The Reason For It All

The 2nd Annual Wright Family Community Picnic!!!

Temecula Autism Asperger Group

Coachella Valley, ASA Meeting

Why Juice Plus+???

Ride for Autism!!!

Heart of Sailing Upcoming Daysails

Justice Department Proposes New "Public Accommodation" Requirements under Americans with Disabilities Act

Another Mom Comments on Isolation

GRASP has a new network/support group in San Diego!!

ACES: Social Cognition Groups

Melaleuca, The Wellness Company

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

Benefiting The Autism Tree Project Foundation
Date: Saturday, July 12 2008
Time: 12 - 4 PM
Lunch served noon-2 pm
Location: Westminster Park, Point Loma 3598 Talbot Street
San Diego, CA 92106
Corner of Talbot Street and Cañon

It's Carnival Time!
"We are thrilled to treat the ATPF families, our friends & family, our neighbors, and the entire San Diego community to a fantastic, good old-fashioned, patriotic family picnic, packed with Red, White and Blue Fun!

This event, benefiting the Autism Tree Project Foundation, will include an autism awareness table, raffle with giveaways for families, picnic lunch, music , arts and crafts, a jumper and climber, and party favors for kids. Come join us!"

For more information call Karen & Tim Wright 619-405- 0176

We are pleased to announce a new Support Group in Temecula Inland Empire Autism Society of America - IEASA
Temecula Autism Asperger Group

If you are the parent(s) or caregiver or a professional who works with individuals on the spectrum, you're in good company.
Meet and get to know others in your community.

MEETING AGENDA
6pm - INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
6:15pm - 8pm - OPEN DISCUSSION ON FAMILY NEEDS AND CONCERNS.
·Coping with Autism/Asperger Syndrome
·Appropriate services and education
·How can we best help and support you?
8pm - ADJOURN

Mark your calendars:
DATE: July 24th, 2008
TIME: 6-8 pm
LOCATION: Temecula Public Library Community Room
30600 Pauba Road, Temecula
(parking is available)

Free Admission
If you are interested please RSVP by email: TAAG@temeculapost.com
Catherine and Douglas Snodgrass, Group Leaders (951) 643-4212

Inland Empire Autism Society
http://www.ieautism.org/
(909) 204-4142 x339

The Autism Society of America (ASA) is the leading voice and resource of the entire autism community in education, advocacy, services, research and support. The ASA is committed to meaningful participation and self-determination in all aspects of life for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. ASA accomplishes its ongoing mission through close collaboration with a successful network of chapters, members and supporters.

"Meet the CVASA Board of Directors"
July 10, 2008
6:00 - 8:00 PM

Come meet our existing Board Members, as well as our two newly elected Board Members (to be announced at the meeting). The Board Members will be available to answer your questions, and hear your concerns. They will share with you their vision of the future of the Coachella Valley Autism Society.

Light refreshments will be provided.
Meeting location-Pump It Up, 82740 Atlantic Ave, Indio. I-10, exit Jackson, go North. Pump It Up is "The Inflatable Party Zone" where you can enjoy a private, indoor party with giant interactive inflatable play structures.

***This meeting will be simultaneously translated in Spanish.***

We are pleased to announce that we have added additional childcare spots! However, a reservation is still required. Please call 760-772-1000 to RSVP and to reserve a spot for child care. Your child can jump and bounce in one of the two playrooms. Please bring socks! Or, your child can join Teacher Theresa McFarland in the other meeting room for some Music/ Social Skills time. Please indicate your preference when you call to reserve. Childcare is limited to children with autism, and their siblings, ages 2 and up.

Why Juice Plus+?
The best way to answer that question, is to ask another. How do you think you would feel; how healthy would your body be; how much positive energy would you have, if you ate a serving of 15 different fruits and vegetables and 2 grains EVERYDAY?
That is what JP+ is and that is what it does.

Juice Plus+ provides the natural nutrition (millions of nutrients) of fully ripened, RAW fruits and vegetables in a capsulated form for adults and chewables and gummies for kids.

The cost for adults is $41.50 per month, or $1.36 per day. (Could your buy a serving of 15 fruits and veggies, and eat all of them, RAW for $1.36 per day?)

The cost for kids for Chewables or Gummies is $22.50 per month, or .74 cents per day? Could you even get your kids to eat 15 RAW, fruits and veggies per day?

For more information about Juice Plus+ and/or purchase it, please visit my website here. JP+ is certified GF/CF Dairy Free and Kosher!!!

If you have a JP+ franchise and are interested in selling it, please contact me.

It's time to start shining up those Harleys, Hondas, Kawasakis, and any other motorcycle you have tucked away in the garage. Ride for Autism has selected the Greater Long Beach / San Gabriel Valley Chapter of ASA as a beneficiary for their upcoming ride in August. Contact all your friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers to help support our chapter. The ride will begin at Laidlaw's Harley- Davidson in Baldwin Park and end up in Santa Ana at Original Mike's, an awesome biker spot. For those that don't ride, join us at the end of the ride for activities and lunch. To date John Schneider of Smallvillle and Dukes of Hazard and Kevin Sorbo of Hercules will be in attendance.

For more information go to http://www.rideforautism.org

Heart of Sailing introduces sailing to children, teens and adults with disabilities as a form of education and recreational therapy. Very safe fun for the whole family, too.

San Diego
San Francisco
Dana Point
Ventura

Last week, the Department of Justice published proposed regulations that could significantly alter the obligations of movie theaters, retailers, and other places of "public accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). The 60-day comment period closes August 18. 73 Fed. Reg. 34508, 34509. In addition to the rights it provides employees, the ADA requires that places of public accommodation not discriminate against individuals with disabilities; make reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures when necessary; effectively communicate with people with vision, hearing, and speech difficulties; and remove physical barriers to access to existing facilities when feasible. New construction must comply with a set of detailed "accessibility" rules. The Department of Justice's proposed rule would be the first significant revisions to the regulations delineating these obligations since the public accommodation regulations were first issued in 1991. Requirements under the proposed rule include the following:

• "Service animals." Under the current regulations, a public accommodation must permit individuals with disabilities to be accompanied by a "service animal"-- an animal specially trained to perform certain tasks (e.g., a seeing eye dog). The proposed rule states that service animals include only domestic animals, and not--as some had argued--primates, small horses, and reptiles. The proposal also confirms that service animals may be excluded when they are "out of control," are not housebroken, or pose a direct threat to others; the proposal takes issue with a Ninth Circuit decision that held it violated the ADA to exclude a barking dog from a theater. Lentini v. Cal. Ctr. for the Arts, Escondido, 370 F.3d 837 (9th Cir. 2004).
• Ticketing. Under the proposed rule, places of public accommodation that require a ticket for admission--movie theaters, ballparks, etc.--must make tickets available on the same basis for individuals with disabilities as for all other patrons. For example, tickets for wheelchair-accessible seating must be offered in the same locations (e.g., on the phone, at the window, and via the Internet), and at the same time as regular seating. The facility may not "steer" individuals with disabilities to one section, and handicapped seating areas may not be released to the general population until all other comparable seats have been sold.
• Seating. A number of lawsuits have been filed over handicapped seating in movie theaters and other public accommodations. The proposed rule would require that each wheelchair seat have companion seating nearby, up to 3 companion seats per wheelchair seat in some instances. The handicapped seating must have viewing angles as good or better than the average view. If there are special seating areas (e.g., luxury boxes), wheelchair and companion seats must be provided in each such area. In movie theaters, wheelchair seating spaces and companion seating must be in the stadium section, and may not be in the front 40% of the theater.
• Golf courses. Golf courses would have to ensure that an "accessible (pedestrian) route . . . connects all accessible elements within the boundary of the golf course and facility, including teeing grounds, putting greens, and weather shelters." In its proposed rule, the Department says that it expects that "virtually every tee and putting green on an existing course will need to be regraded" to meet this requirement. Having an existing cart path that connects these elements has been deemed to constitute sufficient compliance, however.
• Assistive devices. As part of the ADA's requirements to communicate effectively with those with speech, hearing, and visual impairments, public accommodations employ a variety of devices--such as amplifying headsets or PDAs that display captions--to aid the hearing impaired. The proposed rule may expand these requirements, due in large part to advancing technology. For example, captioning of movies historically has not been required in theaters because it has been considered technologically infeasible. The ubiquity of mobile wireless devices may mean that providing "closed" captioning (captions delivered only to the disabled individual, e.g., through the wireless device) is now feasible, and new digital projection technology may make adding "open" captioning (captions displayed on the screen like subtitles), which previously required separate reels of film for captioned and non-captioned versions, a reasonable modification. Similarly, narrative descriptions of visual events for those who have low vision may be required.
• Other power-driven mobility devices. Because these non-wheelchair devices (e.g., Segways) can help the disabled achieve mobility, they cannot be completely banned unless they would fundamentally alter the goods or services provided by the public accommodation.

Valerie, can I reply to the mom who feels isolated?
How about instead of forming your own PTA....you join the regular PTA and get involved with the school in general? That way other parents meet you and your child and they get a better understanding of what you are going through because you are making relationships with them. Your child will be included in things because you are included in them. My son was diagnosed with PDD/NOS when he was 2. He is now 13 and has been fully included in his schools since first grade. For the next two years I will be the PTA President at his middle school. The other parents and all the kids at the school have a better understanding of "Special Needs" kids because of Jack. I wouldn't have done it any other way. Just my two cents.
Good Luck.
Robin Johnson
robinjohnson@cox.net

San Diego GRASP Network will be having monthly meetings. For information contact the San Diego Regional Facilitator Kari M. Marchant, kari@marchantfamilylaw.com

The meetings will be held the second Monday each month from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. commencing July 14, 2008.

They will be held at:
Location:
The Layton home
962 Santa Hidalga
Solana Beach, CA 92075
(858)350-1759

All GRASP groups are absolutely FREE to attend.
http://www.grasp.org

Could you please post the following notice on valerieslist. Thanks for all your help and the great service you provide. Mahalo, Malia Wilson

SOCIAL COGNITION GROUPS
ACES is excited to inform you that we are once again beginning our summer session social cognition groups. We have held these groups at our office in Orange for the past two summers and parent response has been very positive. The groups will be conducted in a small group format consisting of four to six children with a minimum of two experienced adult facilitators. Groups will provide a therapeutic setting in which children can practice peer social skills, with an emphasis on helping them gain improved social understanding of when and why to apply these skills. Groups consisting of children who are all on the high end of the autism spectrum, grouped together according to age, allow participants to practice these skills in a supportive and fun setting with other children who experience similar stressors. Groups are scheduled to begin the second week of July. We expect the demand for these groups to be high, so please contact us as soon as possible for more information and/or to reserve a place for your child. Contact Malia Wilson at 714-873-8570 or mwilson@acesangels.com.