A day late & a dollar short, here's your Wednesday Weekly Update on Thursday. I'm slowly getting my bearings here after being out for such a long time and I re-enter at a time when we've many comings and goings here at the Center.  We will be welcoming a new staff member to the Center Staff next Monday. This person will be working as an Autism Support Broker for the Autism Waiver Program. Look next week for more details 

At the end of this week we will bid adieu to Wanja Kiraguri who has been the Event and Development Coordinator at the Center for the past five years. Wanja has expanded the array of fundraising events for the Center since her arrival here, including the Wine Tasting event, she built up the Golf Tournament and made connections with many sponsors. We wish her well in her future endeavors.

So while we will be looking to hire a new person for this vital role, we'll also continue to move forward and try to meet the myriad needs our families present to us 

  One way we are trying to meet your needs is by setting up Satellite Hours in areas remote from our Central Location. See below for the details 

This week I enjoyed reconnecting with the Parents of Adults on Wednesday Night and will also enjoy seeing parents of tweens & teens this month. There will be no Parents of Girls group as the 4th Wednesday of the month is the night before thanksgiving and most will be laboring in their kitchens.  

 We're laboring here on the next newsletter which I hope to have out before we break for Thanksgiving. Slots are filling up for our Holiday Party for Children, please call Cid at 508-298-1610 to register your family for this annual event we need your reservation BEFORE December 9th - Thanks  If you leave a message please give us your NAME any other adults in your immediate family who'll be attending, the names, gender  and ages of your children. Children 12 and under will receive a gift from Santa. Also we need to know any dietary restrictions so that we can let our venue know!

Have a great week 

Sue 

It feels like yesterday when I started a new job at HMEA's Autism Resource Central with a 3 month old infant.  Just this week he turned 5 years old and as I look at how much he has grown, it reminds me how much I have grown with the Center.  I have interacted with many you during fundraising events and I have appreciated your support.  Many of you have taken on the role of being the center's Ambassadors spreading the word to your family and friends  asking for their support to keep different programs running.  Your passion for the center as individuals or organizations made my work enjoyable and easier to do.  It has been wonderful planning different events with the volunteer committee members.  For all those evening meetings when planning for the 5K run/walk, golf and wine tasting many of the committee members have become like family and I truly appreciate the work they put into making the events successful for the families and individuals we serve and through their efforts ensuring the Center will be able to continue supporting families as it always has.  I have a lot of respect for my colleagues here at the center and from the IFFS program.  With their caseloads full they take on a lot of extra work to plan and staff the different fundraising events.  They do an amazing job and I will really miss working with them.

Thank you for all your support.  Please keep volunteering, donating and participating in center events.  Know that your support makes a difference to the families that we serve and it is always appreciated. 

Wanja 

 

Special Education Law and related topics

 

Tere Ramos, Esq. well known for her work in Special Education Law will be training parents, educators and professionals on different topics.   We are excited that we will be able to Live Stream this workshop and in the future do so with other workshops and some support groups.  

Remember these topics apply to all who have or are working with a child/adult with special needs not just autism so feel free to share with friends or colleagues.

• Basic Rights
• Writing IEPs for Success
• Transition
• Bullying
• Discipline
• Physical Restraints
• Community Access