2016 Targeting Autism Forum Sessions
If you were not able to attend the 2016 Targeting Autism Forum, you can see what you missed. Links to most of the individual presentations are provided here for your convenience.
Marty Murphy – Autism: Beyond the Books Part I
Autism: Beyond the Books Part II
Ann Ford – The Importance of Building Relationships with Service Providers and Advocacy Groups
Dan Weiss, Barbara Klipper, April Jones & Daniel Flores – Music video, Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected and Autism Welcome Here: Library Programs, Services and More grant award presentations
Adria Nassim (and Lucy) – On Sensory Processing: A Personal Story
Patti Foerster – Libraries, Disabilities and Washington, DC, Part I
Libraries, Disabilities and Washington, DC, Part II
Debra Vines – Report from the Founder/Executive Director, The Answer, Inc.
Amanda Marti – Southern Illinois Targeting Autism Collaborative Community Report
Renee Grassi and Cate Loveday – Community Report – DuPage, Kane & Will Counties
Holly Jin and Dawn Wlezien – Supporting Transition-Aged Students at Skokie Public Library: Patron Stories and Lessons Learned, Part I
Sheryl Siebert – Community Report from the Director, Chenoa Public Library
Sarah Colby Weaver – The Americans with Disabilities Act and Hidden Disabilities
Mary Pelich – A Mother’s Journey
Nalini Mahajan – Information Connections: For Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities and Chronic Diseases (made possible with grant funds from the National Library of Medicine)
Sarah Isaacs – Early Intervention Clearinghouse (Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Early Intervention)
ILEAD’s Team Spectra Engages with the Targeting Autism Forum at Assistive Technology Petting Zoo
Courtesy of the IMLS-funded, 2015 ILEAD USA LB21 Grant, “Team Spectra” offers Targeting Autism forum attendees opportunities to engage with assistive technologies. Team members include:
- Marcus Birch, Illinois State Library
- Natalie DeJonghe, Reaching Across Illinois Library System
- Meghan Harmon, Chatham Area Public Library
- Matthew Henninger, Illinois State Library
- Jamie Mott, Illinois State Library
Inspirational Speakers Address Librarians and Others at the 2016 Targeting Autism forum!
A few pictures from the 2016 Targeting Autism Forum, held at the Illinois State Library on March 10-11. All sessions were recorded and will be accessible/posted soon.
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- Marty Murphy – self-advocate and national public speaker on autism, special education and learning disabilities.
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- Ann Ford – Executive Director of the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living (INCIL), a network of 22 Illinois non-residential, community based organizations, which provide resource and advocacy services to persons with disabilities.
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- Ariadne Blayde – playwright and 2008 winner of the Kennedy Center’s VSA Playwright Discovery Award for her one-act play, The Other Room, which depicts a brilliant high school student with autism, who struggles to communicate his inner thoughts and emotions, which are revealed to the audience through four unique characters.
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- The Alex & Hayden Show. Alex and Hayden are two middle school students with autism. With the assistance of their teacher (far right), Jan Abernethy, they created over 30 episodes of their internet show, where they interview guests, showcase pets and share interesting facts about autism. Seated beside Jan is Hayden Davis, Alex Dudzenski, and Hayden’s mom, Katie Henderson.
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- From the right: John Donvan, Caren Zucker – authors of In a Different Key: The Story of Autism. Russ Bonanno, former director, The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP) and Targeting Autism consultant and trainer.
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- Illinois Literary Heritage Award presented to John Donvan and Caren Zucker. From the right: Illinois State Library Director, Anne Craig, John Donvan, Caren Zucker, Russ Bonanno.
The Targeting Autism Forum is Set for This Thursday and Friday!
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A complete agenda is available here
Libraries Receive Grant Funding to Serve People with Autism
The “Autism Welcome Here: Library Programs, Services and More” grant committee is proud to announce two first-year grant winners. Applications were submitted from 57 libraries in 22 states, proposing a wonderful range of programs and initiatives that would benefit individuals with ASD and their families. Proposals were received from very small libraries in rural areas and from large urban systems. The majority came from public libraries, but academic and special libraries were also represented. The proposed projects ranged from the innovative and adventurous to the tried and true, and all sought to make a meaningful impact on the lives of people with autism in the communities they serve.
The Autism Welcome Here Grant is sponsored by Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected (www.librariesandautism.org), and honors the groundbreaking work of Libraries and Autism co-founder Meg Kolaya for her contributions in promoting inclusion, connecting libraries and the autism community, and bringing awareness of the needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families to the library community. Each year a total of $5000.00 will be awarded. This year’s winners will receive their awards at the *Targeting Autism Forum, held on March 10, 2016 at the Illinois State Library, where they will introduce their projects to other librarians and representatives of organizations serving people with ASD.
“We really didn’t know what to expect this first year out”, said Dan Weiss, Libraries and Autism co-founder and Autism Welcome Here committee member. “We were overwhelmed by the response we got and the quality and variety of the proposals made it a very challenging decision.”
However, after careful deliberation, two applications rose to the top of the pile. Both proposed an innovative and clearly described program that could be replicated in other libraries and communities. Collaboration with community stakeholders was also a key element of both programs. The two winners are: the Judith J. Carrier Library at the Tarrant County College Southeast Campus in Arlington, TX and the Simsbury (CT) Public Library.
The community college library in Texas will initiate the Autism Spectrum College Information Talks (ASCIT) Project, offering a series of presentations and other resources to help caregivers support students with ASD make a successful transition to postsecondary education. The Simsbury PL program will create a supportive and welcoming environment for young children with ASD and their peers, in the form of an inclusive bimonthly playgroup called Everybody Plays. Their proposal also includes a staff-training component, which will ensure that program facilitators and other library staff will be able to provide exceptional library services to the local ASD community.
Autism Welcome Here creator and committee member Barbara Klipper said, ”The incredible response we received demonstrates both the extent of the need and the desire of many librarians to better serve people with ASD in their communities. We wish we could have funded more initiatives, but it is our hope that unsuccessful candidates, and even libraries that didn’t apply, will be inspired by the grant to seek out other funding possibilities or to find creative ways to serve this population within existing budgets”.
The “Autism Welcome Here: Library Programs, Services and More” committee extends their congratulations to the 2016 grant recipients and to all the libraries that submitted proposals.
Applications for the 2017 grant(s) will be accepted starting in September 2016. More information about the grant can be found at www.librariesandautism.org/grant.
*The Targeting Autism Forum was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White and the Illinois State Library
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