Thanks to Parents Magazine for spreading the word

by Rachel Talen

We’re so happy our friend Kara Corridan at Parents Magazine included us in her blog post, Is Autism Being Diagnosed Too Late?

Kara shares our concerns about the age of diagnosis for kids with autism. We’re thankful she’s helping us get the word out and letting people know that Easter Seals is here to help!

Through generous support from CVS Caremark, we’re able to offer free access to Brookes Publishing’s Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ). When parents and caregivers go to the questionnaire, they can complete the online screening to see whether their child is developmentally on track.

Personally, I’ve had a lot of fun creating materials, pitching and writing about the ASQ — I think it’s such a cool tool! I’ve sent the link to all my friends with young kids.

Like Kara said in her post, the ASQ does not offer a diagnosis, but it can definitely help you share your concerns with your child’s pediatrician. We hope that you’ll share the link with your friends — and we can all help lower the age of diagnosis.

Where the action is

by Katy Beh Neas

I’m the Senior Vice President of Government Relations at the Office of Public Affairs at the Easter Seals Washington, D.C. office. I’m so pleased to be asked to be one of the guest bloggers on our new revamped Easter Seals blog.

I am a spokesperson for Easter Seals and have been an advocate for people with disabilities for a long, long time. Early on in my career I was legislative staff to Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D.-Iowa) of the Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy and worked on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Right now we are working to support the Keeping All Students Safe Act (S. 2020/HR 1381) because we want school personnel to be properly trained so that they and the students they educate are safe and can be successful in school.

Easter Seals advocates strongly at the federal and state level so that every child with a disability has the right to an appropriate education AND teachers have the supports they need for these kids to make meaningful academic progress. However, not all school personnel have the necessary training to meet the needs of children of all abilities at school, whether in the classroom, on the playground, or on the bus. As a result, tens of thousands of children are inappropriately restrained or secluded.

The US Department of Education and the General Accountability Office confirm that the majority of children who are abused or die at the hands of school personnel are students with disabilities. Shockingly, there are no federal rules against the use of restraint and seclusion in our nation’s public schools.

Our kids must be safe at school. Tell your senators and your representative to pass the Keeping All Students Safe Act.

My work here at the Easter Seals D.C. office keeps me right where the action is when it comes to disability legislation like this. I get to develop and implement strategies for influencing Congress, federal agencies, and others to increase opportunities for young children with disabilities and their families. I am proud to advocate for children and adults with disabilities and their families, and I look forward to keeping you informed.

The count is up — more autism services are necessary

by Patricia Wright

Data released from the CDC today indicates that as many as one in 88 children who were 8 years old in 2008 had an autism spectrum diagnosis. When the prevalence of autism goes up like this, the question most people ask is … “why?”

The question Easter Seals asks is: “How can we build capacity to effectively serve this increasing number of people living with autism?” Our focus has always been on services and supports. While many other organizations are researching the etiology of autism, Easter Seals continues to work hard to promote effective services and supports so that individuals with autism can achieve the best outcomes in life.

Another component of the data is the age of diagnosis. This data reports that the median age of diagnosis is 48 months for Autistic Disorder, 53 months for ASD/PDD and 75 months for Asperger Disorder. Given that autism can be accurately identified at 24 months, we have a lot of work to do in the area of early identification. Easter Seals is championing early identification and treatment with our Make the First Five Count campaign. If children aren’t diagnosed early I fear that they are not getting the treatment that affords them the greatest opportunity for success. We simply MUST improve our efforts in early identification.

Just flew home from China — my angel wings are tired!

by Patricia Wright

I just returned from China, where I had the opportunity to spend time with and learn from the autism service and support community in Anshan. The opportunity to work internationally is a wonderful component of my job here at Easter Seals — I learn so much from working in other cultures.

Easter Seals collaborates with the Five Project. This organization and its team members have been promoting autism awareness and professional skill development in China since 1992. This trip included an intensive training week at the Anshan Angel Wings Autism Program. I wrote a post here about a two-week visit to this program back in January 2011 — it was great to see familiar faces and witness all the progress first hand.

Last Friday, just before I left, the Angel Wings Program hosted a community training for parents, community members and members of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation of Anshan. The training was a huge success — more than 200 people attended.

All too often international work consists of simply providing a lecture to a large group. Large group lectures are great at conveying information, but they do not translate to practice. The opportunity to spend extended time on-site is what provides true meaning for me — intensive on-site coaching and modeling for teachers with children provides true professional development and improved teaching practices. A plan is in the works to have me return to China in June — I can’t wait!

In full bloom

by Rachel Talen

Early spring is such an exciting time for Easter Seals! With autism awareness month around the corner, media is buzzing and things are in full bloom here at headquarters!

Last Thursday was a big day for the campaign I’ve been working on for the last year. Make the First Five Count, which advocates for young kids with disabilities, was recognized by PR News as a leading campaign for Advocacy and Lobbying Efforts. Katy Neas, the Senior Vice President of Government Relations here at Easter Seals, came with me to represent Easter Seals as one of five finalists in this category at the Nonprofit PR Awards Luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Make the First Five Count holds a special place in my heart. Since last March, I’ve been able to see it mature from its beginning phases on paper to a recognized initiative that’s truly raising awareness around early intervention services and making real differences in the lives of kids with disabilities.

I may have over tweeted a bit last Thursday, but it was such a perfect, sunny day in D.C. (apparently Cherry Blossoms are a thing there?) and I was excited to explore the city. As I walked around, I couldn’t help but think about how powerful this campaign was to unite Easter Seals across departments and across the miles (from our headquarters in Chicago to our Office of Public Affairs in D.C.) through our respective work on this baby. So if we’ve got a little P.R. swagger here at Easter Seals headquarters — you know why!

I’ll keep you updated on all things media and Make the First Five Count. So stay tuned!

And now here’s more!

by Patricia Wright

The Easter Seals Autism Blog has been a great success. The opportunity to write about autism issues and hear from the blog readers via their comments has been a fun part of my job as National Director of Autism Services here at Easter Seals. Easter Seals provides a wide-array of services and supports in addition to our work in autism, so I’m excited that the Autism Blog is morphing into the Easter Seals Blog.

I have specialized in autism for many years but started out my teaching career as a special education teacher, teaching children with all disabilities. I found myself drawn to children with autism but I thoroughly enjoyed working with children with physical and intellectual disabilities, too.

My personal mission has always been one of social justice, working to ensure that individuals with disabilities are full participants in society. The disability community, including those living with autism, often work together to promote awareness and inclusion.

I look forward to continuing to write blog posts about autism, and I know readers will appreciate hearing news about the greater disability community here, too. The new Easter Seals Blog will be a great forum to share information about our services and supports and for the disability community to engage in dialogue.

Notice anything different?

by Beth Finke

Notice anything different? I sure hope so! Easter Seals has been working long and hard to expand our blog into one that covers other disabilities, in addition to autism, and today’s our launch day!

If you’ve been following the Easter Seals and Autism blog already, you know that my name is Beth Finke, and I’m the Easter Seals Interactive Community Coordinator. And if you’ve been reading very closely over the past six years, you also know that I am blind. That means I have first-hand experience with the resourcefulness it takes to live with a disability — I use assistive technology. A computer program called JAWS reads the text on my screen out loud. That’s how I’m able to read your comments to the blog. I also have a grown son who has developmental and mental disabilities of his own. What that all means is I am familiar with — and have an inherent interest in — the services and feelings you all are writing about when it comes to dealing with disabilities. You are not alone, and we want to hear from you.

We will still be covering autism on our blog, of course, and we’ll also talk about Easter Seals and its services to children, adults and families … with all sorts of other disabilities as well. My fancy-schmancey Interactive Community Coordinator title means I’m the one who will be moderating this new edition of the Easter Seals blog. I’ll keep my ear open for articles and news involving people with disabilities, then ask our featured bloggers and spokespeople at Easter Seals affiliates across the country to write blog posts about those things. They’ll email the posts to me, I’ll use my talking computer to edit them and add html code, and, presto!

And that’s where you come in. It’s my job to read through the comments you leave on our blog, and I hope you’ll weigh in with comments and questions. When appropriate, I’ll forward your comments to Easter Seals blog authors and information and referral staff for answers. We want you to feel comfortable sharing information and interacting — that way, this online community will thrive. So please keep your comments, questions and recommendations about life with autism and other disabilities coming. It’s a privilege to hear from you.

Read Beth Finke’s biography.

Read all about us in Parents Magazine

by Kristen Barnfield

All of us at Easter Seals are so jazzed that the April issue of Parents Magazine is hitting newsstands and subscribers’ hands this week! The April edition prominently showcases our Make the First Five Count initiative to its more than 8 million readers — young moms and dads across the country.

Make the First Five Count is our awareness and advocacy effort designed to give children with or at risk of autism, developmental delays or disabilities the right support they need to be school-ready and build a foundation for a lifetime of learning.

Every year, more than one million young children with unidentified disabilities enter school with learning and health issues that put them far behind their peers and have a lasting, negative effect on their ability to meet their full potential. Many will never catch up. But we know young children with special needs, autism and developmental delays can succeed in school alongside their peers if they receive early intervention services — therapies that work to strengthen their physical, social, emotional and intellectual abilities at a very young age.

Through this feature, Parents is really helping us spread the word about the importance of early intervention. We want every parent to know more about their child’s development, where to go for help if something doesn’t feel right, and how to take action early.

It’s a message that rings true with Easter Seals’ family of corporate partners, too. We’re thrilled CVS Caremark and our other corporate partners made this 4-page spread in Parents possible. It highlights different ways these companies are working to raise awareness and funds for Easter Seals services for young children. Be sure to pick up the April issue on newsstands now to learn much more about Make the First Five Count.

Traveling over spring break?

by Beth Finke

We live in Chicago, and trust me, O’Hare International Airport can be an overwhelming sensory experience for anyone, let alone a child with a disability like autism. Our son Gus is 25 years old now, and he’s only flown with us twice. The first time, he was 2 years old. After the second time, when Gus was 10 years old, we vowed he’d never fly with us again. But now maybe we’ll consider giving it another try.

The Autism Program of Illinois, The Hope Institute for Children and Families, and Have Dreams have come together to create aviation accessibility kits they say could make the trip from ticket counter, through security, on to the gate and finally into the air easier for people on the autism spectrum.

The kits lay out the steps involved in moving through an airport in words and pictures, and although they were made with the help of the Chicago Department of Aviation, they are intended for use at many other airports across the state and country.

So like I say, maybe it’s worth another try. Airline tickets may be expensive, but hey, you can download the aviation accessibility kits for free!

Puppy love!

by Beth Finke

Yesterday morning my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I caught a commuter train to Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region to visit the Lily Garden Child Care Center, an inclusive preschool and child care program for children with or without disabilities. The Lily Garden Child Care Center offers full and part-time child care to children from the community, children enrolled in therapy services, their siblings and children of Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region employees.

The Lily Garden Child Care Center is working on a new project this year that features guest authors who come to read to the kids. They thought it would be especially appropriate for me to read from a Braille version of my children’s book Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound, and they were right. We had a ball!

I’m sure some of the kids at the Lily Garden Child Care Center had autism, but truth is, without being able to see them, I couldn’t tell. Some were scared of Whitney, some couldn’t stop petting her, others gave her kisses. Some seemed shy, others went on and on and on and on and on and on about their own dog at home. Which were symptoms of autism, and which were symptoms of … well … childhood? Who knew? All we did know is that something different was happening in the room today, and that we were all having fun.

A big thank you to the folks at Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region for inviting us out today. It was a privilege to be part of your reading program.