Autism Awareness Month, and a year’s milestones
by Matt
Maybe I’m just too tired to think straight … I’ve been up since 5:00 a.m. with an “excited to start the day” ten-month-old! But it’s almost impossible to believe that we are approaching another Autism Awareness Month already. This year has flown by, and it’s been another exciting one at Easter Seals Bay Area.
In very precarious times to be a service provider in California, we continue to open new programs, expand current services and grow our pool of world-class staff. A project that began with an idea over lunch between friends last April has come to fruition and we couldn’t be more excited. The Easter Seals Bay Area Pediatric Activity Center (PAC) opened its doors in Oakland earlier this year. The PAC is a state of the art facility dedicated to providing speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy and autism specific services to the pediatric community. We are so thrilled to bring this service to children and families in the East Bay, and the response from the community has been wonderful so far. Keep your eyes open for more information on summer programming and free monthly events.
Our Kaleidoscope program, located in Dublin, has long been a staple in the community. Kaleidoscope provides after-school and social recreation opportunities to children aged 5 to 22 with special needs. Just last month we received the “Organization of the Year” award from the City of Dublin. The award came complete with a “and the winner is…” Oscar-style dinner, a mayor’s proclamation, and probably most exciting: a float in the City of Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade! What could possibly be more fun than throwing candy to a cheering crowd?
Our Autism Project continues to expand its reach serving children and their families across the Bay Area. Our team has grown in the past few months to include two key members: Dr. Melissa Newman, a clinical psychologist, and Dr. Ian Cook, a developmental psychologist, who are supervising the South Bay and East Bay programs respectively. We are thrilled to have these two experts join the ranks at Easter Seals Bay Area.
We are excited by the opportunities ahead and encourage everyone to check out our Easter Seals Bay Area website for all of the latest happenings.