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News- Page 38
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Various Articles : 46 jobs are cut at Wellness Center
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Posted by Sylvia on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 (09:46:56)
The Reporter 13/01/2004
By Patty Brandl
A Fond du Lac-headquartered counseling firm that provides therapy for autistic children has cut 46 full-time positions and an unspecified number of part-time employees, according to information provided by a state workforce development Web site.
The Counseling and Wellness Center, 349 Winnebago Drive, filed the layoff information with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) on the Plant Closing and Mass Layoffs Web site as required by state law.
The business was listed in a 2002 Fond du Lac County labor market report as employing between 250 and 499 workers, making it the 15th largest employer in the county, ahead of other area employers like Action Advertising Inc., Marian College and Wal-Mart.
A Dec. 29 Sheboygan Press article said the clinic employs 500 and serves 350 clients throughout Wisconsin. Also doing business as Autism and Behavioral Consultants, the business has been forced to eliminate in-home therapy services for autistic patients as of Jan. 1 due to recent Medicaid changes that shifted responsibility for in-home services funding to individual counties.
The Fond du Lac manager of the Counseling and Wellness Center told The Reporter that clinic owner and director Dr. David Small declined to comment about the layoffs.
The DWD law states “businesses employing 50 or more persons in the State of Wisconsin must provide written notice 60 days before implementing a ‘business closing (plant closing)’ or ‘mass layoff’ in the state.â€
The layoffs come just one week after local manufacturer Bestt Liebco Corp. announced that it will close its Fond du Lac plant, impacting an estimated 92 union and non-union employees.
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Various Articles : Soccer team important part of autistic boy's life
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Posted by Sylvia on Friday, January 09, 2004 (10:56:46)
My Web Pal.com Columbia 08/01/2004
By Ron Cassie
Seven-year old Alec Chase loves playing soccer and loves his team, the under-8 Soccer Association of Columbia Black Dragons.
Like a lot kids on gameday, he will have his jersey on and be ready to go hours before it is time to leave for the field.
"If I tell him on a Saturday morning he's got a game - even if it's not until 3 p.m. - he is in his full uniform, shin guards and everything by 9 a.m.," his mom, Shari Chase, said, with a laugh.
Alec has been playing soccer for four years, the last two with largely the same group of boys, the Black Dragons. The team has been very successful, losing just one game a year ago and going a perfect 15-0 this fall under new coach Gabe Dagen. The highlight of the season was successfully defending their tournament title at the season-ending Simon Decker tournament. The victory this year came on penalty kicks in overtime.
For Alec, who is autistic, the Black Dragons - whose coaches, parents and players have taken him under their collective wing - play an extraordinary role.
"It's so important for him to be around typical peers - otherwise a child never sees how they could be or should behave," Shari Chase said. "It's important I think, too, for the other kids to realize that inside Alec, or other challenged kids, are kids like them. They have the same feelings."
Alec's mom spoke with all the team parents and Dagen before the season to make sure everyone was comfortable having Alec on the team.
Alec's motor skills are fine, but he requires attention to help stay focused and in position on the field.
Alec usually gets on the field after Black Dragons are up by a few goals in the second half.
"I would ask Alec if he wanted to go in, usually we were ahead by four or five goals, and required that unless he said, 'Yes,' he wouldn't go in," Dagen said. "Usually by then there would be a bunch of the kids crowding around, encouraging him, telling him to say, 'Yes,' say, 'Yes'."
Alec participates at practice with the help of his parents and teammates.
"He'll do our drills and mom and dad would help him, or on our one-on-one drills the kids would work with him - just like they would do with anybody else," Dagen said. "It was rewarding to help all the kids get better, to improve, including Alec, in what they were doing. The kids accepted Alec as part of the team - they didn't require much prompting."
Autism is a type of pervasive developmental disorder, which interferes with a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It affects speech patterns and often stimulates repetitive movements or actions. It usually appears before the age of 3, but is sometimes not diagnosed until later.
Research shows that people with autism have irregular biological brain structures, the exact cause of which is unknown. Some studies show a genetic link while others point to environmental factors; some believe it stems from a of mix of the two. Others have suggested a possible link to pre-natal exposure to the rubella virus, a lack of oxygen during childbirth and mercury found in some vaccinations. Heavy metal screening is recommended for young children displaying symptoms, Shari Chase said.
Alec's mother is currently working on a campaign and program encouraging pediatricians and parents to set up and follow monthly timetables to measure a child's progress in different developmental areas.
Mark Riso, whose son, Zach, plays with Alec, has noticed a positive change in Alec. "I don't think it is necessarily because he's playing soccer," Riso said. "I think it is the socialization involved around the sport, the interaction with other kids, which is difficult for him, that has helped. The kids know he's different, but they kind of treat him like any other kid."
Alec and his teammates, all of whom attend Pointers Run Elementary School in Clarksville, capped their big year with a sleepover at the Chase house a week after the end of the season. Nearly everyone on the team made it to the party, for which Alec's parents had rented every 7-year-old's favorite: a moonbounce. Nine of the kids stayed the entire night.
"I never thought I would be, or wanted to be, a parent of a child with a disability - it never occurred to me," Shari Chase said. "But it has been a dream come true to have the Black Dragons' coaches and kids in our lives."
Alec, who sleeps with the team picture near his pillow every night, can name all of his teammates in the photo: Brady Acker, Alex Dagen, Andy Delmont, B.J. Hill, Jack Jacobs, Adam Levitt, Chase Polkow, Deion Richardson, Zach Riso, Justin Shapiro and Matthew Thompson.
He tells his mom that, "They are all my friends."
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Various Articles : History Makers Suffered Extreme Form of Autism
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Posted by Sylvia on Friday, January 09, 2004 (10:29:08)
Scotsman.com 08/01/2004
By Victoria Ward
Well-known historical figures including Socrates, Charles Darwin and Andy Warhol almost certainly suffered from an extreme form of autism, a leading specialist claimed today.
It has already been suggested that Newton and Einstein displayed symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome – a severe strain of the condition which usually affects men.
But Michael Fitzgerald, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin suggested the number of high profile individuals with Asperger’s is much higher than previously thought.
“The number of people being diagnosed with Asperger’s has significantly increased because doctors are recognising it more,†he said.
“What we have realised is that a small number of those are extremely creative and may have changed the course of history.â€
In a retrospective diagnosis, taken by examining the biographies of certain historical figures and comparing their behavioural patterns with his own patients, Prof Fitzgerald claims that W.B. Yeats, Lewis Carroll and former Irish prime minister Eamon de Valera all had autism disorders.
“Asperger’s syndrome provides a plus – it makes people more creative,†he said.
“People with it are generally hyper-focused, very persistent workaholics who tend to see things from detail to global rather than looking at the bigger picture first and then working backwards, as most people do.
“W.B. Yeats for example, had problems with reading and writing and did very poorly at school.
“He failed to get into Trinity College and was described by his teachers as ’pedestrian and demoralised’. His parents were told he would never amount to anything.
“This is typical of people with the condition. They don’t fit in, are odd and eccentric and relate poorly with others. Most are bullied at school, as Yeats was.â€
Prof Fitzgerald said it was Yeats’s “monumental imagination†and his tendency to be aloof which characterised his Asperger’s.
Andy Warhol was also a “classic 100% case“, he said.
“He was extremely odd, his relationships were very unusual, his art was very unusual.
“He was a massive collector of articles, but didn’t even take them out of the packaging – his house was like a mausoleum – and he had the same difficulties at school,†he added.
Deficits in the social sphere are often compensated by exceptional analytic and mechanical ability, said Prof Fitzgerald.
“The possibility that autistic individuals made their mark on history, despite often being miserable and misunderstood, offers hope to those whose lives are touched by Asperger’s syndrome.
“It proves that we should accept eccentrics and be tolerant of them.
“The nation is pushed forward by engineers, mathematicians and scientists.â€
The claims are made in Prof Fitzgerald’s new book: In Autism and Creativity: Is There a Link Between Autism in Men and Exceptional Ability?
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Various Articles : 'Gloomy' turnout for issue-based play
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Posted by Sylvia on Saturday, January 03, 2004 (22:29:30)
The Times of India.com 22/12/2003
by Sanjay Pendse
PUNE, India - English language theatre in the city is not exactly bustling with activity. But when a reasonably good production, however rarely, comes along, the audience fails to show up in good numbers. The story was sadly repeated at Vijjay Nair’s Gloomy Rabbit at the Nehru memorial hall on Sunday evening.
Agreed, the name Gloomy Rabbit does not go well with the merry spirit of the season, but even a rare chance to see acclaimed Bangalore playwright Mahesh Dattani in action did not prove a big draw in a city that takes pride in its theatre tradition. May be a bedroom farce would have been in order. In any case, who wants to be bothered with a serious subject like autism.
Apparently, a little over 100 people did and they did not return disappointed.
What exactly is autism? Why are these souls so lost in their own world? Is it hereditary? Is one’s child at risk? If yes, what do you do? A crisp script unravels answers to such tough questions without lecturing or sermonising.
With style and sense of humour intact despite the seriousness of the subject, the play makes a plea for compassion and understanding and the need to recognise our own mental bugbears, or shall we say gloomy rabbits, while judging those of others.
With this play, Nair, who has earned recognition within a short span of time, breaks free of the "very serious" label acquired with Scars in my Memory, The Window and Weeds.
The response has been more hearty at previous stops — Ahmedabad and New Delhi . And the next show in Mumbai on Christmas Eve will hopefully see more happy rabbits walk out of the Sophia auditorium after the show.
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Various Articles : Grant Helps Autism Program Ride On With New 12-Seat Van
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Posted by Sylvia on Saturday, January 03, 2004 (22:24:34)
ZWIRE.com 18/12/2003
by Robert Brodsky
Queens (USA) residents with autism are enjoying a more comfortable ride to their therapeutic appointments and programs.
The Quality Services for the Autism Community was recently granted state funding to purchase a new 12-seat 2004 Chevy Express.
An oversized key to the van was presented to the non-profit organization by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall outside Borough Hall on Monday.
According to QSAC Executive Director Gary Maffei, the van will be utilized two-fold. In the morning, the vehicle will transport adults in the group’s Day Habilitation program to and from QSAC’s centers in Astoria, Whitestone and Hollis.
In the afternoons, the van will pick up children—including five-year-old William Choe, who attended the van dedication ceremony with his mother, Inyoon Lee—from area schools and take them to centers.
Last year, QSAC was selected by the Federal Transit Administration’s Section 5310 program to receive capital funding to purchase the van.
The $24,384 grant, administered by the Department of Transportation, encompasses 80 percent of the cost of the vehicle. In addition, the Queens Chapter of the Autism Society donated more than $6,000 to fund the remaining cost of the van.
Maffei said that QSAC is currently experiencing a three-year waiting list. The donation of the new van, he said, will allow the group to divert its funding elsewhere.
“We can now direct funding to teachers’ salaries,†he said.
Established in 1978, QSAC serves more than 700 members of the autism community in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island.
Among the organization’s services are a day school for children between the ages of 5 and 21, an early intervention program for children under the age of 3 and a family reimbursement program and emergency respite fund, which provides compensation to parents for goods and services, transportation costs and emergency respite related to the care of a person with autism.
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