National Autism conference right here in Chicago

Often you have to travel far and spend a lot of money on transportation and lodging to attend a national conference, but this month the Autism One Conference is right down the road in Rosemont!

It's May 24-30 at the O'Hare Westin in Rosemont. A local mom says it will be a fantastic conference — everything imaginable related to autism is there.

Presentations on:
Biomedical research and treatments
All of the therapies — educational, behavioral, communication, etc.
Alternative medicine
Government, legal and personal issues and advocacy
Adolescent, adult and Asperger's issues
And more!

Families can find out more and register at www.autismone.org/content/world-changes-may

Scholarships may be available for conference attendance through the Are of Illinois consumer stipend or the StarNet Family Fellowship. Visit
www.thearcofil.org/ and www.thecenterweb.org/starnet/funding.html

If you have questions, contact Linda Betzold at Linda.Betzold@tacanow.org

Chicago families are lucky to have this conference in our backyard. It may be the best autism conference of the year anywhere in the U.S.

Parent group to be postponed

Woodstock District 200 will not move forward at this time with a Parent Advisory Council for parents of students in Special Education. I was hoping for an April or May first meeting, but the Special Education Department has decided (unilaterally, I might add) to delay until Fall. And you know what that means...

In March I proposed that the Special Education Department survey parents to learn if they were interested in a parent advisory council or a parent support group (or both). There was cooperation in designing the questionnaire for the survey. Survey forms were to be distributed to all parents of students in Special Education.

How many were distributed? There are approximately 1,000 students in Special Education in District 200. It is unknown how many survey forms actually reached parents, but only 61 surveys were returned.

Fifty-four (54) want one or both group; 7 were not interested. I saw the survey forms on a table at Clay Street Academy, and they were not handed out to the parents of one student, whose annual review I attended.

How about at other schools? I heard that teachers responded that parents weren't interested. Now I, for one, do not believe that. I do believe the person who told me that. I just don't believe the information she was apparently given. Parents are interested.

However, I can tell you what parents are not interested in. They are not interested in being "talked at." They are not interested in being lectured. They are not interested in being told that the teachers (the "experts") know more about their children than they do. Parents are not interested in meetings that drag on and on and do not allow interaction or participation.

There is a parent advisory council at a school in Huntley with 30-40 active parents. When they are expected to sit and listen to teachers and administrators talk "at" them, they get frustrated. Fortunately, there are enough of them (parents) to make a loud noise and try to wrest control back from the "organization."

Woodstock parents, if you want to get started now, let me know. Forward this article to all the parents of Woodstock special education students you know. We can go ahead and organize now and gain the benefit of a support group over the summer and prepare to establish a parent advisory council for the Fall.

Want to get started? Email gus@gusphilpott.com

Movie - The Horse Boy

Be sure to watch this movie about an autistic boy whose parents took him to Mongolia to see the shamans. Young Rowan Isaacson made a remarkable shift after the trip, and even before it was over.

This is a movie worth seeing. And visit www.horseboyfoundation.org, too.

School is almost out

Start your planning now for how your kids are going to enjoy the summer and go back to school without having lost any of the ground gained during this school year.

Plan some learning activities for the summer. Make them read. Better yet, make them want to read. And show them how good math skills will actually help them in life, not just be drudgery.

There are plenty of materials available. Need help finding them? Just ask.

Who you gonna call...

... when your kids are having tantrums, biting their friends (or siblings or you), constantly interrupting you, using bad words???

Recently I came across two websites that will be of interest to all parents of younger children. And, most likely, to parents of older children, too, when they are acting like they are years younger. And maybe even some others we know...

Author and trainer Gail Reichlin gives presentations all over the country and abroad relating to positive discipline and communication for all ages. Boy! Could we use her right here in McHenry County!

Visit www.pocketparent.com/ and also www.parentsresourcenetwork.org/ for information and ideas. And you can order your very own autographed copy of the Pocket Parent from her website. Or call Read Between the Lynes Bookstore right here in Woodstock; if Arlene doesn't carry it already, she'll be glad to order it for you.

Gail's workshop and training style is described as interactive, funny, supportive and very practical.

When the new Parent Advisory Councils are up and running, maybe we can fill the Woodstock Opera House one night for a District-wide or County-wide program.

Interested?

Bus driver deserves medal

Recently I met a schoolbus driver from rural Illinois. She related how she had stopped disorder and chaos on her bus and turned long rides into profitable use of time by the students. This driver definitely deserves an award or medal!

The driver's name and school district have been deleted from her message. So the next time you are inclined to give a hard time to your kid's schoolbus driver, remember this driver.

"The peer mentoring on my bus was never planned - it was something that just evolved. It's on an as-needed basis and has slowed down now the weather is nice.

"The flash cards were the idea of a middle school girl who wanted to help her cousin and sister with math and help with two other girls to keep the kids busy so I could watch the road. We have a lot of white outs and icy roads in the winter.

"I can't give you hard numbers as to how much the mentoring helped because I never thought to keep track. I've always checked the local paper and announced over the bus intercom all the bug and honor roll students. Now there are so many I have to have it written down I can't remember all the names.

"I've had this route for two years, it was a route everyone turned down. Let's just say the town has a bad reputation.

"The kids on Honor Roll are a combination of every type of background. The three girls that did the flash cards - two are form the "wrong side" of the Fox river and the third one from the "right". The two boys that first asked for help, one has a slight learning problem and the other is autistic. The kids that volunteer range from smart-mouthed high school boys to first graders showing kindergartners how to sound out words in a book.

"It was never an everyday thing , with all the end of the year field trips to talk about and less homework it is maybe once a week. We only have the two rules on the bus, anybody can help somebody (everybody is good at something) and you can't give them the answers you have to show them how to find the answers.

"Besides better grades I've noticed there aren't any book bags, lunch boxes, clothes or projects left on the bus and very little trash.

"There have got to be other drivers that are doing the same things.

"Next year I'll keep record of progress and be able to give solid data on these things."

Impassioned pleas - heard?

Two parents made impassioned pleas last night before the Woodstock District 200 School Board.

Did the Board hear them?

Both asked the school board not to can good aides from the special education classrooms of their children. Both had been told that the union makes the decisions.

I think not. Or, if it does, then the Board - and the parents - had better regain control over our school staffing.

With certain children in our schools (groups, I mean; not individual children), change is very difficult. During a school year they get used to a certain teacher or aide and they then settle into the school groove. When the District tosses out an aide or teacher, just because she is low person on the totem pole, this does not serve this student population.

One parent said that seniority shouldn't trump merit. And he's right. The school district has to be able to cleanse itself of "dead wood". When a teacher is just "running on empty", hanging on my her fingernails to retirement date, the District, in the best interests of its students (and other staff), must take action to send that teacher on her way.

Some teachers are happy, positive and fresh right up until the day they retire.

The parents of the children in Special Education must come together. A Parent Advisory Council may be a step toward a solution.

Plans are underway for an organizational meeting. Half the parents who responded to the recent survey favor meetings during the summer. Watch for upcoming news. Hopefully, fliers will go home to parents of all Special Education students in District 200 and that many will show up at early meetings.

You don't have to attend all meetings, and there will be many ways to participate, including meetings, email, perhaps teleconference and even webinars. It's the Space Age, folks.