Return to the ANI home page.
NEW! Attend selected Autreat sessions remotely via Internet Chat (IRC)
PresentationsCatching the Assistive Technology WaveBarbara Stern Delsack, MSPA/CCCSpeech-Language Pathologist Assistive Technology Specialist Why are Educators Resistant? The technology available for promoting communication is growing at the fastest rate in years, yet many of our autistic children and autistic adults, verbal and nonverbal, are not being considered or privy to these tools. Today's presentation hopes to clarify the truths, untruths, and unknowns about Assistive Technology and Augmentative and Alternative Communication(AT/AAC). It is today's objective to give adults and families of children with autism the language, materials, and supports for them to pursue the technology that is available for them to become functional, independent communicators and to communicate to their full potential. Participants will leave with the understanding that the ultimate goal is the ability to access individual words, expressions, and commonly used phrases; the ability to say anything about anything at anytime. We have the tools out there and available, we need to let educators and professionals know that it is the right, the communication right, the human right, of all autistic children and adults to be given a way to communicate, regardless of the extent or severity of their disabilities. Each individual has a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their own existence (The Communication Bill of Rights, developed by the National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities, 1992). Barbara Stern Delsack, MSPA/CCC, is a Speech-Language Pathologist, Assistive Technology Specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools, InterACT Team. She is a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has worked in the area of Autism for the past 25 years. In addition, she is an Adjunct Professor at Montgomery College and at The George Washington University. Services for Autistic Adults: What Are the Needs and Who Can Provide Them?Susan J. Golubock, M.Ed., OTR/LEveryone agrees that there is a need for services for autistic adults, but does anyone agree on what those needs are? Join me in exploring what these needs are, from an autistic adult perspective, and how these needs might realistically be met through existing services (with appropriate training). Susan J. Golubock ,M.Ed., OTR/L, After years as an occupational therapist pursuing everything she could on a personal and professional level about how the brain works, Sue finally discovered what made her own brain so different. She was diagnosed with PDD, then Asperger's in her 50's. Sue currently works as an occupational therapy consultant to parents of children, and to adult clients, on the autism spectrum. Sue, along with Jim Sinclair, founded Making Sense of Autism, LLC, which provides workshops to help educate parents and providers of services in effective ways to work with autistic people. Sue's area of special interest has always been sensory integration, to which she has added a master's degree in assistive technology. Public Policy and Social Change Advocacy for the Autistic Self Advocate CommunityAri Ne'emanThe past year has seen exciting new developments for the autistic self-advocate and neurodiversity movements in public policy, social change and media outreach. This presentation will seek to summarize some of the exciting new developments as well as go into depth as to the context and history that made them possible. In addition, the presentation will focus on the practical measures necessary to engage in public policy advocacy and media outreach as well as a discussion of the priorities of the autistic community in reference to this important field of self-advocacy. Among the topics addressed will be the Ransom Notes Ad Campaign, the increased prevalence of Autism Speaks advertising, the presence of autistic self-advocates at the Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) and public policy issues that affect the autistic community, such as the ADA Restoration Act, autism insurance mandates and other important legislative and regulatory matters. Ari Ne'eman is the Founding President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a non-profit organization of adults and youth on the autism spectrum. He is currently studying Political Science and Economics at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County as a Sondheim Scholar of Public Affairs. Ari is an Asperger's autistic and has been active in the autistic culture, neurodiversity and disability rights movements for a number of years. He first became involved in self-advocacy as a high school student, arguing for his own inclusion and access to high level academic coursework. He later became involved in disability and education policy advocacy. Ari serves as the Policy Workgroup Leader for the Youth Advisory Council to the National Council on Disability, the Public Policy Chair for the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education and a member of the Steering Committee of the New Jersey Olmstead Implementation and Planning Advisory Council advising the NJ Department of Human Services on de-institutionalizing adults with developmental disabilities in the wake of the landmark Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court case. His writings have appeared in a variety of venues, including the Neurodiversity Weblog, the influential education policy blog Eduwonk, Jewish Week and The Home News Tribune. In his capacity as President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, he organizes social/support networks for youth and adults on the autism spectrum, promotes self-advocate involvement in the policymaking process and regularly presents and advises on issues relating to autism, Asperger's, disability policy, special education and the neurodiversity movement. Ari can be emailed at aneeman@autisticadvocacy.org Government Sponsored Discrimination Against Autistics-in California and BeyondJanis ObermanThe State of California discriminates against the Autistic population by using DSM-IV diagnostic categories in a divisive manner, by distinguishing between "AS/PDD-NOS" and "Autistic Disorder" in its policies and when delivering social services. Discriminatory policies are applied more rigidly to the older adult Autistic population, than to the younger adult Autistic population, especially concerning adults who were not diagnosed with Autism before the age of 18. Effectively, these practices force many Autistic adults into a "Mental Illness" classification in order to receive social services, where they usually receive no Autism related services. Such practices exemplify more general political, economic and cultural processes which occur in many geographical locations other than California. Janis Oberman: I am a 50 year old woman with an AS diagnosis, received in 2005. I have worked for 20 years in the various industries as a System Programmer/Analyst, Web Designer and in Publishing/Graphic Design. I have a BA from UC Berkeley in Social Welfare. I am currently pursuing a certificate in Multi-Media from Santa Rosa Junior College. Autistic Social Networking - How Autistics are Increasingly Using the Internet to Communicate in New WaysAlex PlankAlex will be talking about the role of the Internet in allowing autistics to interact in new ways from the perspective of the developer/founder of WrongPlanet.net an online autistic community with 18,000 members. He will discuss how autistics made use of technology in the past (email, chatrooms) and how autistics are beginning to benefit from the most recent communication platforms such as RSS, twitter, and facebook APIs and how this technology helps autistics form a supportive collaborative community where we can interact efficiently. Alex will explain how the increasing use of the Internet will benefit Autistics in the future and what we can expect in years to come. Alex Plank runs, owns, and develops WrongPlanet.net, a popular community for individuals with Asperger's Syndrome and Autism which he started after being diagnosed with Asperger's. Wrong Planet currently has around 18,000 registered members from across the globe. Alex is also a student at George Mason University majoring in Film and Video Studies. Emerging Partnerships Between Autistic Self-Advocates & Researchers in Academia: Opportunities for Empowerment & GrowthScott Michael Robertson, Ph.D. Candidate, Penn State UniversityThis session discusses how autistic adults and teens have increasingly played a greater role in the research process. It will first examine their role as research participants in providing experiences and perspectives through interviews and surveys. The session will then discuss the roles of autistic individuals as active members of research teams in the U.S., Canada, and England. Finally, the session will present influences that have enabled autistic adults to become involved in the research process (ex. online technology) and share emerging trends in the autistic self-advocacy community's involvement in autism research. Scott Michael Robertson , 27, is an Asperger's autistic adult attending a Ph.D. program in the College of Information Sciences & Technology at Penn State University. Scott's dissertation research at Penn State is focused on how online communities can support college transition for autistic students. Scott has previously given more than 45 presentations on topics concerning autism and disabilities (ex. employment, adolescence and adult living, reducing bullying, inclusion, postsecondary education) to conferences, schools, and organizations. He is a co-investigator for the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) and the vice president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), as well as a leader in several other autism nonprofit organizations (e.g. the Autism Higher Education Foundation, the Asperger Syndrome Alliance for Greater Philadelphia). Scott has served on several advisory committees for Pennsylvania's state Bureau of Autism Services (in the Dept. of Public Welfare) that have developed a Medicaid Waiver program for autistic adults living in PA and investigated the development of employment, postsecondary education, and housing/living services. His other hats in the autism community include teaching and mentoring autistic adolescents and adults and organizing a monthly meeting social group for autistic secondary students. Autistic Community and Culture The Israeli CaseSola Shelly, President, ACI - The Autistic Community of IsraelRonen Gil, General Manager, ACI - The Autistic Community of Israel This workshop is aimed to explore the interplay between the international autistic community and culture, the Israeli society and culture, and how they have both influenced the emerging Israeli autistic community and culture. We will list some aspects of the Israeli society and culture which are relevant to disability in general and to the autistic spectrum in particular. We will briefly describe attitudes towards autism among parents and parents-organizations, professionals, service providers, and the media (mainly newspapers). Then, we will describe the (very short) history of the autistic community in Israel: its early stages, when Israeli AC people participated in the international autistic community as individuals; the need for a local community and the process of coming together; the foundation of ACI the Autistic Community of Israel. Some implications of language: a barrier separating some of us from the international autistic community and the need to develop a Hebrew jargon to discuss autistic experiences will be described. Finally, we will survey some of ACI's recent advocacy activities, and discuss some prospects for the future of the Autistic Community of Israel. Sola Shelly has been an Israeli AC all of her life. She has always considered belonging with the land of Israel and its culture an important part of her identity. After discovering her place on the autistic spectrum in her 40's, she now considers autism too as an important part of her identity. Being a mother of an autistic son, she was an active member of the Israeli autism society, advocating for more respect and better services for autistic people. Sola has participated in the international autistic community through the Internet since 1994, and started an Israeli network of ACs since 2003. She is a co-founder and a president of ACI the Autistic Community of Israel, an organization by and for Israeli ACs. Ronen Gil was raised as and has been a socialist Zionist for all his life. Being a weirdo in his surroundings, as well as being born with a rare eye impairment, has led Ronen to engage in social change activities from the onset of his awareness. At the age of 36, with the help of the international autistic community and some local Israeli ACs, Ronen found himself on the autistic spectrum. From that point on, his motion for social change in the Israeli culture put on a much more specific form of a fight for better quality of life and equality of rights for Israeli ACs. Living and supporting his wife (a Cousin herself) and their 3 daughters (1 aspie and 2 cousins) on disability allowance alone, this fight is not only ideological but a personal one as well. Ronen is a co-founder and a general manager of ACI the Autistic Community of Israel, an organization by and for Israeli ACs. Caregiver Stress and Violence: Beyond "Us vs. Them"Jim SinclairPublicized reports of violence between autistic people and caregivers often trigger heated exchanges of rhetoric between advocates for disabled people and advocates for caregivers, about who's to blame and who's the real victim. This presentation will start by exploring what we know about how stress and violence occur in caregiving relationships. The emphasis will not be on blaming or excusing anyone involved in instances of past violence, but on the principle that in order to prevent something from happening in the future, we need to understand as much as we can about how and why it happened in the past. With prevention as the goal, we will discuss guiding principles, situational factors, and personal choices that can increase or decrease the risk of violence. We will identify some specific things that can be done by caregivers, care recipients, educators, advocates, allies, and policy-makers, to minimize the incidence of violence in caregiving relationships. Jim Sinclair: I am an autistic person, a peer advocate, and a certified counselor. I also have extensive personal experience caring directly for AC children, often children who were considered particularly "difficult" to work with. For more than ten years I have been giving presentations about "guiding behavior responsibly," in which I have emphasized the importance of caregiver self-control as a requirement for being able to help others learn to manage their own behavior. But when my dog, Isosceles, became severely disabled during his old age, I gained a much deeper and more personal understanding of the dynamics of caregiver stress and violence. That experience continues to inform my practice as a counselor and educator. Planning for DisasterJoel SmithDisasters happen - whether it is a fire in your home, a water heater malfunctioning, or a major hurricane, there are many situations where advance preparation will pay off. Autistic people have both standard disaster preparation needs and unique ones. This presentation will discuss ways that you can prepare for the worst. Come and learn how to prepare in a way that considers your autism, finances, support requirements, and medical needs. We will talk not only about what you can do for yourself, but also what you can do for your neighbors, loved ones, and even pets. Joel Smith Joel has an interest in disaster preparation and response, which can be helpful to others who are considering how to prepare for disaster. He has experience with emergency situations, both personally and professionally. Personally, he has experience surviving without traditional resources, sometimes by choice (camping and recreational activities) and sometimes not (such as week long power outages). His professional background includes disaster recovery and continuity of government work. "Ask an NT" PanelPanelists to be announcedMainstream autism conferences often have panels of autistic people to answer questions about the experience of autism. This is our chance to ask a panel of neurotypical people all those things we've wondered about NTs and why they do the things they do. |
| The ANI web site was last modified Monday 16 June 2008. Comments,questions, and suggestions concerning this site should be addressed to the webmaster at ANI. The webmaster is not an administrator within ANI, and cannot answer questions regarding membership or the workings of this organization. Regrettably, due to the webmaster's heavy workload, personal replies may not always be possible. |