Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on February 10, 2014

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and the love is flowing at Autistry. Last Friday, Angelique Benicio lead a fabulous mask-making workshop. We were all enthralled with her artistry, her gentle enthusiasm and her ability to bring out the artist in us all. In three hours we each made complex structures out of chicken wire and covered them with papermache. Each person chose their own special design and Angelique floated among us guiding us all along. Next week we will cover the masks with bondo, fabric, feathers, jewels and whatever other cool materials we have on hand. Our goal is to finish the masks and model them at the Scientist & Artists…Party!

Speaking of which: The Scientist & Artists…Party will be on Saturday, March 1st at Autistry. The festivities begin at 7pm. The first party in September was such a success that we decided to do it again. This time even bigger and with more cool presentations. Joining us will be Gordon Lithgow of the Buck Institute discussing his work on the agents that extend the lifespan or prevent age-related disease. Tan Le, founder of Emotiv just confirmed that she will do a demonstration of her brainwave reading headgear. Mark Eastham is giving a presentation on the resiliency of the human brain. Mike Winter is bringing his very special robots and Ken Pontac will be with us again to give us a sneak peak at his latest animation projects. And…there will be KARAOKE!

The amazing Autistry staff have designed 9 weeks of incredible summer camp experience! For the first time we are opening up our summer programs to non-Autistry students. These camps are not part of our Core Workshop Program, but specially designed 4-day experiences based on different topics and themes. Each camp runs from Mon through Thursday from 10am to 3pm. Art, exploration, cooking, and self-discovery. Something for everyone. You can sign up for one week or all nine weeks! Ages 13+.

Our School Partnership Program got off to a great start in January. Students from Oak Hill School and Star Academy are coming each week to Autistry to build stuff. And there are some great projects happening: guitars, clocks, bead-work, lathe-work, and much, much more. Our staff works closely with the school staff to provide a creative, inspiring and confidence building experience for each student. As Autistry expands we would like to include more schools in our partnership program.

A big Thank You to Autistry parents, Barbara Waite and Mary Anne McCarthy for starting the Autistry Support Network. The ASN will be our booster group and will coordinate auxiliary activities such as field trips, fundraisers, social get-togethers, and more. Together we can build a thriving, vibrant community!

Please check out Janet Miller’s latest blog: Personal Ownership/Parent Transition. Janet writes so clearly about the emotional transition that parents must make as their children become more independent.

Mark your calendars: Several Autistry students will be on a panel talking about transition from high school to adulthood and about their experiences in the work place. Join us at the Marin Autism Collaborative Annual Meeting, Saturday, March 8th, 9am – Noon at Marin Office of Education, 1111 Las Galinas Ave, San Rafael.

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This entry was posted by Janet Lawson, MFT on Monday, February 10th, 2014 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Studio Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.