Gretings Everyone -

Sorry for the long delay in updating the site and sending out a newsletter. I spent over a month suffering with steroid induced rosacea and little time online due to the severity of it all and being on three different meds.

I have had Nick's matriculation IEP and he is all enrolled in California Virtual Academy. I need to mail a few more items and then discuss his placement level with the teacher. An article will be forthcoming when it is all sorted out with resources, etc. He graduates on Wednesday, so we have a week to go see some movies and visit the Zoo while Matt is still in school and on the 30th Matthew turns eleven.

Matthew's IEP was started and was tabled since the Adaptive PE was not there and time was short for the meeting. It will reconvene two days before school gets out. His school is changing from year round to traditional, so that means an extra three weeks of summer vacation for Matt, after summer camp. We got approved for the Achievable Foundation grant to pay for camp for each kid and will share more in an article on consents and incident reports that is in the works.

I read an advertisement two weeks ago in the Sunday Parade supplement and think this product will be essential in getting Matthew toilet trained. The cheapest version sells for $99.00 and is called The Solution Comfort Seat at http://www.comfortseatusa.com


I found two interesting articles today online that I feel are worth sharing.

Children with autism attend practice birthday parties:

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070617/NEWS03/706170434

I like the concept but the price of one session set at $225.00 is very extreme and not something I would consider. But after reading the article it gives me some ideas to try to implement with my kids and share with therapists and camp Director.

The other story from a 'Pillow Angel'

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/319702_noangel17.html

This is an enlightening article from Anne McDonald. She made a movie with her teacher called Annie's Coming Out that won an award in 1984 in Australia. I am now looking into finding that since it tells her story. The comments are quite interesting too. In fact, I reported one as being cruel to the author.

Here's the latest article from the Autism Spectrum Disorders site at BellaOnline.com.

Show Jo Language Development Books
Reviewing two board books that utilize a stuffed bear to perform tasks done in three easy steps using real photos to encourage language skills.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51500.asp

Leap Frog Toys Suitable for the Nonverbal Autistic Child:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51480.asp

I wrote an article on Cancer Insurance Options at the Insurance site, if you are interested. Being the single parent to two kids with autism I tend to go overboard on purchasing insurance, just in case.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51254.asp


Please visit http://AutismSpectrumDisorders.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Autism Spectrum Disorders.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Autism Spectrum Disorders located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=365

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Bonnie Sayers, Autism Spectrum Disorders Editor
http://AutismSpectrumDisorders.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com