Maps may help special kids enjoy the ride

by Rachel Talen

A colleague here at Easter Seals Headquarters came across a post called Maps written by mommy blogger Jessica on her Courage & Coffee blog. I thought it was too cute not to share.

But what do maps have to do with Easter Seals? Turns out Jessica’s son Ethan has autism. He used to get anxious on the 35-minute drive to their local Easter Seals’ summer preschool. She noticed Ethan loved video games and TV shows like Dora the Explorer, where the characters used maps. And so, Jessica created a picture map for Ethan so he could follow along and watch for landmarks — the grocery store, restaurants, and a bridge along the way, with Easter Seals as the final destination. Now longer car rides are fun for both Jessica and Ethan.

You might also want to read about Ethan’s diagnosis on the Courage and Coffee blog. It really helped me picture what trying to get help for a child with autism might actually be like — and I’m sure these were only a few of the hurdles Jessica and her family faced. Their story is another real-life example of why our Make the First Five Count program and other programs here at Easter Seals that raise awareness around early intervention services are so important!

Assisting each other … with assistive technology

by Scott Fogo

I am pleased to introduce Sara Croft, our Social Media and Events Coordinator here at Easter Seals Crossroads, as a guest blogger today.

Comcast increases access to assistive technology

by Sara Croft

The last time you attended a class, seminar, workshop or conference, did you learn by having conversations with fellow participants, asking questions and forging relationships that continued beyond the training?

People who are learning to use assistive technologies for work, school or independent living are often taught by an instructor one-on-one and don’t have the benefit of establishing peer-relationships with others who use the same types of assistive technology. The Comcast Foundation recognizes this need and has awarded the Assistive Technology Center at Easter Seals Crossroads a $35,000 grant to design POLLCAT, the Pilot Online Learning Community for Assistive Technology.

This project is designed as a pilot program to explore various on-line teaching methods that are accessible and allow for peer-to-peer interaction. The anticipated result is an accessible system that will be appropriate for training users of assistive technology, regardless of their physical location. POLLCAT will have the overall effect of increasing access to assistive technology training and peer-support while reducing the need for assistive technology trainers and specialists to travel to provide services. If you have questions or would like to know more about POLLCAT or assistive technology, feel free to contact Wade Wingler, our Director of Assistive Technology, at wwingler(at)eastersealscrossroads(dot)org.

First sign of summer? Cookies!

by Beth Finke

Your calendar says the first official day of summer isn’t until June 20, but the first sign of summer always comes early here at Easter Seals with the launch of Sweet Tomatoes’ annual cookie campaign.

This year, Sweet Tomatoes restaurants in Colorado, Illinois, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona, are participating in the fundraiser.

From now until the end of June, select Sweet Tomatoes restaurants will donate $1 to Easter Seals for each bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies sold. And that’s not all — restaurant guests will also receive a coupon for a future visit as a thank you for their cookie purchase.

Sweet Tomatoes has supported Easter Seals for six years and has raised nearly $145,000 in support of Easter Seals families. Donations collected from the campaign support Easter Seals programs for children and adults with disabilities.

So just think: you can go ahead and indulge in a bag of homemade cookies without feeling guilty! Each and every time you and your family visit a Sweet Tomatoes in June, you can help support essential Easter Seals programs in your community!

These wristbands might be able to predict seizures

by Patricia Wright

There are some great researchers looking at technology and how it can be used to benefit those living with autism. Matt Goodwin is one of them, and I had the opportunity to hear him speak at the Autism New Jersey conference last year.

Dr. Goodwin’s name popped up recently after he and his colleague Dr. Rosalind Picard delivered a presentation for KiDA’s Innovation Series. KiDA stands for Kids Institute for Development & Advancement, and it is a center for treatment of Children with autism in Orange County.

Their presentation was titled Advances in Personalized Technology for Autism, Emotion, Sleep and Seizures and it highlighted a new technology: “wireless wristbands whose sensors measure the electricity being conducted through the skin to determine the state of the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight-or-flight response in humans.” It’s true these wristbands were able to assess emotional stress and arousal, but there was another benefit: the wristbands showed signs of being able to predict seizures.

Many individuals with autism have seizures, and being able to predict them would certainly be a bonus.

Technology makes everybody’s life easier. It is great to hear that technology is improving the lives of people with autism too.

Crafting a Better World

by Rachel Talen

You know how much I love crafting from my April blog post, when I talked about A.C. Moore’s register donation program and Make n’ Take crafting event. Well, the event was a huge hit! A.C. Moore educated thousands of customers about autism and the importance of early intervention.

Yesterday, my colleagues Sara and Katy joined Pepe Piperno, president and owner of A.C. Moore with Robin Beam, Jacquie Panto and the top 10 fundraising stores at the A.C. Moore store in Deptford, New Jersey, for this year’s check presentation. And Easter Seals New Jersey’s CEO Brian Fitzgerald and VP Helen Drobnis were there with Easter Seals consumers as well. They loved thanking store managers and team members who made this April’s campaign a success. A.C. Moore stores — managers, employees and their customers — raised an impressive $150,000 for Easter Seals to use to deliver local services for kids with autism and other disabilities.

The most amazing part was that A.C.Moore staff are already thinking about next year and have lots of ideas brewing on how to make the campaign an even bigger success!

Since A.C. Moore launched this campaign as part of its Crafting a Better World program in 2010, customers and store team members have raised nearly $500,000 to support Easter Seals families! Thanks to A.C. Moore, we will be able to help more families and make the first five years of life count for kids with autism and other disabilities.

Racing against the clock

by Bob Glowacki

Last week our local NPR affiliate aired a story featuring members of our staff here at Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin.

The story on WUWM highlighted the need for early diagnosis — followed by services — to give children the best outcomes in life. The stories were told by the experts: families involved in our autism services. Each family has seen great strides in the abilities of their children and, as a result, has great hope for the future.

Here at Easter Seals we’ve been using our spokesperson network, news stories and public dialogue to let people know about our Make the First Five Count initiative, but we still have a lot of work to do. Another recent story that aired on ABC news quoted a study saying that over half of children in there sample were not identified as having autism until age 5. This is precious time lost in giving a child the support he or she needs to succeed in school and in life.

So, please help us to get the word out on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire to help more families monitor their children’s development and, when necessary, get help, hope and answers so they can give their child the best start in life.

The queen of Knowbility

by Beth Finke

Five years ago I sat on a panel with Sharron Rush, the executive director and co-founder of a non-profit in Austin called Knowbility. We’ve been friends ever since, and this week I’m flying with my Seeing Eye dog Whitney to hear Sharron give the morning keynote at this year’s Big Design Conference in Dallas.

Knowbility, Inc. helps make the internet and other technologies accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired, hearing impaired, have mobility impairments and cognitive or learning disabilities. Sharron’s keynote is titled “The Big Umbrella of Inclusive Design” and will focus on a recent challenge — how to design a voting system that works for all citizens, including those with disabilities. From the description on the Big Design web site:

Lessons learned — and those that we are still learning — have profound impact on design effectiveness and flexibility. As we design systems for inclusion, we find that as we remove perceived barriers we also solve unanticipated problems and improve user experience for all.

Here’s an understatement for you: accessible websites can really make a difference in a person’s life. Sharron’s non-profit sponsors a yearly conference/workshop about accessible technology, and I was fortunate enough to attend John Slaten Access University, (Access U) in Austin back in 2008 with two of my colleagues from Easter Seals.

Thanks to the efforts of programmers and website developers who value the importance of accessibility for the blind, speech synthesis allows me to Google to do my research, I’m able to fill out online forms on my own, I flip through websites to find information about events, times, locations, and on and on. All that stuff the rest of you do using your eyes and a mouse? I do that by using my ears and keyboard commands.

Excuse the mixed-metaphor here, but Access U was really an eye-opener for me. It was heartening to be around so many people with an active interest in keeping the web accessible. Now I look forward to heading to the Big Design conference and applauding Sharron Rush’s efforts.

Capturing that moment of joy

by Bob Glowacki

I was going through my twitter feed and found an amazing video showing a father seeing his child walk for the first time. Do you remember when your child first walked, the stages he or she went through? First, learning to stand by, holding an object they might be tempted to walk towards? After they learn to stand, they just think about getting to something they want. As a parent, you put out their favorite item to tempt them to walk and finally it happens like a thunder bolt, they walk. They never stop walking. Your life changes as a parent, now the world is accessible to your child and you must protect them from cords, outlets, you name it.

The first steps in life, whether in walking or in learning to talk, are dramatic moments of growth, and it’s why we believe every child deserves the best start in life.

Over here at Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin, first steps like these are common, but we don’t always have video to catch that moment of joy in a parent’s eye. It is so special. And oh, did I forget to mention? The Dad in the video I saw was returning from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, and his son lives with Cerebral Palsy. His wife wanted this young father to see his son walk for the first time, and it all happened at the soldier’s homecoming.

So just watch this video, but I warn you: you may need a tissue! This moment reminds me of the tremendous sacrifices our men and women in the military and their families are making for us. Some are unable to see their child’s birth and others miss major moments in their child’s life from first steps to graduation.

With Memorial Day coming up, I hope you’ll put out your flag to salute these dedicated men and women. And if you see a veteran, make sure you thank them. Remember, freedom isn’t free. Someone else paid the price for us. God Bless America, and happy Memorial Day!

U.N. Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities is on its way

by Jennifer Dexter

Over 3,000 Easter Seals advocates sent a message to President Obama asking him to send the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on to the Senate so that they could APPROVE the treaty. Your voices were heard! On Thursday, May 18, the President transmitted the Convention to the U.S. Senate.

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities affirms that all people with disabilities must have the same rights and dignity as their non-disabled peers. As you can imagine, the rights and independence of people with disabilities varies greatly by country throughout the world. In some countries people with disabilities face unimaginable barriers to dignity and independence. In others, there may still be progress to be made in specific areas addressed by the Convention.

One of the great things about the Convention (which uses many of the same principles as the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act) is that it would create a base level of rights protection for people with disabilities in all countries that approve it.

More than 100 countries across the globe have added their support of the Convention. The U.S. Senate must approve the Convention before September 2012 in order for the United States to participate in the oversight body of the Convention and influence its implementation. This will allow us to assure that the Convention lives up to its promise.

Thank you all for your on-going support of people with disabilities all over the world. Easter Seals’ Office of Public Affairs will continue to monitor the ratification process and we will be calling upon you to further weigh in as the Senate addresses the treaty. For now, though, let’s enjoy this victory!

Letting everyone in the pool

by Beth Finke

It hurts to hear any story of discrimination against a person with a disability. When the discrimination is occurring right in your backyard, it’s especially painful.

A federal lawsuit filed this week by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan claims the Illinois High School Association (IHSA)is violating the rights of students with disabilities by not allowing them to compete in state athletic events.

The story of a high school junior who is paralyzed from the waist down and hopes to participate in the state’s swimming competition next school year has brought a lot of attention to the lawsuit. Sixteen-year-old Kate Callahan asked the IHSA, which regulates state high school athletic events, to establish a scoring system and accommodations that would allow students with disabilities to participate competitively in the track and swimming state finals. A Chicago Tribune story quotes Alan Goldstein, an attorney with Chicago-based Equip for Equity, saying that “close to half of the country is ahead of Illinois” when it comes to adopting policies aimed at making competition more inclusive for students with disabilities. Attorney General Madigan concurred:

“Every student athlete should have a chance to compete, including athletes with disabilities,” Madigan said in a statement Wednesday. “Many other states give student athletes with disabilities the opportunity to compete. Students in Illinois should have the same chance.”

It’s downright embarassing to think a lawsuit is necessary to make this happen in the state I live in. but in this case, I’m glad our attorney general went ahead and filed.