Heart of Sailing

Wealth & Wellness Team Member Needed!!!

Need Help with Driver's License Test

Dr. Feder Comments on: NYT: Researchers Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay

Floortime Support Groups this Summer

3rd Annual Alley Cat Art Walk

A Busy Family and Their Websites

Website: Jacob's Lessons

Welcome to SUN News--a weekly update for The Gray Center Social Understanding Network!

Top 10 Directories of Summer Camps for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

How To Plan a Vacation with Your Autistic Loved One

How To Find a Summer Program for Your Child with Autism

Crimson Center: Summer Communication Program

Pediatrician Dr. William Sears "prescribes" Juice Plus+ to all his patients

(Pictured is Tony Saraf)

Heart of Sailing introduces sailing to children, teens and adults with developmental disabilities as a form of education and recreational therapy.

Empowering Through Information & the Fostering of Connections

I never endorse anyone or anything. Opinions expressed in what I send out, may not be shared by me. Everything is for informational purposes only.

People who "advertise" through this newsletter have never been checked out by me. This includes professionals and even people who are interested in babysitting, etc.

Please take the time to thoroughly check out anyone and everyone that will be working with or caring for your child. We are all sadly aware, through news stories and word of mouth, of people who pray upon special needs children because of their extra vulnerability.

Thank you,
Valerie Dodd-Saraf
My enewsletters are archived on my website:
www.ValeriesList.com

My Melaleuca Team and I are looking for people who want to have a part time home based business. We are especially looking for a person who is fluent in Spanish (reading, writing and speaking). Income depends on how much time and effort you can put into it. It is possible to earn a couple hundred to several thousand dollars per month.

For more information about the company, please click here and then click on "Take a Tour".

Valerie Saraf

Does anyone have any information if there are adaptations for taking your driver's written test? My son had a difficult time with all the noise in the background and echoing at the DMV today. It was very difficult for him to focus and he failed it. This even though he took several tests prior with his support person and passed. If anyone has any ideas in this please let me know.
Thanks
joy51053@aol.com

Hi Val -
I share the concerns raised by others over revelations about payments to Drs Beiderman and Wilens for research on psychotropic medication for children. A growing number of physicians, including me, consistently resist perks from pharmaceutical companies. My own research in pharmacogenetics is supported only by government NIH grants through Duke, and I hope not tainted in some other manner that is kept from me. We so desperately need good research, but it cannot be tainted by failure to disclose income sources. Too often we are seeing evidence of data suppression when there are economic interests at play. While any good clinician wants to see confirmatory data from another source, Beiderman and Wilens have led the field in producing influential studies, and I hope this episode leads to more transparency and therefore higher quality and confidence in their work and in the broader field of medical research.
Thank you.
Joshua D Feder, MD
Child and Family Psychiatry
415 North Highway 101
Solana Beach, CA 92075
tel. 858 509 0523, fax 858 259 8192

Because some people want to meet in July, we will have a July Meeting, on Wednesday July 2, from 9-1030, for parents and professionals together. On August 6 we will meet again, 9-130 for professionals and 1030-noon for parents.

Have a great summer, and visit circlestretch.blogspot.com for Lana's notes, posted by Marit, and soon for my slides from my grand rounds presentation last week at Rady.

Dr Feder
Child and Family Psychiatry
415 North Highway 101
Solana Beach, CA 92075
tel. 858 509 0523, fax 858 259 8192

Free to the public!
Fun for the whole family!

July 11, 4 to 8 PM
July 12, 12 to 8 PM

Downtown El Cajon
Main Street to Rea Avenue and the Alley in between!
Including, of course, Sophie's Gallery and Mark Rimland.
Featuring:
Art Vendors, Print Making, Sidewalk Chalk Art, Music, Rock Balancing, Painted Vehicles, Beer Garden, Food and Much, Much More!!!
Click here for more info!

Hi Val-
My name is Shannon Johnson and I am the co- founder of the social network, Foggyrock.com. I am also the daughter of Nancy Cale, VP of Unlocking Autism.

I've been on your list for several years now. We live in Maine but my husband's company is in San Diego and they have been recruiting us out that way for quite a while, and so I have tried to get to know the autism community and resources through your list.

I was wondering if you might consider adding Foggyrock as a resource on your list or website. We have over 1000 members so far and are growing every day. As your letter goes out to so many families in CA, I would love for them to have access to Foggyrock through your newsletter.

I would also ask that you consider adding my husband's project to your list of resources as well. He created a free web-application called www.iabida.com that serves as an information, data and communication hub for teams and families working with children on the spectrum. He created it for our own son, and now offers it for free to families around the world.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests.
Sincerely-
Shannon Johnson

Valerie
Please take a look at http://www.jacobslessons.com It is a free site with lessons and games that were designed to be useful in teaching young children with autism to use a computer and to supplement their therapy with fun leaning games and activities. Please feel free to add Jacob's Lessons to your resource page if you feel it would be of help to your readers.
Sincerely ... Michael Bachrach
Website Author

Staff members at The Gray Center spend a majority of our time answering questions (by phone and email) from people all around the world. These questions often center around a desire to gain information about their child (or the child in their classroom), the need for help with a particular situation (either creative ideas or resources they haven't tried before, or a new place to take their child to access resources), suggestions for educating others about their child (or themselves, if they're a person with autism), or ways to involve their child or young adult in more meaningful ways in their community.

Often, we are contacted by parents of children (of a variety of ages) who are just recently being evaluated for the possibility of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sometimes they question whether they should pursue a formal diagnosis.

Naturally, this is only a valid question if the child (or young adult) meets the criteria for ASD. It would not be responsible to advocate giving an individual a diagnosis that does not correctly describe his or her developmental history, and current level of functioning (including strengths and challenges). At The Gray Center, we do not do evaluations or provide diagnoses. However, we often walk parents through the following thought process, hoping that it helps them to make the decision that is right for their child:

1. Is your child being met at his or her current functioning level? That is, are her strengths recognized, applauded, and utilized for motivation, positive peer interaction, and opportunities to offset her challenges? And are her challenges being addressed in a thoughtful, proactive way? Several weeks ago we had a mom in our office who is thrilled with the services her daughter is receiving from her school. The school has created a social skills group which meets regularly, a counselor is meeting frequently with the child and her teachers, the child has a supportive peer group in her classroom and on the playground, and is doing well academically in the classroom. This mom does not feel a need to pursue a formal diagnosis at this time for her daughter, even though she shows many signs of having ASD.

Addressing an individual's current functioning level in an effective way is of huge importance, given the opportunity to possibly guide a person toward recovery from autism (as I shared a couple of weeks ago), or at least, reaching his or her full potential, and/or increased access to social and academic success.

2. The second thought concerns a "common starting point." This is closely related to the first point (in fact, a common starting point often leads to a child being met at his or her current functioning level). Does everyone working with the child have the same (or similar) understanding of the child or young adult, and the assistance he needs to reach his full potential? If the adults in his environment consistently believe that he is deliberately acting out, without considering his sensory needs, communication and/or learning differences, and emotional or social struggles, then information about the presence of ASD might help his family, school community, or daycare environment address his needs more effectively. On a more personal level, I knew a young man who realized he had Asperger's Syndrome after reading a newspaper article about the diagnosis. He commented to his parents, "This is me, isn't it? And all these years I thought I was just stupid." He had never been told that he was on the autism spectrum; this information may have saved him from years of self-doubt and a feeling of isolation. Once he knew his diagnosis, and was able to research it and meet other people with similar interests and abilities, he enjoyed a much more positive self-image!

Not only does a common starting point benefit the individual with ASD, but it can also benefit others working on this person's behalf. Teachers (and other professionals), parents, and employers can attend conferences, read books, or consult with others who have experience working with individuals with similar strengths and challenges. I know one family who has been told that their child has "a brain disorder." Although his profile seems very similar to those diagnosed with ASD, these parents have no one to connect with to share experiences, no books to read, and no other kids for their child to form friendships with in a place such as The Gray Center. Rather than having the benefit of using common knowledge about autism and what is most likely to be beneficial to this student, teachers instead approach the situation "from scratch," looking to develop teaching strategies that might help a child with "a brain disorder."

Can an individual's needs be met without a formal diagnosis? Most certainly! Is this always the case? Unfortunately, it is not. The question of whether to pursue a diagnosis will need to be made on a case- by-case basis, and possibly be re-evaluated on a regular basis (as needs and abilities change, understanding of the individual increases, and adults rotate in and out of the person's life). And certainly, there are people who have "recovered" from autism and no longer need to tell people about their diagnosis, as well as people who would prefer not to receive the diagnosis in the first place.

Feel free to weigh in on this discussion on our SUN News blog at http://graycenter.wordpress.com. Your experiences and opinions may prove helpful to individuals who are currently struggling to answer the question, "To diagnose or not to diagnose?" in their own life.

Special thanks to those of you who are making a formal diagnosis less of a necessity! Your flexibility, willingness to meet each individual at his or her current level of functioning, and desire to communicate with others in that child's life, are greatly appreciated! Thanks, too, to those of you who are helping to make a diagnosis of autism a less negative experience for those who receive it. As I wrote last week, there are many people who are able to celebrate the presence of autism in their lives!
Laurel Hoekman, Executive Director
The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding
www.thegraycenter.org

Once the school year is over, many families with children on the autism spectrum are stumped. Even if your child qualifies for Extended School Year programs, those programs are limited in length and unlikely to include fun recreational activities.

Yes, you can have a relaxing vacation with your autistic family member, even if that family member is you! It does take some planning and preparation, but the result can be a pleasant, relatively stress-free experience.

You finally made it through the school year. Despite all the obstacles, your child did pretty well. You even saw him meet some of his IEP goals. But now summer is looming, and you have no clue what to do with him. Ordinary summer camp looks pretty unlikely - after all, how many camp programs offer "social skills" along with "horseback riding?" Here's how to get the process underway.

We are accepting registration for our summer communication program, which run July 1-31, 2008. Children who struggle with speech and language related interaction will engage in stimulating group activities with peers matched according to age and level of functioning. Adult to child ratio will be approximately 1:4, and each group will meet for two hours, one time per week for a total of 5 sessions (10 hours) in our Miramar office. An Internet blog will be established to inform parents about activities, goals and materials of each day, and parents are encouraged to observe through our one-way mirrors.

Augmentative Communication Groups
This program is designed to enhance the functional and recreational use of both high and low tech communication systems, facilitated by Eric Sailers, M.A., CCC, Speech-Language Pathologist and Assistive Technology Specialist.

--Sea Lions: ages 5-9 on Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m.
--Sharks: ages 10-14 on Wednesdays from 3-5 p.m.

Speech & Language Socialization Groups
This program is designed to maximize social language skills for verbal children. Activities will incorporate social stories adapted from Carol Grey, and Michelle Garcia Winner's social thinking curriculum. Skills highlighted include: language processing with peers, repairing communication breakdowns, establishing joint attention, understanding body language, initiating and maintaining play/conversations, perspective taking, expressing emotions, and problem solving.

--Minnows: ages 3-5 on Thursdays; time TBA
--Dolphins: ages 5-9 on Tuesdays from 1-3 p.m.
--Whales: ages 10-14 on Tuesdays from 3-5 p.m.

Please contact Crimson Center at 858-695-9415 or email karynls2@aol.com for more information.

Karyn Lewis Searcy, M.A. CCC-slp
Director
Crimson Center for Speech & Language
858 695 9415