The Reason For It All

SDASA Fall Conference and Support Group Meeting

DIR®/Floortime Support Meetings in Solana Beach

Mom in San Diego needs Pediatrician

Why Juice Plus+???

St. Maddie's Fashion Show, August 23rd

Police Officer and Father needs feedback and suggestions

Mom needs Doctor for meds

Insurance coverage in CA

Mom on waitlist needs options

ASA-Santa Barbara Hosts Surf and Beach Day

USAAA 2008 Autism and Asperger International Conference

IEP Team Disasters: Common Substantive and Procedural Mistakes to Avoid

Parent has questions about insurance

Pageants change autistic girl's life

Melaleuca, The Wellness Company

Scientists Link Three Genes in Schizophrenia

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

SDASA is happy to announce that registration is now open for our 6th Annual Fall Conference!

Don't miss this opportunity to hear:
* Nationally renowned Inclusion speaker Dr. Paula Kluth
* A fantastic Meet and Greet with Mary and Jerry Newport on Friday night, and
* A day dedicated to planning for Transition to Adulthood, featuring a keynote lecture by the Newports as well as a variety of other fantastic, practical speakers.

Click here for Event Flyer & More Information.

Please download flyer for more information and rates, and/or log on to the SDASA website to register (preferred) at www.sd-autism.org (phone-in registration available, # 858-715-0678)

Please contact Dr. Dawn Holman ( dawn@autismconsultants.com) or Bobbie Kohrt ( bobbiekohrt@yahoo.com), Conference Co-Chairs

SDASA-East County Asperger's and HFA Parent Support Group

This month there will be informal with open discussion. Look forward to seeing all of you!!!

· Tuesday on August 5th, 6:30-8pm.
· Java Mama Café 8250 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, CA 91941
Sherry Soule

This coming Wednesday, August 6, we will be having a 9-1030 am professionals support meeting and a 1030-noon parents/ caregivers meeting. These are open to the public - no prior DIR/Floortime experience is necessary. We are excited to have a new format for the parent/ caregiver meetings, with demo tapes and discussion on specific topics. Meetings are at my building, 415 North Highway 101, Suite A, Solana Beach, CA. Come early for better parking. Sorry there is no child care available.

We are excited to offer a number of other services this coming year as well:

For this fall we are also planning a parents' focused group for parents who have taken the DIR® Basic course or are otherwise very interested in meeting with other parents to review videos and discuss them.

For professionals seeking certification who have taken the DIR® Basic course online of have other suitable training, we are offering three sections of monthly tutoring where over the course of the academic year people will read, present cases, learn, do lots of video scoring, give and receive lots of feedback and gradually write and build their presentations for professional development and for use toward certification.

Finally, we are setting up free access to books and DVDs for review on site by appointment. Please email Mara Goverman at msg@san.rr.com for more information on any of these programs.

Hope to see you Wednesday!
Dr Feder
858-509-0523

Does anyone have a pediatrician that is helpful with autism and/or especially knowlegdeable? I have a great pediatrician but he is great for children w/o special needs.
mggillespie@cox.net

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+ and its' parent company NSA, are NOT Multi-Level Marketing Companies. 95% of the people who order from the companies are customers only. NSA has been in business for 47 years.

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.

I now have several families that are going to give the "Thins" a try. It will be several weeks before I know if this is going to work for others, besides Tony. As soon as I know anything, you all will know!!!

St. Madeleine Sophie's Center 31st Annual Fashion Show
"Haute with Heart"
Saturday, August 23, 2008
10am to 2:30pm
Sheraton Harbor Island and Marina

Tickets before 8/6:
$60 per ticket or $600 per table -regular seating
$100 per ticket or $1,000 per table -VIP seating

Tickets after 8/6:
$75 per ticket or $750 per table -regular seating
$125 per ticket or $1,250 per table -VIP seating

Price includes a fabulous lunch with the fashion show and boutique shopping. There will also be opportunity drawings, Silent and Live Auctions. Join local Celebrities, like Carol LeBeau, Mayor Sanders and his wife, Phyllis Parrish and Sally Thorton for all the fun!

Hurry and get your tickets, as we are just about sold out!!!

Valerie,
My name is Brian Herritt. I am a Police Officer at Palomar College, but more importantly I the father of a child with Autism. I am currently working on a project to provide training for every law enforcement agency in San Diego and Imperial County in handling persons with Autism. I have secured funding through a generous donation from the Foundation for Developmental Disabilities in San Diego County. I am creating a training "basket" for each agency. I am looking for items to place in these baskets. Information on other disabilities is welcomed as well. Pamphlets, products that law enforcement may use, or other training material would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has any ideas or items they would like to see added please have them contact me. My contact information is below.

Respectfully Submitted,
Officer Brian Herritt
Palomar College Police Dept.
1140 West Mission Road
San Marcos, Ca. 92543
bherritt@palomar.edu
(760)744-1150 X 2289

I could really use some help. Does anyone have a doctor they can recommend that prescribes and monitors your child's medication. My son is diagnosed with Asperger's along with some other disorders. We need to change doctors (form a new team) and I would like to find someone familiar with children this age, medications, alternative treatments etc. We are also in need of a new therapist for him to talk to. We live in Ramona, so driving is a given. I'm sure many of you know how hard changes like this are for our kids, so I appreciate any personal recommendations or warnings you can give me. Thank you and thank you Valerie for your newsletter and for giving us with a place where we ask other parents with like experiences for help.
geezmom@cox.net

Hi, we were wondering, there are alot of states being told they must provide insurance coverage for our kids, but California, seems to be silent about this at this time. Anyone know anything that is being attempted? Is there any news about this happening in California? Please let me know, if anything is happening, or what we can do to help.
Sincerely,
Becky and family

I have a 5 year old son with autism and I was approved speech sesions at Childrens Hospital with Medical insurance. My problem is they do not have any sessions available and now I am on a waiting list. I would like to know if any other family has received speech sessions with my type of insurance elsewhere? Because if thats the case I would like to know where to contact them. Then I will have options, because at this point I am stuck. I am Irene at iamrabcjb@yahoo.com

ASA-SB has partnered with the Santa Barbara Seals to host a unique surfing event designed with families in mind! Surf and Beach Day will take place Saturday, August 16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara, Calif. The SB Seals are professional coaches and competitors with over 50 years' combined experience in surfing. There will be an amazing 3:1 teacher-to-student ratio while in the water. Several Santa Barbara Seals staff members have successfully completed "Autism 101: Training for the Uninitiated," provided by Evelyn Kung, M.A., BCBA, through the Center for Autism and Related Disorders.

Kayaking and boogie boarding will also be available. There will be plenty of activities and games on the beach as well, including Touch Tanks, Indo Boards and the "Winners Circle" at the conclusion of the day. Snacks and drinks will be available, as well as a goodie bag for each child. Wetsuits and surfboards will be provided by the SB Seals.

Families are encouraged to bring a picnic (especially for dietary-sensitive folks), plenty of sunscreen and their favorite beach toys. RSVP to 805-560-3762 or info@asasb.org. YOU MUST RSVP IN ORDER TO RESERVE A SPACE AT THE EVENT. Please make sure to leave your name, phone number, your child's name and age, and how many in your family will be attending, including the ages of any siblings.

Register for one, two, or three days. All registration packages include the Sunday session. Sunday only registration is available onsite during the conference. If you have any questions, please call us at 1-866-208- 0207.

After you have decided on your registrant type (member, non-member, etc.), click Register Now >> at the top or bottom of the page. Complete all personal information, then select a registrant type. If you are adding one guest, select Save & Add New Registrant. Complete all personal information for the second registrant. Then after selecting GUEST, click Save & Continue. Complete all information for each registrant.

The U.S. Supreme Court has referred to the IEP as the "modus operandi" for the provision of FAPE to students with disabilities. In accordance with the Court's two-pronged test for determining whether an IEP is appropriate, hearing officers and courts must look to the substantive and procedural components of the IEP. This session will examine common substantive and procedural IEP disasters that can occur during the development of the IEP and how those disasters, particularly those that can lead to a denial of FAPE, can be avoided.