Race said. "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."
Carol Race said it all started last June, when Walz and a church trustee visited the Races at their home address the behavior of Adam, who stands taller than six feet and weighs more than 225 pounds.
In an affidavit, Walz said the church "explored and offered many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. The family refused those offers of accommodation."
Carol Race said the family of seven, which has attended St. Joseph since 1996, typically sat in the cry room or in the back pew to keep avoid disrupting the services and did not hear a complaint from the parishioners until Walz showed up at their home in June.
Even after the restraining order was served, the family continued going to the church and would leave during the closing hymn to avoid contact with others, Carol Race said.
The Diocese of St. Cloud issued a statement saying the petition was filed "as a last resort out of a growing concern for the safety of parishioners and other community members due to disruptive and violent behavior on the part of that child."
Walz said the boy's behavior worsened over time, telling authorities that Adam has been "extremely disruptive and dangerous" since last summer.
According to Walz, Adam struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits the church, spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights when he is being restrained.
He also one time assaulted a girl by pulling her onto his lap and, during Easter mass, ran to the parking lot and got into two vehicles, starting them and revving the engine, Walz alleged.
"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear," Walz wrote.
Adam's parents have to sit on him and sometimes tie his hands and feet to get control of him, Walz wrote.
Carol Race has an answer to each complaint.
She said her son makes spitting faces but doesn't spit and acknowledged he has occasional problems with incontinence. She says that she and her husband sit on Adam because their weight calms him down, which is why he pulled the girl onto him.
She also said they do use soft straps to bind Adam's hands and feet on occasion because it calms him, as does the revving sound of engines, which is why he started the cars.
Some disability advocates are getting behind the Races.
"It's unfathomable and concerns me that we've taken a situation with special needs and we're making it into the criminal matter," said Brad Trahan, the founder of the RT Autism Awareness Foundation in Rochester, who has asked the bishop of St. Cloud to rescind the restraining order.
Carol Race just hopes the ugly back-and-forth doesn't tarnish the image of the church.
"The church isn't bad," she said. "But it's what some individuals do within the church."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
Monday, June 30, 2008
Recognition
Check this out! This was posted today on the local newspaper's new health section online. I was really excited because it's the first time I've seen the newspaper mention my website! (And they said good things about it, too!)
I'm so excited!! (doing a happy dance!)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources to help with autism available
By Deborah Austin
HealthyRockford.com
Jun 30, 2008 @ 01:00 PM
Families of children with autism have gained a critical mass of resources over the past few years in the Rock River Valley.
Those resources are support groups, spearheaded by other parents who needed help themselves and decided to do something about it. And they link families not only through networking and social support, but through their Web sites.
Through these online centers, parents and caregivers can link to dozens of longtime agencies they may never have realized could offer help for living with autism.
Another major development, the Easter Seals Autism Therapeutic School, also opened last fall in Rockford.
Now a new local resource is on the horizon. The Autism Program Service Center, funded this year by a $200,000 state grant, is slated to start rolling out services this summer at the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center in Rockford.
Here are some of the local resources.
Northwest Illinois Autism Support Group, rockfordautism.com
The Rockford-based support group’s Web site provides a wealth of resources and activities for families of children with autism.
The “Calendar of Events” link provides input on the group’s own meetings and many other local activities of interest. “Resources and Links” provides access to dozens of groups, agencies and subjects related to children with developmental challenges — from special Rockford Park District programs to guidance on navigating Individualized Education Plans. There’s also a link to the group’s Yahoo group online.
There are personal inks as well. Group members meet monthly during the school year, picnic together during the summer, swap information, e-mail back and forth and lend a sympathetic ear on the phone if someone’s having a bad day.
The Northwest Illinois Autism Support Group started about three years ago with five to 10 people. Attendance at its monthly meetings now averages 30 to 40 people — and about 60 people are in its Yahoo group online, said parent facilitator Amy Eckstrom who founded the support group.
Eckstrom, a parent of a child with autism, said she started the support group because “I needed to know what was normal and wasn’t normal. I wanted validation. I wanted to know more about autism, to know what other parents were doing with everyday challenges.”
The group holds monthly meetings from September through May, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every third Thursday of the month at the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center, 650 N. Main St. Meetings generally include speakers on relevant topics as well as a networking and social time. Free child care is offered by Easter Seals; it requires advance registration so enough qualified staffers can be on hand.
The Northwest Illinois Autism Support Group covers Boone County and all of Winnebago County and draws people from as far away as Beloit and Stockton, Eckstrom said.
There is no membership fee and attendance is free.
For more information, see rockfordautism.com .
Ogle County Autism Support Group, ogleautism.com
This support group’s Web site also provides an abundance of links to local and national agencies and programs for autism and developmental issues in general.
There’s also an archive of speakers’ presentations from past meetings.
Most members are from Ogle County but anyone is welcome, said group facilitator Corrina Milbrandt who started the group in 2006 with just a few families. These days, the group’s meetings usually include 10 to 15 families, she said. Milbrandt is herself the parent of a child with autism.
The group holds monthly meetings from September through May, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month at St. Mary’s Church, 220 E. Second St., Byron. Child care currently is not provided but plans are in the works, Milbrandt said.
The group also holds picnic events during the summer.
There is no membership fee and attendance is free.
For more information, see ogleautism.com or call Corrina Milbrandt.
Heartland Parent Support Group
The support group is part of the church’s Lighthouse Special Needs ministry. It is for families of special needs children of any age; about two-thirds of those who attend its meetings are autism-related families, said Heartland director of marketing Bob Lovell.
The group meets from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month (its July meeting will be July 10). It meets at Heartland’s 1280 S. Alpine Road location in Meeting Room A146.
Free child care is provide during the meetings, Lovell said, but you need to register ahead of time so staff can plan adequately. Attendance also is free.
For more information, call the church at 815-395-8000 or visit http://rockfordautism.com/Heartland.htm.
The Autism Program (TAP) Service Center at the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center, Rockford
The center is now under development at 650 N. Main St. in Rockford, funded this year by a $200,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Lori Davie, coordinator of the TAP center in Rockford and herself the mother of a child with autism, said the center will offer a number of free services including:
The New Family Diagnosis Orientation, a three-week training session for families whose children have just been diagnosed with autism or who don’t know where to start with treatment. Davie already has conducted two quarterly sessions; time for the next session has not yet been announced.
Screening of children for autism if there are red flags such as repetitive behavior or communication issues (scheduled to start in late summer or early fall).
Diagnostics services with a specially trained psychologist or psychiatrist (also scheduled to start in late summer or early fall).
A Family Community Resource Room — a lending library with books, software programs, leaning aids, CDs and DVDs, with a computer and staff available to assist. The Resource Room also will provide training on such issues as scheduling, sensory issues and potty training. Davie plans to have the Resource Room open by the end of July.
A social skills group held in nine-week sessions (scheduled to start in July).
Family consultation for families who have attended the New Family Diagnosis Orientation and want to meet individually with a counselor (a startup date is not yet scheduled).
Educator/family consultation in which a clinician would visit the family’s home to help with a specific behavior (a startup date is not yet scheduled).
For more information about the TAP center or any of these programs, call Lori Davie at 815-965-6745 extension 284.
Some of the additional programs suggested or linked from local autism support group Web sites are designed for children with any developmental challenge, including autism. Costs may be involved depending on program and eligibility. Here are some of those programs.
The Easter Seals Children’s Development Center Family Support Services, Rockford
The program is for any families of children with developmental disabilities. Its offerings include consultation services, problem-solving help, early intervention family support, books and videos, sibling support and activities, and parent education and training.
The Easter Seals Children’s Development Center in Rockford is at 650 N. Main St. For more information, call 815-965-6745 or visit http://chicago.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ILCH_family_support_main.
The Early Intervention Program
The program, funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services, is targeted toward children ages 0 through 3 who are exhibiting developmental problems.
Occupational therapy, speech therapy, behavioral therapy and other services are provided through the program to children who are found eligible.
The local Child and Family Connections office in Loves Park includes Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties in its service area. For more information, call 815-654-6170 or visit www.acccessni.com.
Milestone, Inc.
The organization, headquartered in Rockford, provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities. Its many services include social services to help clients reach their full potential, and respite care for qualified caregivers and family members. For more information, visit milestone.org or call 815-654-6100.
The Arc of Winnebago, Boone and Ogle Counties
The organization provides advocacy for people with developmental disabilities. Services include family support to help a child or adult be an integral part of the family, help with making guardianship choices and social skills and relationship building workshops. For more information, visit www.arcwbo.org or call 815-965-3455.
RAMP (Regional Access & Mobilization Project)
The organization advocates for and serves people with disabilities at no cost. It can help parents of children with autism as they navigate the special education and transition maze of public education, and RAMP advocates will attend school meetings with parents to provide help and support if needed. For more information, visit rampcil.org or call the Rockford office at 815-968-7467, or the Belvidere office at 815-544-8404.
STARnet
This organization, funded by an Illinois State Board of Education grant, offers free workshops to the early childhood community in Illinois. Many of its workshops are listed on the calendars of Rock River Valley area autism support groups. For more information, visit WIU.edu/starnet.
HealthyRockford.com staff writer Deborah Austin may be reached at 815-987-1352 or at daustin@rrstar.com
I'm so excited!! (doing a happy dance!)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources to help with autism available
By Deborah Austin
HealthyRockford.com
Jun 30, 2008 @ 01:00 PM
Families of children with autism have gained a critical mass of resources over the past few years in the Rock River Valley.
Those resources are support groups, spearheaded by other parents who needed help themselves and decided to do something about it. And they link families not only through networking and social support, but through their Web sites.
Through these online centers, parents and caregivers can link to dozens of longtime agencies they may never have realized could offer help for living with autism.
Another major development, the Easter Seals Autism Therapeutic School, also opened last fall in Rockford.
Now a new local resource is on the horizon. The Autism Program Service Center, funded this year by a $200,000 state grant, is slated to start rolling out services this summer at the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center in Rockford.
Here are some of the local resources.
Northwest Illinois Autism Support Group, rockfordautism.com
The Rockford-based support group’s Web site provides a wealth of resources and activities for families of children with autism.
The “Calendar of Events” link provides input on the group’s own meetings and many other local activities of interest. “Resources and Links” provides access to dozens of groups, agencies and subjects related to children with developmental challenges — from special Rockford Park District programs to guidance on navigating Individualized Education Plans. There’s also a link to the group’s Yahoo group online.
There are personal inks as well. Group members meet monthly during the school year, picnic together during the summer, swap information, e-mail back and forth and lend a sympathetic ear on the phone if someone’s having a bad day.
The Northwest Illinois Autism Support Group started about three years ago with five to 10 people. Attendance at its monthly meetings now averages 30 to 40 people — and about 60 people are in its Yahoo group online, said parent facilitator Amy Eckstrom who founded the support group.
Eckstrom, a parent of a child with autism, said she started the support group because “I needed to know what was normal and wasn’t normal. I wanted validation. I wanted to know more about autism, to know what other parents were doing with everyday challenges.”
The group holds monthly meetings from September through May, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every third Thursday of the month at the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center, 650 N. Main St. Meetings generally include speakers on relevant topics as well as a networking and social time. Free child care is offered by Easter Seals; it requires advance registration so enough qualified staffers can be on hand.
The Northwest Illinois Autism Support Group covers Boone County and all of Winnebago County and draws people from as far away as Beloit and Stockton, Eckstrom said.
There is no membership fee and attendance is free.
For more information, see rockfordautism.com .
Ogle County Autism Support Group, ogleautism.com
This support group’s Web site also provides an abundance of links to local and national agencies and programs for autism and developmental issues in general.
There’s also an archive of speakers’ presentations from past meetings.
Most members are from Ogle County but anyone is welcome, said group facilitator Corrina Milbrandt who started the group in 2006 with just a few families. These days, the group’s meetings usually include 10 to 15 families, she said. Milbrandt is herself the parent of a child with autism.
The group holds monthly meetings from September through May, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month at St. Mary’s Church, 220 E. Second St., Byron. Child care currently is not provided but plans are in the works, Milbrandt said.
The group also holds picnic events during the summer.
There is no membership fee and attendance is free.
For more information, see ogleautism.com or call Corrina Milbrandt.
Heartland Parent Support Group
The support group is part of the church’s Lighthouse Special Needs ministry. It is for families of special needs children of any age; about two-thirds of those who attend its meetings are autism-related families, said Heartland director of marketing Bob Lovell.
The group meets from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month (its July meeting will be July 10). It meets at Heartland’s 1280 S. Alpine Road location in Meeting Room A146.
Free child care is provide during the meetings, Lovell said, but you need to register ahead of time so staff can plan adequately. Attendance also is free.
For more information, call the church at 815-395-8000 or visit http://rockfordautism.com/Heartland.htm.
The Autism Program (TAP) Service Center at the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center, Rockford
The center is now under development at 650 N. Main St. in Rockford, funded this year by a $200,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Lori Davie, coordinator of the TAP center in Rockford and herself the mother of a child with autism, said the center will offer a number of free services including:
The New Family Diagnosis Orientation, a three-week training session for families whose children have just been diagnosed with autism or who don’t know where to start with treatment. Davie already has conducted two quarterly sessions; time for the next session has not yet been announced.
Screening of children for autism if there are red flags such as repetitive behavior or communication issues (scheduled to start in late summer or early fall).
Diagnostics services with a specially trained psychologist or psychiatrist (also scheduled to start in late summer or early fall).
A Family Community Resource Room — a lending library with books, software programs, leaning aids, CDs and DVDs, with a computer and staff available to assist. The Resource Room also will provide training on such issues as scheduling, sensory issues and potty training. Davie plans to have the Resource Room open by the end of July.
A social skills group held in nine-week sessions (scheduled to start in July).
Family consultation for families who have attended the New Family Diagnosis Orientation and want to meet individually with a counselor (a startup date is not yet scheduled).
Educator/family consultation in which a clinician would visit the family’s home to help with a specific behavior (a startup date is not yet scheduled).
For more information about the TAP center or any of these programs, call Lori Davie at 815-965-6745 extension 284.
Some of the additional programs suggested or linked from local autism support group Web sites are designed for children with any developmental challenge, including autism. Costs may be involved depending on program and eligibility. Here are some of those programs.
The Easter Seals Children’s Development Center Family Support Services, Rockford
The program is for any families of children with developmental disabilities. Its offerings include consultation services, problem-solving help, early intervention family support, books and videos, sibling support and activities, and parent education and training.
The Easter Seals Children’s Development Center in Rockford is at 650 N. Main St. For more information, call 815-965-6745 or visit http://chicago.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ILCH_family_support_main.
The Early Intervention Program
The program, funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services, is targeted toward children ages 0 through 3 who are exhibiting developmental problems.
Occupational therapy, speech therapy, behavioral therapy and other services are provided through the program to children who are found eligible.
The local Child and Family Connections office in Loves Park includes Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties in its service area. For more information, call 815-654-6170 or visit www.acccessni.com.
Milestone, Inc.
The organization, headquartered in Rockford, provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities. Its many services include social services to help clients reach their full potential, and respite care for qualified caregivers and family members. For more information, visit milestone.org or call 815-654-6100.
The Arc of Winnebago, Boone and Ogle Counties
The organization provides advocacy for people with developmental disabilities. Services include family support to help a child or adult be an integral part of the family, help with making guardianship choices and social skills and relationship building workshops. For more information, visit www.arcwbo.org or call 815-965-3455.
RAMP (Regional Access & Mobilization Project)
The organization advocates for and serves people with disabilities at no cost. It can help parents of children with autism as they navigate the special education and transition maze of public education, and RAMP advocates will attend school meetings with parents to provide help and support if needed. For more information, visit rampcil.org or call the Rockford office at 815-968-7467, or the Belvidere office at 815-544-8404.
STARnet
This organization, funded by an Illinois State Board of Education grant, offers free workshops to the early childhood community in Illinois. Many of its workshops are listed on the calendars of Rock River Valley area autism support groups. For more information, visit WIU.edu/starnet.
HealthyRockford.com staff writer Deborah Austin may be reached at 815-987-1352 or at daustin@rrstar.com
Thursday, June 26, 2008
American Airlines, Cont.
A little more on the story... (my comments follow below)
CARY (WTVD) -- The mother is telling her story exclusively to Eyewitness News.
An American Eagle flight taxiing to an RDU runway was turned around Monday, but not because of a terrorist threat.
The crew was kicking an autistic Cary toddler and his mother off the plane.
As the American Eagle flight headed down the taxiway, two-and-a-half-year-old Jarett Farrell wasn't a happy traveler.
His mother says she was doing all she could to calm the autistic boy, but got no sympathy from the flight crew.
"If they just would have been a little more understanding I think that none of this would have been a problem," Mother, Janice Farrell said.
But it became a big problem for everyone on the plane. Farrell says that's because the flight attendant was indignant.
"She kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight'. And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him," Farrell said.
One of the pilots came back to the cabin with a stern warning and Farrell says the frustration level escalated.
She says Jarrett picked up on that and things only got worse.
"He just melted down. He saw me getting upset. He was upset. He was on the floor rolling around," she said.
The pilot returned to the cockpit, turned the plane around and headed back to the terminal.
"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.
Farrell says when she got back to her home in Cary she called her husband and they decided that she should call American Airlines corporate. She says a company representative apologized and said the incident should never have happened.
But that's not what American Airlines told Eyewitness News.
A spokesman in Dallas says Jarret was pitching a "raging fit".
And that Janice, who was in a front-row seat, refused to allow her bag to be placed in an overhead compartment, even though there was no under seat stowage.
He says that with a "passenger not complying with FAA regulations, this was the right decision."
Farrell says even though her travel bag had things to calm Jarrett, she did indeed give it to the flight attendant.
"She took my bag and put it up top," Farrell said.
Farrell is taking the train to see family in New Jersey and she and her husband say they will never fly American again.
*************************************
Wow. I'm really shocked and saddened by these stories. It makes me contemplate the weaknesses in human beings, and how stress plays into this.
I've been hearing a lot of talk about this mother, and how she shouldn't have flown, and how she can't expect to have the privilege of flying if she can't control her child. I've heard that people pay good money for their flights, and shouldn't have to tolerate a child misbehaving. I've heard that there is a safety issue involved, and the pilot was following protocol to eject passengers that did not follow the safety regulation of having their seatbelt fastened. I've heard about how the flight attendant inappropriately by reprimanding the child, handling the child, and yelling at the child. I've heard about how the pilot was inappropriate for also reprimanding the child. I've heard that the mother tried to explain that the boy was autistic, yet the staff did not make any accommodation for this disability, nor offer any assistance. And so on...
There are many sides to this incident. I agree that it could have been handled better by both sides.
But I think what happened on that flight speaks very loudly about the lack of compassion we show as human beings. I suppose that with the economy the way it is, and the stresses we are all under, take a toll on us lately. But it seems to me that people are losing their humanity. Their quality of being humane.
The event on the airplane was handled as if it was a spoiled child acting out of control. It was dealt with by anger, by the flight attendant and by the pilot. Was the child out of control, and exhibiting potentially dangerous actions? Yes. He was. (That isn't to say that the situation couldn't have been de-escalated. Or that the safety be restored before any harm was done.) My concern here is that the mother clearly explained that her child had autism, and was met with no understanding, no compassion, no assistance, no attempt to contain the situation in a productive and effective manner. What she was met with was disdain.
What is it about our current state of society that makes it acceptable to ignore a mother in distress? To address a child in obvious distress with anger, even though the event is a product of his disability? Do we no longer feel compelled to offer a helping hand or heart to someone in need?
At no time did the staff express a desire to assist this mother. Why? Was it too difficult to say, "I don't know anything about autism. Is there anything I can do to assist you?" Were the rules so concrete that her bag be taken from her, even though it contained things to assist her in calming her child? Which was the bigger safety risk? The fact that the child was on the floor, or the fact that the bag was not in the overhead? What was in the bag could possible get the child up off the floor.
And now we find more compassion for the other passengers on that flight, because of the huge expense they have put forth to be on the plane. That this somehow vastly overshadows the fact that a woman with a special needs child was in distress. "I pay good money to fly - I shouldn't have to put up with some autistic kid having a fit!"
What if a child had an epileptic seizure? Would you express the same anger? Or a diabetic episode? Have we lost the ability to see that sometimes a fellow human being, even a child, might need a little understanding? Or that the parent needed to be allowed to handle the child her own way, instead of the flight attendant’s way? Or that a stranger yelling at a child who is scared and out of control doesn't help?
I imagine there are ways the mother could have handled the situation better. And there are ways the pilot and the flight attendant could have handled the situation better. And I realize that this isn't a black and white issue, that there were varying shades of grey as well. But what I don't understand is why people didn't see this as a human being in need, and try to put forth just a little bit of effort and compassion to help resolve this issue and assist a fellow human being who needed it. Where is the humanity? Where is the empathy?
The first account I read about this event gave me such a heartsick feeling. Somewhere between all those lines of the article was lurking a warning. It warned me that people with disabilities are not acceptable. That they shouldn't be permitted the same rights and privileges as other, non-disabled people. That their differences are not welcome, nor are they to be 'tolerated,' let alone accepted. Get normal, or get out.
And here, I've had this ongoing dialog with my son. He's been asking more about his autism, and what it means and how it makes him different, and how he feels about this. His big concern of course is that he didn't want to be different. At that age, who does? But I discussed with him about how it is that which makes us different that also makes us special. That we need to embrace our differences, our uniqueness, because it is those things that will make us stand apart from the crowd, which makes us more appealing as people and as friends. Our differences give us each our own particular charm. It's okay to be different. To not be "perfect." Perfectionism doesn't exist and can't be achieved. No one can be perfect, and we all have our own abilities, and our own inabilities.
Reading the article about the boy on the plane made me realize that what I've been telling my son is a lie, when shown under this light. You had better not be 'different' if you want to fly. Or if you want to be a fully participating member of this society.
Geez, that's just sad.
Maybe it isn't really a lie to tell him it's okay to be different. Maybe it's really just a mother's hope. My dream. That my child's autism will also be something that he cherishes, because it enhanced his life by giving him a unique perspective and experience.
CARY (WTVD) -- The mother is telling her story exclusively to Eyewitness News.
An American Eagle flight taxiing to an RDU runway was turned around Monday, but not because of a terrorist threat.
The crew was kicking an autistic Cary toddler and his mother off the plane.
As the American Eagle flight headed down the taxiway, two-and-a-half-year-old Jarett Farrell wasn't a happy traveler.
His mother says she was doing all she could to calm the autistic boy, but got no sympathy from the flight crew.
"If they just would have been a little more understanding I think that none of this would have been a problem," Mother, Janice Farrell said.
But it became a big problem for everyone on the plane. Farrell says that's because the flight attendant was indignant.
"She kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight'. And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him," Farrell said.
One of the pilots came back to the cabin with a stern warning and Farrell says the frustration level escalated.
She says Jarrett picked up on that and things only got worse.
"He just melted down. He saw me getting upset. He was upset. He was on the floor rolling around," she said.
The pilot returned to the cockpit, turned the plane around and headed back to the terminal.
"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.
Farrell says when she got back to her home in Cary she called her husband and they decided that she should call American Airlines corporate. She says a company representative apologized and said the incident should never have happened.
But that's not what American Airlines told Eyewitness News.
A spokesman in Dallas says Jarret was pitching a "raging fit".
And that Janice, who was in a front-row seat, refused to allow her bag to be placed in an overhead compartment, even though there was no under seat stowage.
He says that with a "passenger not complying with FAA regulations, this was the right decision."
Farrell says even though her travel bag had things to calm Jarrett, she did indeed give it to the flight attendant.
"She took my bag and put it up top," Farrell said.
Farrell is taking the train to see family in New Jersey and she and her husband say they will never fly American again.
*************************************
Wow. I'm really shocked and saddened by these stories. It makes me contemplate the weaknesses in human beings, and how stress plays into this.
I've been hearing a lot of talk about this mother, and how she shouldn't have flown, and how she can't expect to have the privilege of flying if she can't control her child. I've heard that people pay good money for their flights, and shouldn't have to tolerate a child misbehaving. I've heard that there is a safety issue involved, and the pilot was following protocol to eject passengers that did not follow the safety regulation of having their seatbelt fastened. I've heard about how the flight attendant inappropriately by reprimanding the child, handling the child, and yelling at the child. I've heard about how the pilot was inappropriate for also reprimanding the child. I've heard that the mother tried to explain that the boy was autistic, yet the staff did not make any accommodation for this disability, nor offer any assistance. And so on...
There are many sides to this incident. I agree that it could have been handled better by both sides.
But I think what happened on that flight speaks very loudly about the lack of compassion we show as human beings. I suppose that with the economy the way it is, and the stresses we are all under, take a toll on us lately. But it seems to me that people are losing their humanity. Their quality of being humane.
The event on the airplane was handled as if it was a spoiled child acting out of control. It was dealt with by anger, by the flight attendant and by the pilot. Was the child out of control, and exhibiting potentially dangerous actions? Yes. He was. (That isn't to say that the situation couldn't have been de-escalated. Or that the safety be restored before any harm was done.) My concern here is that the mother clearly explained that her child had autism, and was met with no understanding, no compassion, no assistance, no attempt to contain the situation in a productive and effective manner. What she was met with was disdain.
What is it about our current state of society that makes it acceptable to ignore a mother in distress? To address a child in obvious distress with anger, even though the event is a product of his disability? Do we no longer feel compelled to offer a helping hand or heart to someone in need?
At no time did the staff express a desire to assist this mother. Why? Was it too difficult to say, "I don't know anything about autism. Is there anything I can do to assist you?" Were the rules so concrete that her bag be taken from her, even though it contained things to assist her in calming her child? Which was the bigger safety risk? The fact that the child was on the floor, or the fact that the bag was not in the overhead? What was in the bag could possible get the child up off the floor.
And now we find more compassion for the other passengers on that flight, because of the huge expense they have put forth to be on the plane. That this somehow vastly overshadows the fact that a woman with a special needs child was in distress. "I pay good money to fly - I shouldn't have to put up with some autistic kid having a fit!"
What if a child had an epileptic seizure? Would you express the same anger? Or a diabetic episode? Have we lost the ability to see that sometimes a fellow human being, even a child, might need a little understanding? Or that the parent needed to be allowed to handle the child her own way, instead of the flight attendant’s way? Or that a stranger yelling at a child who is scared and out of control doesn't help?
I imagine there are ways the mother could have handled the situation better. And there are ways the pilot and the flight attendant could have handled the situation better. And I realize that this isn't a black and white issue, that there were varying shades of grey as well. But what I don't understand is why people didn't see this as a human being in need, and try to put forth just a little bit of effort and compassion to help resolve this issue and assist a fellow human being who needed it. Where is the humanity? Where is the empathy?
The first account I read about this event gave me such a heartsick feeling. Somewhere between all those lines of the article was lurking a warning. It warned me that people with disabilities are not acceptable. That they shouldn't be permitted the same rights and privileges as other, non-disabled people. That their differences are not welcome, nor are they to be 'tolerated,' let alone accepted. Get normal, or get out.
And here, I've had this ongoing dialog with my son. He's been asking more about his autism, and what it means and how it makes him different, and how he feels about this. His big concern of course is that he didn't want to be different. At that age, who does? But I discussed with him about how it is that which makes us different that also makes us special. That we need to embrace our differences, our uniqueness, because it is those things that will make us stand apart from the crowd, which makes us more appealing as people and as friends. Our differences give us each our own particular charm. It's okay to be different. To not be "perfect." Perfectionism doesn't exist and can't be achieved. No one can be perfect, and we all have our own abilities, and our own inabilities.
Reading the article about the boy on the plane made me realize that what I've been telling my son is a lie, when shown under this light. You had better not be 'different' if you want to fly. Or if you want to be a fully participating member of this society.
Geez, that's just sad.
Maybe it isn't really a lie to tell him it's okay to be different. Maybe it's really just a mother's hope. My dream. That my child's autism will also be something that he cherishes, because it enhanced his life by giving him a unique perspective and experience.
American Airlines
Autistic Boy and Mom Kicked Off Plane
Mother Says Flight Crew Should Have Been More Understanding
By STEPHANIE DAHLE and JONANN BRADY
June 25, 2008 —
There were no weapons on board or concerns about terrorism, but an American Eagle flight about to take off from the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport was turned back to its gate on Monday to remove two passengers.
The culprits? An upset, autistic toddler and his mother.
By all accounts, two-year-old Jarret Farrell wasn't a happy traveler. But his mother, Janice Farrell, who said she tried everything to calm her son, believes there was no reason for the airline to kick them off the plane.
The airline disagrees, saying they were removed primarily because Janice Farrell kept her carry-on bag on the floor in front of her seat, but that Jarret's behavior added to the tense situation.
"The child had been crying and screaming uncontrollably, to the point where the child's well being was in question," American Airlines, the parent company of American Eagle, said in a statement. "Though, ultimately, the parent's violation of FAA regulations was the cause for removal, both situations contributed to an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe atmosphere for our passengers and crew."
But Farrell told "GMA" she allowed the flight attendant to place her bag in an overhead compartment. And, even though Farrell said she explained Jarret's autism to the flight crew, they only made the situation worse by reprimanding and yelling at the toddler.
"[The flight attendant] kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight.' And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him" Farrell told ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD.
Farrell said that a pilot came into to the cabin and told Jarret, "You have to get in your seat, young man."
Farrell said she started crying then, which just exacerbated Jarret's behavior.
"He just melted down. He saw me getting upset. He was upset. He was on the floor rolling around," Farrell told WTVD.
That's when the pilot turned the plane around and headed back to the terminal, where Farrell and her son were escorted off the plane.
The Farrells, who were on the way to visit family in New Jersey, were originally supposed to takeoff on Sunday, but the flight was cancelled when the plane was on the runway.
Jarret was perfectly fine on that flight, Farrell said, with crew members letting her son walk around the plane and watch his DVD player.
Farrell said that had the flight crew been more patient and understanding, the situation might not have escalated. She suggested that airline flight attendants and other crew members should be trained to deal with special needs children.
This story was originally reported by Ed Crump at ABC News affiliate WTVD.
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5234774
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Comfort Food
Lately I've been trying to encourage Nathan to help out in the kitchen. He seems to get a kick out of it, and I enjoy sharing that with him. Usually he's been my assistant, breaking eggs, pouring in ingredients, etc. Sometimes he's my observer. I've been wanting to boost his confidence a bit in the kitchen, so I figured I would give a main course a try.
I called Nathan into the kitchen, and told him I wanted him to help me with dinner. He put aside his Nintendo DS (now that's monumental!) and rushed to my aide. He's always so willing to help.
This time, I didn't premeasure anything. I picked an easy meal and just told him, step by step, how to make it. You can't get much easier than meatloaf. And with my handy dandy KitchenAid mixer, I didn't even have to worry about sensory issues ("it feels icky!"), since the mixer does all the work. He loves using that mixer! (So do I!) I just told him what we needed, how much, and showed him where to find the measuring cups and such. There isn't much to meatloaf, so it wasn't a big hassle or anything. A few steps, and then I popped it into the oven.
After we were all done, and I was pulling the meatloaf out of the oven, I made a point of thanking him. He asked, "For what?"
I answered, "For making dinner."
His eyes got huge. He didn't realize that he'd made the dinner. He thought he was just giving Mom a hand. "I made dinner?!"
"Well sure! You got everything out. You measured it. You put it in the pan. The only thing I did was take it in and out of the oven. You did it all. Pretty easy stuff, huh?"
His jaw just about hit the floor. "Yeah!" He was so excited, and so proud! And so was I! He even ate TWO meatloaf sandwiches.
And it was the best tasting meatloaf I ever had.
I called Nathan into the kitchen, and told him I wanted him to help me with dinner. He put aside his Nintendo DS (now that's monumental!) and rushed to my aide. He's always so willing to help.
This time, I didn't premeasure anything. I picked an easy meal and just told him, step by step, how to make it. You can't get much easier than meatloaf. And with my handy dandy KitchenAid mixer, I didn't even have to worry about sensory issues ("it feels icky!"), since the mixer does all the work. He loves using that mixer! (So do I!) I just told him what we needed, how much, and showed him where to find the measuring cups and such. There isn't much to meatloaf, so it wasn't a big hassle or anything. A few steps, and then I popped it into the oven.
After we were all done, and I was pulling the meatloaf out of the oven, I made a point of thanking him. He asked, "For what?"
I answered, "For making dinner."
His eyes got huge. He didn't realize that he'd made the dinner. He thought he was just giving Mom a hand. "I made dinner?!"
"Well sure! You got everything out. You measured it. You put it in the pan. The only thing I did was take it in and out of the oven. You did it all. Pretty easy stuff, huh?"
His jaw just about hit the floor. "Yeah!" He was so excited, and so proud! And so was I! He even ate TWO meatloaf sandwiches.
And it was the best tasting meatloaf I ever had.
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