Janet Lawson, MFT | March 25, 2010

As many of you have pointed out, it has been over a month since the last Autistry Newsletter. What have we been up to? Lots of things!

Please join us for our first fundraiser – the Spin-a-Thon. This will be held on Sunday April 25th from 10am to 3pm. You can sign up for an hour or more of great exercise on stationary bikes (elliptical machines and treadmills are also available). The event is hosted by Michael Lopez at his wonderful gym – Body Image located at 25 Reed Boulevard in Mill Valley (just across the street from Janet’s office!).

The current workshops are just amazing. Lots of wonderful projects.

Friday College Support and Build Stuff with Dan: Kris and Sarah have been studying hard and doing great in school. Both of them have joined the Alpha Gamma Sigma honor society. Kris continues to work on his tank diorama and Sarah has two bits of velcro to attach to the dogbed and it will be ready for Hugo. Corey is building a model of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine. He is also working here as a workshop assistant. Ross is designing a robot and learning Java programming. Hard to keep up with this group!

Saturday Film Stuff with Nate: We are all embarking on new projects. Steven and Devon are working together on an animated short film featuring their characters talking to each other. It is a great mixing of styles and promises to be a great little piece. Andrew is taking his Rush Limbaugh theme to a new level – the Casa Rush – the Road Side Diner. This is a very imaginative diorama reminiscent of the Doggie Diner, The Brown Derby, Paul Bunyan Cafe and other classic American eateries.

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan: Sawyer has joined the Sunday group. He is creating a diorama based on a role-playing game he is developing. The game world is very detailed, complex and quite wonderful. Ryan’s trains are running on the switch track layout so his wiring works! He is now adding balast to the track, landscape detail and structures. Ian has created a series of copper wire figures in Tae Kwon Do poses for his dojo. He plans to cover them with clay so that each figure is wearing a traditional martial arts uniform – but I like them just the way they are!

Tuesday Build Stuff with Dan: The Tuesday folks are becoming quite the culinary connoisseurs. We are experimenting with the gluten free/dairy free/vegetarian class menu. So far the quiche and biscuits are the most popular (although this week’s Snickerdoodles were a big hit). Rinny has now screen tested most of the important pieces for her short film promo for Sweet Wishes From Oz and is ready to move into production. Erik is building a model inspired by the Sausalito passenger station on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in the 1920’s or 1930’s. Breton’s Elf World is becoming a thing of true beauty – very detailed with lots of depth. He discovered that loose leaf tea makes a great ground cover – who would have guessed?

The summer 2010 schedule will be posted very soon. We will be doing a couple of 2-week immersive workshops (Monday – Friday). And a 1-week life skills camp. We’re just working out the details!

Our Spring resolution is to post newsletters more often! To see more pictures of the workshops visit the Autistry Photo Gallery.

-Janet, Dan, Nate, and AJ

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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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Dan Swearingen | December 26, 2009

We have had a great year at Autistry Studios but we would like to take this opportunity to ask for your additional help before we launch into a new year.

This week we would especially appreciate any donations you could make of either cash or tools and materials.

United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay has generously agreed to be our fiscal sponsor while Autistry Studios’ 501 (C) (3) paperwork continues to wend its way through the IRS and State offices. All checks or money orders should be made payable to UCPNB/Autistry Studios and sent to

[Update, we received our own 501(c)(3) status in February 2010.]

Autistry Studios
137 Granada Dr
Corte Madera, CA 94925.

Additionally, Janet Lawson and Dan Swearingen will match all cash donations made between now and December 31, 2009 up to a combined total of $5,000.

Because we are space limited, if you have any tools and/or materials you wish to donate please call us or email in advance since we need to prioritize tool and material donations to only things we can make good use of fairly immediately.

Gift cards also work great as donations: Borders, Amazon, cards redeemable at hardware or grocery stores would be appreciated.

The value of your cash donation or the fair market value of any tool or material donation will be tax deductible as a charitable donation on your 2009 tax return. We will report back to you on how all your donations were used to help us provide services to our growing student body.

🙂

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Janet Lawson, MFT | December 25, 2009

The Fall 2009 workshops came to a close with great progress on projects, lots of lessons learned, and many new friends made. We are looking forward to working with everyone in the next series which begins with our new Tuesday Build Stuff Workshop on January 12th. We have spoken to most of you but do email us to confirm your place in The 2010 Workshops: info@AutistryStudios.com.

Friday Build Stuff and College Support with Dan
Phoebe finished the decorative columns for Ramses II and will be able to put the finishing touches to this scene in the next couple of sessions. Corey completed his Harvey Milk diorama. It is fabulous! Breton’s Elf World is nearing completion – just a few more details before it is ready for display. Kris has embarked upon a wonderfully complex model tank project that will take him well into the next workshop series – lots of detail and a good narrative for the diorama. We are planning to enter all these projects in the Marin County Fair this summer – so watch for news!

Saturday Filmmaking with Nate
All three film projects are very, very close to finished. Andrew is missing only a couple cut-aways and the end credits on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Devon is the closest with her behind the scenes look at Steven at work. Steven just needs to do some sound effects on the voice tracks and his latest installment in the adventures of Bupim will be ready to screen. All three were ambitious projects and we are looking forward to sharing them on the site and on YouTube.

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan
Joseph has created the foundation for his Geo-Trak layout – the tunnel is marked out, the river bed is dug out and the tracks are layed out. Ryan’s trains are running on the track! All the switches work on this wonderful model switch yard. We’ve all enjoyed driving the trains – now, the work begins on modeling the terrain. Paul’s halo helmet is beginning to take shape. He has learned to use a new tool – the hot wire cutter. Ian’s dojo is coming along as he cuts and pastes each wooden slat into place.

Check out the photos:

Friday Build Stuff and College Support with Dan
Saturday Filmmaking with Nate
Sunday Build Stuff with Dan

Wishing you all a great holiday! Janet, Dan, Nate and AJ

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Janet Lawson, MFT | November 23, 2009

** REMINDER: No workshops over the Thanksgiving weekend **

All the workshops this last weekend were incredibly focused – lots of great energy and lots of great work was done. Chelsea filmed the Friday group this week. Her documentary is beginning to take shape. She will be filming interviews in the coming weeks and plans to have the project edited and ready for posting in March!

FRIDAY BUILD STUFF: Phoebe has put her unique mark on the Ramses Columns and they are looking good. Breton’s Elf World lit up – literally. A small ‘pumpkin light’ in the tree house added a very warm glow. Corey nailed down a parade of people and now just has a few touches to put on Harvey and the MILK diorama is ready for showing. Kris is building the suspension on his Sherman tank – lots of little pieces to keep track of. And, we had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with a special Battle of the Drumsticks!

SATURDAY FILMMAKING: Andrew found fabulous footage for cutaways in the Rush Limbaugh Project – very, very funny stuff. Devon’s documentary showing the many sides of Steven really took off this week. She put together some great sections (who knew Steven was so accessible!). Steven finished sculpting his cast of thousands and began the arduous work of photographing the sequences. He’ll start editing it all together next time.

SUNDAY BUILD STUFF: Joseph got his Geo Track all glued down and will start on scenery next time. Ryan also glued down his track – HO scale and he’ll be laying down the ballast next. Paul has mastered the art of hot knife cutting and discovered the importance of face masks – the fumes from the melting foam are quite intense. Ian began piecing together the inner walls of the Matrix Dojo (and AJ got in touch with her inner craftsperson).

Have a great Thanksgiving and we’ll see you all in December!

Janet, Dan, Nate and AJ

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Janet Lawson, MFT | November 9, 2009

Time warp! It’s been well over 2 weeks since the last newsletter. We’ve been super busy around here. We had a great time at the GGRC Service Provider Fair. Lots of people stopped by the Autistry table and asked for more information. Steven’s Factory on a Cloud diorama and Sarah’s Super Robot Monkey plushie were big hits.

The Autistry staff will be meeting over Thanksgiving weekend to plan for our 2010 workshop schedule – including our summer program. If you have any suggestions or requests please let us know.

Many of you have asked for a special Cosplay Costuming Workshop leading up to the Fanime Convention May 28-31 in San Jose. This year we would like to film the workshop and all of us at the convention so we may do a combo Film/Costume Workshop. We’ll keep you posted.

Chelsea, the Bay School senior filming a documentary about Autistry Studios has now visited each of the workshops and will begin filming soon. If you have any questions or want more information about this project please give us a call.

Friday College Support/Build Stuff Workshop: The concentration and productivity of this group over the last few weeks has been incredible. Corey is finishing up the Harvey Milk diorama, Phoebe is finishing up Ramses II, and Breton’s Elf World is becoming more and more detailed. Kris began a new project: Tank in Bocage Terrain – we’re all learning a lot about warfare amid the hedgerows.

Saturday Filmmaking Workshop: We have left Pre-Production and entered the Production Phase of the workshop. Andrew will begin editing The Rush Limbaugh Puppet Show next week using shot footage and found footage. Steven’s new Bupim epic is ready to shoot – well, almost ready! Devon is venturing into a new arena, documentary filmmaking. Her first project is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Bupim. Steven is cooperating – well, sort of.

Sunday Build Stuff Workshop: We welcomed a new student to our Sunday group, Paul. He jumped right in and began building a helmet from the video game Halo. Joseph and Ryan both laid out the track for their train layouts and began work on the terrain. Ian constructed the box and the interior walls for his Matrix Dojo diorama project. Lots of energy with these four boys!

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Janet Lawson, MFT | October 18, 2009

The house seemed so quiet this weekend without the Saturday and Sunday workshops!

We spent Sunday morning at the new Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio. It is fabulous. But be prepared for sensory overload. There are several film exhibitions in each room all running simultaneously. This creates a cacophony of competing sounds that can be overwhelming. Add to that the myriad visuals and you get a real whirlwind experience. For those of us with sensory issues I recommend using earplugs and going early in the day when there are fewer people. We were there at 10am and practically had the place to ourselves. The exhibits are amazing and well worth the effort. We came away with lots of ideas!

We did have the College Support and Build Stuff Workshop on Friday. We had a practice Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, candied yams, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and apple/berry pie. We also got a lot of work done – how we did that on such full stomachs I don’t know.

The following people have volunteered to work the Autistry Studio table at the GGRC Resource Fair on Wednesday October 28th: Steven, Kris, Breton and Corey. Hey, about some girl power here? Sarah, Devon, Phoebe??? I’ll be contacting you all with a rough schedule. Dan and AJ will also be there to help out but you guys did such a wonderful job last time that they’ll probably just wander around!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone back here on the weekend!

-Janet, Dan, Nate and AJ

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Janet Lawson, MFT | October 6, 2009

Full moon energy hit Autistry Studios this weekend! Everyone was going at hyper speed – lots of fun, lots of productivity, lots of chaos.

Be sure to check out the new photo gallery page.

The Friday College Support and Build Stuff Workshop: The Friday group has expanded to include building projects. We kicked off this week by testing the oven that Breton and Dan made. It worked!  Breton successfully baked Elf World and he has now added stepping stones and a bookcase (the elf is a lawyer!). This project is truly taking shape and promises to be amazing.

Kris is mastering the complex world of math for scientists. Note: never ask Dan a math question unless you really want to know the whole answer. Phoebe is creating large pillars as a backdrop for Ramses II and we had lots of fun fitting those into the oven.

Saturday Filmmaking with Nate: wow, that was a busy day. We are coming to the end of the pre-production phase of the projects. All the filmmakers have a very good start on their stories and their storyboards. After our break (no class on Oct 17th) we will be going into production. This coming Saturday we will put the finishing touches on the narratives and start working on the production schedules and the materials lists.

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan: I think Joseph will win the prize for being the first to finish a project! He built a display case for his sister’s karate belts. We had a great time staining it (I still have dark spots on my arms!). Joseph is already planning a new project: a train layout based on GeoTrack. Ian finished the cardboard mock up for his Matrix dojo and will start cutting the wood this Sunday. Corey painted the crowd for his MILK diorama and created some wonderful signs. We have new student joining us this week who will be making a train theme project. Kung Fu and transportation seem to be the trend for this Sunday group.

A few notes on upcoming happenings:

Wednesday, October 28th is the GGRC Resource Fair. The fair will be held at Marin County Office of Education in Hollis Hall. We will have a table with brochures, slideshows, and projects. The fair is from 3pm – 7pm.  Kris and Corey have already signed up to staff the table.  Who will join them? Let me know what times you are available and I will make a schedule. We will also be helping out with the general visitor registration, greeting folks and getting them to sign the registration sheet. If you would like to help with this let me know. Check out the flyer for more information. Support for Families will be giving a free workshop on IEP Transition Planning which I hear is very good.

Sunday, October 11th, Chelsea Mattoon will be visiting the Build Stuff Workshop. Chelsea has chosen Autistry Studios as her documentary film topic for her senior project. She will visit each workshop and get to know us before she starts filming. This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to share our work, our thoughts and our plans with others. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Dan Swearingen | October 4, 2009

We’ve added a new permanent page under Programs / Photo Galleries where we will post links to the Flickr galleries of all the photos from the classes that we upload.

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