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Finding Your Community… Team (ART) receives are for information about autism and community services. Common requests are for connections to peer groups, recreation, and parent support groups, among others. Finding community matters. It creates a sense of purpose, provides a means to build social …

Parent Support Group (Virtual)… struggling to cope with your child’s diagnosis? Are finding it difficult to balance work, parenthood, and self-care? Our group can help! Our Virtual Parent/Caregiver Group is aimed towards helping parents/caregivers of individuals with special … Designed for Parents/Caregivers of individuals with special needs, looking to build awareness, education, and a network of support. Our groups are geared to teach, build confidence, and provide tips and strategies. Join us to: -Learn more about …

Why I advocate for Direct Support Professionals… by Kit Peterson, a grandmother of a young man on the autism spectrum. She is an advocate for fair pay for the direct support professionals who have become family to people like her grandson. Despite how difficult it was to accept our … are impacted: it begins right in Albany, but can reach far beyond New York State. We must raise our voices on behalf of a group who often cannot speak for themselves; they are our grandchildren. They need direct support professionals who can …

Expert Q&A: Supporting siblings of autistic children with aggressive behaviors … for the other child and have long term effects if unaddressed. It's important for parents and caregivers to know how to support their children through these challenges by acknowledging their feelings, keeping lines of communication open and teaching healthy coping strategies. Support groups can be a valuable tool, giving both siblings and parents a safe space to share their experiences and learn new …

Meet Kim M. … seventeen months old, she felt alone, overwhelmed, and terrified. When the autism diagnosis came, she gave her son all the support she could to give him the best chance at an independent life. By the age of 6, Kim says, “his father and I knew … his own. Despite all his progress, he would need 24/7 supervision until the day he died.” She wanted to create a loving, supportive, safe forever home for her boy. “It has become the driving force of my life,” she says. Throughout the years within this community, she has made many friends with parents who also have profoundly autistic kids. Within this group, the idea for HomeLife21 was born. The friends' group came up with the idea to create their version of a group home …

Why a mother-daughter running duo teamed up for Autism Speaks… Christel, Iowa Wesleyan ’88, decided to check out different race options online. She saw that through Disney you can run in support of various charities, including Autism Speaks. Christel and her daughter Samantha, Iowa Wesleyan ’14, decided to … signed up for the races six months in advance and began training 16 weeks before the race. “Everyone has so many different groups and causes to support, so it was hard for me to ask people to give to another cause. Putting myself out there on social media and asking …

Challenges of COVID-19 disruptions: Guidance for autism service providers… lockdowns have been in place for a month or more. We hope this guidance will help you to continue your important work supporting people with autism and their families. Prepare before lockdown/during minimally restricted movement : Set up a … and prioritize the immediate needs for each family, including basic needs (food, medication, shelter) as well as caregiving support. If your health system has a patient portal or other way to communicate through the electronic health record, now is … tools, digital downloads, videos and other specific needs that families may request. Try to set up a caregiver support group via an online platform, such as Facebook groups or other technology such as WeChat, where parents and caregivers can …

Meet Greg and Julie Y.… Yawitz is one of the lucky ones, able to turn her passion for crafting into a career thanks to her parents’ unwavering support. Each morning she hops in the car with her mom, Julie, a former adolescent therapist and special events coordinator, to head over to their newly opened AR Workshop , a do-it-yourself craft studio that offers individual and group classes to create the latest on-trend designs on customizable decor accessories. Working alongside her mom also … with countless families through the years through the Autism Speaks Walk events, and they continue to fundraise and walk in support of “Kaitlyn’s Crew.” “The best part of being on the board is directly helping the people who need it the most. If …