Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness!

By Cathy Cardon
March 31, 2010

April is Autism Awareness Month and Friday, April 2nd is the third annual World Autism Awareness Day!   World Autism Awareness Day is a global effort to raise awareness about autism.  The day was established by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 2007.  Autism is one of only three health issues to be recognized by the UN with its own “day.” 

In recognition of World Autism Awareness Day, Autism Speaks is sponsoring an initiative entitled Light It Up Blue.  On Thursday April 1st and Friday April 2nd, many well-known buildings and landmarks across North America and around the world will be lit in blue to help heighten autism awareness.  Participating buildings include the Empire State Building and Radio City Music Hall in New York; Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago; the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia; CN Tower in Toronto; Kingdom Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and the Bell Tower in Perth, Australia. 

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Part 2 of a 2-Part Series: Transitioning a Student - A Success Story

By Andy Zides
March 16, 2010

Last entry, we provided an overview of how League School staff members helped Paul enroll in Bristol Community College. This entry, we explore the additional challenges Paul faced in taking the first step in becoming a college student – finding his classroom.

Once Paul was enrolled into his first course, introductory math, he expressed some concern about finding his classroom on a large college campus. In speaking with Paul, I realized that while the whole idea of college was something that he truly wanted to experience, it nonetheless was proving to be a bit overwhelming.

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Part 1 of a 2-Part Series: Transitioning a Student - A Success Story

By Andy Zides
March 12, 2010

This is the first of a two-part series discussing the challenges that Andy Zides, Program Coordinator at the League School, and his team overcame in their efforts to enroll one of the school’s students, Paul, into Bristol Community College (BCC).

Paul is a 19-year-old Pathfinders student at the League School (Pathfinders is the school’s most advanced academic program). From Fairhaven, MA, he and his family had long dreamed of Paul being able to attend college. His mother, Arminda, asked the League School for help in achieving this goal and getting him enrolled into at least one class for the spring 2010 semester at Bristol Community College (BCC).

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Some Thoughts on “A Touchy Situation”, Boston Globe 3/1/10

By Lindsay Thelin Wagner, MS, OTR/L & Melissa Fitzpatrick, OTR/L
March 9, 2010

On March 1, 2010, The Boston Globe featured an article entitled “A Touchy Situation” by Karen Weintraub in its Health news section. This article described, via example, sensory processing disorder (SPD). It outlined Ana’s story. She is an 11-year old girl who is receiving occupational therapy services to address difficulties including high levels of distraction and a constant need to move. The sensory differences that Ana experiences greatly impact her ability to function throughout her daily life; thus making symptoms more than just a nuisance, but a disorder. It is for this reason that SPD is on the front line for consideration as a stand-alone diagnosis.

Because of intense lobbying by researchers, occupational therapists, and families, SPD is a candidate for admission into the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Inclusion in the manual means great things for the SPD community including increased funding for research and increased coverage for relevant treatments, including occupational therapy, by insurance companies. All of these may impact how we will educate and treat children and adults with these issues in the future.

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Enjoy the Fun!

By the League School SLP Department
March 4, 2010

Does your child demonstrate interest in computers? Maybe he or she enjoys watching videos, playing games, being creative, or simply looking up information. If so, we invite you to check out the following websites listed below:

• FreeRice: This is a great website for school-aged students, elementary all the way through high school. Its goals are to provide free education and to provide rice to people in need all over the world. There are a variety of different subjects from vocabulary and grammar to foreign languages to chemistry.

Website: http://www.freerice.com/index.php

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