Janet Lawson, MFT | February 20, 2010

I hope you are all enjoying the break and are rested and ready to return this week for more Autistry fun! We are certainly looking forward to seeing you all back.

We found several sets of photos to upload so the photo galleries have been updated.

We had a great time at the Tommy Castro concert benefiting the Ryder Foundation. Corey, Kris, Sarah, Janet, Kitty and Diane danced to some fabulous blues tunes. All agreed that we need to do more outings. So, let’s think about excursions, events and adventures that might be cool for us to do together: movies, concerts, museums, biking/hiking, etc. There are endless possibilities very close to home.

Fanime 2010 in San Jose at the end of May: We sent out information about the cosplay costuming workshop and a group trip to the Fanime convention. Please let us know as soon as you can if you would like to do this. We need to get everyone registered for the workshop and/or the convention as well as figure out the transportation. Email us for more info.

Marin Autism Collaborative Annual Meeting: Saturday March 6th, San Rafael. Dr David Amaral, Director of Research at UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute will be the keynote speaker. He is a great speaker with lots of information. (see flyer for more details)

Janet and Matt Tarver-Walquist will be hosting the Transition Years break-out session at the MAC meeting and we encourage all our Autistry families to attend. We are inviting school personnel, families and service providers to come together to discuss how we can support our ASD children not just in their transition out of high school but throughout their lives.

Temple Grandin at the Matrix Author Luncheon: We are putting together Autistry Studios tables for this event. If you would like to sit with us please email Janet soon.

Other news: there is an AMAZING pollen dump happening and our whole neighborhood is covered in yellow/green pollen.

The biggest news: the doorbell is fixed!

See you all soon! ~ Janet, Dan, Nate, and AJ

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Janet Lawson, MFT | February 1, 2010

It has been far too long since the last newsletter and my only excuse is that we have been very, very busy. The Autistry team is working hard to put in place all the necessary (and boring) business procedures that will allow us to expand our program. But enough of that and on to the important stuff – workshop news! (Oh, Chelsea began editing her documentary about Autistry and should have it ready to show by March!)

Friday College Support and Build Stuff with Dan: We were all very happy to have Sarah rejoin the group. She is finishing up the dog bed she designed for her puppy. Phoebe has finished the columns, the figures and the base for the Ramses II diorama and is putting all the pieces together now. Kris is assembling a multi-piece tank. And, Corey is designing a new project – The Yellow Brick Road. Special note: Both Kris and Sarah made the Honor Roll at College of Marin – big congratulations!!

Saturday Film Stuff with Nate: Wow – all 3 film projects are finished and posted on YouTube. Andrew did a fabulous parody of Rush Limbaugh using Rush’s own words (hey, it is tough to sound more Rush than Rush). Devon completed her mini-documentary on Steven. We were all very proud of how she dealt with the seemingly endless music copyright issues. In the end, she found some public domain music which, though not as perfect as her first choices, added a great soundtrack to the piece. Steven finished Part 2 of his Bupim Epic – and a big thank you to his brother Danny for the voice over! All three of these films were written and directed by the students themselves – a huge achievement.

*Andrew’s Rush to Judgment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McNhea0Zn-w
*Devon’s Interview with Steven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbo12Io7gsQ
*Steven’s Bupim’s Quest II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht2332fV550

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan: Ryan has finished his science project and is now devoting his time to his Switching Yard. The tracks are all laid down and he is now soldering the wires so that he can run the trains remotely. Ian is nearly finished with the Dojo. He and AJ are making lots of Kung Fu Fighters out of clay that they will use to stage scenes and create a stop-motion animated short film. It was snowing pink foam on Sunday as Paul rasped the Halo helmet rounding out the edges – it looks great!

Tuesday Build Stuff with Dan: The Tuesday class is just getting started and we are looking forward to creating some awesome projects. Rinny will be working on a stop-motion animated short announcing the publication of her latest novel, Sweet Wishes From Oz. She did a practice piece last week to learn the process. It was so cool we posted it on YouTube too! (It is very, very short – like 4 seconds). Breton is putting the finishing touches on Elf World – a project with lots of loving detail.

To see more photos from the classes check out the Photo Gallery Page!

See you all this weekend!
Janet, Dan, Nate, and AJ

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