Carlene and the Advocacy for Autism
Awareness offer workshops to parents to help them find joy
in the journey in raising a child or children on the autism
spectrum. Her workshops are inspirational, motivational, and
empowering! They address parental emotions: "Guilt-It's Not
Your Fault!"; Your needs as a parent, communication skills,
perspective, and attitude; to include parent and child
activities. Contact Carlene or the Advocacy today
for more information.
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT
SCHOOL OR THE ARD
PROCESS?
There is no doubt about it - ARDS can be
intimidating. They do not have to
be! Not only does my book, Bye Bye Balloon, have an
entire chapter dedicated to ARDS, but I also spend a great deal of
time in my workshops empowering you and teaching you how to get
through ARDS and get the services your child is entitled
to.
Additionally, I will work with you and your
school district as your personal advocate. I will act as a
liason between you and your district, and when necessary, I do
attend ARD meetings to provide emotional parental
support. In addition, I will find out what your district may
be doing that is not within the State and Federal Guidelines
(particularly for the state of Texas) and, when necessary, assist
you in filing formal complaints with the TEA (Texas Education
Agency) against your district, and assure that your district is not
"bullying and/or intimidating" you. The issue is your child
and what is educationally best for your child's individual
learning needs. As an objective third party who is familiar
with Texas State Law regarding Special Education, often times a
district will come into compliance with the assistance of an
advocate. You are welcome to contact me if you need
assistance in this area.
Currently there is no cure for autism,
however, through early intervention, therapy and proper education,
the diverse symptoms related to autism can be greatly
improved/minimized. I can tell you from personal experience
that at the age of 4, my son did not "cross the midline."
Simply what this means is that the right and left sides of his
brain did not communicate. The diagnosis was: He would
never read, write, ride a bike, or do anything requiring
coordinated physical movements such as sports. By the grace
of God, and through intesive early intervention, my son has been
mainstreamed (full general ed) since Kindergarten, an honor
roll student 5 years, passes the TAKS test in a general education
setting and reads on average 2 grade levels ahead. Never say
never, never give up hope, and above all, never let anyone tell you
you're child cannot or will not....Anything is possible with God,
prayer, and hard work! Are you ready to roll up your sleeves
and start doing some play therapy with your child? Call me
and let me get you started!
