Everybody Goes Surfin'...

Here's something to make you wish you lived in Southern California...unless you already do in which case you should head out to Dana Point, and specifically Doheny State Beach where volunteers from Best Day will be working with children with a variety of special needs to help them surf, body board, or kayak. November 13 and 14 for half of each day, children with a variety of challenges are invited on a first-come, first-served basis to work one on one with trained volunteers to enjoy the sand and surf. I can hear the Beach Boys harmonies in the background.

Best Day is an organization founded in 2008 by Max Montgomery and Brooks Lambert. They've already hosted nine similar events in New Jersey and Ventura, CA. Check out some photos of those events here.Their goal is to help children with special needs gain confidence and self-esteem through safe and fun adventures. The events are size-limited to ensure safety. They are also free to registered participants because Best Day is run by volunteers and funded through donations, grants, and sponsorships.

Want to get involved? Visit the Best Day website for more information.

• Volunteer - older school children through senior citizens can all play a role in making this special event happen. Don't like the water? There are plenty of jobs for land-lovers. Check it out.
• Donate or become a Sponsor to help keep these events free for the kids
• Bring Best Day to your community
• or Bring a kid November 13-14 to Doheny State Park, Dana Point, CA or one of the other upcoming events and join the fun

Let's go surfin' now...everybody's learnin' how...

Shoot for the Moon (or some clay...)

This article caught my attention for several reasons.

First, check out the darling face with the sock monkey. The title says he inspired his family to raise money to help children with CP. Heck that face would inspire me to just about anything!


Then, well, I just published a post about CP, so I was already in that groove.

Third, skeet-shooting? In the last year I thought I had heard just about every possible fundraising idea: walks, dances, bike rides, motorbike rides, cake sales, CDs, etc. etc... I had never heard about clay pigeon shooting as the basis of a fundraiser, but...

Wow, does it work! This family initially thought they would raise $5000 and call it a good day. On their first try they raised $55,000, and all combined they've raised $225,000 for the Greensboro Cerebral Palsy Association Program and the Gateway Education Center. How amazing is that! This year's contest is tomorrow. Here's hoping for a record breaking year! If you're in the Summerfield, NC area there's no cost to attend and cheer on the competitors, or the hosts.

The IAN Project

Have you heard of the IAN Project? I heard a radio spot for the IAN Project the other day...or rather I heard part of it in between asking my ASD daughter to be quiet so I could hear it. You can see a short video here that completes the audio I sort of heard. The goal of the IAN Project is to provide an on-line community where parents and caregivers can share ideas, link resources, and gather support and to be a central repository for data used by researchers and an outlet for recent discoveries. In order to participate in the research side there is an on-line questionnaire to fill out. They say it will take 1-2 hours to fill out. I haven't looked at it, so can't comment much. Evidently by participating with the survey you're providing data that may help design future research studies, or improve community services. You can join either the research side or the community side independently. I will probably explore and report more later, but for now I am excited to see this new (to me) resource.

Olympic Fever

It has struck our house big time. We ordered up the local channels from our TV provider for the express purpose of recording and watching as much Olympic coverage as possible. It has been amusing to introduce our children to the wonders of winter sports. The toddlers giggled like maniacs while watching the luge competition. They were transfixed by figure skating. Our oldest daughter thought it was pretty amazing that four people can all snowboard the same course at the same time (me, too) and wanted to know if roller skates could work on the ice, too. She doesn't have ice skates, you see.

There have been a couple of touching moments for those in the special needs community. I was glad to see Rick Hansen, a paralympic athlete, included in the torch lighting ceremony, though disappointed he was not one of the official lighters. I also enjoyed the story of Alexandre Bilodeau who won Canada's first gold medal on home soil in Men's Freestyle Skiing. He draws a lot of inspiration from his older brother, Frederic, who is affected by cerebral palsy.

With these advocates on the big screen there is a whole network of people that work tirelessly all year long with somewhat less fanfare, though their name is well known. The Special Olympics provides excellent opportunities for individuals with special needs to find something they can excel at. There are a lot of fundraising opportunities for The Special Olympics. Each local organization does their own fundraising. I've read of Polar Bear Plunges in Utah and Celebrity Ski Weekends in Nevada. There are a lot of other ways to get involved, too. With the spotlight on Vancouver in 2010 I can't think of a better time to check it out and see what you can do.

Warm Coat Drive

Here is a twist on advocating for special needs children. How about helping them learn that they can help others? This article highlights an after school program for special needs students that is near us. Last year the students started a service project to collect 100 coats for the One Warm Coat project. They were able to collect 273 coats and donate them to the Bay Area Rescue Mission. Some of the students went on to volunteer with other non-profit groups. This year the students are planning another coat drive and hope to exceed their collection from last year.

Some action steps to consider:

• If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area consider donating a coat to these students. Gently used or new coats are welcome. Donations can be delivered to George Miller Center, 2801 Robert Miller Drive, Richmond, CA by December 19. For more information call 510-374-3981 or send an e-mail to clam at arcofcc dot org.

• If you don't live nearby, look around for other programs that work with Special Needs students and want to encourage them to serve their community. Support a program that is already in place or help get one going.

• If you are a special needs parent, consider how you can encourage your own child to serve his or her community. A couple of years ago we went to an event where we helped make care packages for needy children. At that time the simple act of putting the package together and drawing a little picture for the recipient was about all my daughter could understand, but it was a start. She still tells me sometimes that she wants to give things to someone who doesn't have one of those (sometimes it's a sibling, though, so I'm not sure she understands the idea of charity :-). I'm sure this is an area we'll continue to work on, and the upcoming holiday season offers a great opportunity to do so.

Puppy Love

We spent some time in the last week taking care of a couple of dogs for one of our neighbors while they were out of town. It was a lot of work, but also a good experience for my daughter. She now knows how much time and energy goes into really caring for a dog. Exercise, feeding, cleaning up after them, she helped me do all of these each day. I was surprised (and yes a little chagrined) when at the end of all of that work she was still telling me that she would like to have a dog. For now I am putting her off. I've given her a definite date far in the future that she can ask seriously about getting a dog. She already has worked out what color she wants it to be, what gender she wants it to be, and she has even picked out a name. Heaven help us.

I've posted before about the use of assistance dogs for children with autism. If and when we embark on the adventure of dog ownership I would love to find an animal that is suitable for use as an assistant, or at least one that is therapeutic, with a calming and regulating effect. All of this thinking about dogs made me really excited when I found this link to a story about the Lions service club which is now training service dogs for children with autism. The Lions have been involved with training service dogs for visual and hearing impairment for 25 years, but due to increasing rates of autism they have added a program to train dogs to meet this special need. You can check out the website for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides here.

According to their website there are plenty of ways that you can get involved:

• Make a donation - The Lions Foundation receives no governmental assistance.
• Adopt a puppy - Literally or figuratively. For a donation of $100 you can help defray veterinary care for a future guide dog and receive a certificate commemorating your assistance. Future guide dogs also require special training and socialization in their first year and the Lions Foundation uses foster families to provide that environment for their dogs. You can learn more by looking at the...
• Opportunities page - where both paid and volunteer positions are listed, along with application form links.
• Also check out the wish list.

Adventure for Autism

There's nothing like a 25,000 mile bicycle ride to get things rolling. That's Adam Biel's theory anyway. With the statistics on autism now saying that 1 in 91 children age 3-17 has an autism spectrum disorder it's time! Starting in Alaska June 25, 2009, and eventually covering a good bit of the western hemisphere in a year and a half to two years, Biel hopes to raise $40 per mile. He also has extended layovers planned in some cities to work with local agencies to help raise funds. With a background in business (B.S. from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; internships with banking and consulting firms) this pet project gone wild will undoubtedly be a success.

Here's how you can help:

Visit adventureforautism.com and click on the Help AfA post-it-note. Biel welcomes a night in a warm home rather than sleeping in the tent he carries on his bike. A night in a hotel room is appreciated, too. AfA also suggests organizing an autism awareness bike day if Biel rides through your area. You can check out his route at the above link.

Visit L'Arche an organization in Canada (and worldwide) that works to integrate people with disabilities in society and Pathfinders for Autism a parent-initiated organization based out of Maryland. The funds Biel raises will support these two organizations. Check them out. See what else they might need.

If nothing else, help spread the word. Our media market hasn't picked up Biel's story yet. With all the doom and gloom we're hearing these days wouldn't you like to hear some good news? Tell all your friends on facebook or twitter to join the adventure.

Rainbow Riders

Here is another great organization serving special needs children that can use some help. Located in Monmouth, Illinois, the Rainbow Riders Therapeutic Horseback Riding program gives special needs children the thrilling experience of riding a horse, but the experience does more than just boost self-esteem. The movement of the horse "provides healthy exercise while improving the riders strength, circulation, muscle tone and sensory integration." Each client is given an individual therapy plan developed in partnership with education and medical professionals. The most amazing piece to me is that Rainbow Riders charges at most 14% of the actual cost to provide the therapy to the clients. Some clients even qualify for paying only $1 per session (0.7% of cost) due to financial needs. The remaining costs are all defrayed through tax-deductible donations and volunteer efforts. Check out some inspiring photographs here and then:

• Donate - Rainbow Riders receives no government funding for their program. They rely on donations and grants. All donations are tax-deductible. You can sponsor children or horses at varying amounts.
• Volunteer - If you live near Monmouth, Illinois, Rainbow Riders would welcome your donation of time. They say no horse experience is needed.
• Spread the word - twitter, facebook, digg, whatever your social media of choice I'm sure Rainbow Riders would appreciate the shout out.
• Research - If you don't live near Monmouth, Illinois, but you are interested in helping a similar organization, check out the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) website to find a certified center near you.

P.S. I realized after posting this that I should also point you to my friend Janet Ann Collins' blog where she recently posted a review of children's books about this type of therapy. Although I've been seeing referral lists, advertisements and articles about equine therapy for over a year now, I'm sure that reading Janet's post at least subliminally nudged me to post about Rainbow Riders when I was choosing my topic. I do so love to give credit where it is due...

Take Flight for Kids

I found this article late this evening, and I am wishing I had read through my google alerts a little earlier in the week, but alas, we'll have to wait for the next Take Flight for Kids event. It looks like these happen on some scale throughout the year. How many children do you know who've had the opportunity to fly a plane? Add the qualification of being a special needs child and my guess is the number falls pretty near zero, unless, that is you have been to one of these events around the Bay Area. The event is totally free to families who attend (up to 5,000 people!) and includes BBQ, aircraft displays, live entertainment and the chance to fly a plane. You can imagine that sponsoring an event like this requires a lot of money and a lot of volunteers, including skilled pilots.

Visit the Take Flight for Kids website to:
* Make a donation - $10 sponsors a family's BBQ lunch
* Volunteer to help run the event
* Volunteer as a pilot
* Become a sponsor or exhibitor at the next flying event

Help provide a once in a lifetime experience to a special needs child.

Four Legged Advocates

Some time ago we were watching a late night TV program about amazing animals and saw this story about Karen Shirk and her service dog, Ben, who saved her life in a couple of different ways. You can watch the video here. She then went on to begin her own organization (4 Paws for Ability) to train and place service dogs with people who are otherwise turned away or cannot afford the long waiting lists of other organizations. I remember wondering whether or not a service animal would be helpful to our daughter and others on the autism spectrum.

About a month ago I saw several different posts on Twitter and various blogs about 4 Paws for Jude. This family is trying to raise $13,000 to get a dog from 4 Paws for Ability. I feel like the story has come full circle. I now know that service dogs can be helpful for people with autism, and I can have some part in helping others learn about this great organization.

Here are some action steps:

• Help Jude by visiting his website and exploring the various options for donating to change this little boy's life. According to their thank you page they've now raised $4062. I'm not sure when this was last updated.
• Check out 4 Paws for Ability and visit their "How to Help" page. Options include donating puppies, sponsoring puppies, foster caring for puppies, providing something from their wish list or as they say, "just give."

Seattle Children's Playgarden

I saw a story about this all-inclusive playground on a Twitter post. I wanted to check it out because this is the type of environment I think should be made available to every special needs child. Imagine a park where "typical" kids play side-by-side with "special needs" kids, and both of them can forget which category they fall into and just be kids! Interacting with typical peers is particularly beneficial for children on the autism spectrum, and this looks like a great environment to make that happen. The park is also accessible to children with physical challenges - wheelchairs, walkers, etc. Seattle is near and dear to my heart because I attended college in nearby Tacoma. Hopefully next time we are in that area we can visit this park and see it for ourselves. Some of the equipment actually looks similar to a local park we go to often. My daughter can sit in the spinning seat forever, spinning away and never getting dizzy.

So here is how you can get involved. Check out the Playgarden's website. They are in the midst of finishing some construction projects. Your donations could help them reach their goals, or help a special needs child attend their Summer camp even though their family also has financial needs. They accept non-cash donations (check out the wish list tab under you can help)...donate your "clutter" (11 foot hammock anyone?) to some kids who will really enjoy it. If you live in the Seattle area there are volunteer positions available, too. Want to do something more but don't live anywhere near Seattle? Consider working with others to make even more places like this available to children everywhere.