Education

 Child & Family Support 

Autism Awareness

A Community – University – Family – Professional Partnership

 Visit us at our website: www.sonoma.edu/autism

Proud Partners with Sonoma State University & California Parenting Institute

 Facilitated by Regina Marcheschi MSW 

Share experiences, needs and ideas with fellow parents in a safe nurturing environment.

 1st Thursday Morning

9 – 11 a.m.

 California Parenting Institute

(CPI)

3650 Standish Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95407

(707) 585-6108

RSVP & More Information:

Regina Marcheschi MSW

707-206-296

reginax59@gmail.com

Dr. Lorna Catford

707-664-2402

lorna.catford@sonoma.edu

Free Child Care & Refreshments at Group

Please RSVP to reserve your space

*SAVE THE DATE*

March 13th, 2012

Working Conference

Self Determination *

Standards-Based Conceptual Framework

Interagency Collaboration

Conversation with Employers

Problem Solving Local Issues

University of California, Davis -MIND Institute

2825 50th Street Sacramento, CA 95817

For more information: Wilbert Francis, UCLA Tarjan Center, wfrancis@mednet.ucla.edu, (310) 206-2626.

Eyes may be the key to the soul, but the act of opening and closing them — and the rate at which children do it — may provide clues to the mind. According to a new study, “blinking patterns” might contain new insights into how children with autism think.

Led by Warren Jones, Ph.D., Director of Research for the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University, the study measured how young children blink when watching a video. The idea for the research originated with an observation made by graduate student Sara Shultz, of the Yale Child Study Center. “[She] saw that while kids were watching [a video], they were blinking less than before or after the video started to play,” Jones told The Huffington Post. “We usually don’t pay attention to blinking, so that set off a train of ideas in our minds.”

Jones explained that during the moment we spend blinking, we lose visual information. Therefore, less frequent blinking can indicate that an individual is more interested by, attracted to, and engaged in whatever is going on around them.

The research team decided to use this concept to study children with autism, comparing the blinking patterns of normally developing 2-year-olds with the blinking patterns of 2-year-olds on the autism spectrum.

“This is a new tool for us to try and understand … what kids with autism are most drawn to, what things are distracting kids from learning or what things are naturally attractive,” said Jones, adding that he and his fellow researchers hope to “use those things in the case of intervention.”

The children in the study were shown a video of a boy and a girl playing. The 2-year-olds who did not have autism generally blinked less frequently when watching the more emotional parts of the movie, while the autistic children blinked less frequently, by an overwhelming margin, when they were watching objects and physical movements.

Information about patterns like these could have big implications when it comes to developing new ways to interact with children who fall on the autism spectrum. “Knowing what factors are naturally driving their attention … could help everyday learning situations,” Jones told The Huffington Post.

And although parents can’t really learn anything from looking at the way their kids blink — these kind of measurements require high-tech laboratory equipment — parsing what attracts a child’s attention can help parents better understand how children with autism interact with the world.

“For parents of kids with autism, one thing that can be a struggle is … understanding what that child’s experience is like. When a kid with autism gets frustrated it’s hard to know what’s driving that frustration,” said Jones. He hopes that this research can lend a helping hand.

If I’m So Smart, Why is School So Hard??

 http://www.dcc-cde.ca.gov/asperger.html 

 By the time a student with Asperger Syndrome graduates from high school, they have asked themselves this question time and time again.  They know they are intelligent and can learn, but so much of what they experience is frustrating, confusing and downright difficult.  “Why is school so hard?”

 This set of videos was developed as a tool for general education teachers who have a student with Asperger Syndrome in their classrooms.  An understanding of the characteristics of Asperger Syndrome and strategies for intervention will assist both the teacher and the student. The information presented is specifically applicable to the elementary teacher, but much of the content would be appropriate for teachers of older learners as well.

 There are 8 videos, and they were designed to be used in any way that an individual teacher desires.  It is recommended that the first video be watched first as it includes all of the introduction and basic information.  If you are going to watch all of the videos, it is suggested that you watch them in order.

We welcome your ideas!!  After viewing, please forward comments to Carole Bence, Director, at cbence@dcc-cde.ca.gov

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 1% of children across the country have some form of autism — 20 times the prevailing figure in the 1980s. The increase has stirred fears of an epidemic and mobilized researchers to figure out what causes the brain disorder and why it appears to be affecting so many more children.

Two decades into the boom, however, the balance of evidence suggests that it is more a surge in diagnosis than in disease. The Times explored the phenomenon and its repercussions. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/autism/

Parents of Children with Autism Needed for Research Study!
Students at California State University Northridge are conducting a study on families affected by autism and the services they receive. If you are willing to help, see the flyer — the survey is online and only takes 20 minutes!

New Resource Guide for Services for Asperger’s Syndrome and High Functioning Autism!
The Marin Autism Collaborative’s Youth Sub-Committee teamed up this year with a wonderful group of occupational therapy students at Dominican University who did a comprehensive review of services for individuals with Asperger’s and HFA. They produced a guide of providers who serve this group. These resources will be integrated into the MAC resource directory in the coming weeks.