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

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.

Goal of Committee This School Year
To understand the needs of the underserved in our county facing the challenges of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The committee agreed, the following are the list of identified underserved in Marin County

• Low income
• Children of color
• Financially challenged families
• Emotionally challenged families
• Language barriers
• Foster care children
• At risk children
• Homeless

The Committee further described those at Risk being children who are not obviously identified early, those that are too high functioning and are not qualifying early, those affected by drugs, those where parents lack effective parenting skills.

The underserved are…

• Underinsured
• They have cultural barriers
•  They have challenges interacting with Health Care agencies

They do not understand disabilities

They are underserved because…

• There is inadequate specialty services
• There is inadequate diagnostic services (the system of Rule Out may be a negative approach)
• They are uninsured and non-insured
• Lack of transportation
• Materials are printed at too high educational levels
• They are isolated (socially and geographically)
• They have cultural barriers that may affect their interaction with health care and acceptance of a disability
• There are language barriers (language and style)
• Their immigration status might be preventing connections (without benefit of papers)
• Funding changes and changes in qualifications for services
• Asperger may go undiagnosed for years

They are found throughout Marin but in a few key pockets, such as…

• Marin City
• Canal and other parts of San Rafael
• Novato
• West Marin (Nacasio, Inverness)

What do we think they need?

• Stability
• Access to consistent, affordable and culturally accepting health care
• A need for a Medical Home (coordination)
• Disability information that is meaningful, understood, presented by trusting members of the community and experienced people
• A Plan/road map geared towards their son or daughter specific profile
• Cultural Acceptance and support
• Services that are language and culturally appropriate as well as affordable in their own community

Two questions came up during our discussion of needs

• Who are the service providers who assess and serve in other languages other than English in our county?
• What printed materials and web site are available with information on Autism in other languages? (CDC, TACA, CADDRE, Autism Society, NICHD, NINDS, Autism Speaks)

Action Plan

• Invite others to our committee to help us identify needs
• Invite others to our committee to help us identify projects the committee can engage in this year addressing the underserved
• October 18th, next meet 9 am to 11 am at the Connection Center in San Rafael
• Dominican Graduate Students will be involved in collaborating on identified projects
• Penny Valentine will identify if districts and counties have bi-lingual SLP, OT, PT and educational Psychologists providing evaluations, support to teachers and families.

Karen Kaplan
karensupportsu@comcast.net
415-497-3751
www.karenkaplanasd.com

Dear Marin Autism Community:
Today was our last meeting of the school year. Thanks so much for all your participation this year. We will meet once again in September but at a NEW LOCATION The Marin County ConnectionCenter at 3240 Kerner Blvd. San Rafael, 94901.

The dates for the fall are Tuesday September 19, Tuesday October 18 and Tuesday, November 29th. Our meeting time is still 9:30 am to 11:00 am. Please join us as we address the Autism challenges faced by our Underserved populations in our county.

Discussion Notes:
• The committee supported the amazing graduate occupational therapy students from Dominican University as they revealed the draft of the Asperger Resource Directory they have prepared for the Marin Autism Collaborative Web Site. These wonderful students held several focus groups around the Bay Area, including Matrix Asperger Support Group, an Autistry Student forum, ASSCEND support group, College Internship Program and the Marin Autism Youth Committee members, identifying current resources for people with Asperger and current gaps in services. This directory is planned to be our web site in June. Thanks so much!
• The committee then took on the task of defining Underserved in Marin. The answers were interesting (see below). We all agreed that we needed to expand our committee adding representatives from the county that can help us identify the challenges the Underserved with the challenge of autism. Matrix will be adding a Spanish speaking member to the committee, Penny Valentine with the SELPA will be adding a member to the team in the fall, the Occupational Therapy Department at Dominican will be adding graduate students who are bilingual therapists and Karen will be connecting with the Hispanic Chamber and the regional center for additional members who could offr expertise.
a) Low income
b) Children of color
c) Isolated families
d) Financially challenged
e) Emotionally challenged families
f) Language Barriers
g) Foster Care children
h) At Risk children
i) Homeless
• Karen reported that she connected with Areva Martin (www.specialneedsnetwork.net) , a member of the Autism Blue Ribbon Commission for California and that shehas agreed to offer help as her focus for the commission was the Underserved and she has been developing projects in the Los Angeles area addressing these needs.
• The committees talked about the potential of having Areva do a keynote next year on this area.
• The committee spoke about getting Marin City area involved, Marin Clinics Involved and Head Start and the Community Centers involved in addressing ASD in the underserved.
• The Committee agreed that holding our meetings next year at the Marin Connection Center could encourage key additional participation from members of communities that can help us address this area of need.

Many thanks to all of you committee members who supported the Youth Autism Sub-Committee this year. Your time and input is appreciated. It is my hope to see a great group come together in September to tackle our next area of concern in our county. THE UNDERSERVED.

Have a great summer,
Karen Kaplan

PS
• Be on the lookout for the 4th Annual Lecture Series registration. It is going to be a great series of 8 lectures.
• Save the date for the 3rd Annual North Bay Autism Resource Exposition, September 17, 2011 at Dominican University

Dr. Mundy provided a comprehensive history of autism and the role of joint attention as an indicator of autism and social impairments. Joint attention is a pivotal, gateway behavior, as it plays a key role in learning. Problems in joint attention lead to difficulties in learning both language and social skills. Dr. Mundy then went on to discuss the research-based interventions for school-age children and older children. There is still much work to be done in this area and Dr. Mundy is currently working on a virtual reality research project to help children and young adults learns these skills in a simulated environment.

For more information on the talk, contact Katrina Ferreyra, MAC Coordinator, at kferreyra@lifehouseagency.org.