Kathy and Calvin's Home Page

Problem: Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has a tendency not to hire outside consultants to oversee students with autism/developmental disabilities or train teachers and aides in appropriate Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) procedures. This puts the onus on parents to learn and execute ABA for their own child and also continue to push ODE for this service in both Early Intervention and Special Education.

Solution:
Design direct instruction curriculum, ABA evaluation system with graphical tracking, and on-line ABA programs via Open Education Resources (OERs). These OERs will be available for free under a Creative Commons or like licensing. They are usually created via a collaborative structure such as http://en.wikiversity.org, http://wikieducator.org, and http://en.wikibooks.org. Once curriculum and evaluation systems are designed and available for free, parents and educators can participate in honing the program and in spreading the word.

Acquire a building to house an Oregon Autism Center between Portland and Eugene. The center will be a hub for support groups, trainings, materials, and evaluations.

There are two kinds of negatives that parents have to address: The overt ones are the simple ones. There are other more covert ones that are subtle messages that often come from the people who we love and trust or the professionals who are supposed to be helping us. There are no easy answers, but here are some things I find helpful.

There are three strategies that parents can use when people are being negative:

1. Educate: Tell people the truth. Let them know that they are not being helpful and more importantly let them know what would be more helpful.
2. Escape and avoidance: If you can't change peoples minds, often just avoiding them is perfectly healthy and, in some cases, easy to do. of course, there are some cases such as relatives where this is harder.
3. Fight: This should be a last resort. It takes too much energy, requires negativity, and is less likely successful than education or avoidance. However, sometimes there is little choice (e.g., your child's school is giving you a hard time and there are no good alternatives).

Universal Access - A History in Oregon and Benton County

Oregon Specific Sites

• Oregon - Center for the Study of Autism - Edelson
• FEAT of Oregon - Pro ABA group for parent support and training
• Oregon Parents United (OPU) - Special Interest Group for Parents with children with autism & the school district
• Network for Special Ed Parents (NSped)
• Oregon Office of Special Education Home Page
  • ODE/SPED Autism
  • ODE IFSP Forms

So on May 26, Bob Wright, GE Vice Chairman and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal, delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of 2006 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Wright is a 1965 graduate of the school. A total of 697 students graduated at this year’s ceremony, the college’s 160th.

It appears he gave a private speech which included:

NPR Story

Kind of interesting. I think we'll be hearing from folks with autism more as time goes by - mostly because I believe there are more younger ones than current adults. So kids around Calvin's age and younger (between 1 and 12) will have a autism-boomer population.

Wow, for those of you near Portland, Oregon that want a great learning environment for your kindergartener - you're in luck!

Beth Steege has opened a new school at 3533 SE Milwaukie in Portland. Check out her website at bridgespdx.com.

TURLOCK, Calif., Aug. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- A California research team that includes a pair of California State University, Stanislaus psychology professors has taken a significant step in what most experts predict will be a long journey in developing effective treatment for autism. They were part of a team of psychologists who conducted a study that dispels some popular notions about how to treat autism.

RFK Jr. explains how ingredient in vaccines may have contributed to spread Transcript of NBC Broadcast interview of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Joe Scarborough, Host, ‘Scarborough Country’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8243264/

Six out of every 1,000 kids has autism, and nobody knows exactly why. But guest Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in an interview on the 'Scarborough Country' program on Tuesday that part of the blame needs to fall on the government. It has to do with a drug called Thimerosal.

Rolling Stone Article

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. investigates the government cover-up of a
mercury/autism scandal By ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Georgia. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the