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Summer Travel Tips

Plan in advance. Call ahead and advise and inquire about special accomadations.

Prepare the individual ahead of time and during the trip about what to expect.

Bring along familiar items to make the individual more comfortable.

Book :"low season" so there will be fewer guests and the staff will have more time to devote to your needs.

Adhere as closely as you can to aspects of the individual's normal routine.

Above all, stay calm and remember to have fun.

Heartstrings will be a feature each month for readers to share personal stories. If you would like to submit a story for the newsletter, please send it to me at
AutismHearts@stny.rr.com Please know that this newsletter is on the internet, so anything you say can be viewed by anyone. If you wish to submit a photo, attach it to the story. Also, I must be able to reserve the right to edit for space and content if necessary.Sandy

Reader's Reviews

Have you read a good book on Autism lately?
If you have and would like to share a title and make a comment about it, please email it to me at
AutismHearts@stny.rr.com
I will then place it here for all to share! Sandy

The Autism Answer Book by William Stillman- more than 300 of the top questions parents ask, from What is Autism to Communication Differences to Treatment Options.
Recommended by Sandy

DNA Scan for Familial Autism Finds Variants that Disrupt Gene Activity in Children with Autism-Read more here.

Penn State Autism Conference Information-See here.

Autism Societ public policy team working to educate legislators-read more here.

As promised, another disbursement of grants will begin next week. The board of Autism Hearts is meeting on Thursday, the 22nd to review grants. If eligibility requirements are met, requests for grants will be honored as long as the money lasts. Only those grants that are chosen will be notified, beginning July 26th. Recipients of the grants will receive a check and a letter. If there are funds left over, another disbursement will occur at a later date and notification will be on the website and in the media. On behalf of the board, I want to say thank you again to all of you involved in making the walk event so successful, so that we may in turn benefit the community members.
Sandy

Educational Endeavors

As most of you know, in March we sponsored our first ever educational program. It was on safety and autism for First Responders. In the fall, we would like to again have an educational program. We would like to give basic information about Autism to the general public. As always, suggestions and ideas are welcomed.

Josh's Story I want to tell you about Joshua Romberger. He is 6 years old and goes to school at the Institute for Child Development of Binghamton University. The reason I am telling you his story is because he can't talk or maybe he doesn't want to.

Joshua developed the same as his older brothers and sister until he became ill after routine vaccines at 2 years old. He withdrew from everything. I thought I was working too much or it was just a part of recovering from being so sick. After several months with no improvement and several doctors' visits, we took him to be tested and received the diagnosis of PDD-Autism.

It has been 4 years of OT, PT, speech therapy and a very different diet. He is still not talking but he is more interactive and I can see the happiness in his face again.

Our family is part of Autism Hearts for support and to provide that support to others in the same battle for kids who have autism. I pray for the day there is a cure or a proven treatment. No mom should have to battle as I do now. We support public education and research to make this a better place for Joshua and others like him to live and be happy.

Marsha Romberger