International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities

Minding the Gap in Education

ICAA — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:17:51 +0000

The Mind the Gap in Education project was created to address the “gap” in the education system regarding meaningful inclusion, instruction, and overall progress of students in our schools (pre-k through post-secondary), with an emphasis on students with autism.
With the Mind the Gap project, we strive to directly provide supports to schools, classrooms, students and workers. Some of the supports come from our annual school supply donation drives, annual autism education campaign, workshops, consultations, education advocacy services, and other projects. One of our favorite aspects of the Mind the Gap project is the educator appreciation awards. During the year, we ask that people send in nominees; a teacher, aide, therapist, principal, or other school staff, who has positively impacted the lives of students, advocated for their students, and has facilitated the ICAA philosophy of inclusion, advocacy, and support, in their field. This year, two awards will be given, and following the presentation, we will announce more information about the teachers, and their work. We believe in strongly encouraging and praising educators who are making the world a better place. All winners receive a certificate and a gift from the organization, along with mention or interview on the ICAA Radio program.

Last year we were joined by the Dave Glover Show and friends for some of our school supply drive events.

Coming Events

ICAA — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:42:44 +0000

The Wrightslaw conference is scheduled for May 14th, and there is a scholarship available for parents, and self advocates. For more information, please see the flier. Wrightslaw 2013 Flyer-1 Contact Mary Kay Savage at msavage@ptimpact.org or 800-743-7634 for more information on the scholarships.

We will be announcing the ICAA Mind the Gap in Education educator awards this month. Thank you for all submissions, and thanks to all the dedicated educators, paras, aides, therapists, and school principals for your service. Our Mind the Gap in Education program is dedicated to facilitating meaningful inclusion, supports, and services, for students with differences, and schools (Preschool to college level) to ensure equal access, and advancement in education for all.
Some of the activities throughout the year include the annual educator appreciation awards, annual school supply drives (which includes tools and supplies for therapy and support purposes, along with typical supplies), silent auctions, and fundraisers to help provide more tools for classrooms, and our autism education card campaign which are sent to at least one school per year for students and staff. Through MTG, we make ourselves available to parents, and schools for inclusion, team-building, 504, and IEP workshops, consultations, and more. Contact us with any questions, or to make us aware of a school in need, a teacher who’s been a great advocate, or to volunteer with this program: info@icaaonline.org

Updates

ICAA — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:55:17 +0000

Local News:
Many of you have been asking about the recent case involving an O’Fallon, Missouri family which found a child with autism who was caged in the basement. Here is the information we have thus far:
March 15, 2013: Autistic child in O’Fallon, MO found in cage. Two and a half year investigation ends up with parents chaged with felony. They are not in jail as of this post. Please see here for more. Please send inquiries and information on how to send support for the child(ren) involved to the reporter, Vera Culley at vsh2314@gmail.com. Or you may contact the O’Fallon, MO police department: 100 N Main St, O’Fallon, MO 63366. Phone: (636) 240-3200. You may also send support and questions to the St. Charles County Children’s division:
Deitra Logsdon, Circuit Manager
3737 Harry S Truman Blvd, Suite 100
St Charles MO 63301
Phone: (636) 940-3170
Fax: (636) 940-3186
Here is the information for the prosecuting attorney: 300 N 2nd St # 601 St Charles, MO 63301 Phone: 636-949-7355
The ICAA asks that as many advocates, friends, and concerned citizens send whatever support for the children as possible in this case. If you have further questions, contact us at info@icaaonline.org
ICAA Radio Many of you have asked about an appearance on the ICAA Radio program. If you would like to be a guest on the show, or have questions about our internship program for people with all abilities, please send e-mail to info@icaaonline.org, with “ICAA Radio”in the subject line. Please be patient if you do not hear back right away. We are all volunteers. We get hundreds of e-mails. We will get back to you as soon as we possible can. We always appreciate interns and volunteers to help all of our projects.
Mind the Gap in Education: We will be announcing the Mind the Gap educators for this year’s educator appreciation awards next month. Stay tuned. There IS still time for you to submit the information of an educator you know who deserves to be recognized for advocating for their students, promoting inclusion, and supporting all students, with all abilities with love and acceptance. Please send all submissions to info@icaaonline.org with “Mind the Gap” in the subject line. For more information on the Mind the Gap in Education program, please see here. This year, one of our organizational goals is to supply 500 students in need with assisted communication devices.

ICAA on the Missouri Viewpoints Show

ICAA — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:46:29 +0000

The ICAA President and first Vice President appeared on the Missouri Viewpoints show with Mike Ferguson. It was an honor to be invited on to share information about the ICAA, our perspective, and continue to help raise the social consciousness. Emily and Julian were invited to stay longer than expected, to discuss more in depth, some of the many issues facing educators, schools, and mostly, students on the spectrum.
ICAA is dedicated to the advancement of people on the autism spectrum and with other differences. Discrimination, educational rights, civil rights, and human rights for people with autism is not something that many people even seem to consider, and that baffles us. Much of the focus surrounding “autism awareness” is often centered on autism as a “parent’s struggle” or as something that causes a family suffering. The sad result is that the actual autistic individuals (whom the awareness raising is supposed to help) are almost an afterthought, if not hurt, as a result of all this awareness raising.
Each year millions of dollars are collected for efforts like Autism Speaks to search for a cause, cure, and even prevention, for autism (talks of prenatal screenings have been stirring up for years). If we put that same amount of effort, or even half of it, into ensuring education, practical supports, and empowerment, we would already have made enormous progress. The ICAA Autism Education and Defense Fund, and other ICAA projects, have been designed to promote inclusion, support, education, advocacy and the overall advancement of individuals with autism.
The first step in effective advocacy and progress, is being responsible when we educate the community about autism. Too many different myths and facts have become blurred. Not only does the misinformation prevent progress, but it also endangers the lives of people on the spectrum. Referring to autism as some sort of biological disease is dangerous because we see so many parents putting their loved ones through life threatening, unproven treatments in the hope of “cleaning out” the autism. When we talk about autism, or autism awareness, it is imperative for autistic people to be contributors to the conversation. This is often completely left out of typical awareness raising campaigns. Our organization’s leadership proudly consists of a diverse group of professionals, on and off the spectrum. So, what is autism and what is it not? The fact is that autism is a pervasive developmental disability. We cannot define autism without at least some autistic perspective. The ICAA President likes to refer people to the 1993 essay by Jim Sinclair about how autism is not an appendage, or a separate piece of a person that can be removed.
Many people who are on the spectrum are nonverbal, and often face abuse, prejudgment, and discrimination based on that alone. As a coalition, we don’t see being nonverbal as a tragedy. We do see the lack of access to technological supports for assisted communication as an unacceptable tragedy. This is one reason why we regularly try to help raise funds and awareness about this issue, and to help people access necessary technology for communication. People who have Asperger’s, or are so- called “higher functioning” (an erroneous term, which historically has mostly been based on verbal language ability) often face a lot of discrimination because the general presumption is that if a person seems able to speak well, write well, read well, and “pass” in a largely neurotypical society, there is no “excuse” for needing any accommodations or supports in the schools, community, or workplace. People with Asperger’s, PDD NOS, or who are considered to be on the so called “higher” end of the autistic spectrum in general, are often mistaken for just “weird”, “loners”, or “awkward” geeks. The truth is, although there are no clear, visible differences, there are many ways in which these people are struggling too. They may have a valid need for frequent breaks, or they may need to perform a similar task over and over each day. Maybe they rely on structure, and maybe they have sensory needs. When Julian and Emily spoke to the host after the show wrapped, he shared a way in which he was able to accommodate a former employee who was on the spectrum. The employee was a good worker, a smart person. However, there was some obvious frustration. Instead of rushing to fire or write up the employee for some outbursts, Mike was able to see that giving this guy a specific schedule each day, that he could check regularly, was not only helpful but necessary for this person. Teachers, employers, service providers, dentists, doctors, everyone, can be successful in understanding and working with a diverse population, including people on the spectrum. We always suggest that you first trust yourself to see each person as an individual. And, at the center of it all, consider each other’s humanity.
Watch the show here.

Coming Out

ICAA — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:40:45 +0000

One of the first things many people on the spectrum talk about when discussing disclosure, is considering the environment. Is it safe to come out? Seeing a lot of the hateful internet posts and videos during “autism awareness month”, internet auto-search results on Google and Yahoo, the nonchalant bullying and insult that we see regularly in the media, and more, of course an individual will wonder if it is a safe environment to come out, if he or she is able to “pass” in the workplace, or at school. Dr. Grandin and Larkin Taylor Parker are two autistic advocates who have made different statements on the matter. ICAA Radio will be discussing this topic this week. We have much more to get into in the coming weeks regarding recent cases of concern, including the child who was caged in his family’s basement, separate schools being built for autistic students, public schools pushing students with autism out, celebrities making our civil rights struggle harder, and more. Please keep up with us here, our Twitter and our Facebook pages.

Assisted technology campaign

ICAA — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:41:45 +0000

ICAA seeks to raise enough funds, and technological donations, to provide 500 assistive technology devices to people who need them. We have had a waiting list for quite some time. There are many people throughout our community who rely on technology to communicate even basic needs. For examples and more information on the different kinds of devices available to people with communication challenges, and the price ranges, please see here. Approximately one fourth of people on the autism spectrum do not verbally communicate according to many studies. It us up to us to mind the gap and help more people access supports and educational assistance, so that more people have at least the opportunity to be heard. The International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities is an all volunteer, 501 (c)(3) organization developed to advance the futures of people with autism and different abilities. If you are interested in helping with this campaign, please consider a tax deductible donation, or contact us for more information on how to help.

Beyond awareness

ICAA — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:24:17 +0000

April is autism awareness month and April 2nd is autism awareness day, according to the CDC and just about any autism related organization around. When we think about awareness about any topic, we tend to think about educating the greater community about the topic. When it comes to autism, this has proven to be difficult. Raising awareness for autism has turned into a huge multimillion dollar marketing campaign for some. Autism Speaks pushes their “light it up blue for autism speaks” campaign. They urge people to wear blue, or to order blue puzzled teddy bears from the Teddy Bear Workshop. All of these things, they say, will ensure the group finds a prevention, cause, and cure for autistic people. Pricey promotional ads and videos are used to illustrate how challenging life with an autistic person can be. But many of these videos and ads have deeply offended, and hurt people on the autistic spectrum. Other groups try to take this time to make claims about what they believe causes, cures, or prevents autism. There are plenty of pseudo-studies about vaccines or environmental toxins, and junk science to go around, all in the name of a false promise to make people on the spectrum “recovered” or ”cured”. Many desperate parents, or other loved ones, are told to just come and join the group, and they will provide all the secrets to fixing the person on the spectrum, for a price. After all, they say, can you really put a price tag on your loved ones’ health? The myriad of dangerous, even deadly practices sold to desperate people in the hopes of “ridding” someone of autism can be mind blowing. What Autism Speaks and others have in common is the fact that they all have a “cure” mentality. They see autism as a disease that urgently needs to be cured. They see autistic people as “suffering”. With the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting on autism at all, much less declaring that April is the month to raise “awareness”, it is understandable why so many would be led into believing that autism is some sort of disease or illness. But it’s not.
What we know about autism is that it is a neurological difference. Scores of scientific studies, and brain scans over many years has shown that Autism is a pervasive, developmental disability. An autistic person will see things differently, think differently, perceive and experience the world differently. Sensory needs and challenges, communication, and social challenges are real, and we shouldn’t try to undermine the challenges associated with autism, but the fact of the matter is that people on the spectrum are not diseased, and that autism is not an appendage that can be removed from the person.
No one would say that deafness is a disease, infection, or mental illness. It is equally absurd to suggest such with autism. It is hard to make progress for anyone on the spectrum when even the “awareness” raising is so erroneous and disjointed. Thus, we really cannot even call it awareness raising at all. No one can possibly be well educated when the media, government, and others are taking the cue only from one perspective, and it isn’t the perspective of autistic people, or even full truth. When we discuss any issue or topic, and we want to educate others about it, we have to ensure that those we are teaching have all the facts. If advocates continue to allow the campaigns to describe autism as a tragic disease, or “epidemic”, we are grossly irresponsible and not advancing any progress for people on the spectrum. By continuing to allow media to tout autism as a disease in need of a “cure”, we are not going to make progress or ensure people with autism are safe, making progress, or supported in their own efforts to advance their futures.
The ICAA doesn’t have an issue with autism awareness. We do not have any problem with responsible science and research. We do take issue with the “prevent and cure” rhetoric and how it affects autistic people and their families. We do take issue with the use, and promotion of dishonest, dangerous measures to “treat” autistic people. We have built our coalition to ensure progress, and the advancement of people on the autism spectrum. We do this by increasing access to therapies, supports, educational services, and advocacy assistance. The latest statistics still report that about one fourth of all people on the autism spectrum are nonverbal. The tragedy is not that these people are “suffering from autism”, but that there is little help or understanding in our society regarding people’s differences. We argue that what is needed, rather than a “cure” for something that is not a disease, is to ensure more access to assisted technology, sign language teachers and interpreters, more education for our educators, and more training and advancement for therapists. We at ICAA have been seeking funding for more technology for individuals on the spectrum who need this kind of help. We proudly stand for autistic progress and autistic advancement.
During the month of April, the ICAA joins with other advocates in encouraging acceptance, hope, love and progress for autistic individuals and families. During this month, ICAA advocates are calling on legislators to mark April officially as “Autism Education and History Month” to encourage responsible education about autism, and autistic people throughout history who have made considerable contributions to our world. Our ICAA President has also asked that when discussing autism, always first consider how the person on the spectrum may feel about your words, attitudes, and descriptions. To assist with any of our projects, advocacy efforts, or to learn more, please contact us at: info@icaaonline.org or have a look around our site.

Upcoming local events

ICAA — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:54:28 +0000

The Adam Morgan Foundation is holding its annual “Fun Run” April 27th at 7 PM.

The run is held every year at the beautiful Frontier Park in St. Charles, MO.

AMF Founder Rachel Morgan has been interviewed on the ICAA Radio program in the past to talk about the run, and the organization’s mission.

Even if you’re not a runner, this is a fun event for the whole family, and individuals with all abilities. The funds raised go towards helping with education and resources for local families with autism and special needs.

See here for further information about sponsorships, and more.

Internship opportunities

ICAA — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 04:40:14 +0000

The International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities has openings for ICAA Radio, ICAA social networks, and blog articles. No experience is necessary. These internships are open to people with all abilities who have an interest in advocacy, education, writing, marketing, media and radio. We are trying to grow our internship opportunities this year.
Please send an introduction and your interest to info@icaaonline.org

Judge Rotenberg Center News

ICAA — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:32:16 +0000

As many of you know, the ICAA has been advocating the closure, or at least the end of questionable practices, at the Judge Rotenberg Center for several years. Recently, we have been in touch with advocates, reporters and legislators who tell us the end may finally be near for at least the GED skin shocks the center has continued to use for at least four decades. The center’s spokespeople often claim that the practice is rarely used, or is used only on the most severe cases. Aside from the fact that we oppose the practice for any person, regardless of severity or diagnosis, we have also seen various reports to the contrary.
In the past, reports abound of forced restraint, and immediate application of several shocks at a time to new patients. In other words, JRC workers were allegedly, forcibly restraining and shocking new residents on admission to the center. And, there has been even worse claims of injuries, abuses, even deaths at the JRC. ICAA Radio has reported on, and interviewed with, several notable advocates and legislators regarding the Judge Rotenberg Center issues. Mother Jones has repeatedly reported on the center. With dedicated advocacy, and fearless leadership on the part of legislators like Senator Brian Joyce, we are more hopeful than ever to see an end to the Judge Rotenberg Center and any other facility using such methods in the name of “treatment”.
Are you concerned about the JRC? We urge you to take this poll and vote “Yes”. It takes less than 2 minutes and may help save some lives, or at the very least, raise some social consciousness.

More JRC news and information in the Patriot Ledger, and The Boston Globe.