1.19.10, Tuesday, Parent Support Group Meeting

Dear Parents and Professionals,

 

What an enthusiastic response I have been receiving to our upcoming presentation on  the Tuesday, 1.19.10 from 5:30PM to 7PM. 

 

We will be having an adult professional with Asperger Syndrome.  He will be addressing how he coped with social communication and sensory difficulties, especially throughout his adolescent.  In addition, he will highlight many of the successful strategies that he uses today.  This individual is articulate and insightful – worth a listen.  

 



Again, it is much appreciated if you RSVP if you plan to attend. Thank you,



Who: Parents or other caretakers

No students please



When: Tuesday, January 19, 2010

5:30 – 7:00 PM



Where: Room 605

Stockdale High School

2800 Buena Vista Road

Located at northeast corner of White Lane and Buena Vista Rd.

Please park in Buena Vista Road lot (just north of White Ln.)

Why:

Guest Speaker: Local Professional Adult with Asperger Syndrome

Discussing Sensory Integration, Disclosure, and Successful Strategies



A "Not To Be Missed" presentation and Q & A Session

Parent Exchange of Successes and Frustrations





RSVP by phone or email to Holley Arbeit, Speech-Language Pathologist

holley_arbeit@khsd.k12.ca.us 665.2800 X68

 



Holley Arbeit

Speech-Language Pathologist

 

Stockdale High School

Room 606

2800 Buena Vista Road

Bakersfield, CA 93311

 

Work: 661.665.2800X 68

Fax:  661.665.0914

Intradistrict: 62068

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Parent Support Group of Teens with Social Cognitive/Communication Needs and Kern Autism Network Conference

Who:  Parents or other caretakers

          No students please

          

When:  Tuesday, January 19, 2010

              5:30 – 7:00 PM

                    

Where:  Room 605

              Stockdale High School

              2800 Buena Vista Road

              Located at northeast corner of White Lane and Buena Vista Rd.

  Please park in Buena Vista Road lot (just north of White Ln.)

Why: 

v  Guest Speaker: Local Professional Adult with Asperger Syndrome

o   Discussing Sensory Integration, Disclosure, and Successful Strategies

o   A “Not To Be Missed” presentation and Q & A Session

v  Parent Exchange of Successes and Frustrations

 

 

RSVP by phone or email to Holley Arbeit, Speech-Language Pathologist

               holley_arbeit@khsd.k12.ca.us      665.2800  X68

 

 

Hello all,

 

I can’t let the 2009 year end without a head’s up on the January 19^th, 2010, Tuesday, Parent Support Group meeting.  This will be a “must attend” meeting.  A professional with Asperger Syndrome, working in a medically-related field here in Bakersfield, is willing to engage in a very open discussion about his experiences.  This person is amazingly articulate and insightful about life from his unique perspective.  He is able to truly paint a picture about his experiences with social and sensory integration difficulties and equally explain many of his strategies to become a successful, independent adult.  I strongly encourage you to attend this meeting.

 

The January 2010 meeting is NOT open to students.  While we may have a “repeat performance” at a later date which would be open to families, this individual has chosen to have his “debut” with only parents and professionals.

 

Please RSVP to me and see attached flyer.

 

FYI: The 15^th Annual Autism Awareness Conference will be Feb. 12, 2010 at the Marriott Hotel in Bakersfield.  For more information: www.Eventbrite.com Space is limited,  The speakers and the opportunity to see community resources at this event are impressive.

 

If there are other professionals or parents/caretakers in the community that you feel should be on this distribution list, please let me know or forward this to them.  If you want to “stop the world and let me get off”, let me know as well and I will remove you from this list.

 

Finally, I wish each of you a loving and giving holiday season.  I would also like to honor each of you, as parents and professionals , for caring to make this a better world for those experiencing the joys and the difficulties with communication.  We are fortunate to be able to form a community of support.

 

Holley Arbeit

Speech-Language Pathologist

Kern High School District

Stockdale High School

Room 606

2800 Buena Vista Road

Bakersfield, CA 93311

 

O:    661.665.2800

Fax: 661.665.0914

Intradistrict: 62068

November 17, 2009: Taft College TIL -- Transition to Independent Living

Taft College TIL -- Transition to Independent Living

Presented by:
Cindy Popejoy, Program Director, TIL
Taft College students currently enrolled in TIL

Last year's presentation of the TIL program was such a success that this year Ms. Popejoy brought several students to help present and answer questions.

The meeting started with a 13 minute film, "Realizing Independence", giving an over view of the TIL program's history from its beginning through its current goals and implementation. There were programs for the developmentally disabled since about 1976 that evolved an "jelled" into an independent living curriculum in 1995 with TIL, an independent living classroom situation where students are not graded but evaluated on how well they are progressing on life transferable basic skills. They follow up with students up to 10 years later for the sake of the students and to evaluate the program. Depending of the life skills area being followed up on, TIL has an 80%-98% success rate!

Currently there are 48 students in the program. They try to allocate 24 freshmen and 24 sophomores (though this year those numbers are different). Even though this is typically a two year program, the TIL staff are flexible when it comes to the needs of individuals. But be forewarned, this is an intense program geared toward training the student life skills and life/social skills success. It is evolving toward career training instead of job training. It includes self-defense and interpersonal skills. It involves a lot of self directing, self scheduling, self motivation, problem solving, and decision making. It helps the student transition from asking parents (and staff/authority figures) if something is "ok" to informing parents and staff of their plans, showing responsibility in the process.

For most parents and students in need of this, it is a godsend. So much so that there is a three year waiting list (local families get priority), and multiple interview/evaluation process. TIL is the only such program that I know of that is non-profit. It receives its funding because of the Higher Education Opportunities Act, which opens up education to the developmentally disabled.

Students spend the first year in the campus dorms. They will be assisted in finding jobs on campus that will be supplemented in part by the "rent" that SSI or parents pay for their dorms. They will be evaluated on living skills in the dorm setting -- scheduling their day, budgeting, paying their own way, all of these begin as part of their curriculum. During this and the next year, they will really only have time for maybe one or two night classes per semester-- the life skills curriculum is that intense. They have a fixed schedule of 30 hours a week in the morning with a more flexible scheduling options for their afternoon.

Students spend the second year in off campus housing. There are several houses available besides the couple that are owned by Taft College. All are less than a mile from campus, to transportation (walking) is not a problem. By the second year, students are usually responsible for all aspects of living in a rental situation -- planning, meals, shopping, rent, working, transportation, "what are we having tonight" pantry meals, etc. are all things they will be expected to do and be evaluated on. They will be working off campus in a real paying job. Students will graduate with Certificate of Completion. 25% of students continue to full time study. 75% of students go directly to jobs/careers.

The TIL program coordinates with Kern Regional Center (KRC), other California Regional Centers, and Supportive Living Services (SLS), who will follow up with their own programs after the student leaves the TIL program. Their philosophy is simply that since you are putting the money up front, the individuals will need less services later on. In these economic times, I wish many services would remember this simple truth. It could literally save millions later on.

Interpersonal relationships: There is also a weekend program no longer covered by regional centers that evaluates students' transition to normal leisure time. This and other activities are evaluated by completion of required activities, sometimes "ghosted" by staff. That means that staff are not seen but are available if needed. There is tremendous student peer support for such activities, so staff are often not required. The students are assigned to go on group dates, which they plan and go on together. After that is successful, they are then assigned to go on personal dates, which the couple again plan and successfully enjoy. The staff notes the progress in these interpersonal developments and gives feedback as needed.

The students who came to present were from all over the state -- local, Sacramento, Bay Area, and Northern California. The starting age for the program can be as young as 18 years old, though the average age is in the 20's. The staff is looking for a certain level of maturity for the program.

Financial Aspect: Regional Centers pay approximately $30,000 per year for the program itself. If the student is not receiving SSI, then parents will have to pay for the dorms in the first year. This amount, currently approximately $610 per month, pays for the dorm room, utilities, food, etc. As mentioned before, part of this amount comes back to the student as their pay for work study (on campus work). Next year, this too will be eligible for financial aid due to new legislation!

Back to the program ...: Life would not be real life without some problems. TIL takes the students through the following methods:

• CALM Method:
•• Calm down
•• Ask why I am feeling this way
•• Look for ways to feel better
•• Move on or let it go

• COOL Method

• "I" Statements
•• I feel ....
•• I want ....

There is also a student representative team to assist with conflicts and planning issues.

Trip plans in particular have to be made in detail:
• Who -- is going? -- are you going to see? -- are you going to tell of your plans (staff - required)? -- is your travel buddy (required)?
• What -- are you going to do?
• When -- are you going? -- are you returning? -- does the event start? • Where -- are you going?
• How -- are you going to get there? -- much money do you need (required)?
••• Local and distance transportation and be arranged through Kern Regional Transport (KRT) and Amtrak
• Why -- are you going? (to have fun? good enough!)
• Do -- you have what you need?

The students were asked the the following questions: Why did you want to be in the TIL program? What is hard for you? What is scary, surprising, or what are you learning? Their answers were inciteful.

• it helps you adjust to the real world

• personal finances are hard

• we get an end of year trip

• we plan and go on the trip

• staff goes separately

• adjusting to the weather

• town is very small -- everything is in walking distance and people all know you

• I like traveling

• reading class is hard

• leaving parents was hard

• if you need help you call friends or (girl)friend

• if you need (feedback) they do so privately, not publicly

• you will get homesick

• happy atmosphere

• you get to go home for holidays
plus more often if your parents are local

• learning to be on your own
happy to be independent

• get more freedom if they use it responsibly
to go to work

• earning money for what you want
doing things without parents by myself

•cooking was hard until I (got used to) the oven -- I was afraid for awhile

• most students relocate close to parents after they graduate from program

• curfews
•• freshmen: 10pm
•• sophomores: 11pm

The students are, on the whole, academically capable but socially disabled. 20%-25% of TIL's students are autistic. A lot of the classroom curriculum is social skills.

Roommates: During the first year, they do screen but they have found that actually matching people up doesn't work. By the second year, they are allowed to make first, second, and third choices. These are evaluated by staff. All of the off campus housing are in safe neighborhoods less than a mile away from the campus, within walking distance of the college.

The students can bring all the tech they want -- computer, laptop, TV, games, etc. There are no limits to "things" but rather how their things affect how they are supposed to function. They are responsible for the consequences of their behavior. They can flunk a class if they fall asleep or bomb the class because of their decisions.

In case of academic problems: No one wants to see a student fail a program designed to develop independence and build self esteem. So the following have evolved as safety measures and natural consequences of persistent behavior.
• the first and second warnings are between staff and student
the third warning, parents are involved only if the student agrees to such communication
• for legal reasons, the student must sign a paper agreeing to allow parent involvement for that involvement to take place
• the student doesn't have to sign the paper but they won't be let in the program without it

The meeting was still going well when time ran out and all met and mingled -- TIL staff and students, PSG parents and members -- before going home. Ms. Popejoy had said earlier that she was taking the students to Applebee's after the meeting -- we hope they had a great time.

---------------------

Bob Moawad --
"Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders."

Here is a link to the Taft Independent Living Program PLUS Op-Ed Contributor New York times | The Short Life of a Diagnosis By Simon Baron-Cohen

Here is a link to the Taft Independent Living Program that will be presented this Tuesday, Nov. 17th at the Parent Support Group.
 
http://web.taftcollege.edu/student_services/independent_living.shtml

In addition, below is an article related to an important controversy in the area of Asperger Syndrome which may be worth a discussion at the support group meeting.
 
Op-Ed Contributor New York times
The Short Life of a Diagnosis
By Simon Baron-Cohen
Published: November 9, 2009
Cambridge, England

THE Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the bible of diagnosis in psychiatry, and is used not just by doctors around the world but also by health insurers.

Changing any such central document is complicated. It should therefore come as no surprise that a committee of experts charged with revising the manual has caused consternation by considering removing Asperger syndrome from the next edition, scheduled to appear in 2012. The committee argues that the syndrome should be deleted because there is no clear separation between it and its close neighbor, autism.

The experts propose that both conditions should be subsumed under the term "autism spectrum disorder," with individuals differentiated by levels of severity. It may be true that there is no hard and fast separation between Asperger syndrome and classic autism, since they are currently differentiated only by intelligence and onset of language. Both classic autism and Asperger syndrome involve difficulties with social interaction and communication, alongside unusually narrow interests and a strong desire for repetition, but in Asperger syndrome, the person has good intelligence and language acquisition.

The question of whether Asperger syndrome should be included or excluded is the latest example of dramatic changes in history of the diagnostic manual. The first manual, published in 1952, listed 106 "mental disorders." The second (1968), listed 182, and famously removed homosexuality as a disorder in a later printing. The third (1980) listed 265 disorders, taking out "neurosis." The revised third version (1987) listed 292 disorders, while the current fourth version cut the list of disorders back to 283.
This history reminds us that psychiatric diagnoses are not set in stone. They are "manmade," and different generations of doctors sit around the committee table and change how we think about "mental disorders."

This in turn reminds us to set aside any assumption that the diagnostic manual is a taxonomic system. Maybe one day it will achieve this scientific value, but a classification system that can be changed so freely and so frequently can't be close to following Plato's recommendation of "carving nature at its joints."
Part of the reason the diagnostic manual can move the boundaries and add or remove "mental disorders" so easily is that it focuses on surface appearances or behavior (symptoms) and is silent about causes. Symptoms can be arranged into groups in many ways, and there is no single right way to cluster them. Psychiatry is not at the stage of other branches of medicine, where a diagnostic category depends on a known biological mechanism. An example of where this does occur is Down syndrome, where surface appearances are irrelevant. Instead the cause — an extra copy of Chromosome 21 — is the sole determinant to obtain a diagnosis. Psychiatry, in contrast, does not yet have any diagnostic blood tests with which to reveal a biological mechanism.

So what should we do about Asperger syndrome? Although originally described in German in 1944, the first article about it in English was published in 1981, and Asperger syndrome made it only into the fourth version of the manual, in 1994. That is, the international medical community took 50 years to acknowledge it. In the last decade thousands of people have been given the diagnosis. Seen through this historical lens, it seems a very short time frame to be considering removing Asperger syndrome from the manual.

We also need to be aware of the consequences of removing it. First, what happens to those people and their families who waited so long for a diagnostic label that does a good job of describing their profile? Will they have to go back to the clinics to get their diagnoses changed? The likelihood of causing them confusion and upset seems high.

Second, science hasn't had a proper chance to test if there is a biological difference between Asperger syndrome and classic autism. My colleagues and I recently published the first candidate gene study <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19598235?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&amp;ordinalpos=1> of Asperger syndrome, which identified 14 genes associated with the condition.

We don't yet know if Asperger syndrome is genetically identical or distinct from classic autism, but surely it makes scientific sense to wait until these two subgroups have been thoroughly tested before lumping them together in the diagnostic manual. I am the first to agree with the concept of an autistic spectrum, but there may be important differences between subgroups that the psychiatric association should not blur too hastily.

Simon Baron-Cohen, the director of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University, is the author of "The Essential Difference."

Holley Arbeit
Speech-Language Pathologist
Kern High School District
Stockdale High School
Room 606
2800 Buena Vista Road
Bakersfield, CA 93311
 
O:    661.665.2800
Fax: 661.665.0914
Intradistrict: 62068

Parent Support Group on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

Hello Parents and Professionals,



We will have Sandy Popejoy, the Program Director of the Taft Independent Living Program at Taft College, joining us as many of you expressed an interest in a return visit.  Even if you attended her presentation last year, it may be very helpful to attend once again.  There is a lot of information to remember and as your student continues through high school, your understanding of his/her needs and options may change. 



Please RSVP to me if you plan to attend.

 

Finally, a reminder:  There will be no December Parent Support Group Meeting.  We will reconvene on January 19, 2010.



Holley Arbeit

Speech-Language Pathologist

 

Stockdale High School

Room 606

2800 Buena Vista Road

Bakersfield, CA 93311

 

Work: 661.665.2800X 68

Fax:  661.665.0914

Intradistrict: 62068

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry