The Reason For It All

Heart of Sailing in San Diego

Laureate Learning Systems

Center for Social Thinking: Fall 2008 Mentor Training Dates

Why Juice Plus+???

MSG Truth

CCC Friends Group

Study Participants Needed for Autism Research Study at The Salk Institute

Pasadena: Back to School Workshop Information

Devoted Mom needs advice

New Little Builders Session

ATPF: Mentor Event at JCC Maccabi Cares Carnival

Parents have a questions about "FEMA"???

A 504 Plan for children without an IEP but still need assistance in schools

Is Aluminum the New Thimerosal?

Melaleuca, The Wellness Company

The Gray Center Children's Resource SALE

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

Heart of Sailing introduces sailing to children, teens and adults with disabilities as a form of education and recreational therapy. A safe and fun family outing!!

Click here for Daysails in San Diego in July and August

Click here for Daysails in Dana Point in August

Founded by two speech-language pathologists, Laureate offers more than 50 programs for individuals with autism, language impairments, developmental disabilities, Down syndrome, aphasia, and traumatic brain injury.

Thousands of schools, hospitals, clinics, and parents around the world rely on Laureate software to teach critical language, cognitive, and reading skills.

We are now accepting applications for Fall 2008 Mentor Trainings.

Since 2000, hundreds of participants have participated in Mentor Training at Michelle G. Winner's Center for Social Thinking, Inc. in San Jose, CA. This intensive 3 day session provides training in social thinking and demonstration therapy, as well as spending time meeting with Michelle Garcia Winner, Stephanie Madrigal or Dr. Pamela Crooke.

"The mentor training at Michelle Garcia Winner's clinic far exceeded my expectations. Michelle and her staff were incredibly generous with their wealth of ideas, strategies and materials. Seeing highly skilled and creative therapists in action is the best way to learn!" -- P. Taboni, Speech Language Pathologist (private practice).

The following dates are currently scheduled:
September 16 - 18
October 6 - 8
November 10 - 12
Monday, December 1 - 5 (3 days training plus 2 days at a Michelle G. Winner workshop in the Bay Area - separate registration required. See website for details)

These popular trainings fill up quickly - apply today!
For Full Details and Application, Click Here

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!!! Click here for info on ingredients for all the JP+ products.

Starting in September, I will be having Juice Plus+ In-Home Parties. It is a great way to learn more about good, lasting health and JP+. If you are interested in learning about JP+ as a home-based business, click here.

Juice Plus+ "Thins" and anxiety and OCD:
Since, giving Tony "Thins" everyday, starting just 2 years ago, with no other medication or change, I noticed that Tony was more relaxed. Less anxiety. And, even more remarkable his repetitive, obsessive behaviors dropped about 80%. Changes in his routine/schedule became much easier, new experiences were no longer hard. Repetitive behaviors/routines nearly disappeared. I have been also able to reduce his medications: Zyprexa, Celexa & Tenex.

Please think seriously about giving this a try!!! If you have any questions about the "Thins", please email me and if you would like to order them, click here.

MSGTruth.org was created in 2002 by former food process engineer and food scientist, Carol Hoernlein, to help the public make sense of the latest independent scientific information regarding monosodium glutamate and aspartame. We don't represent the food industry or the sellers of health supplements. Our mission is to give you important information about MSG and aspartame not tainted by corporate interests.

Due to popular demand, the Community Coaching Center is opening up another CCC Friends Group for teens age 13-18 affected by HFA/AS that meets two Saturdays a month.

CCC is a Community Behavioral Social Skills Development program that focuses on developing socially appropriate behaviors, friendship building, and citizenship in the community. The teens participate in small peer friendly groups in recreational activities such as: visiting museums, parks, beaches, zoo/Wild Animal Park, amusement parks, festivals, performing arts, and local restaurants. The group also participates in sporting and leisure activities such as bowling, sailing, swimming, biking, hiking, golfing, rock climbing, skating, and much, much more.

To find out more about the CCC Friends Group or the weekday CCC programs, please visit our website:
www.communitycoachingcenter.org

To call and set up a site visit please call: 858-603- 9835

We are looking for adolescents (age 10-18) with an ASD diagnosis, siblings of people with an ASD diagnosis, and typically developing teens to participate in a vision research study. Participants will be asked to sit in a quiet, dimly lit room and locate target images that appear on a computer screen. The task will be similar to playing a simple video game. Each volunteer may participate in a variable number of sessions, which will typically last 1 hour, with breaks provided upon request. Participants will be compensated $10 per hour.

With your help, we hope to better understand how people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) process visual information differently than other individuals.

We will gladly share and explain the results of this study with participants and their parents. Testing will be arranged to fit your schedule. We offer weekday, evening, and weekend appointments.

For more information, please visit http://www.snl-k.salk.edu/autism.htm or contact Karine at kvb@salk.edu, (858) 518-5460.

"Back to School" Autism-Aspergers Conference
August 9-10, 2008
Three Professional Worshops for Parapros SLP's / OT's / PT's and SLP's

Hi Valerie,
We are new to the area and recently received the diagnose for our two and a half year old son. I have a few questions and hoping to get advice from parents out there. If possible, can you post our questions onto your daily distribution. Thanks the work you do and for all your help,

Mom needs advice on IEP at Deer Canyon Elementary School (Poway School District) & Sycamore Ridge Elementary School (Del Mar School District)

The Poway Unified School district just completed the initial IEP for our son in preparation for the pre- kindergarten enrollment this coming September. Our son has been diagnosed with ASD and currently receiving 16 hours of one-to-one ABA per week in addition to Speech, Physical, and Occupation therapy from the San Diego Region Center due to his needs and extreme delay in speech, oral motor, cognitive, and behavior skills. The Poway School District recommended that our son be placed in an exclusive 25 hours per week autistic classroom with exposure to non-Autistic children only during recess in the playground for approximately 15 to 20 minutes per day. The school also recommended 10 hours per week of a 1:1 or 1:2 ABA (or ABI) and 1 ½ hours per week of group speech therapy setting with up to four children at the same time. The remaining 15 hours per week would be spent in the classroom with no other trained therapist. Understanding that intensive therapy and early intervention is the key to long term success for children with ASD, we don't know if the above amount of services recommended for our son is adequate.

We are currently renting and have the option to move to the Del Mar School District where our son can attend the special education program at the Sycamore Ridge Elementary School. To maximize our son learning potential, we want to place him in the school with the special education services that best meet his needs. We are new to the IEP process and hoping to hear advice from parents, therapists or anyone who have experiences with the IEP and or direct experience with the above two schools. Your advice would greatly be appreciated!!
Sincerely,
Devoted Mom!

A new Little Builders session (play-based social skills group) will be starting mid August. This group will be for children with ASD, ages 5-7 with HFA, PDD-NOS or Aspergers. It will run Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30- 6pm in Scripps Ranch for 10 weeks.

The August Summer intensive is currently being scheduled and will either run Aug 4-15 or Aug 11-22 (Mon-Fri 9-11 am).

Another two-day per week session will begin in September.

For more information or to schedule an assessment, contact Courtney Olinger 858-444-8823 x1221 or colinger.cares@yahoo.com

Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 1-4 PM at the JCC La Jolla

San Diego JCC Maccabi Games will present to the San Diego community, FREE of CHARGE, the MACCABI CARES CARNIVAL, specially designed to host San Diego's "children at risk", ages 3-10 years of age. MACCABI CARES CARNIVAL, operated by JCC Maccabi teen athletes and complete with age- appropriate game booths and prizes, jumpies, obstacle courses, clowns and carnival refreshments, will provide a fun-filled morning or afternoon for your children.

ATPF will assign each autistic child a Maccabi International Athlete to play with at the carnival while parents meet with ATPF mentors. Spaces for children under age 10 are now down to only 20 - sign up now to ensure your spot!

View the flyer for more information.

Please RSVP to Dayna Hoff at daynahoff@cox.net or 619-980-8614 to reserve your spot.

Hello!
Would you know anything about "FEMA" I heard from another parent that your employer cannot hold it against you, when you have to take off time for your autistic child's needs ( therapies, IEP's etc...) I tried to search for it but can't seem to find anything. thank you!!
God Bless,