ATTENTION: South Carolina Autism Society Annual Conference

Don't miss the Sc Autism Society's Annual Meeting and Conference October 3-4, 2008, at the Columbia Conference Center, 169 Laurelhurst Avenue, Columbia, SC. More information and registration at www.scautism.org. Scheduled presenters include Dr. Temple Grandin, Diane Twachtman-Cullen, Rose Ivoannone, Laura Carpenter, and Joshua Myers.

NOTE: Click on the title above to go directly to the registration page.

Pro-Parents SC 2008 CALENDAR OF WORKSHOPS

2008 CALENDAR OF WORKSHOPS

THESE WORKSHOPS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC,
LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ACCOMMODATIONS WHEN REGISTERING.
TO SCHEDULE A WORKSHOP IN YOUR AREA
PLEASE CALL: 1-800-759-4776

8/20/2008
11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
McCormick County Library
201 Railroad Avenue
McCormick, SC 29835

Susan Bruce, PRO-Parents of SC
Region 3, Education Coordinator
To register call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

8/21/2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
*

Positive Behavior Intervention (PBI) Workshop
DSS Office
201 South Page Street
Chesterfield, SC

Melinda Hawk, PRO-Parents of SC
South Carolina Special Kids
Project Coordinator
1-866-863-1512

8/22/2008
10:30 am - 2:30 pm

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Sumter County Public Library
(Meeting Room)
111 North Harvin Street
Sumter, SC 29150

Tanya M. Inabinet, PRO-Parents of SC
Region 2, Education Coordinator
To register call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

8/25/2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
*

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Edgefield DSS
120 W.A. Reel Drive
Edgefield, SC 29824

Melinda Hawk, PRO-Parents of SC
South Carolina Special Kids
Project Coordinator
1-866-863-1512

8/26/2008
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center
(Use Rear Entrance)
2319 St Matthew Road
Orangeburg, SC 29115

Tanya M. Inabinet, PRO-Parents of SC
Region 2, Education Coordinator
To register call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

8/26/2008
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
*

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
DSS Office
2107 Wilson Road
Newberry, SC

Melinda Hawk, PRO-Parents of SC
South Carolina Special Kids
Project Coordinator
1-866-863-1512

8/28/2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
*

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
DSS Office
1401 Eastland Avenue
Kingstree, SC

Melinda Hawk, PRO-Parents of SC
South Carolina Special Kids
Project Coordinator
1-866-863-1512

ATTENTION! Two Up-and-coming Autism Trainings

Behavior Analysis for a Lasting Change
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
9:00am - 4:00pm
registration at 8:00am

Register online at www.scautism.org

Workshop Fee: $65 per person (includes lunch)

Columbia Conference Center
169 Laurelhurst Ave.
Columbia, SC

Cancellation fee of $20 if cancelled before August 27.
No refunds after 8/27.

This workshop is designed to provide, early interventionists,
educators, parents, and others with a thorough understanding of
quality indicators in programs for children with autism and related
disabilities. Strategies for designing individualized learning
programs that can be implemented both at school and home will be
provided. Specific steps in program development, strengthening family
routines, delivery, monitoring, and assessment will be reviewed.
Participants will receive a training handbook that includes
checklists and forms to assist with quality program development and delivery.

Colleen Cornwall, Ph.D, BCBA, founder of Applied Behavioral Learning
Enterprises, is a Nationally Board Certified Behavior Analyst with
over ten years of experience practicing ABA. Colleen holds a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Emotional/Behavioral Disturbances and a Master
of Science in Exceptional Student Education with an emphasis in
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). As a classroom teacher, Colleen
worked with students with disabilities varying from severe emotional
disorders to mental handicaps. Colleen also served as the Lead
Behavior Analyst for Collier County Public Schools. In this role,
Colleen developed behavioral interventions for children served in all
exceptional student education programs ranging from Pre-K
Developmental Disabilities to Learning Disabled to Autism/Asperger's
Syndrome, providing hands-on training to educators and parents and
individualized behavior therapy to students. As a national
consultant, Colleen has assisted school districts and training
facilities in developing group and individual behavior change
programs, providing assessment, program development and regularly
scheduled consultations. With a particular interest in children and
adults with limited verbal repertoires, Colleen has also been
instrumental in assessing and developing individualized Verbal
Behavior programs for children and adults including assessment
(generally the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills/
ABLLS), program development and regularly scheduled consultations.
Colleen provides services nationwide and abroad.

--------------------------

Mondays, September 15 - October 20 ( see below )
Make and Take sessions Jan-Jun, 2009
3:30 pm-5:30 pm
Workshop Fee: $20*
*This workshop will be offered without cost to parents that would be
willing to help others from time to time to learn these skills.

The South Carolina Autism Society, in collaboration with the South
Carolina Assistive Technology Project (SCATP), will offer a series of
skill-building sessions this fall. Carol Page, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ATP
will present a series on visual and environmental supports in the
areas of social skills and behavior, communication, literacy, and
free electronic resources.

The training is targeted to parents of individuals with an autism
spectrum disorder (ASD) but instructional assistants, teachers, and
others certainly may attend.

SCAS will tap into the power of parents teaching other parents with
ongoing make and take opportunities during the school year. This will
be to support people with ASD across school and home environments in
order to enhance the quality of life for children with ASDs. The
majority of the trainings will be held at the SCAS's training room,
located at 806 12th Street, West Columbia, South Carolina.

The cost for this entire training series is $20.00 but will be
offered without cost to parents that would be willing to help others
from time to time to learn these skills. The training is limited to
15 participants. The times for all sessions will be 3:30-5:30 pm. To
register go www.scautism.org or call 803-750-6988.

Splash Bash Sept 8th

HealthSouth Columbia 2008
1ST ANNUAL SPLASH BASH
with Adaptive Services by HealthSouth Columbia
SEPTEMBER 6, 2008
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
at the
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE
Lake Wateree Recreation Area
2030 Baron DeKalb Road • Camden, SC
Michelle Azarigian-Rogers, 803-401-1345
www.healthsouthcolumbia.com

SWIM, PLAY & LEISURE

WATER SPORTS, FISHING, ACCESS TO ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT
FOR HUNTING AND OTHER WHEELCHAIR SPORTS
ADAPTED SPORTS & LEISURE ACTIVITIES FOR ADULTS and
YOUNG ADULTS (14 years & older) WITH DISABILITIES...
A variety of organizations & vendors will be
present to provide their expertise & services.

FOR FREE REGISTRATION AND OTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle Azarigian-Rogers, 803-401-1345
www.healthsouthcolumbia.com

NOTE: Click on the title above to go to the web site.

Helping The Deaf Hear Acoustic Device Allows Sound To Travel Through Bones

ScienceDaily Disability News--

Otolaryngologists develop a new, implantable hearing aid. It works with a transmitter worn behind the ear that sends sound vibrations from her deaf side through the skull to her good ear. It's called the BAHA. The device is implanted in the skull through the scalp behind the ear and causes a vibration when sound enters the field which vibrates the entire skull.

Hearing with your bones? It may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but a new device is allowing some partially deaf patients to do just that.

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Save the Date! North Carolina Assistive Technology Expo

North Carolina Assistive Technology Expo

When: Pre-conference December 3, 2008
AT Expo December 4-5, 2008
Where: North Raleigh Hilton Raleigh, NC

Conference offerings include an exhibit hall (free), 40 concurrent
sessions, pre- conference sessions, poster session and a Keynote address.

NOTE: Click on the title above to access the North Carolina Assistive Technology Web page.

Robotics Research: Enhancing The Lives Of People With Disabilities

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2008) —

Robots may be the solution for people with disabilities who are struggling to regain the use of their limbs, thanks to a research team that includes engineers and students from Rochester Institute of Technology.

The study utilizes physiological information, or bio-signals, produced by the human body, to improve the performance of external assistive devices, called orthoses, which aid individuals with physical disabilities, such as strokes or major spinal cord injuries, regain the use of there arms and legs.

The project is funded through the National Science Foundation Computer, Information Science and Engineering Directorate and includes researchers and students from Rochester Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech, and Georgetown University.

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Stretchable Silicon Camera Next Step To Artificial Retina

The electronic-eye camera developed by researchers from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern
University. The array of pixels is visible through the
magnified image created by the lens.
(Credit: Beckman Institute, University of Illinois)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2008) —

"Digital cameras have transformed the world of photography. Now new technology inspired by the human eye could push the photographic image farther forward by producing improved images with a wider field of view. By combining stretchable optoelectronics and biologically inspired design, scientists have created a remarkable imaging device, with a layout based on the human eye.

As reported in the Aug. 7 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University have developed a high-performance, hemispherical "eye" camera using an array of single-crystalline silicon detectors and electronics, configured in a stretchable, interconnected mesh.

The work opens new possibilities for advanced camera design. It also foreshadows artificial retinas for bionic eyes similar in concept to those in the movie "Terminator" and other popular science fiction.

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above."

Lens implant offers chance at beating lazy eye

AP Photo: Dr. Paul Dougherty inserts a rolled-up intraocular
lens implant through a tiny incision in the...

"WASHINGTON - Dr. Paul Dougherty delicately slipped a tiny lens inside the right eye of 7-year-old Megan Garvin — a last-ditch shot at saving her sight in that eye.

The California girl last week became one of a small number of U.S. children to try an experimental surgery to prevent virtual blindness from lazy eye diagnosed too late, or too severe, for standard treatment.

The new approach: Implantable lenses, the same kind that nearsighted adults can have inserted for crisper vision — but that aren't officially approved for use in children.

"Without this technology, we couldn't help her," says Dougherty, a prominent Los Angeles eye surgeon who invited The Associated Press to document Megan's surgery. "This would be written off as a blind eye."

Up to 5 percent of children have amblyopia, commonly called lazy eye, where one eye is so much stronger than the other that the brain learns to ignore the weaker eye. Untreated, the proper neural connections for vision don't form, eventually rendering that eye useless."

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Multiple Sclerosis: New MRI Contrast Medium Enables Early Diagnosis In Animal Model

ScienceDaily (Aug. 4, 2008) —

In an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), neuroradiologists and neurologists of the University hospitals of Heidelberg and Würzburg have been able to visualize inflammatory tissue damage, most of which had remained unrecognized up to now, with the aid of a new contrast medium, Gadofluorine M, in magnetic resonance imaging.

In particular at the early stage of the disease, drug treatment is effective. Up to now, how-ever, an early diagnosis is frequently not established with certainty, especially if no (or very few) inflammatory lesions are present on MRI. "With this new contrast medium, we were able to visualize five to ten times more foci of inflammation in comparison to conventional MRI images and contrast media", reports Professor Dr. Martin Bendszus, Medical Director of the Department of Neuroradiology at the University hospital of Heidelberg.

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

Book Club for Intellectually Disabled

BY CHRISTINA HERNANDEZ

"When Jamie Comer graduated from high school at age 21, gone were the in-depth assignments and hours of homework that had long challenged him.

As Comer, who has Down syndrome, began to gradually lose critical thinking skills without the aid of vigorous schoolwork, his mother struggled to find opportunities to keep him mentally sharp.

"People have always assumed that people like Jamie don't really have opinions on anything remotely complex," said his mother, Nancy Comer, 64, of Port Washington. "They're just expected to work and be happy."

But Nancy Comer wanted more for her son, now 29, and other adults with developmental disabilities. Five years ago, with the help of like-minded advocates and the Port Washington Public Library, she formed Books for Dessert, a book club - thought to be the only one of its kind on Long Island - for adults with intellectual disabilities.

The program allows developmentally disabled adults to read books together, discuss the intricacies of plots and character motivations and compare the stories to their own lives. Conversations, Comer said, have drifted from what it means to be poor to why President George W. Bush doesn't have the authority to behead, as did England's King Henry VIII."

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.

ATTENTION! South Carolina Assistive Technology Program on the LaMondre Pough radio show

The South Carolina Assistive Technology Program will be the guest on
The LaMondre' Pough Show Empowerment Radio, on August 2, 2008. The
show focuses on empowering those with and without disabilities to
live life without limits, and will highlight the good works offered
by this organization. The show airs on WGCV 620 AM at 1:00pm. We
encourage you to call in with your comments and stories. Please tune
in and support this event each and every Saturday. Thanks in advance
for your support.

New Website Helps Doctors and Dentists Locate Disability Insurance

Doctor Disability recently launched a redesigned website that allows physicians and dentists to request disability insurance quotes, compare quotes, and get custom disability insurance plans.

San Clemente, CA (PRWEB) July 31, 2008 -- Doctor Disability, a disability insurance and life insurance brokerage service, recently launched a redesigned website where physicians and dentists can more easily request disability insurance quotes from various providers. DoctorDisability.com provides an easy way to compare quotes from different disability insurance companies, and even allows doctors and dentists to build their own custom disability insurance plans based on their unique needs.

"Locating adequate disability insurance usually means doing a lot of the footwork yourself," said Charles Krugh, president of Doctor Disability. "Our website essentially creates a one-stop shop environment, where doctors and dentists can easily obtain everything they need from one place."

NOTE: To read the entire article, click on the title above.