Thursday, December 6, 2007

Autism Hub Bloggers to Present at Conference

The University of San Diego's Winter Autism Conference will include a breakout session called Enhancing Communication: Blogging and Autism. Several Autism Hub bloggers will present information about the Hub as a source of scientific information, anti quackery and support for autistics and families with autistic members. The conference is called Beyond "Behaviors": Supporting Competence, Confidence and Image, and will be held at USD's Autism Institute January 7-9, 2008.
The conference will feature presentations by Dr. Anne Donnellan and Martha Leary. Many thanks to Steve D. for working with the Institute to set this up. I am looking forward to participating and meeting a few of the other Hub bloggers in person. If you are a member of Autism Hub and are not able to attend the conference, you should have received a survey requesting your input. It's not too late to respond! Let us know what you want people to know about your experience as an autism blogger, and we will include it.
The schedule for the conference is available here.
This is the Mission Statement of the USD Autism Institute from their website:

The mission of the University of San Diego Autism Institute is to inform and support educators, students, families, self-advocates and professionals in the development of personalized accommodations and other strategies for individuals with the behavior, movement, social, and communication challenges associated with autism. It is our hope that as we grow to understand the lived experience of individuals with autism, personalized supports and respectful interaction will be the standard rather than the exception.
Please share this information with anyone who might be interested.

12 comments:

  1. Do us all proud there Bev! And we want a full report when you get back:)

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  2. I will not be there, unfortunately, but I'm glad that you are able to take part; this conference looks like it will be very helpful for improving understanding.

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  3. That is really freakin' cool. A really good idea. I love the conference theme, and I love what (and whom) they're including. I hope they get mad coverage for this and I hope other "Institutes" follow suit.

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  4. So glad you will be there! I sent in my info!

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  5. Blogging is nice, but it's nice to see the "real" world crossover once in a while.

    Joe

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  6. I want a messenger bag with "Defeat Autism? No Thank You!" on it! (If you decide to make one available....)

    Also, who would I talk to from the Hub about maybe having somebody appear as guest speaker(s) at the Judson Center near Detroit? (Their site is: http://www.judsoncenter.org/page.php?catID=118&page=What%20We%20Do&id=7&catName=Autism%20Connections.)

    I'm not connected with the Judson Center at all. I attended one hour-long "parents connections" meeting a few months ago and found myself on a different page entirely (re curing, behavioral & biomed therapies, mainstreaming, "losing the diagnosis," etc.) from the other parents, and I have not returned.

    Still, the center frequently has guest speakers, so I think it'd be cool for them to hear some neurodiversity advocates, and suddenly I'm wondering how to make that happen.

    Maybe I should email you?

    Thanks,

    Marie S.

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  7. Marie S.,

    I will add that bag to the store today. As far as speakers, The Autism Acceptance Project has a speaker's bureau and also the Autistic Self Advocacy Network has one. Those might be a good place to start. You can email me if you are interested in having me speak and we can talk about that. The Hub is not an organization, so I can't speak for anyone else, but I would be happy to help you find someone if I can.

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  8. Sweet! I ordered my bag! I'll carry it proudly. Thank you!

    I'll find (maybe after holiday craziness) whom to contact at Judson about arranging for speakers, and I'll ask if they know about Autism Acceptance Project and Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and then ... uh, I'll figure out what do to from there, lol.

    The San Diego conference sure sounds awesome! So heartening that real, live autistic people are actually included in an autism program!

    Marie S.

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  9. I would like to know how bloggers get onto the Autism Hub...

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  10. Shiva,
    Click on the Autism Hub button in my sidebar. This will take you to the Hub's main page, where you will see an administrator's address. Let them know you are interested. And good luck!

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