KindTree FLASH ! September 10th, 2007
www.kindtree.org
Greetings,
Calling
all KindTree Volunteers...
We could do nothing without you. You Rock! So please join
us at out Volunteer Appreciation Potluck, Sunday September
16, 4 - 8 PM at Mary-Minn's home, 25 Owosso Drive in Eugene
off River Road. We know how to have fun!
How was it at our 12th Autism Camp/Retreat? Was it fun?
Did it go well? Here is what some of the guests and volunteers
had to say:
"I had no idea what to expect from this camp and
it exceeded expectations. This was an amazing experience
and I feel blessed to experience such a beautiful community."
"It is so nice to have a place where all our children
can network that have similar needs and interests. Camping
is a lot of work and this allows us to enjoy being with
our family and not get so stressed out."
"I really enjoyed working here. I learned so much
and had a wonderful time. Thank you for giving me this
opportunity."
"Thank you for a great weekend - you're doing a
wonderful thing here."
"I came here just for a short lifeguard gig, and
found this camp an amazing place to be and work with wonderful
kind people. I would love to come back next year."
"Gets better every year. I can't wait to be back!"
"We love that there is no hierarchy / differentiation
between organizers, volunteers and guests. TR
Kelly rocks! This Retreat makes me so happy I could
cry!"
We started a new tradition this year - an opening and
closing circle. People had a chance to see each other
and learn names at the opening, and at the closing folks
spoke about what was their favorite aspect of the Retreat.
Many people spoke about the sense of family - of community
that we felt there. This is what we at KindTree hope for.
We do everything we can to make it possible for people
to feel safe, feel loved, feel at ease. Like we're all
home now. Welcome home.
2007 saw over 100 guests, 57 volunteers and 6 staff.
A significant donation from FreeLife
International helped pay for staff and new craft supplies.
The Oregon Trail Council of the Boy
Scouts of America gave us a price break on the camp
rental. We received scholarship donations from Monaco
Coach Company, Autism
Society of Oregon, Ruth Madsen Ross, Randy Gerlach,
Eugene
Downtown Lions Club, and the
Springfield Rotary. We received in-kind donations
from BiMart,
Market
of Choice – all their stores, Albertsons,
Eugene
Freezing and Storage, Toby's Tofu Palace, Trader
Joe’s, Springfield
Creamery, Emerald
Valley Kitchen, Surata
Soy, Organically Grown Coop, Café
Mam, Lochmead
Dairy, the Bread Stop, Safeway,
Costco,
and Carlos Berrera.
Thanks to all of you and to the many,
many volunteers - some of them returning year after year
- who were there to help create this event.
|
|
What's
New at KINDTREE.ORG.
CALL to ARTISTS
Every year Autism Rocks offers a series of Holiday Cards
with art by people with autism. If you have images suitable
for holiday cards - Christmas scenes, winter scenes, drawings
of toys - please send them in by October 1
to tim@kindtree.org.
Or call 541. 521.7208. Thanks.
We have three ways
to participate in the autism community:
There is a special toolbar
you can install on your browser that keeps you up to date
with additions, changes, new events and more on our web
site. It's unobtrusive and connects you to a new Autism
Chat Room. Try it!
Click  here.
Wear a new "Autism
Rocks" 10th anniversary T-shirt. See
them here.
We also have a survey seeking
your thoughts on a Autism Community Center we have been
working on since the Spring Autism Forum. We've had nearly
100 responses. Your opinion counts. Tell us how you feel,
and stay connected.
We're all in this together.
the Many Faces
of Autism w/ Mary-Minn
Suzie Noel Duncan Winn
"Christmas if Fun Even Without Snow"
|
|
With over
34 years of experience, Autism And Special Needs
Furniture creates custom micro fiber foam-filled
pillow furniture with optional protective cover systems.
Our products have been developed with the help of Mary-Minn
Sirag and several local occupational therapists specifically
to serve the demands of the special needs community. Products
include: The Hug Chair, The Hug Bed & Lounger, the larger,
free-standing Nesting Chair and Nesting Love seat, and many
more. Visit us on the web at www.autismfurniture.com
or visit our store at 1851 River Road in Eugene. Safe, supportive,
comforting, durable, and affordable, perfect for any special
needs! |
|
Robb
Bokich
donated 2 beautiful pillow chairs that we raffled off
at this year's Retreat. Thank you so much, Robb! |
| EVENTS
Autism
Rocks Mask Making Party
- October 21, 2-5pm.
Cozmic Pizza, 8th and Charnelton $5 each, $20
family
Join us for fun mask making with
Star Wars
Storm Troops &
CenterStage Karaoke
Wear your own costume!
Make your own mask!
Sing your own song!
see you then...
| September
25th, Tuesday
Sip. Savor. Support.
BENEFIT for SAIL Housing
(Supporting Access to Independent Living)
It’s a simple way to give back to the
community, enjoy great wine and have fun all
at the same time.
SAIL Housing
Mission: advocate for
and promote sustainable housing for persons
with developmental disabilities in a life-enriching
environment.
Goal: build housing complexes that allow for
safe, yet independent living for these adults.
WineStyles will donate 10% of all bottle &
gift shop sales to SAIL Housing, plus 50% percent
of the Tuesday night wine tasting!
Benefit Tuesday Guidelines
• Bottle & Gift shop open 11am-9pm
on Benefit Tuesday
• Drop in anytime for the wine tasting
between 5:00 pm-8:30 pm. Cost $9.99
• Tasting consists of an ounce of wine
from each of the wines in the flight
541-434-WINE (9463) www.southeugene.winestyles.net
2846 Willamette St, behind Washington Mutual
in the Woodfield Station Shopping Center at
29th & Willamette
Hilyard
Community Center Adaptive Rec Programs:
September 10
Marketable Arts Class starts
September 16 and 23
Hike with your friends
September 17
Dance Exercise begins
September 20
Intro to the Joys of Music class
November 2
Halloween Dance
December 8
Holiday Crafts
December 14
Holiday Dance
2580 Hilyard, Eugene 97405
Bus #28, 73 Phone (voice/TDD): 682-5311 Fax:
682-5460
|
|
NEWS:
ASO Respite Program:
Take a Break on ASO
Read
more here...
Are
You a Young Adult with a Disability
Between 18-26
Ready for Your Leadership Skills
To Take Flight…?
Would you like to attend a national Independent Living
conference in Montana, October 5-8, 2007
WITH ALL EXPENSES PAID?
SILC, the State Independent
Living Council of Oregon is currently accepting scholarship
applications to attend: The 13th Annual National Conference
on Rural Independent Living “We Were Rural Before
Rural Was Cool” October 5, 2007 ~ Pre-Conference
Youth activities October 6 – 8, 2007 ~ APRIL conference
Hilton Garden Inn ~ Missoula, Montana
Who is eligible?
Young Adults with Disabilities who have potential for
being future leaders in Independent Living
Conference Highlights:
• Low Cost/Low Tech: Everyday Solutions
• Youth: Media Imitating Life and Community Building
• Disability Culture ~ What is it?
• Building Advocacy/Learning Leadership Skills
• Passing the Torch
• Youth Leadership Forum ~ Youth Speak
For more information about the conference visit the
APRIL
website.
500 Summer Street NE E-87 ~ Salem, OR 97301-1120
(503) 945-6204 voice/TTY ~ (503) 945-8991 fax
lynellex@comcast.net
New
Independent Artist Siobhan Forrester
Siobhan's
Dream was inspired by my daughter Siobhan. She was
diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2 in April 2006.
One of the first books I read about Autism had this
quote:
"When your dream breaks into a million pieces,
you can either fall apart, or you can go get yourself
a new dream."
We embrace Siobhan's uniqueness and love her for who
she is.... Autism and all. We believe the best way for
our daughter to blossom is through love and acceptance.
Lisa
Lieberman brings real-life experience to bear
Son helps mother write autism book
By Deborah Moon Seldner Jewish
Review
Lisa Ackerson Lieberman of Portland, OR, has shared
her hard-won expertise on living with disability in
the family through regional and national conferences,
Jewish Family and Child Service's TASK program and now
in a book on hiring in-home support.
In her new book, "A Stranger Among Us: Hiring
In-Home Support for a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorders
or Other Neurological Differences," Lieberman takes
a systematic approach to evaluating a families' needs
and values to create a specialized job description.
Questions and checklists help readers develop a coherent
plan for hiring a caregiver.
The book was published by Autism Asperger Publishing
Co.
Read
more here...
|
Finally!
Our Own Space. Bridgeway House Center Opens in September.
The new center is located at 708 West 10th Avenue in Eugene
(the former Children’s Choice Montessori School).
“We were just bursting at the seams,” says Bridgeway
House Executive Director Patricia Wigney. “We’re
entering a new phase for Bridgeway House and I couldn't’t
be more excited.” The new location is a step in the right
direction for autism support in Eugene, she adds.
Classes begin again the second week in September.
For more information call Bridgeway
House at 345-0805.
Bridgeway House will
open in Southern Oregon
Serving people affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders in Southern
Oregon and Northern California.
Talent OR, August 30, 2007: Bridgeway House
of Southern Oregon (BWH-SO) will open an autism center in Southern
Oregon, announced today by Executive Director, Frank Liva and
President, Janel Salazar. Modeled after Bridgeway House in Eugene
OR, BWH-SO will offer comprehensive therapy and support services
to children and adults affected by an autism spectrum disorder.
The Center for Disease Control reports that 1 in 150 children
are born with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United
States each year. The Oregon Department of Education reports
that 1 in 98 school-aged children received education eligibility
for Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, or Pervasive Development
Disorder in 2006.
Bridgeway House of Southern Oregon will offer behavior and
language interventions, social skills and groups, and academic
services for ASD in one location. Professional clinics and education
will occur internally and through outreach. A primary focus
is provision of resources to families and individuals when they
receive an autism spectrum diagnosis by aligning BWH-SO with
private and public partners.
What
Autistic Girls Are Made Of
By EMILY BAZELON NY Times (requires log in)
Research and clinical observation are starting to show that
autistic girls are different from autistic boys. And these differences
may have implications for the quality of their lives.
Dear Parents,
I would like to invite you to participate
in an exciting new research study that is being
done by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
and Johns Hopkins University. I hope to hear from you soon!
Why is this study being done? To learn about
how caregivers adjust to having a child with a PDD (Pervasive
Developmental Disorder) including Autism, Asperger's Syndrome,
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Rett's Disorder or Pervasive
Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified.
Who can take part? Participants must be 18
years of age or older and must be the primary caregiver for
a child with one of the following diagnoses: Autism, Asperger's
Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Rett's Disorder
or Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Please complete only one
survey per household. If your child has been diagnosed with
a genetic condition in addition to one of the above diagnoses,
you are not eligible to participate.
How do I take part? The survey can be done
online by clicking here: www.surveymonkey.com
and following the instructions on the website. If you would
rather complete a paper version of the survey, contact Katie
Voss, at 1-866-585-7192 (Study #4) or vossk@mail.nih.gov, to
receive a copy of the survey and a stamped return envelope by
mail. Any contact information you give the researchers so they
can send you a survey will be destroyed after it is mailed to
you.
What is involved in this study? Taking a survey
that is about 30 minutes long. The survey asks for your thoughts
and feelings about the experience of being a caregiver to your
child.
What are the risks of the study? There are
no known risks of taking part in this study. If it causes you
to become upset or concerned about yourself or your child, please
contact your doctor, or your child's primary care doctor.
Are there benefits to taking part in the study?
There are not any personal benefits to you from taking part
in this study. We hope to learn more about how caregivers adapt
to having a child with a PDD and use that understanding to help
other caregivers in the future.
Do I have to take part? You do not have to
be part of this study if you do not want to.
I am very excited to learn more about your experience, and
have been amazed by the parents I have met and heard from as
a result of this project. This research would not be possible
without your help, so thank you so much for your time and interest.
I hope that you will take advantage of this chance to make your
voice heard! I can’t wait to hear from you!
Thanks again!
Katie Voss, B. S.
Associate Investigator
Genetic Counseling Training Program
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health/NIH
Toll Free Number: 1-866-585-7192, Study #4
vossk@mail.nih.gov |
Barbara B. Biesecker, MS, CGC
Primary Investigator
Genetic Counseling Training Program
NIH/NHGRI |
Public Schools Prepare
to Educate Kids with Autism
by Larry Abramson NPR Morning Edition, August 15, 2007
Like a lot of 11-year-olds, Austin Wright likes junk food.
This handsome redhead munches on chips and squirms on the couch
next to his mother, Sara Wright, while she talks about how she
and her husband, Jerry, learned that Austin had autism. She
says that by the time Austin was 3, his vocabulary was limited
to a few words: dada, mama. Other kids were zooming past him
developmentally.
Their pediatrician said Austin was just a slow learner, but
his parents knew otherwise. A Boston area specialist saw him,
and immediately recognized the signs. She told the Wrights that
Austin had a form of autism, and that he needed special educational
therapy right away.
There are more than half a million children in this country
diagnosed with some degree of autism, and that number keeps
on growing. Many of the most severe cases must be educated in
private schools, and local public schools must pick up much
of the tab. But now, many public schools are preparing to educate
these kids themselves. The May Institute, a Boston-area research
and education center for children with serious developmental
delays, is helping them get ready.
Read
more here...
impressive prices
By Jason Dearen, The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 08/04/2007 02:23:49 PM MDT
OAKLAND, Calif. - Daniel Miller scrawls words with a Sharpie
pen: ''Drill. Saw. Lumber. Pine. Carpenter. Router.'' Within
minutes he fills the page with a dense cloud of letters and
lines.
Miller, who is severely autistic and speaks mostly in one-or-two-word
bursts, has worked for the past 15 years at Oakland's Creative
Growth Art Center - an influential program for disabled artists.
Creative Growth's decades of activism, and tireless promotion
of its artists, have helped push the work of disabled artists
into the mainstream. While in the past the work of Miller and
others might have appeared in shows and exhibits dedicated to
the work of artists with disabilities, it's now more likely
to hang alongside that of other contemporary artists.
One Miller drawing was recently purchased by the New York Museum
of Modern Art for its drawing collection. Another Creative Growth
artist, Judith Scott, has had her work posthumously displayed
since May at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
''It's a significant moment,'' said Matthew Higgs of New York's
White Columns art gallery, which has shown Miller and other
Creative Growth artists. ''This indicates the level that [Miller's]
work is operating at. Dan's work is now permanently in the pre-eminent
collection of drawing in the world.''
Founded in 1974 by psychologist Elias Katz and his wife, teacher
Florence Ludins-Katz, Creative Growth grew out of the disability
rights movement of the 1970s. Its innovation was to give people
with severe physical and mental disabilities the opportunity
to develop as artists.
Just as evolving public policies like the Americans with Disabilities
Act have created more protections and opportunities for the
disabled, Creative Growth has helped do the same in the art
world.
''They were only classified in the past as disabled artists
or as 'outsider' and 'folk' artists,'' said Katherine Sherwood,
a painter and professor who teaches a class on art, medicine
and disability at the University of California, Berkeley. ''There
was no comparison to the mainstream. They were sequestered away
in that category.''
The program's resident artists aren't teachers, per se, but
they encourage the artists to work with new materials and techniques.
Then they leave them alone to work.
That spurs creativity along the lines of San Francisco artist
William Scott's large, colorful architectural renderings of
his home city, and portraits of gospel singers. Scott, who has
been diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia, has had his paintings
and sculptures sold in the trendiest galleries, from Paris to
Tokyo and beyond.
One of Creative Growth's biggest success stories was the late
sculptor Judith Scott.
Scott - who had Down syndrome and was deaf, mute and blind -
had been institutionalized until she came to the center at the
age of 40. With no sign language or any other communication
skills, her only interface with the outside world was through
sculptures made of twined fibers, string and other materials.
This month, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is displaying
Scott's work alongside other contemporary artists with no biographical
information to call attention to her disability.
Janet Bishop, SFMOMA's curator for painting and sculpture, said
the museum made ''a conscious choice to show the piece with
other examples of contemporary art.''
''That's what distinguishes Creative Growth - the way that they
further the careers of the artists by contextualizing the work
with other contemporary artists. They've made huge strides in
that area,'' Bishop said.
Sherwood said the additions of the center's work to collections
at SFMOMA and NYMOMA are indicative of a historic shift in attitude.
''Judith Scott prominently displayed alongside [Mark] Rothko
and Ann Hamilton is a sign of change,'' said Sherwood. ''Before
the last few years, these artists wouldn't be shown together.
Only recently do we see disabled and non-disabled artists showing
in the same shows.''
That shift is also beginning to permeate arts education. Sherwood's
graduate and undergraduate students study alongside William
Scott and other artists for part of her course.
''There's been an aesthetic shift in art schools and MFAs and
contemporary art galleries where academically trained artists
are searching for something fresh and new,'' said Tom di Maria,
Creative Growth's director.
Of course, the success of Creative Growth's artists has also
meant a steadier stream of money for the nonprofit.
William Scott's paintings can earn anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500.
A drawing by Miller, who can turn out more than a dozen in a
day, recently sold for $1,800, di Maria said. Other work can
go for $10,000 or more.
Fifty percent of the art sold through the center goes back into
the program; the other half goes to the artist. As a state-approved
day program for the disabled, Creative Growth is also partially
funded by the government.
The center's success has also inspired other similar organizations,
like San Francisco's Creativity Explored.
While much has changed in the opportunities for disabled artists,
di Maria believes the success of Creative Growth hinges on getting
people to focus less on the artists' biographies. Creative Growth's
mission, according to di Maria, is to have its artists' work
seen for its merits.
''There's all these hangups about the words. Is it Outsider
Art? Is it Art Brut? I just really like to think about who's
a self-taught artist, what does art teach us about culture,''
he said. ''And who are the artists of our era? I think we are
really looking at changing some of the definitions around what
is seen as an art object.''
Maternal and Paternal
Age and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Croen LA, Najjar DV, Fireman B, Grether JK
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161:334-340
Summary
The authors note that previous studies had been inconsistent
in their findings of whether maternal age was related to risk
of autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in offspring.
This study sought to address some of the limitations of previous
studies by including paternal data, data on birth order, as
well as other potential confounding factors in assessing the
relationship between maternal age and risk of ASD in offspring.
This study evaluated a cohort of over 134,000 children born
to California Kaiser Permanente hospitals from 1995 to 1999.
The clinic visits and diagnoses of the children were tracked
through administrative records. Of the eligible children, 593
were diagnosed with ASDs (an ASD diagnosis must have appeared
at least twice in outpatient administrative records).
Forty-seven percent of the children diagnosed with ASD were
diagnosed with autism, with the remaining 53% having pervasive
developmental disorder-not otherwise specified or Asperger's
syndrome. The mean length of administrative data follow-up for
all subjects was 67.5 months (> 5 years). Mean maternal age
was 28.8 years, and mean paternal age was 31.5 years. There
was a high correlation between maternal and paternal ages, so
each was used in models without the other to evaluate risk.
The authors utilized age as both a continuous and categorical
(by age grouping) variable in analyses. Both methods demonstrated
increased risk of ASD with increasing age, so only the continuous
numbers are summarized here. For all ASDs, 10-year increases
in maternal age and paternal age were associated with 31% and
28% increases in relative risk of ASD in offspring, respectively,
after controlling for birth order, gender, maternal education,
paternal education, and race/ethnicity of the parents. The relative
risk of having an ASD for males was more than 5 times (>
500%) that of female offspring.
Maternal education was associated with a 44% increased risk
of ASD in children, even after controlling for maternal age.
Paternal education and maternal and paternal race/ethnicity
were not associated with ASD.
When the diagnoses were separated -- looking at just autism
or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified
+ Asperger's syndrome -- the overall pattern of maternal and
paternal age being associated with increased risk held, but
several of the 95% confidence intervals for the relative risks
included "1," making the associations not significant.
The authors conclude that older parental ages, for both mothers
and fathers, is associated with higher risk of their offspring
having an autism spectrum disorder.
Viewpoint
While this study addresses many covariates of interest, the
use of administrative data prevented the researchers from including
sibling and extended family history of autism. Nevertheless,
the findings are interesting and show that parental age is related
to autism risk even after controlling for education, year of
birth, and birth order. The fact that birth year was significant
also suggests that there are significant temporal trends in
autism diagnosis that we may not fully understand. The temporal
trends may be related to increasing parental awareness, increasing
provider familiarity with autism and ASD symptoms leading to
better ascertainment, and likely a combination of all of these
and other factors. Finally, the finding that higher maternal
education is associated with increased risk, even after controlling
for maternal age, is a fascinating finding and leads one to
wonder what factors (increased maternal ascertainment or true
biological mechanism) might be associated with educational achievement
or ability and risk for autism in offspring.
NONSENSE
A minister was completing a Temperance sermon.
With great emphasis he said, "If I had all the beer in
the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."
With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had
All the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the
river."
And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he
Said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world,
I'd take it and pour it into the river."
Sermon complete, he sat down.
The song leader stood very cautiously and announced
With a smile, nearly laughing, "For our closing song,
Let us sing Hymn #365, "Shall We Gather at the River."
Thanks for listening.
