By Andrew Schmidt, GAP Coordinator Iceberg, Kale and Chard….oh my! These greens are but a mere fraction of the staggering amount and variety of past harvests, as well as harvests to come at our GAP Program garden. Every Wednesday, a group of students accompany our horticulturalists Dave Rude to our garden where they learn the process of sewing seeds, planting seedlings, thinning out certain crops, correct watering methods, and of course how to harvest all organic vegetables that we produce.…
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Sherie, Social Media Copywriter Everyone enjoyed themselves at Spectrum State Experience, the GAP art gallery exhibit raising funds for the GAP program. It was an excellent event and many participants in the program invited their friends, family and relatives to the event. Aside from the funds raised from the event, there was over $400 worth of fantastic art purchased throughout the night – much of which can take us anywhere in our imagination with a great deal of detail in…
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Mikal Britt, MSW Student & Autism Journalist I recently left my position at FACT to pursue a Masters in Social Work at CSULA. While I no longer work as a behavior therapist, I am still involved in the autism community. I still think about and advocate for and educate about autism. I attend events whenever possible, I read and share interesting articles celebrating small autism victories or discussing new theories. I look forward to the day the concept of neurodiversity…
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Eric Kastan, Director of Behavior Services Last month Eric participated on the panel of a webinar hosted by AUTISM BRAINSTORM, a FREE online interactive community. Eric spoke on Movement Differences, Disorders and ASD. If your short on time click the 30 minute mark, where Eric shares great insights about working with clients combining both a global and individual perspective. Watch it here. AutismBrainstorm.org is a community, to provide an opportunity for healing, enlightening, and entertaining social interaction within a virtual environment, easily accessible from…
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Linda Andron-Ostrow, Executive Director Imagine a little boy with autism whose sensory sensitivities limit him from going in the backyard because the sound of butterfly wings is too overwhelming. I knew this boy years ago when he was diagnosed with autism. In my book, his mother wrote a chapter on humor, imagination, empathy and autism. She demonstrated that all these things that are “not supposed” to be part of the lives of those on the spectrum are indeed supposed to…
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By David, GAP Program Member An passionate artist inspired by the natural world and the unknown. David is a member of the GAP program who’s artistic talent inspires everyone who sees it. He recently was on our Los Angeles Public Library tour, AUTISM FEELS, where he shared insights about how his autism diagnosis helps him to see the world differently. He shares this vision through his art. David works well with most mediums – from pencil & paper to finger…
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Linda Andron-Ostrow, Executive Director I would like share with you a wonderful metaphor for how we can all live in the present moment. I like to consider this as an opportunitiy to be aware of the small things we and our children accomplish every day, and letting our sorrows drift away to be held by all of those in the world that we are connected to through the energy that travels through time and space. As the story goes, a…
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Mikal Britt, Behavior Therapist for 10+ years Repetition plays a large role in the world of autism. Today, I am relating it to myself as behavior therapist. I am relating to how amazed I am when a certain technique works, even though I’ve seen it work over and over again. A lot of what we do as a behavior therapist is often counter-intuitive, or requires a kind of patience that seems unusual. So it’s always good to have a reminder…
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Zoey Giesberg, MSW I may have mentioned here before that I didn’t learn I was autistic until I was thirteen years old. In fact, looking back on the articles I’ve written for FACT, I did indeed write about it. But I want to come back to that topic to discuss something I sort of touched on in that piece – self-acceptance about being autistic. Accepting being autistic has not been easy for me. As I said many months ago, I…
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Linda Andron-Ostrow, Executive Director You know I used to hang out in ice cream parlors and parks. Last Sunday, Zoey and I had an opportunity to participate in a Google Hangout. For those of you who don’t know, this is virtual way to be on video chat with several people… it’s a new world! And part of this new world is Neuro-diversity, a growing movement asking us to see autism as part of a continuum of human functioning and to work…
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