day one: #NAC17

So I'm attending the 17th National Autism Conference this week. My sessions for today included the Opening Keynote, Autism Research Updates, Legal Issues for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Recent Developments at the Behavior Analyst Certification.

Already it is off to a great start. We heard from Dr. Bridget Taylor who works with the Alpine Learning Group in New Jersey. Throughout the first session, Dr. Taylor walked through the history and progress in the world in regards to autism. As we all know, autism didn't magically pop up the year that people started to pay attention and take an interest in helping individuals who were autistic. However, it was interesting to hear some of the timeline and developments that have come along since the 60s. I don't know whether to think it is sad that the majority of changes in the world of autism awareness and understanding have happened only in the last 10 years, or be reassured that they're picking up the pace.

Throughout the session, we learned (and watched video clips) about the progress of one client that Dr. Taylor has worked with for a while. This girl, Jodi DiPiazza is now 11 years old and just really a cool chick. She has come a long way through her life so far, and I'm sure she will continue to grow in awesome ways. Check out this link to her performance (piano & vocal) with Katy Perry. 

The second session was hosted by Dr. Alice Kau. The updates in autism research were interesting, and she detailed the function and role of the Autism Centers of Excellence program (ACE). This program, consisting of both Centers and Networks, focus on research. There are 3 Centers and 8 Networks, tackling subjects from Multigenerational Families and Environmental Risks to the scientific reason as to why some people with autism are non-verbal. I had no idea the program existed, but it sounds like the work they are doing is going to contribute a lot to our understanding of autism over the next few years. 

My first afternoon session was hosted by Dr. Perry Zirkel of Lehigh University. With a look into the way Special Education works in my home state, I was psyched to sign up for it. Let me tell you, the session was invaluable. I was thrilled to get some help understanding what I can reasonably demand and what rights my kid has. I went out into a small group instead of staying in the large session for the first half. They said that I shouldn't be out with them because it was for people who already know the terminology... well I have a list of acronyms for that and I'm sure I'll be fine between previous experience and the rest of the conference this week. What I wanted were some small group interaction and answers. (Partially I was getting overwhelmed by the massive number of people in attendance, and I was happy to get a chance to break away from it all!) There were people there from multiple perspectives, (state workers, teachers, independent companies, and parents) and it was helpful to learn more about where to go to ask for help and what resources might be available to me. I took a lot of notes and I was happy to get a link to some of the documents he used during the presentation. He had quite a bit of question-and-answer time and addressed some of the issues I've been dealing with in terms of a brilliant kid with ASD. It was just a wonderful session!

I skipped the last session of the day because I was becoming overwhelmed, and honestly it was one I wasn't uber set upon. It was a time slot without any sessions that I thought would be particularly useful to me, and so I went to the exhibit room and looked around before heading back upstairs to pick up Johnny. He seemed to love his day there, and it was kind of nice to see him for lunch. (At the same time, I'm not looking forward to Wednesday when neither Ashleigh or Steve will be there to help me with him!!!) Anyway, after a bit of a fight to get him out of the room, we headed out the door. 

I'm anxious to see what tomorrow holds. For now, my brain feels over-stuffed with information and I have a killer migraine, so I'm going to try and relax a bit. Johnny has ended the day in a horrible mood and although I didn't deal with him all day, I need a break. Lucky for me, Aunt Lizzie is coming to take him for an hour or two! (My hero!)