Events

Informal Opportunity to Discuss Supplemental Needs Trusts and Guardianship

Meet Amy Dawson at a Free Film Screening of Autistic License for information about supplemental needs trusts, guardianships and estate planning issues of concern to families who have children with disabilities. Come chat during intermission!

Date: April 13
Location: Eden Prairie High School Auditorium
17185 Valley View Rd, Eden Prairie, MN
Time: 3:30-8:00 pm
For more information, and to register to see the screening of “Autistic License,” go to: http://edenprairie.registryinsight.com

Panel Discussion on Autism

Amy Dawson will participate in a Panel Discussion on Autism, Sponsored by the Eden Prairie Committee for Disability Awareness and others.

Date: April 16
Location: Eden Prairie City Hall Heritage Room
8080 Mitchell Rd, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Time: 7:00-8:30 pm
For more information go to: http://edenprairie.registryinsight.com

Presentation on Special Issues in Estate Planning and Guardianship will be offered twice during April:

Amy Dawson will explain how a supplemental needs trust and specialized estate planning can help you ensure that your child’s guardian will have the financial resources to take care of your child. Learn why failing to plan for the future can disrupt just about every aspect of your child’s life. This information concerns individuals on the autism spectrum regardless of age. The need for guardianship and how to become a guardian will also be covered.

Date: April 26 Location: Walker-Hackensack-Ackeley High School Auditorium
301 4th St. S.
Walker, MN 56484
Time: 7-8:30 pm
Sponsored by PAWN Special Education Cooperative and HOWA Family Center
Contact: Holly Nelson, hnelson@wha.k12.mn.us

Date: April 28
Location: Wayzata High School
4955 Peony Lane North
Plymouth, MN 55446
Time: 7-8:30 pm Sponsored by ANSWER parent support group
Contact: Kathy Hoffman at markkathyhoffman@msn.com

Presentation: Supplemental Needs Trusts and Guardianships

Date: April 30
Location: Autism Society of Minnesota Annual Conference
Double Tree Hotel, 1500 Park Place Boulevard
Minneapolis, MN 55416
Time: 3:00-4:15 pm
Register at:www.ausm.org

Autism Parent Support Group

March 9, 2010

**Please note we will be teaming with OASIS, so will be meeting at Weaver Lake Elementary

** We will also have child care available this month, so please email me by Friday if you could benefit from this opportunity.

Location this Month

Weaver Lake Elementary

15900 Weaver Lake Road
Maple Grove, MN 55369

Time

Tuesday 7-9 p.m.

Guiding Toward Growth

This workshop presents the principles that guide parents, and caregivers toward creating successful programming for children and young adults with autism spectrum disabilities (could also be useful for children with ADHD). Participants will learn: The Band of Regulation – the state of focus and calm needed for academic and social learning; The Ten Hurdles – the internal and external conditions that get in the way of maintaining a state in which learning can occur; Methods to assess the impact of each Hurdle; Innovative interventions that are being used in schools and in community based groups. John Merges is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in private practice assisting individual with ASD and their families. He also consults and does training in many area schools.

Save the dates for future meetings:  April 12^th- & May 11th

Questions: Shannon Ross (763-315-7664) rosss@district279.org

Dan Stewart to Present Manifestation Determination Workshop on March 16
Dan Stewart, supervising attorney at the Minnesota Disability Law
Center, will present Manifestation Determination: What Parents Need to
Know, a free PACER workshop for parents of children with disabilities
and for professionals. Before a child in special education can be
expelled, suspended for more than 10 days, or placed in a different
school because of behaviors, the school must hold a manifestation
determination meeting to find out if the behavior is strongly related to
the childs disability and if the behavior was caused by the schools
failure to implement the childs Individualized Education Program (IEP).
The answers to these questions determine what happens next. This
important workshop is Tuesday, March 16, 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m., at
PACER Center. Advance registration is requested. To register, call PACER
at 952-838-9000 or 952-838-0190 (TTY). In Greater Minnesota, call
800-537-2237 (toll free) or visit PACER.org .

Holland Center ABA/VB: Program for Meaningful & Lasting Change:
Presentation will discuss the importance of selecting “impact” responses from the beginning regardless of age or pervasiveness of the disability. Once you establish and generalize those “impact” responses, you can more effectively, appropriately, and systematically addre…ss additional responses. Discussion will also include importance of using appropriate tools to establish precise “operant levels” and clearly identify barriers that significantly influence treatment effectiveness. Additionally, the importance of social validity should have on the selection, prioritization & evaluation will be discussed.

For more information, please call 952-401-9359.

Parent Resource Groups for Parents of Children with Challenging Behaviors

The group will enable support and networking, as well as offer educational resources on topics that the group selects.  In February’s meeting we will present on “Taking the Maze out of Funding!”

Meeting monthly on the third Thursday

Next Meeting

Thursday February 18, 2010

6:00-8:00

(Dinner provided)

Elk River YMCA

Community Room B

On-site child care is available for children ages 6 weeks-10 years.

It is free for members and $5 per child for non-members.

Questions and to RSVP please contact:

Paula Minske -  763-241-2656 or paula.minske@co.sherburne.mn.us

Sue Schmieg –  763.633.0894 or smithspan@izoom.net

Co-sponsored by Sherburne County Social Services and Parents

In partnership with STARS for Children’s Mental Health and NAMI

Attend either or both:
*Holland Center Open House from 1 pm-3pm.
*Core Treatments for Autism from 3pm-5pm.

Core Treatments for Autism:
Biomedical Intervention Part II. Focus on the core biomedical treatments of autism. The effectiveness and utilization of the treatments for our children. This is a follow up to Part I in …January, but it is not essential to have come to Part I to benefit from Part II.

GF/CF snacks will be provided by Miss Bee’s bakery. Holland is a GF/CF facility. Please do not bring any outside food.

For more information, please call 952-401-9359.

(taken from Facebook)

I just finished reading “Autism’s False Prophets” and I would highly recommend reading it, even if you didn’t have a child w/ ASD. I believe everyone is bias and he clearly is a dr that sees his pt of view and is arguing it strongly and clearly.

Prior to having my son, I was told to consider spacing out vaccinations by co-workers (who happen to be teachers). Everyone said that they think vaccs are important, but also scary and shouldn’t be done all at once. The ASD scare was clear to me. I did the same. I did no research on the topic and was then was scared too by the amount of inoculations they wanted to put in my baby boy. I spaced them out. Did them when I wanted to and my son has autism today. I have no way to prove this, but I do not believe shots caused ASD in my child. I think he had a rough start and continues to be delayed today. Shots or no shots, I think my son would be the same.

So the first time I walked into the Autism Shop in Hopkins (the day after he was diagnosed), I was surprised and taken back by the woman in the store.  Her first question…”do you believe he has asd from shots?” Ummm…no, he didn’t have a traditional imm. schedule and blah, blah…Anyway, she dropped it. She moved on the GCFC diet.  She explained it wasn’t that hard to do and her daughter now goes to college..is cured or whatever. I was a little annoyed with her. I told her we just got the dx and were there to shop. She really wanted to discuss this and I felt overwhelmed by her need to educate me on the spot. She did this again the 2nd time Iwent in a few months later. I could not order certain products online, so I went to her store again. Same old crap and I couldn’t believe she was dying to bring this up again. I am not sure I will ever make a pt to go there again.

It seems like everyone is fearful of the all might shot these days. I see in newsletters put out by TACA, recommending to not give the flu shot or any other shot if your child has a dx of ASD. This makes being a parent very confusing. Is there weight to the argument that vaccinations cause ASD? Is it the mercury/thermisoal? I was tired of wondering and have started to read more deeply this week. Read online, read various books and after some serious thought, the most believable conclusion is of Dr Offit’s book. There is no proof mercury causes ASD. None. And Dr Wakefield’s conclusion that MMR/bowel issues are related to ASD has been all over the news lately…again and again disproving his theories. He was too quick to have found a cure and I see the media pointing this out today, but clearly the damage is done. How many people are not vaccinating today because of him? It’s going to take a long time to counter what has happened since the 90’s.

Anyway, I am going to try to conclude now (as I would rather be napping!!). I am not a huge fan of biomedical approaches. I am concerned about the desire to do anything and everything for a child. I worry about the emotional issues of proving you are a good parent by doing everything. I really liked Dr Offit’s comparison to polio. As he reflects on the desperate measures (and sometimes fatal) to cure a child of polio…we can easily see how history is repeating itself. It happens in all medical disorders that are not currently curable. Do you remember the cure for MS using bees?

I am skeptical of the GCFC diet, I think chelation is a horrible idea, and I most definitely do not think people should be scared of big “pharm”, but always cautious of well-intended, but uninformed individuals. In fact, that is a good way to wrap this up. There are A LOT of well-intended, but uneducated people. I am going to be extremely skeptical of the ASD cure until there is some serious evidence over a period of time. I am not going to let my baby be someone’s guinea pig. My new research topic…allergies/ASD/ and the GCFC diet. Where did all of this come from? Any recommendations on where to start?

Science Friday’s