Introducing the 9th Annual
National Speaker Conference
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Beginning with the End in Mind:
Planning for Life After High School
7:30 a.m. 4:00 p.m.
Johnson & Wales Inn, Seekonk, MA
213 Taunton Avenue, 02771
Personal Perspective
Matthew Carriuolo
Speakers
Dr. Cathy Pratt, Director of the Indiana Resource Center for Autism
Teresa A. Grossi, Ph.D., Director for the Center on Community Living and Careers at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
Special Guest
Shonda Schilling will speak at lunch about her family's journey with Asperger Syndrome.
Join us as we discuss Beginning with the End in Mind: Planning for Life After High School with two of the nation’s most renowned professionals in the field of transition. This is the first of many programs we are offering that will look at the challenges of Autism Into Adulthood - Making the Transition.
If you are an education professional, an SLP and OT or anyone involved with an individual with an autism spectrum disorder you do not want to miss this session that will provide you with what are the expectations, the roles and responsibilities of each team member during the transition process throughout the school year with emphasis on middle/high school to adult life. One guarantee for children with autism is they grow up. Today, the first surge in the rapid increase of children with ASD are graduating high school and transitioning to adulthood. Now is the time to prepare these individuals for their future.
register online
new agenda
conference brochure
sponsorship information
lunch and Shonda Shilling speech registration
For more information , please contact Claudia Prior at claudia@theautismproject.org with your contact information, including mailing address.
THE BEST KIND OF DIFFERENT
Our Family’s Journey with Asperger’s Syndrome
introduction by Curt Schilling
In THE BEST KIND OF DIFFERENT (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; on-sale March 23, 2010), Shonda Schilling, wife of retired Boston Red Sox All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling, shares the painful and joyous story of her son Grant's struggle with Asperger's Syndrome, how it changed the lives of her and her husband, and what other parents can learn about this increasingly common diagnosis.
While Asperger's has been part of the psychological lexicon since the early 1980s, it has only been in the last decade that people have begun to diagnose it on a much larger scale. Part of the dramatic rise in autism diagnoses, Asperger's falls high on the autism spectrum, meaning that it can often go misunderstood or misdiagnosed because the children seem typical in many other ways.
Until the summer of 2007, the word “Aspergers” was not part of Shonda Schilling’s vocabulary, but that summer changed everything. By then, her household was in chaos as her son Grant spiraled out of control. His acting out and refusal to listen had grown to epic proportions, but even worse was his apparent inability to relate to the people around him. None of the Schillings’ other three kids ever acted like Grant; his behavior wasn’t just unruly, it was irrational.
Complicating matters was the fact that Shonda’s husband Curt was constantly on the road pitching for the Boston Red Sox, so he wasn’t always around to see Grant’s behavior firsthand. Seemingly everyone Shonda encountered had an opinion—“he’s too spoiled,” “he needs a good spanking,” “he needs more discipline”—but a disastrous first attempt at summer camp told Shonda something was definitely wrong. It was then that a neurologist diagnosed Grant with Asperger’s Syndrome.
In THE BEST KIND OF DIFFERENT Shonda details every step in her family’s journey through Asperger’s, offering an intimate and candid portrait of this condition from a parent’s point of view. Shonda chronicles Grant’s early years, confronts the guilt and pain that engulfed her after learning of her son’s condition, and celebrates Grant’s success in the two years since his diagnosis. With insight and helpful advice for parents, she provides an honest and moving glimpse inside her family—as two parents struggle to understand the complex beauty of their son.
About the Authors:
Shonda and Curt Schilling have been married for seventeen years. In addition to her newfound work raising awareness about Asperger’s syndrome, Shonda is a survivor of malignant melanoma skin cancer, an experience which led her to create the Shade Foundation of America. Curt is a retired All Star pitcher who has won three World Series titles and has pitched for teams including the Philadelphia Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Boston Red Sox. They have four children and live in Medfield, MA.
BEST KIND OF DIFFERENT: Our Family’s Journey with Asperger’s Syndrome
by Shonda Schilling , introduction by Curt Schilling
William Morrow / March 23, 2010 / Hardcover / $25.99 / ISBN: 9780061986833
The Autism Project would like to thank the following sponsors for supporting our 9th annual conference:
DynaVox Mayer-Johnson
Autism Consortium
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