The Western Late Models, Bombers, Mini Trucks/Mini Stocks, Vintage Hard Tops and the Mini Cups will all be in action, with the WLM main event winner collecting a prize of $3,000.

KOVR 13 Good Morning Sacramento personality Alan Sanchez will be conducting driver interviews starting at 7 a.m. before taking on WLM and state rookie points leader Chad Holman in a grudge match at 8 a.m.

Last year’s Race for Autism day raised nearly $54,000 in its inaugural year.

Pit gates open and registration begins at noon with practice starting at 2 p.m. The grandstands open for qualifying at 4 p.m. and racing is scheduled for 6 p.m.

For more information on tickets and times, contact the speedway office at 209-466-9999 or go online at www.stockton99.com.

The track is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, 1⁄4-mile west of Highway 99.

Source – http://www.lodinews.com/sports/article_c0bec532-ad2c-11df-9f48-001cc4c002e0.html

By DEENA CENTOFANTI
myFOXDetroit.com

Eight-year-old Parker Reed looks like any other kid, but critical therapy has changed his life. At two, he was diagnosed with autism.

"He was about 18 months, and he had some words and then they kind of disappeared," said Amy Reed, Parker’s mother.

As Parker struggled to communicate at all, his parents struggled to figure out how to help him.

"(As) soon as the autism diagnosis came, all of the insurance stopped. So, the physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, all of it ceased once the diagnosis came. So, that was a little shocking," said Rick Reed, Parker’ father.

That’s when they learned about play therapy and Easter Seals.
"We go into the family’s home, and we train the parents to be the primary teacher for their child; to do the work everyday with their child," said P.L.A.Y. Project Coordinator Shana Wirth.

Called the P.L.A.Y. Project, the acronym stands for Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters, it was created by Dr. Richard Solomon in Ann Arbor. Part of Easter Seals’ mission is to train parents how to do it, then they must spend three hours a day making connections with their kids.

"If I say hi to you and you say hi back… that would be an opening of a connection and closing of a connection. If I make eye contact, that opens a connection. If you make eye contact back, that closes it. So, you have to force elongated connection of communication with your son or daughter on the floor," Rick Reed.

The Reeds have spent endless hours with Parker, never giving up, and he’s like a different kid.
"He asks for play dates. He wants to play with other kids. He’ll be going into a regular third grade classroom," Amy Reed said.

Walk With Me, a one mile walk along the Detroit riverfront, is happening on Saturday, August 28. Money raised helps support Easter Seals early intervention autism therapy. Click here for more information about the event.

Source – http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/health/play-project-helps-autistic-boy-20100820-wpms

Once again TheSpeedGamers have launched their week long gaming campaign to raise money for ACT Today, an autism charity. Their last campaign, about a year ago, raised $50,000 for the charity. From June 11 to June 18 these guys will be gaming nonstop, playing as many as 40 Mario titles streaming live through their website along with video commentary and live chat.  To learn more and see them in action, you can visit them at their website at http://www.thespeedgamers.com.

Soccer, known as the beautiful game, has proven to be a beautiful blessing in the lives of children with autism in Windsor, Ont., and for their parents as well.

The city’s Special Stars soccer league is exclusively for autistic children aged six to 15.

It started a year ago with just 20 children on a school field playing with hockey nets instead of goal posts.

In 12 months the league has grown to 64 children playing on some of the best soccer fields in the city, with every piece of equipment from socks to shin guards donated by sponsors. The league has even had to turn sponsors away this year.

‘Soccer has been fantastic for him’

What Special Stars soccer has done for the autistic children is more than many parents could have hoped for.

“He has a hard time facing the world sometimes and he really loves soccer,” said Ramsi Haddad, whose son Tommy has a severe case of autism and is nonverbal.

The league takes care to avoid things that might distract or upset the children. (Vince Robinet/CBC)“Soccer has been fantastic for him.”

There are no goalkeepers, and every game ends in a tie. Everyone gets a chance to score a goal, even if it’s after the final whistle blows.

It’s Tommy’s second year in the league where parents or caregivers can come out on the field and play alongside the children if that’s what makes the child feel safe.

“He really likes running around, but he doesn’t usually have a reason,” said Haddad.

“So put a ball in front of him and he has a lot of fun.”

Soccer brings family together

The league has also brought Tommy closer to his brother Jack.

Several parents say the league has helped teach their child motor skills and patience, and has brought family members closer together. (Vince Robinet/CBC)“I used to be playing and he had to sit on the sidelines,” said Jack, who for the first time has an activity he can share with his brother.

“I would coach him and it’s really fun.”

Special Stars soccer pays attention to the things that can be problematic for autistic children. Signs are posted around the field that read “Autistic children’s soccer game in progress. Please no bikes, no dogs in this area.”

Founder believes all kids have right to play

The man behind the league, Patrick Roberts, had no experience with autistic children, he simply heard about an autistic boy who wasn’t fitting in with his recreational team and decided there had to be a better way for that child to enjoy soccer.

Roberts is a volunteer for whom Special Stars has become a life-changing experience.

“You’ll see [the parents] going and see that child going and I’ll say to the parent ‘let go’ .. and they will,” Roberts told CBC News.

“And they’ll come and score on net and look at the Dad or Mom and say ‘pretty good eh?’ And you’ll see tears … because it’s working for them.”

Impact also seen off the pitch

League founder Patrick Roberts does not have a child with autism, but simply believes all children have the right to play and enjoy the beautiful game. (Vince Robinet/CBC)Roberts said the children are learning motor skills and how to be patient.

“We’re all looking and shaking our heads … this is working well,” said Roberts.

“I’m learning every day. The more I learn the more I love ‘em. It takes over you, it really does.”

Many of the parents tell Roberts they see great changes in their children, and can now take them grocery shopping or to the movies, things that would have been almost impossible before the soccer league began.

“Patrick is an angel. A big angel, but an angel nevertheless,” said Haddad.

“He puts his heart and soul into it and he really cares, and it’s really nice to see people like that helping your own kid out , because his kid isn’t autistic.”

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/06/14/wdr-autism-soccer-1006014.html#ixzz0qzNQcU2G

By Belinda Merhab

Twenty minutes of observation was all British artist Stephen Wiltshire needed before intricately sketching Sydney’s skyline entirely from memory.

Three days after examining the CBD from atop Sydney Tower, he has rebuilt the city on a square metre of paper.

Stretching across the harbour and into North Sydney, every detail has been captured – the exact number of windows on each skyscraper, the cars on the roads below and yachts on the city’s famous harbour.

As well as being a world-renowned artist, Wiltshire is autistic.

He was brought to Sydney by Autism Spectrum Australia to raise awareness about the disorder often characterised by impaired communication skills and repetitive behaviour.

Wiltshire was mute and unable to communicate through language when diagnosed at age three but it was also when his savant artistic abilities began to emerge.

Since then he has learned to speak and sketched some of the world’s greatest cities: Rome, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, London and New York.

He has been named a Member of the Order of British Empire and has his own gallery in Pall Mall, London.

Speaking at the unveiling of his drawing at Customs House in Circular Quay on Friday, Wiltshire described Sydney as a “beautiful city” and one he would like to revisit.

He also thanked his fans for their support.

“Most important is my fans who have followed my work over the years and supported me in my passion for drawing. I love you all,” said the 36-year-old.

“Thank you for buying my prints and please feel free to buy plenty more.”

About 50 fans were gathered for the unveiling, many requesting photos with him and posing with his artwork.

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally also congratulated Wiltshire on his “delightful” work.

One fan, Lyn Naven, who has a relative with autism, described Wiltshire’s work as “amazing”.

“It’s just interesting to see … it’s a special gift isn’t it? He’s very fortunate,” she told AAP.

Autism Spectrum Australia spokesman Dr Trevor Clark says about 20 per cent of autistic people have savant abilities but Wiltshire’s level of talent is rare.

“Stephen is a highly-gifted world-renowned artist and he happens to be a person who has the disability of autism,” Dr Clark said.

“Stephen looks at the world, looks at cities, looks at Sydney in a way that you and I don’t.”

Dr Clark says Wiltshire is a role model for people with autism because his skill, harnessed and supported by his family and carers, has given him the ability to live an independent life.

While many people with autism have special abilities, ranging from music to athletics or with numbers, very few can live independent lives because their abilities are not identified and nurtured, he says.

Wiltshire’s sister, Annette, urged anyone related to someone with autism to “stay strong and stay positive” through what can be a tough journey.

“To every single mother, father, brother, sister, carers and schools … as long as you believe in yourself and your loved one, that’s all that matters,” she said

Wiltshire’s sketches will be on display at Customs House until May 16.

Source – http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1046916

Globe and Mail

When you enter Emily Buczek’s Toronto classroom, it’s like Times Square: Everywhere you look, there’s a new visual distraction.

A picture of each student is tacked onto a large, colourful map above his or her country of origin (Emily’s mug hovers over Poland).

There’s a shelf of well-loved toys – a slumped-over clown, a plush frog – and rows of picture books, among them Emily’s favourite: a cardboard volume of Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

All these diversions are there to keep up with students’ fleeting attention spans: Emily and her peers at Beverley School all have developmental and/or physical disabilities.

Tim Fraser / For The Globe and Mail

Autistic student Emily Buzcek, 13, has already mastered the iPod Touch, which helps her learn and communicate. The iPad’s larger screen will be a big improvment, parents say.

Emily, a profoundly autistic 13-year-old with an overgrown pixie cut and fingernails that have been cut or chewed to the quick, doesn’t fit the stereotype of an early adopter of the iPad.

But parents and educators of children with developmental disabilities – particularly autism spectrum disorders (ASD) – have celebrated its release. While the device was created mostly for media consumption, it has plenty of surprising uses for children with such disabilities.

Emily doesn’t have an iPad in her hands yet, but the learning curve won’t be very steep when it’s released in Canada at the end of the month – she’s already mastered the iPod Touch at school and at home.

It’s been a godsend, her mother Christina says. With an autistic child, even the simplest tasks can be emotionally and physically draining.

She recalls many days when Emily, who is mostly non-verbal, indicated she wanted to go shopping – but wouldn’t say where.

“I’d be driving her toward one store and pulling in and she’d be really upset because it wasn’t the one she wanted,” she says. “It’s wasting a lot of time, it’s a lot of frustration.”

But then she downloaded the iConverse app on Emily’s iPod Touch. One of many assisted communication programs available for people with disabilities, it allowed Ms. Buczek to load photos of her daughter’s favourite stores, set to audio recordings of their names. Now all Emily has to do is run the app and click on the button that corresponds with her choice.

While Apple has not yet revealed Canadian prices for the iPad (it starts at $500 in the U.S.), Ms. Buczek says a price tag of even several hundred dollars would be significantly cheaper (not to mention more portable) than some of the assisted communication devices currently on the market, which can cost more than $10,000.

Emily, like many kids with ASD, struggles with her fine motor skills, and a larger screen would help her navigate the apps with greater precision, Ms. Buczek says.

At Emily’s school, six teachers are using the iPod Touch with their developmentally-disabled students, as part of a University of Toronto study led by faculty of information professor Rhonda McEwen. Professor McEwen wants to see how it can help them communicate.

So far, their greatest use is easing anxiety among students, says Emily’s teacher, Ian Stuart.

The iPod Touch that he uses with his class has been outfitted with speakers.

“Touch the bee,” says a tinny female voice in one app. Displayed on the screen is a chocolate bunny, a bee and a shopping cart. Emily’s hooked index finger hovers over all three options before it presses down on the bee.

Mr. Stuart frequently uses apps like this to help Emily focus before she moves on to a new activity in class, since transitions can be very difficult for kids with ASD.

There’s a stack of deep blue one-inch binders in his classroom that are collecting dust. Before, whenever he’d head out with his students, he’d have to bring them along.

Inside each binder are pages of picture cards arranged in various sequences. A picture of a ball and swing followed by a computer means recess is followed by computer time.

Since Mr. Stuart has used the iPod Touch, he’s done away with the binders. All those sequences can be stored in apps on the device, which has become a magic wand of sorts.

“[When we transition], some won’t even look at me,” he says. “But then I’ll pull out the iPod and when they look at it and hear sounds it’s like an epiphany.”

Software developers who enjoyed success with accessibility apps for the iPhone and iPod Touchhave now focused their attention on the iPad.

The latest version of Proloquo2Go, the most popular AAC app in the iTunes store, was released at the start of the month to work on the iPad. As of Friday, it was ranked No. 34 overall in the United States among all 185,000-plus apps.

It can be used by people with disabilities – particularly non-verbal ones, many of whom have strong visual memories – to express their wants and needs.

“It’s just a game changer,” Samuel Sennott, co-creator of the app, says of the iPad. “It’s … [a] portable, table-top solution for people with physical impairments, people with visual impairments. You can see more on the screen.”

For Stacie Carroll, another teacher at Beverley School, there’s another perk to using these gadgets with students: “It’s the cool factor,” she says.

“This is their world. They pick up a cell [phone] and they know what to do with it.”

Whether they’re using an iDevice for scheduling, learning or easing anxiety, the key is that they blend in with other kids, she says.

She uses eight apps regularly with her students, including a few unusual ones. She shows off iSeismo, which graphs even the slightest movements. She’s used it teach her class – a rather fidgety bunch – how to sit still and control their body movements.

Both she and Mr. Stuart say they see great potential in their classrooms for the iPad and its larger interface.

“A camera on [the iPad] would make it nearly perfect,” Ms. Carroll says.

Anissa Hersh, a speech-language pathologist on the ASD team at the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board in Hamilton, says she’s interested in seeing how the device might benefit the students she works with as well.

“You have a whole generation of adults now who were never taught independence,” Ms. Hersh says. “If you have this technology, and know how to use it, the idea is that down the road, [they] can use it in their work field.”

Alex Stephens’s five-year-old son Luc has ASD and is “completely infatuated with computers,” he says. He’s an expert with his father’s iPhone, which works as both an entertainment device and an educational tool.

Mr. Stephens can barely keep up with all the unanticipated expenses that come with his son’s disability: special vitamins, speech therapy and social therapy.

At the moment, an iPad is a luxury he can’t afford, he says. “But if I were convinced it would help Luc, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.”

Source – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/apple/for-autistic-kids-idevices-are-life-changers/article1530164/

The drama follows the lives of the adult Braverman children as they go through the up and downs of parenting, marriage, family and the odd possum on your roof. I became interested in the show because one of the main story lines within the show involves  a couple (Peter Krause, “Six Feet Under” and Monica Potter, “Trust Me”) who finds out that their son has aspergers . The show deals with the very real emotions that a family can face with a diagnosis on the spectrum. I am interested in seeing how the story continues to unfold with each new episode.

To learn more about the show or to watch the first 2 episodes visit http://www.nbc.com/parenthood/. You can also watch it at http://tvgorge.com/ along with all your other favorite TV shows.

How do you feel about the show? Would you recommend it to others?

This women thinks what most think, that I have not done my job as a parent in some way and this ridicules display is a result of my poor parenting skills. Exhausted and frustrated I snap at her, “He’s Autistic, he’s upset, can’t you see that?” If the whole bank wasn’t staring me before, they certainly are now. However, I don’t feel embarrassed this time, I feel liberated. There were so many times when I would have loved to have said that before but I could never muster the courage.

Whether that women understood or not I’ll never know. Anyone who has read my blog before would soon realize this didn’t happen yesterday, it happened ten years ago and people where far less aware of Autism then they are now. Then it was 1 in every 7,000 or so with Autism, now it’s 1 in every 150. The numbers have changed but the scene is still the same for many parents, only the location changes. Jonathan is 13 now and we don’t have public displays like the one in the bank anymore, (thank god but because considering his size now he would certainly win the argument) but I still remember the feeling of having everyone stare at me and assume that I did something wrong as a parent.

At one point Jonathan developed a problem with trying to steal things when we went shopping. I always caught him before we left the store but that didn’t save me from a few stern remarks from store employees. So I introduced Jonathan to a police man at my aunt’s church and had him tell Jonathan that if he kept stealing he would take him to jail. He played the part well for Jonathan (we had this planned) he spoke in a stern voice telling Jonathan he would get nothing but bread and water in jail and no recess ever again.

When ever Jonathan tried to grab something in the store I would remind him that the police man could be watching. One day Jonathan grabbed a truck of the shelf. At that very moment (like some act of god) some one set off the store alarm and it made Jonathan jump. Seeing an opportunity I said, “Quick, put it back before the police man comes!” With the alarm going off he really believed it and never tried to take anything from a store again.

Don’t be afraid to get out there

It can be hard to ignore harsh comments and insensitivity from others. Children with Autism look the same as any other child and people often assume the worst. It took a while but I finally stopped apologizing to everyone and stopped hiding in my house like a hermit. I decided that it was pointless to hide and in truth it wasn’t helping Jonathan either. Jonathan was not going to get used to public situations if we didn’t get out there. Sticking to a routine seemed to make Jonathan worse because as soon as something changed his world would fall apart.

Have a plan

Bring along things that you know your child likes. I would keep things handy that I knew had a calming effect on Jonathan, such as his action figures or a cereal bar. At moments when he looked like he could pitch a fit, I would whip out the favourite toy and his focus would be diverted, even if for a minute or two.

Remember that you are a good parent

No matter how prepared I was there was always times when Jonathan left me feeling pretty embarrassed. Try to remember that you don’t need the approval of perfect strangers. You know why you are a good parent, there is no reason for you to have to explain yourself or your child every time you go food shopping.

Change your routine

While almost forcing Jonathan to get used to the outside world was not easy and at times down right nerve racking it eventfully worked. It didn’t happen over night, it took time but now Jonathan goes everywhere with me. I found the less routine I made his life the easier it was for him to adapt to new and unexpected situations. Transitions got smoother and Jonathan got calmer. I think it’s been two years now since Jonathan has had any trouble while we are out. Last week we enjoyed the Zoo and plan to go on many more trips through out the year.
Don’t be afraid to get out there.