Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on August 6, 2015

The Autistry Support Network is pleased to invite you to attend a special panel discussion on Financial Planning for Special Needs to be held at Autistry Studios’ new location.

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2015
Time: 7pm to 8:30 pm
Where: Autistry Studios, 448 Du Bois Street, San Rafael (Directions)

**REGISTRATION REQUIRED** RSVP to Barbara Waite.

Parents must plan carefully to provide the best future possible for their children with special needs. Most families want to maximize their child’s eligibility for government programs like SSI and Medi-Cal, but also want to use tools like Special Needs Trusts to maintain a certain standard of living for their child. During this panel discussion, experts from various fields will address questions such as:

• How might a Special Needs Trust be used most effectively in an estate plan? Is the ABLE Act a useful tool?
• How do I know if I have set aside enough assets for my child, and how should these assets be invested?
• How should I think about naming a family member versus corporate trustee for my Special Needs Trust?
• Under what circumstances should I consider using insurance to fund my child’s Special Needs Trust?
• Under what conditions should I consider a limited conservatorship for my child?

ASK AHEAD OF TIME! What are your most pressing questions about financial planning for your Autistry student? What do you wish you knew?

Send questions to Susan Ansberry.

Our panelists will be:

[ezcol_1third]Jennifer Cunneen, an attorney specializing in estate planning. Jennifer advises individuals, families and closely held businesses on estate planning, family foundations and other wealth-transfer related issues. Jennifer earned her BS and JD from Santa Clara University, where she graduated cum laude. Jennifer works with many families with special needs children, including establishing special needs trusts and limited conservatorships, which is a very gratifying part of her law practice. She enjoys her free time with her family, and her community involvement with the Rotary and other nonprofits. Jennifer is a mother to two children, including her son Nick who is on the autism spectrum.
[/ezcol_1third]

[ezcol_1third]Greg Finn, the Trust Relationship Manager for Fremont Bank’s Trust Department, which specializes in serving as trustee for family’s Special Needs Trusts (SNTs). Greg has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, the last 10 years focusing on SNTs. He and his team help family members with bill paying, investment of trust assets, public benefits, estate planning and tax planning. Greg has a BSC in Finance and an MBA from Santa Clara University and is a graduate of Cannon Financial Institute’s Special Needs Trusts School.
[/ezcol_1third]

[ezcol_1third_end]Karen Park, a Principal at Bernstein and a mother to three boys, including one who has complex special needs. Karen joined Bernstein in 2004 and is based in the firm’s San Francisco office. She advises high-net-worth families regarding their investment plans, wealth transfer goals and related issues. Prior to joining Bernstein, Karen was a vice president with Morgan Stanley’s technology investment banking team and a financial analyst with CS First Boston. She earned a BA, magna cum laude, in social studies from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
[/ezcol_1third_end]

What is the Autistry Support Network? The ASN is the booster group for Autistry Studios. It coordinates auxiliary activities such as field trips, speaker events, fundraisers, social get-togethers, and more. If you are the parent or guardian of an Autistry student, congratulations—you are automatically a member of the ASN! There aren’t any dues, but the ASN does provide opportunities to network with other parents who “get it” and the chance to support all Autistry students.

Category: Autistry Support Network | Comments Off on ASN Presents: Financial Planning for Special Needs
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on June 10, 2015

“Don’t mollycoddle autistic kids”.* How many times have we sat in an audience with other parents, nodding our heads when Temple Grandin gives this advice? After she speaks, we applaud. We get our pictures taken with her, post them on the refrigerator and on our Facebook page. We even get our children to pose with her and hope they will be as successful as she has been. But have we really heard what she is saying, and do we put her advice into practice?

Every program – special ed, vocational, social skills, etc. – will tell you they believe in a strengths-based approach. They want to develop the talents and skills of the individual. However, too many programs shy away from insisting that students take personal responsibility. Too many programs do not ever push students beyond their current limits, and too many programs do not insist students persevere in the face of difficulty. Whether autistic or neuro-typical, in order to grow one must wrestle with obstacles and overcome them.

There are three common responses I hear from ASD students when faced with any difficulty, mistake, or problem:

“It was an accident.”
“I’m doing my best.”
“It’s not my fault (I have autism).”

Instead of teaching a student how to overcome a mistake or a problem, someone carefully taught the student how to say these three things. These three phrases constitute at best an excuse for remaining stuck and performing poorly, and at worst these are a prayer for failure.

“It was an accident.” In the Autistry workshops many things can go wrong. Tools break. Computers stop working. Paint spills. And items get lost. None of these things happen all by themselves (well, maybe the computer malfunction!). But often when a tool breaks a student will look at the tool with astonishment and exclaim, “It’s not my fault. It just happened.”

And, it may seem like it just happened because it occurred outside of their awareness. But does that make it an accident, or is it an unintentional event? There is a difference between an accident and an unintentional event. An accident is generally understood to be an event without an apparent cause. An accident can’t be foreseen or prepared for. There is no culpability in a true accident; no one is responsible for the event. An unintentional event has a known cause but occurs without intent, forethought, or awareness.

As parents, teachers, therapists, and mentors it is our job to help our students broaden their awareness. When we simply accept “it was an accident” as a reasonable explanation for breaking an object, spilling paint, or knocking over a milk container, we implicitly allow them to remain unaware of their surroundings. We prevent them from increasing their abilities.

Mindfulness – focusing on the present moment and becoming more aware of yourself and your surroundings – is an important practice for all people, but for those with ASD it is an essential mindset for becoming truly independent. By making excuses and denying responsibility, we give away our power to change.

Mindfulness also relieves anxiety by giving us back control of our environment. When we understand that if we are aware of the position of the paint can, we are less likely to knock it over, then life seems less random; there is less to fear. And fear, especially fear of the unknown, is at the root of most anxiety.

Temple Grandin: “You have got to keep autistic children engaged with the world. You cannot let them tune out.”

“I’m doing my best.” It is admirable to strive to do one’s best but if one sets the bar too low, “the best” is no longer a meaningful challenge. Change and growth come from breaking through barriers and going beyond your best. Too often “doing my best” is a euphemism for “I don’t want to work any harder.”

We do our students no favors if we applaud a mediocre performance or achievement as if it were stellar. I am a total believer in encouragement and positive reinforcement, but I also believe in a lifetime of raising the bar. If we continue to challenge our students (and ourselves) they will rise to heights greater than we can imagine.

Again, it is our role as mentors to hold high expectations for our students, to believe in their abilities, and to challenge them to take risks. Often we have to confront our own perceptions and assumptions. We must let go our doubts and our fears. There is a popular saying in the disability community: the dignity of risk. By wrapping our students in cotton wool, keeping them safe from all pain, we send them a very clear message that we do not believe in their strengths or abilities. We rob them of the dignity of overcoming obstacles – standing on their own two feet, being independent.

So, the next time a student says “I’m doing my best,” respond with “Great. Now see if you can do even better!”

Temple Grandin: “The thing about being autistic is that you gradually get less and less autistic, because you keep learning, you keep learning how to behave. It’s like being in a play; I’m always in a play.”

“It’s not my fault; I have autism.” The diagnosis of autism may be the reason that some aspects of life are harder, but it should never be an excuse to give up trying. Typical pathways and toolsets may not work for ASD individuals. But that just means we need to find alternative ways to accomplish goals.

One of the best lessons we can give our students is how to problem solve given their personal constraints. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesses, so each of our solutions will be different.

If holding productive focus for long periods of time is an obstacle to finishing a project, then work in smaller time segments. Take breaks that help rejuvenate your focus and reinvigorate your attention. Learn your unique work rhythm and let others know that you get the job done, just in smaller increments.

One of the obstacles for ASD college students is their inherent and real difficulty transitioning from one environment (whether physical or metaphysical) to another. This makes it very hard to take a large number of different classes in a full course load. We have found that when allowed to take just one or two classes, they will do far better.

If sensory input overwhelms you, figure out what works to filter out sound, smells, touch, etc. Many folks find that as they get older their sensory issues diminish. So test yourself periodically rather than assume your level of sensitivity is the same.

By practicing mindfulness we become aware of how our minds and our bodies work. Some people think in pictures and need to draw images to understand concepts. Others use facts to build up solid arguments to support their understanding. And there are those who see patterns and find connections in the world that others do not see.

I have autism is not an excuse – it is a declaration of self.

Temple Grandin: “If I could snap my fingers and become non-autistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.”

*mollycoddle: to treat with an excessive degree of indulgence and attention

Category: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Listening to, But Not Hearing, Temple Grandin
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on June 2, 2015

Time flies when you’re so busy you can’t see the calendar! So much happened at Autistry in April and May that it is a bit of a blur but I will try to describe the clearest moments. Pour yourself a cup of coffee – this is a long one!

APRIL
The Scientists & Artists…Party!#4 was a huge success. Brian Kennedy, CEO of the Buck Institute, introduced two Autistry interns, Ross Jacobs and Eli Pilcher. Ross and Eli won over the crowd with fascinating and eloquent presentations on their work in the Buck Institute labs. In the last few years we have placed 6 students in internship positions at the Buck. For each of the students the experience has been a catalyst to fundamental shifts in the way they view themselves and their future goals.

Natalie Mann, Outreach Programs Manager of the Walt Disney Family Museum showed us all how to build a multi-plane camera. Her presentation and hands-on demonstration inspired us to build our own. We have had a blast creating stop-motion animation videos!

Ken Pontac shared riveting and instructional stories about working in the world of animation and graphic arts. Ken is a long-time supporter of Autistry and has donated several bookshelves of graphic novels and, one of our prized possessions, the original Squishington from Bump in the Night. A born storyteller, Ken is always entertaining but also thoughtful, respectful, and inspiring. His rallying cry of “We are weird. We are proud.” resonated with every person present!

Angelique Benicio and Autistry students from the Orisha’s Among Us workshop strutted down the catwalk in their outrageous finery. Angelique had created amazing background slides for each of the students. We have collected them all in a Flickr album. They are truly wonderful and so in harmony with the Autistry philosophy of holding our students to high standards and helping them achieve great work.

A new staff member: Matt Kerslake joined Autistry! Matt is a recent graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where he majored in Film/Television Production. He also minored in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. Matt is also an accomplished musician. And, he knows his way around power tools. His first project was building the multi-plane camera.

A new tool: the MicroMark LaserKnife arrived! This is fast becoming our go-to tool for cutting out complex shapes in light wood, plastic, paper, and fabric. It can use the same CAD program, PartWorks, that the ShopBot uses to create sophisticated designs. Matt and Nat are using the laser cutter to make 2D shapes for their stop-motion project on the multi-plane camera.

MAY

Began with a bang! Several of our Autistry students were on the panel at the Marin Autism Collaborative Annual Meeting. The panel was made up of individuals on the autism spectrum. The topic for this year’s meeting and for the panel was Autism and Sensory Processing. The members on the panel were articulate, honest, and absolutely gracious. A huge thank you to Avery Lauver, Marin Xiques, Matt Kratoville, Alex Held, Anlor Davin, and Tamsin Kearns. They won over every heart in the audience!

 

We ‘b’ Makers: Autistry was invited to share the ShopBot booth at the 10th Annual Maker Faire in San Mateo. We had a blast!! We demonstrated the ShopBot and explained how we use the robotic cutter with our students. We had several student projects on display, including Pierce’s Pirate Ship. It was estimated that nearly 100,000 people attended the Faire over the 3-day period and I think we talked to most of them. Our hosts, Bill Young and Jeanne Taylor of ShopBot, were surprised at how well we knew their product and they loved meeting the Autistry families. We put together a Maker Faire album on Flickr. We have great plans for next year!

ASN on housing: the Autistry Support Network, spearheaded by Barbara Waite and Sarah Horowitz hosted an evening of housing experts at Autistry. The event was well attended and well recieved. Panelists, Nancy Dow Moody of Lifehouse, Barry Benda of Brilliant Corners, Irma Velasquez of Rident Park, and Carmen Soruco of Marin Housing Authority answered questions and provided invaluable information on housing options for our ASD adults. Housing is just one of the issues that Autistry families are facing. The Autistry Support Network, not only supports the work of the studio, but also supports the families as we work through the many obstacles and explore the opportunities for independence for our kids. The next ASN event will be on Financial Planning. Stay tuned for more info!

To keep up to date on the happenings at Autistry Studios join us on Facebook. We post photos of the student projects, announce events, and share information.

Let summer begin!

Category: Studio Newsletters | Comments Off on Autistry Newsletter – June 2, 2015
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on March 31, 2015

April is Autism Awareness Month: Well, for some of us every month is Autism Awareness Month. But I am all for people learning more about how ASD minds work and what programs work for ASD minds. Thursday, April 2nd, Nicole Hitchcock has organized Bay Area Autism Awareness Day. Temple Grandin and Congressman Jared Huffman will be speaking, and a month-long art exhibit will be launched. The event will begin at 6:00 pm with the art display at the NH2 Salon in Vintage Oaks shopping center in Novato. Then continue at 7:30 pm at HopMonk Tavern to hear the guest speakers. Several of our Autistry students will have beautifully mounted photos of their projects for sale. So, come down, see the art, hear the speakers, and support local ASD programs!

And talking about support for local ASD programs: The Jonathan and Kathleen Altman Foundation will match all contributions to Autistry Studios in the month of April, up to a maximum of $20,000! I took this photo the other day of a plant growing in our back yard. For the last couple of weeks I have watched this plant slowly push aside the rock that was in its way. Inch by inch it has worked its way around the obstacles and continued to grow. I know how it feels! Seven years ago we started Autistry Studios and we continue to grow – inch by inch. Building a nonprofit program is a lesson in patience, persistence, and partnership. Your donation is crucial to help us meet the Altmans’ challenge and sustain the growth of Autistry.

Scientists and Artists…Party IV: Yes, it’s back! Our favorite Autistry party will be Saturday, April 11th, at 7 pm. Don’t miss the great presentations by Brian Kennedy of the Buck Institute, with Eli Pilcher and Ross Jacobs, Autistry students who will share their Buck internship experiences. Natalie Mann of the The Walt Disney Family Museum will give a cool presentation on animation. Ken Pontac, screenwriter and animation director, will talk about his latest and greatest adventures in Hollywood. Angelique Benicio, artist and sculptor, will show highlights from her very popular Autistry Orisha Workshop – freeing the spirit within. And, it wouldn’t be a party without Greg Nett and his fabulous Karaoke Machine. Join us for lots of fun.

Summer is coming! We just posted our 2015 Summer Camp schedule. Last year was so much fun we just had to do it again. This year we are offering 5 week-long camps – Cooking I and II, City Explorers I and II, and Hero’s Journey. Camp sessions are 10 am – 3 pm, Monday through Friday (except Cooking I, which is just 4 days). Sign up early as we keep the groups small to ensure a great time is had by all. Enrollment deadline is May 8, 2015.

Hope to see you all soon!

Category: Studio Newsletters | Comments Off on Autistry Newsletter – March 31, 2015
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on March 9, 2015

Mark your calendars: Autistry Scientists & Artists …Party! IV – Saturday, April 11th – 7pm – 10pm at the Studio. You can RSVP to Sarah Horowitz or go to the Facebook events page. On the event page click on the Invite button and let all your Facebook friends know about this great party. Guest presenters will be:
* Brian Kennedy, President and CEO of the Buck Institute, will give an overview of the research happening at the Buck. He will also introduce Ross Jacobs and Eli Pilcher. Ross and Eli are both Autistry clients and have recently completed successful internships at the Buck. They will talk about their work experience.
*Ken Pontac will entertain us with his fabulous stories as a writer on Happy Tree Friends, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, Arthur, and many other film and TV projects.
*Angelique Benicio, local painter and sculptor, will present the cool creations made in the March special costume workshop by the Autistry students. Angelique is one of several local artists who provide inspiration and hands-on seminars at the studio.
*Natalie Mann, Outreach Program Manager of the Walt Disney Family Museum, will speak about their Animation Access Program and give a demonstration on creating animation. She is also bringing an ‘animation station’ for a hands-on demo!

* And the fabulous Autistry Student Projects will be on display!

Autistry Digital Arts Studio: Yes! Thanks to a generous grant from the Feshbach family, we are creating a digital arts studio at Autistry. The downstairs conference room is being transformed – new carpet, fresh paint, 5 workstations, a 60″ monitor for screening, and state-of-the-art design and animation software. The new studio provides yet another ‘toolset’ for our students. We are also working closely with local animation and digital arts professionals who have helped us with the design – both physical and virtual – of this studio. Many of these professionals will be giving seminars to our students throughout the year, answering questions and sharing their career experiences.

Productive partnering: You may have seen the IMAGINE tile on our Facebook page. And, yes, we loved John Lennon but we also love Buddy Rhodes! Buddy is recognized as a pioneer in the use and creation of decorative concrete. We will be working with Buddy and the students of Oak Hill School to create “message tiles”. We will carve the master blocks on the ShopBot, make rubber molds, and then pour in Buddy’s special concrete mixture. Imagine all the messages…it’s easy if you try!

Testing…hello…hello…testing: Starting this summer the Autistry staff will offer ASD assessment and diagnostic testing. Tests include: Vineland II, Autism Diagnostic Interview™, Revised (ADI™-R); Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder (CASD); and The Autistry Studios Life Skills Inventory (based on the inventory developed by Washington State Department of Social and Health Services). Besides giving families information about their child (and individuals information about themselves), performing these evaluations on a regular basis will provide us valuable insight into the efficacy of the Autistry program. We have collected wonderful anecdotal reports on how Project-Based Therapy has helped teens and adults become more resilient, self-reliant, and independent, but having standardized measures will help us fine-tune our approach and highlight areas that need more concentration.

March highlights for your calendar:

March 14th – Congratulations to Marin (Rinny) Xiques, Jon Wootton, Connor Barbee, April Evans, and Alex Phillips—all five of these Autistry students submitted photographs of their artwork to Art Slam 2015 and were accepted. A slide show of their work and many others will be shown during Art Slam at the de Young Museum on March 14.

For free admission to the de Young that day, RSVP by this coming Wednesday, March 11, to access@famsf.org or (415) 750-7645.

Connor’s photograph will be shown in the Koret Auditorium during Presentation #2 at approximately 1:09–1:16 pm. The other four will be shown during Presentation #4, around 1:25–1:32 pm.

March 19 – Autistry Support Network meeting. 7pm at Autistry Studios. Topic: Transition. Guest Speaker: Jacob Lapides from Integrated Community Services. Jacob will be speaking and answering questions about employment training and opportunities for ASD individuals.

March 20 – Due date to have your Autistry student’s artwork photographed for the Bay Area Autism Awareness day event in Novato. Please contact Sarah Horowitz for more details.

Category: Studio Newsletters | Comments Off on Autistry Newsletter – March 9, 2015
Tags:

Posted By Sara Gardner on February 6, 2015

As he begins his second semester of community college, I want to catch everyone up on Ian’s college career to date. Last semester, Ian and I attended College of Marin’s beginning acting class. While we originally discussed transitioning towards independence last semester, we never made the jump. Drama 130 was a great class and a hard class. Ian wanted to give up at times, but he was willing to push through and rise to the challenges. Many times he told me: “This is too hard!” I would respond by telling him, “It’s really hard, but not too hard.” ‘Too hard’ means that you can’t do it, and Ian was doing it.

There were parts of Ian’s drama class that he navigated with ease. He was an ace at the warm up exercises and improvisation games. He attended to these tasks with his full focus and with little to no support from me. These tasks demanded attention to multiple variables, observation of social cues, creative thinking, and coordination of movement and vocalization. Each of these elements represents an area of challenge for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Many of the classroom exercises required a combination of these skills, multiplying the difficulty. As an example, the exercise “Red Ball/Blue Ball,” entails the class standing in a circle and passing an imaginary ball. First, the students are asked to visualize a large red beach ball. Students “pass” the imaginary ball by making eye contact with someone in the circle, saying the words “red ball” and miming the throw. The recipient “catches” the ball in accordance with its size and weight and then passes it on to someone else. The group works up to passing four different “balls” of different weight, size and shape. The attention and communication required for this game is incredibly challenging and Ian’s ability to master this activity blew me away. Ian also exhibited a high level of independence when the class was split into pairs to work on exercises and scenes. At first, I stayed near during these exercises, but by the end of the semester, I usually sat in the classroom as he and a classmate walked out into the halls to find a place to work.

On to the areas where Ian needed continued support: By far the hardest part of the class for Ian to independently benefit from was lecture. It is my belief that Ian fell into a pattern of behaving, but not paying attention in high school and possibly before then. It is a pattern of behavior that has been highly functional for him. He understands the expectations of him to remain seated and quiet while the teacher is speaking, but the volume of verbal information, especially when it ranges out of his interest and/or comprehension, does not hold his attention.

From his facial expressions and gaze, I imagine him to be running a series of visual movie-like memories from his past, some funny and some distressing. I imagine the teacher’s voice turning into the trombone “wah wah” from the Peanuts. Sometimes a random word or phrase such as “ninja” or “Robin Williams” would catch his attention and he would raise his hand and ask a non-sequitur question. While Ian thrived when paired with a peer, he experienced similar attention difficulties when doing small group work. As with the teacher, his peers’ voices seemed to fade into the background as he entered his private world.

To address these issues, Ian and I created a 5-point scale. Ian found my Incredible 5-point Scale workbook a few months earlier. He was fascinated by it and felt sure that it would be helpful to him. At the time, we used it to make a scale to help him with appropriate greetings. Ian was very actively engaged with creating a scale for classroom engagement/attention levels.

Here’s what we came up with:

Using this scale, and pointing to the person Ian should be paying attention to, helped him to increase his level of engagement and attention when and where appropriate. We also created a system for Ian to ask for breaks to walk in the hallway and enter his private world. My main goal with this intervention was to increase Ian’s awareness of when he was paying attention and when he was “zoning out”, so that he was in control of the shift instead of passively drifting into the world of his imagination. We also created an excitement scale to remind Ian to use his techniques, such as deep breaths when he was becoming over-stimulated. With the excitement scale, I could make eye contact from across the room and hold up 4 fingers; Ian would then close his eyes, take a deep breath, and ground himself. Doing this minimized the need to walk across the room to him during activities and gave him more responsibility for self-regulation.

Another area in which Ian made excellent progress with support was with the written requirements for the class. The students were asked to write two performance critiques of actors from College of Marin’s plays, and two character analysis papers for the monologues they performed as midterm and final exams. The first part of supporting these assignments was helping to focus Ian’s attention. For both plays, Ian’s teacher helped me chose a character for Ian to pay special attention to. We chose characters with dramatic shifts and personalities. I attended the first play with Ian and Janet attended the second. We drew his attention to the actor he would be writing about as we were watching the play and discussed them immediately following the play. For the character analysis, I focused Ian’s attention by having him highlight dialogue. Together, we created an outline for the papers with prompt sentences. I would then leave Ian to work independently and then circle back in to help. It was a lot of work and a big challenge for Ian, but he stretched to meet the challenge. He showed remarkable diligence and determination and, with support, produced college level writing.

In the end, Ian’s first go at a college class was a success. He needed some support throughout the class, but he also demonstrated the ability to independently tackle some college-level work. He came out of the class with an A and, perhaps more importantly, his monologue performance (the class final) received roaring applause from his classmates, whom he had inevitably charmed and connected with over the course of the semester.

Addendum:

For Ian’s final monologue, he chose a piece from Hunting and Gathering: a comedy about finding your place, by Brooke Berman. In the monologue Ian performed, Astor, (a man in his 20’s), complains in colorful language about the difficulties of finding housing in New York, and about how mothers worry because it is their biologically determined function. (A bit of foreshadowing here…) I will write again soon about Ian’s amazing (and surprising) launch into the spring semester.

Category: Commentary, Team Blogs | Comments Off on Ian goes to college part 3 – Drama Class Results
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on January 14, 2015

2015 has opened with a bang at Autistry! Lots of new faces: students and staff. New projects are starting and older projects are being completed. We are all overcoming the temptation to linger in projects that we love so we don’t have to strike out into the unknown territory of a new project. So the motto for 2015 is Done is Good!

Here are just a few of the wonderful things being created (and finished) in the workshops:

[ezcol_1half]

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end]

[/ezcol_1half_end]

[ezcol_1half]

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end]

[/ezcol_1half_end]

[ezcol_1half]

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end]

[/ezcol_1half_end]

[ezcol_1half]

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end]

[/ezcol_1half_end]

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third]

[ezcol_1third]

[/ezcol_1third]

[ezcol_1third_end]

[/ezcol_1third_end]

This is just a small selection of the many amazing projects happening in the Studio. My personal resolution for 2015: Post More Newsletters!

Category: Studio Newsletters, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Autistry Newsletter – January 14, 2015
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on January 12, 2015

This week I attended The Disney Effect: Communicating with Autistic Children through Animation, an event hosted by the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Expecting the usual “parent of an autistic” author talk and autism expert lecture, I was totally unprepared for the emotional impact of Ron Suskind’s story. I had read the New York Times article and purchased the book Life, Animated so I knew going in that he would speak about the connection he made with his son through the world of Disney films. What I did not expect was just how closely his experience mirrored my own and how deeply that would affect me. After the presentation I was invited to a very small ten-person lunch meeting and, seated between Ron Suskind and his wife Cornelia, we shared stories and they were very excited about the common experiences and what we are doing at Autistry.

I have often spoken and have written elsewhere about the moment I truly entered the world of my son, Ian. When Ian was very young (2 to 4 years old) he had very little language. However, he could recite entire Disney movies word-for-word – especially Winnie the Pooh. During that period he also did not sleep at night, so my husband, who had to get up early for work, slept in Ian’s racecar-bed and Ian snuggled up with me. One night when Ian was happily reciting lines from The Blustery Day, I jumped in and took the part of Tigger: “The wonderful thing about tiggers, is tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber. Their bottoms are made out of springs!” Ian whipped his head around, looked me right in the eye…and then burst into laughter. With a huge smile he welcomed me into his world.

Ron Suskind’s experience with his son Owen was similar. Owen had been nonverbal for years until one day Ron spoke to him in the voice of Iago (the parrot in Aladdin), and Owen responded in the voice and with the words of the parrot’s master, Jafar. That moment changed their lives. Ron and his wife, Cornelia, dove into Owen’s world and together, using the characters and themes of Disney movies, helped Owen learn to read and communicate with his community.

Like the Suskind’s, Dan and I embraced Ian’s world. A significant challenge for us came when Ian discovered the world of Thomas the Tank Engine. Ian knew every train, every person, and every word of every dialogue. We bought him the train table and all the trains we could find. When we brought everything home and set it up, Ian was so excited he didn’t eat for three days (OK, a day and a half, but it felt like FOREVER). We became concerned and reached out for advice to therapists, behaviorists, and friends. We were told NOT to indulge this OBSESSION. We were told to put the trains away and make Ian focus on other things – age appropriate things like riding a bicycle or climbing a tree. But we looked at the joy on our son’s face, the rapture as he played out scenes from the TV series on his own Thomas track. He was not only talking, he was acting out interactions between characters. He was telling stories. Now when he went to bed, he would line up the Thomas trains on his night stand carefully so that the trains were facing each other. So they could talk to each other. So what if he wasn’t eating. So what if this looked like an obsession. My son was communicating. We have never regretted this decision. Soon he was talking more and his over-obsessive behaviors also diminished.

Another shared experience was that just like the Suskind’s, we turned on the closed captions on everything on television so that Ian could read the lines that Thomas and his friends were saying. This helped Ian understand that reading was really talking. He is very good at reading aloud even when he doesn’t understand the text. Ian has developed a deep connection to storytelling. He would often create a circle with his stuffed animals and read to them. He even set up a library so that his animals could check out their own books. All this at a time when his ability to communicate verbally was still very, very low.

By entering and embracing our son’s world, we allowed him to teach us other styles of communication. Connecting his imagination to the real world and to other people in his life has created a bridge between his world and ours. We use many of these techniques working with other students and families in our program at Autistry. We hope that together we can build more bridges so other families can cross over as well.

Category: Commentary | Comments Off on Ian and the Disney Effect
Tags:

Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on December 8, 2014

Wow – the holidays are here. How did that happen when only yesterday we were doing summer camps. Maybe the time flew by because we were so busy.

S and A #3: One of the events that kept us hopping was our third Scientists & Artists…Party! This is one of my favorite events as it brings together amazing talents from many different fields. The party also gives our students a chance to show off their work and mingle with cool people. Dr. Rachel Brem represented the Buck Institute and gave us a fabulous glimpse into the world of research science. She described her work, Finding Genes that Make Fruit Flies Fat, in such a clear, entertaining way that we were all ready to sign up for science class.

We welcomed a new face to our Autistry extended family, John Hersey. John is considered one of the founders of digital illustration. Though you might not recognize John on the street many of you are familiar with his work. For example the sugar skull sports team illustrations which began when the SF Giants won the World Series in 2010 on the Day of the Dead and John created the now iconic Dia de los Gigantes! He is a great speaker and we look forward to many return appearances at Autistry.

A dear friend and longtime Autistry supporter, Cliff Saron gave us a preview of the TEDx talk that he will give in the spring. We were mesmerized as he challenged our understanding of reality and opened up whole new ways of seeing the world. Cliff is a research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. His work in sensory processing, multisensory integration and contemplative practice sheds light on some of the more complex underlying processes of autism … and neuro-typicalism as well!

We also had a demonstration of martial arts by Al Loren and his students, April and Chris. They brought us to our feet cheering the lightning fast fists and the high kicks. And then we raced the remote control cars around the track! And, with the help and talent of Greg Nett, we karaoke’d the night away! We may do another Scientists & Artists…Party in the spring. So stay tuned!

Entertaining illustrious visitors: Author Rhys Bowen (Royal Spyness Series, The Evan Evans Series and the Molly Murphy Mysteries) toured the studio. Rhys is from Bath, England but now makes her home in Marin County. She has followed the growth of Autistry and donated several signed books for our silent auction. The Autistry Support Network (ASN) is hoping to host a Tea with Rhys in the spring.
 

The word is getting out about Autistry! Dr. Karen O’Connell, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia was in Berkeley delivering a paper on disability discrimination in the law when someone mentioned the work we do at Autistry. She immediately arranged a visit. We spent a wonderful morning discussing the issues facing our ASD clients as they grow older and go out into the world. Dr. O’Connell is part of an international effort to reexamine legal systems and the institutionalized discrimination of those with disabilities.

End of the Year Challenge: It’s that time of the year when we reach out and ask our community for support. This year we have a $15,000 challenge to match and we are confident that with your help we can do it. Using our Powers for Good is our rallying cry! Check out some of the accomplishments of our Autistry Superstars and help us continue to provide these vital independence building programs.

Next week a round up of the amazing Autistry projects of 2014!

Janet, Dan and the Autistry Team

Category: Studio Newsletters | Comments Off on Autistry Newsletter – December 9, 2014
Tags:

Posted By Dan Swearingen on November 17, 2014

Ian is continuing to do well attending his class at College of Marin which Sara wrote about previously. As Ian’s first semester ends Sara will write again to relate how things went and what we all learned. In this installment I want to discuss what our motivations and ideas are as we work forward with Ian.

Ian is a medium-verbal autistic and did not achieve a high school diploma. We had choices while Ian was moving through the public school system. Over time we found that it really boiled down to two paths: education or socialization. In pure special education settings (separate classes from the mainstream student body), Ian’s education was maximized. In full inclusion settings, Ian’s social skills progressed but his significant verbal deficits meant that he did not learn much of the curriculum.

This either/or choice is a consequence of Ian’s need for focus to make progress. We have found this to be true in general for other people we work with. In our experience autistics(*) do not do well when trying to learn simultaneously on several different threads. While Neuro Typical (NTs) teenagers might be able to learn Math, History, English, a foreign language, Science, and age-appropriate social behavior all at the same time, we almost always find that people with ASD need to focus on fewer topics of learning to make good progress. Ian’s verbal impairment is significant and he needs to focus on just a few activities to make satisfactory progress.

Since middle school we had unsuccessfully argued with the schools that Ian needed to be able to focus on fewer topics. It was very frustrating for us when Ian’s middle school special education teacher tried our suggestion for a couple weeks, reported great progress but because he did not have administrative support to continue he immediately returned to the same multi-topic approach we all knew did not work as well.

In any case, we knew Ian needed focus. As Ian approached eighth grade we started looking at choices for high school. Ian had been with a large cohort of regular ed neighborhood students since fourth grade. They knew Ian, liked him and looked out for him. Almost all of these students were going to be moving to Redwood High School across the street from the middle school. However, our high school district has concentrated their services for autistics and other special education programs at Drake High School further away and with an almost totally new group of students.

Ian wanted to go to Redwood with his cohort. The District wanted Ian to go to the other school. This presented us with a difficult but clear choice. With all the special education resources at Drake, Ian would have one-on-one support and classes modified to his level. At Redwood, Ian would have no one-on-one support and only a slightly modified classroom experience. The district’s choice would be better for Ian’s education. Ian’s choice would be better for his social skills and learning independence.

The final piece was when Janet and I asked ourselves: will Ian’s education be done at the end of his senior year, or will he need more education after high school? Ian’s language difficulties meant that if Ian was going to get a high school diploma it was going to be a very hard four years. We have worked with other students who struggled hard to get the diploma and most refused to do any more education afterwards as they were tired of the hard grind.

We made the choice that Ian’s education was going to be a long haul. We realized that our goal for high school was that Ian acquire the skills to be able to continue his education after high school. That meant enjoying school enough to want to continue. Ian attended Redwood high nearby and left in 2014 with a certificate of completion.

 

 

 

Frankly, Ian is not fully on board with the plan that he attend community college part time and work part time, possibly for many years. The near term goal is a GED and possibly attending a four-year college afterwards. When asked, Ian’s idea of college and his living situation is based on the movie “Animal House.” He sees himself living with a group of young people having fun.

Besides starting college this semester, Ian moved out to a house nearby with three other autistic young men last month. We’ll write about THAT soon.

* As a parent of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and as someone who has chosen to immerse myself in this work I will often use “autistic” to mean either “symptoms of the diagnosis of autism” or “a person with the diagnosis of autism.” Similarly I will use ASD to mean either “Autism Spectrum Disorder” or “a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.” I have Asperger’s Syndrome and I will often use “aspie” to refer to individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Category: Commentary, Transitions, Writing | 1 Comment »
Tags: