Lt. Gov. Calley Fighting for Children with Autism

Lt. Gov. Calley Fighting for Children with Autism

Heard a snippet about this autism advocate this morning as the alarm was going off. Seems there is support for autism coverage amongst Michigan's newly elected after all.

Update:  Here's a link to the video clip Lt. Gov. elect Calley sent to each senator describing his experience and why this bill is important.

Marquette-Alger Resolution Service and Mi Special Education Mediation

I got a call this morning from Jennifer Frazier, Executive Director of Marquette-Alger Resolution Service (aka MARS).  I've known Jen as a fellow mom for a few years, but didn't know anything about MARS.  She had just found out about our group. 

Apparently, her organization can help with all kinds of legal mediation, but in our case, their most relevant service is to contract with the Michigan Special Education Mediation Program.  Their volunteer mediators serve as neutral facilitators to help resolve issues that arise between the schools and families.  And better yet, there are no fees for the school or parents for Special Ed mediation or IEP Facilitation.  It's a service I hope I never need, but am really glad to know it exists.

As it turns out, Wanda Joseph, the representative for the entire northern half of the state of Michigan for the statewide program will be in town for our meeting.  At her request, she'll be attending the meeting and giving a brief introduction to their services. 

Autism talk tonight in Gwinn

Barb Nelson from MARESA will be giving a talk on autism at the Community Resource Center at KI Sawyer Elementary School at 6:30 pm. All interested individuals are invited to attend to learn more about what autism is and how to recognize it in children. Questions can be directed to Chelsea Kallery in the Community Resource Center at 346-5567, ext. 2002.

Temple Grandin BBC Documentary

Found links posting to this 2006 BBC Documentary on Temple Grandin on another website.  Someone's broken it into five segments for You Tube.  It's nice coverage of both her and her life and work and nice coverage of the history and experiences of people with autism in general.

The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow - part 1

Part 2

Part 3 

Part 4 

Part 5 

Last night's Special Education Parents Advisory Committee Meeting

Transition services:  I attended the SEPAC meeting last night and learned a bit about transition services offered in this area.  The guest speaker was John Bingel, the Transition Coordinator at MARESA.  As he explained, the education system in this area tries to start the dialog and thinking process of what adult life will be like for your child around age 14.  Legally, in the state of Michigan, IDEA requires transition planning for all students who receive special education services beginning at the age of 16.  If you are interested in learning more about how to help your child transition into adulthood, whether you require life skills training or college prep information, you may want to contact John Bingel (226-5143) for further information.


U.P. Special Education Conference 2011:  I also learned that MARESA is in the planning phase for the 2011 Special Education Conference.  The theme this year is "When we know better, we do better."  I've added the dates, February 24-25, to the calendar on the left.  As plans are firmed up, they will be added to the MARESA website on the conference page.  The SEPAC committee plans to host a breakout session in order to introduce parents to who they are and what they do and to share information with other Parent Advisory Committees through out the U.P.

Update:  If you are a professional and would like to present at this conference, there is a call for presenters out with a deadline of December 3.  The application is available from the MARESA home page.  

Other talk included discussion on next summer's Lose the Training Wheels camp, a program sponsored by SEPAC.  It is tentatively scheduled for mid June.  More information forthcoming.  Also under discussion is  possible ice skating training this spring for special needs kids to be held at Lakeview Arena. 

I learned a little more about SEPAC organization in general.  Official members of the group are actually appointed.  Once a person expresses interest and is approved (by the school board?), they are then paid a stipend of $25/month to attend meetings to help cover child care and travel expenses.  So if you were thinking you couldn't possibly come to these meetings, do think again.  The group present last night was small and friendly.  Luanne Peterson, MARESA's Director of Special Education was there as well as a representative from the school board.  They were very receptive when I presented information about the blog and upcoming support group meeting.  I can tell by a little leap in my stats since last night that they are already helping get the word out. 

If you are interested in attending, the next meeting is Thursday December 16, 6:00 pm at Coco's restaurant.  (They like to make the meeting before Christmas festive.)  If you are interested in attending, you can contact the group and learn more at their website.

Five days left for ASD State Plan public feedback

The draft state plan summary can be found online at http://www.asdplan.cenmi.org/StatePlanDocuments.aspx.  On the left side of this website you will see a link for "Surveys" for both parents and educators.  Feedback on the proposed plan summary closes on November 15. 

This summary will then be followed by a complete plan, which will be made available for comment in April.

I haven't been aware of this project before this evening (I am new to this whole scene), but glancing through the material, it looks like this will be a very important document for all of us who care for someone on the spectrum.

Time for a vote on Autism insurance coverage in Michigan

The organization Autism Speaks is behind a push to get the vote on insurance coverage on the Michigan Senate calendar before the end of the year.  If it doesn't happen before the newly elected group takes over in January, it's going to be an even harder sell.  Mike Prusi (D), senator for the Marquette area (and most of the U.P.), did not run in this last election.  Tom Casperson (R) will be replacing him.
If you care about this bill getting passed, you will want to contact Senator Prusi as soon as possible to let him know that it needs to get on the calendar. You can send a message to Senator Prusi at this web site and find senators and their contact information for all the districts at this web site.

Some more stats

I got the following from Marquette Area Public Schools:  As of December 2009, they had 25 students with a school diagnosis of autism out of a total of 3,147 students.