IAM Annual Summer Family Picnic!

Sunday, August 2nd has been chosen as the date for our annual summer picnic. Details will follow, put it on your calendar! We are planning the picnic for 12 to 2 with the option to stay longer...

Eagledale Park on Rose Ave worked well last summer, so that will most likely be the location again. An email will follow about food, fun and RSVP's.

Hope you are enjoying your Summer so far!

Last IAM Meeting for the school year!

Thanks to those who made it to our year-end 'roast and toast' IAM celebration. What a year it has been! Hope we can take a deep breath in the next few days and realize what we as a group have accomplished while jumping into our summer plans, or lack of plans!

This summer we will meet informally for kid, parent, mom and dad activities and 'day-camps'. Keep an eye on your emails if you are interested in participating!

In late July we will have our IAM family picnic--details to follow!

Please stay active on our email list, post questions and articles of interest and reach out for support!

Take care, hang in there and have a great summer!

IAM Meeting

This Wednesday, June 3rd @ 7PM. We are meeting at Cafe Trios at Harbor Square. Please RSVP if you would like to attend: catb@iam-hope.org

Hope to see you there!

Public Schools and Autism

There may be no greater challenge facing public schools today than the staggering increase in children diagnosed with autism. Even though the law requires school districts to provide a free "appropriate" education to every student, school budgets are not growing nearly as rapidly as the number of children classified as having special needs. Parents are increasingly demanding more than basics; they want intensive, expensive services that offer the best chance to rescue their child from a lifetime of disability.

Experts disagree on the most effective approach to teaching children with autism, and many school districts cobble together a mishmash of methods that changes with each new fad, source of funding, special education director, or classroom teacher. Too often, good intentions collide with limited resources, and overloaded bureaucracies clash with parents driven by hope and anguish. The result is often a mess.

"The way we treat and educate children with autism is a national disgrace," says L. Vincent Strully, founder and CEO of the New England Center for Children, one of the oldest and largest private schools for autism in the United States.

To read more---http://www.edutopia.org/autism-school

BISD seeks Autism Expert for new program

Please read and pass on to others...Bainbridge Island School District is seeking an Autism Spectrum Expert to serve as the district's coordinator of the new ASD K-6 program that will be implemented this fall at Ordway, Wilkes, Blakely and Sakai.

Link to the job opening is:
http://www.bainbridge.wednet.edu/jobs/job.php?jobid=966

Meeting--NEW LOCATION

Wednesday 5/6 at Cafe Trios--at Harbor Square at 7 PM.

NEW MEETING LOCATION!

We are going to talk about ideas for summer fun; camps, play groups and childcare share, and current child related topics--bring your ideas and topic suggestions.

Hope to see you there!

Autism-In the news...

April is Autism Awareness Month--Here are some interesting stories by ABC News


Financial Challenges Among Autism's Costs
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=7229778&page=1

Talking in Color: Imaging Helps Social Skills
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=7223698

China's Autism Parents Walk Lonely Road for Help
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=7225002