World Autism Day: How Do YOU Show Your Support for #Autism?

Have YOU to thought about how you will show your support for World Autism Awareness Day next Tuesday, April 2, 2013? My Town Tutors asked if I was interested in putting together another post in celebration of World Autism Day and, of course, I said YES!! Hopefully, you already have a plan for how you will raise awareness for autism in your community but, if you don't, you will find some ideas in my guest post "World Autism Day: How Do YOU Show Your Support for #Autism?" that will work for you! ♥ Have a blessed Easter weekend and thank YOU for your support!!

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Event dates: 4/5 – 4/14

Please Join Us In Our "Case Management Consultation"!

Please follow these extremely EASY directions to join us in tonight's online "Case Management Consultation":

All you have to do is to open an internet browser and type nbcibc.webex.com (no “http” or “www” just nbcibc.webex.com all by itself in the URL bar) and hit ENTER.  You will see the meeting page and the word “Join” to the right if a meeting is open.  Click on “Join” which will enable you to join the meeting.

Webex automatically loads the necessary connective equipment onto your computer (it does not “harvest” any information from your computer, just installs some small bit of software that enables you to be able to use the WebEx service.  You only have to do that once.  You will have to enter your name (an alias is allowed) and your e-mail address (so there is some record of attendance at the meeting and material can be sent back to you at the end of the meeting such as resources, etc).  You will need to enter the password for the meeting, which is always Institute1 (with the “I” capitalized). 

Once the meeting connection is made, you will click on Call Using Computer and your audio (microphone) is turned on and you can even send video of yourself, if you choose to.  Mr. Kossor's video feed will be available if somebody wants to watch him talk; you don’t have to “share” any video (you can just watch and listen).  Anyone who joins the meeting can speak if they choose to (you can “mute” your microphone if you want to just listen). 

When you want to leave the meeting, just click on the “leave meeting” button and your microphone, camera and contact with the meeting ends.  

Enjoy the online "Case Management Consultation" and we ask that you will share your thoughts with us afterwards!

Our First Online "Case Management Consultation" is Tomorrow!

     If you have any questions you have about educational, behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues, related to the care of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, please get those to me immediately! We have our online meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, March 17, 2013 from 7pm-9pm CST (8pm-10pm EST) where we will answer two or three of the questions, that have been submitted by our readers, during the online "Case Management Consultation" hosted by Steven Kossor. If you are interested in seeing him in a youtube video on EPSDT Funding, you can view it below.

Please submit your questions concerning educational, behavioral therapy and treatment funding issues related to the care of individuals with autism spectrum disorders so that all questions can be considered during the online Case Management Consultation. Anyone interested, in attending our very first online "Case Management Consultation" meeting, should type nbcibc.webex.com into your web browser and log in using Institute1 as the password.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please leave all questions in the comment section below. If you have problems posting your question in the comment section, please email me at Lorrie@AutismOklahoma.org so that I can assist you. Thank you for taking the time to read, follow and participate in our first online "Case Management Consultation"!

Last Call For Questions In "Case Management Consultation"

This coming Sunday evening, March 17th, 2013 between 7pm-8pm CST (8pm-9pm EST) we will be having an online "Case Management Consultation" to answer questions about behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues related to Autism. Please take a moment to look at the question below, and the answer, that have been offered as an example of the "Case Management Consultation". We hope that YOU will take the time to leave us a question, in the comment section below, about something to do with behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues related to Autism. We will choose two or three of the questions, that have been submitted by our readers, to answer during the online "Case Management Consultation"...so, make sure that YOU get your question in TODAY!!

Steve BorgmanFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:14 AM

I'd like to know what some of the best resources and techniques he's found to teach friendship building, social skills building, and dating skills to individuals on the spectrum. And how does one know when to accept that those resources have limits, depending on the degree of "hardwiring" the individual may have that mitigates against picking up those skills.

Steven KossorFebruary 27, 2013 at 8:57 PM

The best way to help a child with an autism spectrum disorder to develop social skills is through structured peer play activities.  The peers should be close in age to the child, and relatively “neurotypical” so that they can provide direct encouragement toward the development of more age-appropriate communication skills by modeling them.  Stanley Greenspan devoted a substantial body of his professional career toward helping parents to improve the interpersonal relationship skills of their children and is a terrific resource for professionals who want to integrate “peer play” (one of Greenspan’s primary intervention modalities) into treatment plans for children.  As children get older, their interests change and it becomes necessary to provide greater assistance/structure during peer interactions if the child hasn’t developed a basic understanding of “personal space” issues (older children respond more negatively and aggressively to invasions of personal space, so a child must learn the basic limits of personal space relatively early in life).  Every child is born with an internal set of tolerances for sensory experience, including human closeness.  When a child is overwhelmed by sensory experiences, their tolerance for other people usually decreases, because other people are more often suppliers of sensory experience rather than shields against it.  It is important to understand the child’s “sensory tolerances” (hardwired preferences for sensory experience) and not overwhelm those tolerances in the course of providing socialization training or other learning experiences.

Don't miss out on having an Autism related question, that you might have on behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues, answered during the "Case Management Consultation" this Sunday evening, March 17th, 2013 between 7pm-8pm CST (8pm-9pm EST). Saturday afternoon, I will be posting instructions on how to join us for the online meeting. If you would like me to send you a reminder email, please send me an email request titled "Case Management Consultation" to Lorrie@AutismOklahoma.org!

Acceptance Into The Covington Registry for Who's Who

     I am absolutely thrilled to share this with you! This last Fall, I was contacted by a representative from the Covington Registry for Who's Who. I had been nominated and accepted as a new member of the national networking organization, to represent the state of Oklahoma in Autism Advocacy! If you are interested in reading my full Press Release in The Oklahoman, please click here. Thank you for supporting Autism Awareness, Understanding and Acceptance!

     I am so excited about how this will increase exposure for the efforts of my local AutismOklahoma.org, Nathan's Voice and the autism community in general!! If you are interested in supporting our efforts, please visit Oklahoma Piece Walk & 5K to either register to walk with us and/or to make an online donation. Thank YOU for your continued support and our team always welcomes hearing from their supporters!

Please Submit Questions For "Case Management Consultation"

     If you have any questions about behavioral therapy or treatment funding issues, please keep reading! We have an online meeting tentatively scheduled for Sunday, March 17, 2013 from 7pm-8pm CST (8pm-9pm EST) where we will answer two or three of the questions that have been submitted. Please take a moment to look at a question that has been submitted and the answer given by Steven Kossor is offered as a FREE Case Management Consultation.

Steve BorgmanFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:14 AM

I'd like to know what some of the best resources and techniques he's found to teach friendship building, social skills building, and dating skills to individuals on the spectrum. And how does one know when to accept that those resources have limits, depending on the degree of "hardwiring" the individual may have that mitigates against picking up those skills.

Steven KossorFebruary 27, 2013 at 8:57 PM

The best way to help a child with an autism spectrum disorder to develop social skills is through structured peer play activities.  The peers should be close in age to the child, and relatively “neurotypical” so that they can provide direct encouragement toward the development of more age-appropriate communication skills by modeling them.  Stanley Greenspan devoted a substantial body of his professional career toward helping parents to improve the interpersonal relationship skills of their children and is a terrific resource for professionals who want to integrate “peer play” (one of Greenspan’s primary intervention modalities) into treatment plans for children.  As children get older, their interests change and it becomes necessary to provide greater assistance/structure during peer interactions if the child hasn’t developed a basic understanding of “personal space” issues (older children respond more negatively and aggressively to invasions of personal space, so a child must learn the basic limits of personal space relatively early in life).  Every child is born with an internal set of tolerances for sensory experience, including human closeness.  When a child is overwhelmed by sensory experiences, their tolerance for other people usually decreases, because other people are more often suppliers of sensory experience rather than shields against it.  It is important to understand the child’s “sensory tolerances” (hardwired preferences for sensory experience) and not overwhelm those tolerances in the course of providing socialization training or other learning experiences.

     I met Steven Kossor online through a featured guest post that I wrote last April for a parenting site. He is the Founder and Executive Director of The Institute of Behavior Change in Pennsylvania. Steven has over thirty years experience in research and working with individuals on the autism spectrum. We have become friends in the autism community over the last several months. Autism Advocacy and the Education of children on the autism spectrum is important to both of us, as well as protecting their rights to funding of therapies that will help them.

     Steven Kossor and I have tentatively scheduled an online WebEx "Case Management Consultation" meeting where he will answer two or three predetermined questions concerning educational, behavioral therapy and treatment funding issues related to the care of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. I am in the process of collecting questions from my wonderful readers, will help choose two or three of those questions to be answered and then serve as moderator during the online "Case Management Consultation".

     If YOU have a question that you would like to submit for an answer during the online "Case Management Consultation", please leave it in a comment below this post. As the date of the online meeting nears, I will post the instructions on how everyone can join us. I am looking forward to hearing everyone's questions and hope that you will share this opportunity with others in the autism community!