Sing SOS raises Autism Awareness Through Music

Sing SOS is raising Autism Awareness through donations for great music by famous artists. As we are music lovers and support Autism Awareness we wanted to share some information on the noble organization.

Enjoy this video from one of the artists – The Cucumbers (Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes) play “Understand” from SOS, Songs of The Spectrum. At the Record Collector, Bordentown , NJ
March 6, 2010

From the Sing SOS “More About” Page

Our Mission

To use the power of music to raise awareness, funds and spirits in the struggle against autism spectrum disorders. We seek to raise awareness, because true help will not arrive until society at large understands more about this baffling disease, and the life-altering power of early detection and intensive treatment. We seek to raise funds for the struggle, because the resources on hand are not yet a match for the work to be done. We seek to raise spirits because the parents involved face an isolating and dispiriting fight. Building a sense of hope, community and more widespread understanding is vital to sustaining and advancing their efforts. We Sing SOS — Songs of the Spectrum — not only to sound an alarm, but to rally an effective national response.

Why Sing SOS?

The Need:

The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders has soared over the last decade. Before 1990, children with autism were so rare that schools did not even count them. A year ago, over 190,000 students were officially categorized as suffering from autism; experts suspect that many thousands more are counted under other headings.

While advocacy groups have won increases in federal spending for research and are raising increasing amounts of money themselves, autism remains a poorly funded disorder compared with rarer childhood conditions. And while schools and pediatricians are doing a better job of finding and treating cases, the CDC estimates that half of affected children are diagnosed after the window of opportunity for most effective treatment has closed, and experts in the field estimate that as many as 80 percent of affected children get treatment that falls short of recommended minimums.

What We Bring To The Cause:

There have been many CDs made for charity. Most of them are collections of songs with no relation to the cause, though there have been a few that include songs that performers have written specifically for those projects. But we know of no other CD that takes a unified set of songs on a specific subject by writers steeped in the experience, and puts them in the hands of some of the best vocalists and song interpreters of their generation.

The songs attempt the impossible: to describe the experience of autism from the point of view of the parent and the child, and to go where that experience goes: into despair, hope, exhaustion, exhilaration, awe, anger, bitterness, determination and gratitude. If there is a single message in the body of work, it’s that early intervention and dedicated, relentless treatment can have a genuinely transforming effect. If there’s a single purpose, it’s to bring listeners inside an experience that is so hard to see and so hard to understand. Autism has been called the “invisible epidemic,” and for good reason. For those who are already living it, we hope to offer a mirror. For everyone else, a window. Or better, a doorway.

Our Artists:

The CD will include songs recorded by Jackson Browne (with Valerie Carter), Dar Williams, Marshall Crenshaw, Teddy Geiger, Jonatha Brooke, Richard Julian, Dan Bern (with Mike Viola), Don Dixon (with Marti Jones), Olabelle, Christina Courtin, Ari Hest, Kelly Flint and The Cucumbers.

The Story Behind The Music

The project began as a handful of poems John O’Neil scribbled on the train. He emailed some to Jon Fried, the father of his oldest boy’s best friend, after overhearing a conversation about unlikely songwriting collaborations. The first batch of songs poured out of Fried’s guitar in a rush, and over the next two years a cycle of songs took shape, representing many aspects of the disorder and the challenges families face, expressed in as many musical moods. Others contributing to the song collection, are Deena Shoshkes, Fried’s partner in leading The Cucumbers, and John’s son Chris, who wrote on the fears and feelings of a sibling of a child with autism.

With nearly two dozen songs in hand, John and Jon decided they could put the songs to work in the fight against autism. They launched SingSOS and sought well known vocal artists who would not only bring the music to life but also inspire interest in the project.

Funds for the project were raised in large part through house concerts where the Jon and Deena performed the songs and John told the story of the songs and the project. In events from New Haven to Los Angeles, the music has never failed to strike a chord. Dr. Ami,Klin, Director of Research at the Yale Child Study Center, joined the SingSOS board after the New Haven concert, saying that in all his time in the field he had never gotten such a strong sense of a family’s experience. In Los Angeles, the hostess at one concert interrupted to tell her friends and neighbors, “You have to understand — they’re singing my life!” After that event, Dr. Daniel Siegel, an author and psychiatrist at UCLA, offered to arrange for the group to present the material at the 2007 conference of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in Boston.

Other reactions have been equally meaningful. Jackson Browne recorded “Day After Day,” not only because of his sympathy for the cause, but because he found it “deeply spiritual.” And one of the many postings on our myspace site capture the impact we hope to have. “Thank you,” wrote one single mother of a boy with autism, who was in the midst of a battle with her school district. “I feel less alone.”

We believe that autism is a global problem with local solutions. The funds we raise will go to national organizations and local schools and autism service groups, all nonprofits. (source www.singsos.org)

New Web-Site “Autism Support Ireland”

New Web-Site “Autism Support Ireland” Provides Autism Support and Information

About Autism Support Ireland
Autism Support Ireland is a coordinated initiative which aims to enhance and support the whole person and family affected by Autism by providing access to information. The formal partners in the project are Irish Autism Action, Gheel Autism Services, Aspire, Tuiscint (Eastern Vocational Enterprises Ltd), ABAILE/Drogheda ABACAS School for Children with Autism and Cork Association for Autism. The project has been funded under the Enhancing Disability Services Programme.  Funds are provided by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the programme is managed by Pobal.

(source www.autismsupport.ie)

Rethink Autism Web-Based Autism Treatment Platform

Rethink Autism Highlights Web-Based Autism Treatment Platform at CARD Conference

Rethink Autism, a web-based curriculum platform for children with autism, will be represented at Florida’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) 17th Statewide Annual Autism Conference January 29-31. Rethink Autism is committed to helping CARD fulfill its mission of providing professionals and families in the autism community with cutting edge treatment tools that are consistent with the leading research in the field of autism intervention.

“All of the parents I work with through our Center want to know how they can best interact with their children in a way that promotes their development and success,” said Dr. Mae Barker, BCBA-D, Clinical Director of UF-Jacksonville CARD. “Many ABA-home programs suffer from the lack of parent training, which I am glad to see Rethink Autism addresses through the use of video modeling that clearly breaks down how to teach children skills.”

The Rethink Autism platform offers a student-centered curriculum through 1,200+ video-based lesson steps that are consistent with applied behavior analysis (ABA). Endorsed by the US Surgeon General and the American Academy of Pediatrics, ABA is the only treatment for autism that has been consistently validated by independent scientific research.

“In Florida, more than 10,000 students under the age of 17 have been diagnosed with autism. Teachers, professionals, and parents struggle to ensure that these children have access to the most effective intervention available,” said Jamie Pagliaro, Executive Vice President of Rethink Autism. “The Rethink Autism platform enables professionals, like those at CARD, to offer every child with autism an ABA-based education.”

The online assessment tools offered by Rethink Autism can also assist professionals working with a child to formulate appropriate goals and objectives for that individual student. The system automatically tracks the individual student’s progress, reformulates the curriculum based on mastery of skills, and allows teachers and parents to measure the treatment’s effectiveness.

About the CARD 17th Statewide Annual Autism Conference:
The purpose of the CARD 17th Statewide Annual Autism Conference is to provide information on state of the art practices in areas that promote best practices in education, early intervention, and quality community based life-styles for individuals with autism, deaf-blindness, and related disabilities.

About Rethink Autism: Rethink Autism, Inc. seeks to ensure that every child on the autism spectrum has access to effective and affordable research-based treatment options by providing professionals, parents, and family members with the tools and information necessary to teach children with autism in a way that is easy to understand and apply. Rethink Autism was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters at 19 West 21st Street in New York City. For more information, go to www.rethinkautism.com.

1 Out of Every 91 Children Autistic

According to the Department of Health and Human Services National Survey of Children’s Health, 1 out of every 91 children — 1% of American kids today — has an autism spectrum disorder.

• That’s up from 1 child in every 150, just a few years ago in 2007!
• These statistics don’t include adult prevalence or those children who remain undiagnosed

What do we do now?

Voice our concern at government inaction and we ask our elected officials to explain why though autism prevalence is skyrocketing, investment in treatment, services and support is stagnant.

Realize that this fight is up to us

How can I help?

• Donate now to help the Autism Society get the word out and continue their ever-more-vital programs to confront the autism crisis.
• Urge Congress to provide more funding for autism
• Raise Autism Awareness by sharing this information

What’s the bottom line?

Autism is treatable | We can make a difference now | Take Action

Additional Information from the DHHS Survey:

The weighted current ASD point-prevalence was 110 per 10,000. We estimate that 673,000 US children have ASD. Odds of having ASD were 4 times as large for boys than girls. Non-Hispanic (NH) black and multiracial children had lower odds of ASD than NH white children. Nearly 40% of those ever diagnosed with ASD did not currently have the condition; NH black children were more likely than NH white children to not have current ASD. Children in both ASD groups were less likely than children without ASD to receive care within a medical home.

$60 Million to Support Autism Research

Rising to the Challenge: NIH Will Use $60 Million in Recovery Act Funds to Support Strategic Autism Research

The National Institutes of Health will commit roughly $60 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to support autism research and meet objectives set forth earlier this year by a federal advisory committee. The Request for Applications is the largest funding opportunity for research on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to date and, combined with other ARRA initiatives, represents a surge in NIH’s commitment to finding the causes and treatments for autism.

Four grant announcements, sharing a single title, “Research to Address the Heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorders,” will use different funding mechanisms to support a range of research topics over the next two years. Examples of research topics include developing and testing diagnostic screening tools for different populations; assessing risk from prenatal or early life exposures; initiating clinical trials to test early interventions; or adapting existing, effective pediatric treatments for older children, teens, and adults with ASD. For a full listing of possible study topics, see the grant announcement listing in the NIH Guide (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html). While few trials can be completed in two years, ARRA funds will be important for jumpstarting projects and building the infrastructure or foundation for longer-term autism research efforts.

These topics correspond directly to short-term research objectives detailed in the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s (IACC’s) Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research (http://iacc.hhs.gov/reports/2009/iacc-strategic-plan-for-autism-spectrum-disorder-research-jan26.shtml), released earlier this month. Comprising representatives of federal agencies and members of the public, the IACC coordinates efforts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concerning ASD. The group’s strategic plan, created with the input of the scientific community, service providers, advocates, parents, and people with ASD, is organized around six critical questions asked by people and families living with ASD:

• When should I be concerned?
• How can I understand what is happening?
• What caused this to happen and can this be prevented?
• Which treatments and interventions will help?
• Where can I turn for services?
• What does the future hold?

Targeting Recovery Act funds toward objectives identified in the IACC strategic plan will help move the science forward sooner than anticipated in addressing some of the most significant challenges to understanding and treating ASD.

As part of the ARRA, these autism grants will promote economic recovery by creating and maintaining biomedical jobs, as well as supporting innovative projects to serve as platforms for future, longer-term research efforts. Beyond those who will receive direct funding for their work, these new grants will also benefit allied health workers, technicians, students, and other groups affiliated with the scientific research community. All grants funded by the ARRA and their outcomes will be posted on a new Web site, www.recovery.gov, providing transparency and accountability.

“The Recovery Act comes at an opportune time for autism research,” said Thomas R. Insel, M.D., NIMH director and IACC chair.” As reflected in the IACC strategic plan, we have a growing sense of urgency to help the increasing number of children being diagnosed with ASD. With the arrival of new funds, we can immediately start on many of the short-term objectives in the plan and use Recovery Act funds to support science that will facilitate the best possible outcomes for people with ASD and their families.”

As with all Recovery Act funds, NIH is required to obligate the $60 million within two years. Answering this mandate will entail a highly streamlined process for reviewing grant applications and allocating funds by Sept. 30, 2010. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of NIH, will lead this effort, with participation from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Researchers funded through these new autism grants will be expected to contribute to the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR). NDAR was established to serve the autism research community as a common platform for exchanging data, tools, and research-related information, as well as to serve as a portal to and for the broad autism research community. For more information about NDAR or data sharing policies, please refer to the funding opportunity announcements or see http://ndar.nih.gov.

In addition to the NIMH-led effort, NIH will allocate another portion of its ARRA funds for autism research and related programs through the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science initiative and other potential programs. These grants will be announced in the coming weeks.

The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. For more information, visit www.nimh.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation’s Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

The activities described in this release are being funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). More information about NIH’s ARRA grant funding opportunities can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/. To track the progress of HHS activities funded through the ARRA, visit www.hhs.gov/recovery. To track all federal funds provided through the ARRA, visit www.recovery.gov.

AutismPro and The Accident

We just discovered this unique program and want to spread the word – Autism Awareness!

Cynthia Howroyd, a speech language pathologist and clinical director, created AutismPro after becoming frustrated with her attempts to provide efficient and affordable guidance to those working with children with autism.

In 2001, Cynthia was working with no funding or trained autism personnel on staff when she became unable to travel for several months due to a car accident. While she recuperated, she used the pause in her hectic schedule to think about how to continue to meet her clients’ needs. She began imagining creative ways of applying technology to the problem.

Understanding how the expertise of professionals, the internet, expert system software, and online learning might be combined into a single solution, she developed the vision of a ‘virtual autism clinic’ that would dramatically increase accessibility to treatment guidance. After three years of struggle and determination, Cynthia gathered a team of experts to begin Virtual Expert Clinics Inc. in 2004. In 2006, Virtual Expert Clinics launched their first product, AutismPro Professional, designed to help caregivers design and deliver tailored intervention plans for young children with autism.

Helping  Schools and Clinics
With strong interest from school districts and early intervention centers across North America and worldwide, Virtual Expert Clinics has developed a package of software and consulting, training, and program-design services to help these institutions deliver autism programming to improve child outcomes. (Source www.autismpro.com)

PROMPT and Children with Autism

Manila – When a child is handed a diagnosis of autism, the most common educational “prescriptions” are the three-fold approach of special education, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Each addresses a host of challenges an individual with autism faces; each encompasses a wide variety of approaches and philosophies. And yet, nothing stumps more people than problems with communication. The ability to make purposeful sounds, to talk, and to communicate often seems like an elusive dream, especially for the more affected individuals in the spectrum.

It used to be said that when a child reaches the age of seven and still has not learned to speak, speech and language are inevitably lost causes. Whoever assigned the age of seven as the arbitrary cut-off point for speech and language obviously has not heard of PROMPT.

Maria Jerilee Casas, CSP, PASP is the only Filipino speech pathologist accredited by PROMPT Institute to give a public presentation on their behalf. And she will do so during Autism Society Philippines’ 11th National and 1st Southeast Asian Conference on Autism – “Autism Beyond Borders (where HOPE prevails)”. Teacher Jeri will discuss “PROMPT for Speech Production Disorders” on Oct. 24 at SMX Convention Center. A two-day post-conference workshop follows on Oct. 26 and at the Sky Dome of SM North EDSA.

PROMPT, or Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets, is a systematic technique of treatment for speech production disorders developed in the late 1970s by Deborah Hayden. While other approaches for speech therapy rely on purely auditory and visual inputs, PROMPT employs touch, positioning, and movement to allow the motor structures of the mouth to learn to work together to produce purposeful sounds, speech, and eventually, language.

The philosophy behind PROMPT is dynamic and integrates the different aspects of a human being. It takes into careful study not only the structures that produce sounds (the lips, tongue, vocal cords, facial muscles, among others), but also the other body systems that affect social interaction and motivation. This is particularly effective for individuals with autism considering their difficulties in skills that rely on purely imitation. However, while it is successful in helping communication problems in autism, this technique is a boon to anyone suffering from speech production disorders.

Aside from those with autism spectrum disorder, PROMPT method has been found to be effective in treating children or adults with diverse speech, language, and communication disorders and/or delay:
1. Dysarthria (motor speech disorder resulting from neurological injury)
2. Childhood apraxia (lack/loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements)
3. Hearing impairments (partial or total damage to hearing, congenital)
4. Dysfluency (loss of fluency – such as stuttering or stammering)
5. Articulation (the transition or continuity between multiple notes or sounds
6. Phonological (systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken language)
7. Developmental delays (with concurrent speech motor difficulties)

PROMPT suggests an approach to how evaluation needs to be carried out. It also gives a system that puts assessment results into intervention planning.

PROMPT is used to develop an interactive awareness and focus on oral communication through structure.

In the first few sessions, the child is required to give as much attention as possible to the task given. This means task interaction or to “be present” in the process provided him. The role of the therapist is to help the child focus. He helps the child organize strategies in case he has difficulty with attention – such as eye contact.

Another aspect is to require the child, at a minimum, to begin using vowel sounds in response to a request. Example: asking questions like “Do you want a cookie?”

As part of the structure, the therapist may initially slow down their rate of speech, lengthen the response time (or production time) required from the child, and use an imitative model.

The technique of PROMPT entails helping the child feel speech movements to form words and phrases in a functional context. For therapists, it is remarkable to be able to externally apply particular touch and pressure cues to the muscles of the face, under the chin, structures associated with voicing, nasality, and jaw movements (e.g. voice box, nose, and jaw) to promote muscle movements aptly for speech.

The production of the child’s utterance is supported through integrated auditory and tactile (with visual as a secondary source) feedback. Then one gradually works on the basic structure of the movement(s) needed for more accurate speech production asked of him as the child becomes able.

Usually within a session, the structure will move from focus and attention combined with motor-sound practice to learning interactive, functional routines or activities that incorporate turn-taking and using syllables or short phrases.

Both the therapist and parents are involved in developing goals so that the sounds, words or phrases that will be facilitated are relevant and meaningful to both the child and the people around him. More complex motor speech and language skills can then be worked on if the child has the capacity to expand these words and phrases.

Each child is considered unique; therefore program planning is tailored towards the child’s specific needs. It must be remembered that each child’s abilities and capacities will mean that he may be able to achieve more or less normalized vocal communication (with more or less precision)
but that the ultimate goal is always interaction and communication, by all or any means (vocal, gestural, pictorial etc.).

JP is a 2 year, 11-month old girl diagnosed with autism. She has been undergoing traditional speech and language therapy twice a week for eight months prior to receiving intervention using the PROMPT approach. She had a receptive vocabulary of familiar objects, animals, clothing items, and able to follow simple commands consisting of familiar verbs.

Her speech therapists reported that her verbal language skills continue to lag behind and her attempts to imitate words are far from the original model such as “hat” produced as “ada”. At home, she does not pay attention to people who greet her and ignores requests made by people familiar to her. She dislikes being with unfamiliar people and only plays with particular familiar toys. Play would be limited to putting items of the same color together and holding on to particular toy items.

Initial sessions with the PROMPT therapist would consist of throwing bad tantrums and ignoring the therapist’s attempts to interact with her. As her sessions became regular, she started paying attention to the clinician and attempting to produce simple consonant-vowel syllables.

After four months of treatment, J.P. is already able to participate in simple interactive games that requires turn-taking. She can indicate her turn by pointing to herself and saying “me” and therapist’s turn by saying “you”. She can also sing a few lines of familiar songs, and is now beginning to speak in phrases.

She responds to greetings and farewells and does not ignore people (even the not-so familiar ones) around her anymore. J.P. gets the therapist’s hand and putting it on her mouth whenever she experiences difficulty in saying a word modeled to her.

PROMPT’s philosophy greatly influences the decision on how, when or if to use the tactile-kinesthetic PROMPTs, and to what end purpose. Tactile/kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

There are three levels in the tactile-kinesthetic PROMPTs: Parameter, Syllable Complex and Surface. These will only be successful in providing input and changes to the speech production system when the therapist is fully aware of the ongoing dynamic interactions within and external to the child and family.

The therapist must consider the way in which information about the child is gathered, assessed and evaluated across perceptual-cognitive, sensory-motor/ physical, social-pragmatic, and emotional-behavioral domains; and how this information is then put together to make decisions about what the child has to use, needs to develop, or might never develop.

The ways in which the caregivers, the child and environment interact are also taken into consideration. It includes determining the best use of information and where it fits between the child and their physical, mental, emotional and environmental resources, as well as the kind of PROMPTing needed to achieve the most functional results.

The PROMPT approach uses touch to facilitate speech but not treat a child as just a mouth that needs to move and string sounds together to utter words. Its real essence is using the clinician’s hand to physically touch but only as a part of an entire system, approach and philosophy that can bring about positive and permanent change. It is a science of touching faces and mouths to talk but it is most importantly a great way to touch lives.

To hear more about PROMPT from Teacher Jeri and nine other local and foreign autism experts, attend ASP’s conference on “Autism Beyond Borders (where HOPE prevails).
For more info  visit www.autismbeyondborders.com

(source www.mb.com.ph)

How to Accept and Help an Autistic Student

RocknBauble suggests and recommends the following book

Marsha Rae Osborn Tells Story of Compassion, Acceptance in New Children’s Book

“Understanding Jason” (published by AuthorHouse), the new book written by Marsha Rae Osborn and illustrated by DeOnna Mills, tells the story of a group of typical students who learn from their teacher how to accept and help an autistic student, Jason, fit in with their class.

Told in playful rhymes with accompanying colorful illustrations,
“Understanding Jason” delivers a powerful message to children about respecting people’s differences. The story begins in an average classroom, where the students notice that one of the boys, Jason, is a little different from everyone else.

Osborn writes:
“We don’t understand,” kids say,
“Why does Jason act that way?
He is different from us all,
He can’t even catch a ball.”

Their questions about why Jason won’t or can’t talk to them opens a dialogue with their teacher about the ways in which Jason is different and similar to them. The teacher points out that while Jason might find it difficult to talk to the other children, play games with them and do simple tasks like opening jar lids, he is also a kid who can do many other activities. She reminds them of how well he can climb, name animals and learn sign language and numbers.

Through their conversation as a group, the students begin to understand how to include Jason in their class activities. The teacher impresses upon her students the need for compassion and kindness with other children who may be different from themselves, asking them to appreciate those differences. Ideal for children between kindergarten and second grade, “Understanding Jason” offers young readers and listeners alike insights into the world of autism.

Advance praise for “Understanding Jason”:

“Simple, easy to understand and an avenue to open communication about
disabilities with young children.” — United Cerebral Palsy of Huntsville &
Tennessee Valley

Marsha Rae Osborn is a Registered Nurse and the mother of two twin boys, one of whom has autism. She lives in Alabama with her husband and children. “Understanding Jason” is her first book.

For more information, please visit: http://www.understandingjason.com

Unique Farm Experience for Children with Autism/Aspergers

Pennyhooks Farm is a beautiful, small organic beef farm situated on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire border that has been owned by the Otter family for over 50 years. The Pennyhooks Project began 5 years ago and provides a unique experience to young people who have Autism/Aspergers Syndrome. The peaceful rural setting, supportive environment and the opportunity to have hands on experience in the running of a working farm as part of a team, provides a wealth of opportunity for personal growth and development.We offer the Countryside Stewardship Course, accredited by the OCN, with modules in:

• Animal Husbandry

• Conservation

• Leisure & Recreation

• Personal Development, Health & Safety

Further relevant life skills courses may also be available.

“Our aim is to provide a welcoming, accepting & interesting environment. We believe in our students and know that success leads to success. We give whatever support is required until students are able and confident enough to take part by themselves”.

We focus on developing the social and life skills that foster this independence, ensuring that all students reach their maximum potential and are helped to prepare for adult life.

A typical day at Pennyhooks Farm includes caring for the animals, conservation work on the water meadows and walks on the farm.

Practical activity is enhanced by the use of picture/word worksheets that are created to allow students with all levels of communication skills to participate.

Much care has gone into the design of the newly completed purpose built facility to ensure that the environment is peaceful, homely and safe.

Pennyhooks Project is managed by Lydia Otter, a Special Needs Teacher and Richard Hurford who is an experienced Probation Service Officer and Pennyhooks Farm Manager. They work with experienced and empathetic staff trained to support students and their families. Parents and carers are encouraged to participate in all aspects of a student’s experience at the Farm and are always welcome to visit.

The service is open to young people who have Autism Spectrum Disorder. The programme operates on all weekdays with students attending either daily or weekly, depending on their needs.

The courses run were developed by the Northmoor Trust and are accredited by the Open Colleges Network. We are members of the Soil Association, CLA & NFU and also of a group of like-minded people who are involved in Care in the Countryside that is headed by the Arthur Rank Centre.

Our service is tailored to meet the needs of individuals and we welcome further enquiries.

Pennyhooks Project
Pennyhooks Farm
Shrivenham
Wilts
SN6 8EX
info@pennyhooks-project.co.uk

http://www.pennyhooks.com

Autism Service Dogs

Support the Autism Service Dogs of America and Autism Awareness

We recently became aware of this great service and could not wait to put out the information as a nurse at an assisted living facility we use pet therapy routinely and it is of immense benefit to the patients.

In 2002, Priscilla Taylor, founder and director of Autism Service Dogs of America, incorporated her love of dogs and her background as a special education teacher and formed a service dog agency to serve the needs of children. With a rise worldwide in the number of individuals with autism, Ms. Taylor recognized the service dog gap that existed for American families and their children who live with autism. While many service dog agencies existed to meet diverse needs, none specifically provided specially trained service dogs to children with autism.

Pris received some of her education in raising and training assistance dogs at Assistance Dog Institute, the only institution of higher education for dog studies in the world.

Autism Service Dogs of America (ASDA) is a non-profit, community based organization that provides uniquely trained service dogs to children living with autism and their families. The placement of a dog with the child enables the child and family to increase their mobility and socialization as a family, and the child individually. In most cases the dog accompanies the child at all times when the child leaves home. The dog goes to school with the child and the presence of the dog calms the child, reduces emotional outbursts and serves as a positive social link for the child to their home, school and community.

More Info at http://autismservicedogsofamerica.com