There were professionals there from several area agencies: Pathways, Bay Human Services, SAIL; and Early On. Rep. Steve Lindberg was there as well as a rep from Senator Debbie Stabenow's local office. Laura Reissner from NMU's education department who coordinates the autism endorsement program was there as well as Peter Holliday from NMU Student Services. Serving the public schools, we had the special education coordinator from Ishpeming Schools, the Superintendent of Special Education for all of MARESA, the SEPAC president, and Barb Nelson, autism consultant. Outpatient therapists from Bell Rehab Services at Teal Lake were there as well.
The discussion was organized by life stages: Birth-three, preschool age, school age, and adulthood. For each stage the goal was to identify available resources and needs. I learned a lot, took notes and will have something up here in terms of general minutes in the next few weeks. In truth, right now my head is still spinning! By April, autism awareness month, the goal is to have a document that will be widely distributed throughout the area, listing available resources.
Many thanks to all who participated in the summit!
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