Autism Spectrum Disorders Conference for Parents of Children in the Autism Spectrum

Conference Coordinators: Martha Jones, CPNP and Frank Aiello, III, MD, Developmental Pediatrics, CHKD

We want to put on a conference for parents rather than professionals and to do this without sponsors, continuing education credits, or formal/traditional advertising.  Information is being sent via email to parent support groups and a few agencies that work with children in the spectrum.  Please feel free to forward this information to other parents who might be interested.

Date: September 29, 2008 (Monday)
Time:   Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. (Coffee, tea, and ice
water will be provided)
Location:   Brickhouse Auditorium (Located on the 2nd floor of Sentara
Norfolk General Hospital)
Cost: $5.00 (collected at registration)

To be able to provide the conference at minimal cost, it will be “paperless” (without handouts provided).  You may want to bring some paper to write notes. We are hoping to have a website to access speaker handouts following the conference. Please bring a bag lunch/snacks if desired/drink.  (Food is also available at the SNGH cafeteria).

Parking is on your own, cost approximately $8.00/day.

It is highly recommended that people carpool as parking in the area can be challenging.  There is a parking garage directly in front of SNGH and several other lots surrounding the hospital.  Allow a bit of extra time to park!

Childcare is not available.

Speakers and Topics

9:00 - 10:30 Diagnosis, Etiology, Coexisting Disorders, Medications Frank Aiello, III, MD

10:30 - 11:15 GI and Allergy Issues Associated with Autism  Gregory Kobak, MD (GI, CHKD) and Angela Hogan, MD (Allergy, CHKD)

11:15 - 11:30 Break

11:30 - 12:15 Educational Issues/IEP Strategies  Nancy Lobos-Nguven, Ed.D. (Educational Consultant, Developmental Pediatrics)

12:15 -   1:00 Lunch (on your own–bring bag lunch and network with other parents)

1:00 -   1:50 Complementary and alternative Therapies (CAMS)  Martha Jones, MSN, CPNP

1:50 -   2:30 Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Behavioral Strategies Wendy L. Fitch, M.Ed., BCBA, Director of Step By Step Consulting/Rivers Bend Academy

2:30 -  3:00 “The Social Butterflies Club” (Pragmatic/social language therapy)  Rhonda Osisek, M. S., CCC-SLP, and Director of Atlantic Speech Therapy;  Heather Daniels COTA, Therapy Choice Occupational Therapy

3:00 - 3:30 Social Skills Groups for Older Children and Teens with HF ASD/Asperger Disorder Beverly Bullock, LCSW (Developmental Pediatrics and CHKD Social Work Department)

RSVP by email only to Martha.jones@chkd.org

Please!!!! No phone calls to our office regarding the conference as we are seeing patients during the day and we keep our staff very busy.

Responding to emails will happen following working hours and you will be sent a confirmation number.  If you don’t have email, please have someone else RSVP for you.  There is limited seating but we will keep a wait list to fill any cancellations.

If you find you cannot attend, please let us know so that someone else can move off the wait list.  We are initially holding some seats for patients in our practice.  So please indicate if you see Martha or Dr. Aiello in your email.

In your email please include: first/last name, phone number, address andwhere you heard about the conference.  It will be fun to see how the “parent network” works in Tidewater!

Regina A. Myrick, President

a’Gene Brittnae’ Myrick Foundation, Inc.
www.ragenebmyrick.com

Saturday August 9, 2008

Join us as we show our appreciation to the Navy with extra special savings…enjoy unlimited access to Kings Dominion including WaterWorks Waterpark PLUS an All You Can Eat Picnic in our exclusive catering pavilion. You’ll enjoy Fried Chicken, Hot Dogs, BBQ, Cole Slaw, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Rolls, Soft Drinks, Iced Tea, and Ice Cream Treats…All for only $34.95 per person Regular and $28.95 Jr. !

All tickets available online at www.kingsdominion.com. Simply click “tickets” then “corporate partner”. Your company ID is: NAVYDAY

This event is open to all active duty, reserve, retired, DOD, OHS, and all friends and family of our Navy! But hurry! Last day to purchase these tickets is midnight August 6, 2008.

Want more information? Click here to get the Navy Day Flier

SAN ANTONIO ?? Operation Homefront’s 30 chapters are helping military families get their children ready to go back to school. The nonprofit organization is now collecting new school supplies for children of all ages to save low?income military families a major expense.

ll items collected for the Back?to?School Program will fill backpacks for thousands of needy military school children. Operation Homefront chapters will distribute more than 15,000 stuffed backpacks this chool year. Items needed include: spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, notebook paper, rulers, colored pencils, calculators, erasers, etc.

School supplies are expensive – yet important,” said Meredith Leyva, a founder of Operation Homefront. “Without donations from the community, low?income military families are forced to spend hundreds of dollars to properly equip their children for a good education.”

To register to receive school supplies or to donate school supplies to a military child, please contact your Local Operation Homefront chapter. A listing of chapters can be found here.

The HAMPTON ROADS CHAPTER website for Operation Backpack can be found here. If you would like to donate please visit that link - if you are a military family who needs to participate by receiving a backpack please fill out the form here.

Items Needed:

Back packs – all sizes
Spiral notebooks
Pens
Pencils
Markers
Crayons
Notebook Paper
Notebooks
Rulers
Colored Pencils
Calculators
Erasers

And anything else to get a child ready for the new school year!

(This post was also posted on another one of my blogs, but, since it happened during a deployment I thought my readers here would “enjoy” it - or, cringe right along!)

Adding to the list of “Things I Couldn’t Handle” would be a toilet overflowing and flooding almost an entire (carpeted) living room. This is what happened to my friend yesterday. I mean, the carpet is drenched! I told her when she called this morning that I’d probably just stand in the middle of it all the cry. So, she had friends come over the steam clean. Oh goodness, I honestly would freak … So, her kids are spending nights over various friends’ houses - last night our one friend got three, tonight I get the baby (I get to practice! lol). He’s a great baby, so we will be fine. I just hope insurance or something will cover part or all of the carpeting or something. Oh goodness …

She’s only got a couple weeks left. She’s only got a couple weeks left! She’s done amazing thus far, she can handle this also. Military wives are AMAZING - seriously.

CSM Robert Prosser and LTC Erik Kurilla
1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four)
LTC. Erik Kurilla and CSM. Robert Prosser’s story is an amazing one. One that Michael Yon has told far better than I ever could. Warning. The site contains very graphic images. Some may want to turn off images before viewing.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.