QSAC Blog

Alternate Assessments

2012-02-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

Every year between the months of October and February the teachers in the Day School begin an assessment procedure known as the Alternate Assessments. The New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA) is a datafolio assessment that measures the progress of students with disabilities in achieving the learning standards through alternate grade level indicators (New York State Education Department, 2012). Students are tested once at each grade level in content areas such as math, English language arts, science, and social studies.

During the preparation months, teachers work diligently to put together tasks and assignments that will align with state expectations. Information collected includes photographs, video and audiotapes, data collection, and work samples, with the overall goal of differentiating assignments effectively for our students to have the most success. Putting together these tasks is not always simple. Creativity and thinking outside of the box, as well as a high degree of effort, is needed on behalf of the teachers to successfully implement these assessments.

So, as we often hear within our building, why the overall push for the assessments to be conducted in the first place? All students in the United States are required to be assessed according to State and Federal regulations yearly. This is to ensure the expectation of progress of students with disabilities continues to grow as the year’s progress. The Alternate Assessments are in place to test students with disabilities academic abilities, in relation to the statewide curriculum. These indicators are in place to drive the curriculum we implement here daily. Sure, this does not include a myriad of other skills we aim to teach within the Day School, but it does provide insight to the educational side of things. The datafolio provides a way to highlight successes of our students in relation to the learning standards the state sets forth.

This year, students in grades 3-8 and at the secondary level participated in the assessments. Teachers were given the opportunity to create datafolios of their students’ progress in specific curriculum areas. The majority of our assessments included data collection and permanent products, which include some procedures we implement every day. Although challenging at times, teachers were given the opportunity to explore their own abilities and creativity. Through this, we have identified strengths within our own teachers, and areas we can build on. Next up on our agenda is waiting for the results from the State.

Autism Risk Gene Linked to Sensory Overload

2012-02-14T18:25:00.002-05:00

Many individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate hypersensitivities to their environment. At some point, we may have observed behaviors such as the covering of ears, looking away from lights, etc. Recent research suggests that a gene mutation may explain the hypersensitivities seen in individuals with an ASD.

Autism Risk Gene Linked to Sensory Overload

New research may help explain how a specific gene mutation produces the hypersensitivities to sound experienced by many persons affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The researchers found that when a suspected autism gene – PTEN – is disabled in the sound-processing center of a mouse brain, incoming signals are abnormally amplified regardless of whether their source is near or far.

"It's long been hypothesized that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) arise from a partial disruption of long-range connections in the brain during development,” explains study leader Anthony Zador, M.D., Ph.D., a neuroscientist with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in New York. "Our finding that PTEN-deficient neurons receive stronger inputs suggests that one way this disruption can be caused is by signal enhancement." Thestudy [1] – funded by Autism Speaks and the National Institutes of Health – appears in the Journal of Neuroscience [2].

“This is an exciting study that offers insight into why some people with autism suffer auditory hypersensitivity,” comments Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Geri Dawson, Ph.D. “As we discover the biological basis of this common symptom, we come close to developing effective treatments that can help those who struggle with it.”

Although ASDs can arise from mutations in any of dozens of candidate genes, hypersensitivity to sound is a common symptom. The brain’s hearing center, or auditory cortex, plays a critical role in attention and perception to sound and language. It also connects with other critical brain areas, including those that process other types of sensory information. For this reason, the auditory cortex has been a target of research aimed at understanding how changes in brain circuits contribute to the symptoms of ASD.

PTEN mutations have been found in individuals with both autism and extreme macroencephaly, or increased brain volume. Previous studies have found that PTEN loss in animal models boosts brain cell size and interconnections between brain cells.

Deletion of the PTEN gene in brain cells increased the cell’s connections with other brain cells (right column).

Using adult mice, Zador's group disabled the PTEN gene in select parts of the auditory cortex, while leaving the gene intact in neighboring brain cells. They then assessed the effect by stimulating brain cell activity in the auditory cortex. This resulted in abnormally strong sensory signals regardless of whether the incoming stimuli came from a local or distant source.

However, these effects could be blocked by treating the PTEN-deficient mice with rapamycin, a powerful immune-system suppressant most commonly prescribed to prevent organ rejection. In examining the animal’s brain tissues, the researchers found that the drug prevented the abnormal increase in cell interconnections otherwise seen in PTEN-deficient mice (image above).

“While this study is exciting, we need to know more before it would be appropriate to use rapamycin as a treatment for individuals with autism,” adds Joe Horrigan, M.D., Autism Speaks head of medical research. “Safety considerations are of paramount importance as rapamycin can increase susceptibility to infections and malignancies such as lymphoma. At present, it should be prescribed only by physicians experienced in immunosuppressive therapy.”

Visual Activity Schedules

2012-02-13T11:00:00.003-05:00

Visual activity schedules have been used to promote self-regulation and independence, reduce challenging behaviors, and forge smooth transitions between activities or settings. “An activity schedule is a set of pictures or words that cues someone to engage in a sequence of activities.”(McClannahan & Krantz, 1999). During sessions with staff, parents or clinicians, visual representations of activities in sequential order are used to aid individuals with ASD in scheduling and transitioning between activities. Subsequently, the autistic individual can note successful completion of an activity by placing the picture on the “finished section” of the visual activity schedule board. The visual activity schedule will give the autistic individuals the following information: 1) what is currently happening, 2) what is coming up next, 3) when they are “all done”, and 4) what changes might occur.

Two review articles examined 23 and 380 studies respectively that used activity schedules /visual schedules for autistic individuals. These studies evaluated the effectiveness of activity schedules to promote independence, facilitate transition and engagement during play, compliance with task, or be on-task, and self-regulation (Lequia, Machalicek, Rispoli, 2012; Takanori and Wang, 2011). The functional behavior analysis (FBA) indentified that functions of challenging behaviors were most often associated when demands of non-preferred activities were presented to autistic individuals (escape-avoidance function). However, when the transition is from a preferred activity to a non-preferred activity, the activity schedule may prompt the autistic individual to display challenging behaviors. These finding suggest that a new behavioral strategy should be used in these cases, or only for high functioning autistic individuals, self-scheduling can be incorporated (Takanori and Wang, 2011).

QSAC's Adult Clinical Services promotes the use of Picture Activity Schedules where staff assists autistic individuals in creating visual schedules in order to empower them in making their own choices and have a sense of control over their environment as well as the ability to see what is coming up next, to decrease prompting dependency or excessive prompting and guidance, and be provided with appropriate structure during the day.

Queens Council on Developmental Disabilities Annual Legislative Breakfast

2012-02-02T16:41:00.001-05:00

Friday, February 17, 2012

Doors open to General Public at 8:30 AM

Continental Breakfast begins at 8:45 AM

Program & Legislative Platform from 9:30-11:30 AM

Flushing Town Hall

137-35 Northern Boulevard

Flushing, New York 11354

(718) 463- 7700

R.S.V.P. by February 10, 2012 to:

Naleesha

(718) 805-6796 ext. 123

nrampersaud@in-res.org

Doug Triebel

(718) 805-6796 ext. 131

dtriebel@in-res.org

Autism Parents & Professionals: Sesame Workshop is Developing Programming on Autism and Wants Your Input!

2012-02-02T13:56:00.001-05:00

Please take a few minutes to help Sesame Workshop improve the content of their programming for people with autism spectrum disorders.

The PARENT survey is www.surveymonkey.com/s/Family_Tech_Survey

The PROFESSIONAL survey is www.surveymonkey.com/s/Provider_Technology_Survey

This is a wonderful opportunity for our community's voices to be heard.

Surveys should be completed by February 3, 2012!

OPWDD February Waiver Update

2012-02-01T13:11:00.000-05:00

OPWDD is now posting and distributing brief monthly updates on the development of the People First Waiver. The first update for February 2012 can be found on the People First Waiver web page. Please feel free to download, copy and share the update widely.

Providing for a Child with Autism [Guest Blog]

2012-02-01T11:19:00.000-05:00

by Andrew M. Cohen, Esq.

For many families that include a child with autism, the questions concerning who will take care of the child in the future and where the money to support that child will come from are daunting thoughts. Some parents choose to postpone planning rather than deal with the difficult reality that faces them; however, early, careful planning can secure a disabled individual’s future long after his or her parents have passed away.

Parents and grandparents who continually put money and other property in the child’s name, even as part of jointly held accounts, could be doing a disservice to that child. A disabled individual is actually precluded from receiving means based government entitlements, such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), when assets held in that person’s name exceed a specified amount. By contrast,completely disinheriting the child and relying solely on the government is not necessary and hardly qualifies as sound planning. Smart, proper planning is best achieved by creating a scenario that includes full eligibility for the government assistance, as well as whatever private resources the family can leave to provide a more comfortable future for their family member. This best of both worlds approach is accomplished with a Supplemental Needs Trust.

The Supplemental or Special Needs Trust is often referred to as the cornerstone in formulating a plan to care for a child with disabilities. It is typically established as part of a comprehensive estate plan and funded with an inheritance and/or life insurance products, such as a second to die policy. If drafted correctly, the assets that fund a Trust will provide the “extras” for a beneficiary (the disabled individual) without affecting or disqualifying the beneficiary from those important government programs. The child retains the right to receive these means based benefits because this type of Trust is not considered a countable resource by the government. Once the Trust is established, it’s usually managed by a person known as a Trustee, generally someone similar in age to the disabled individual; there are also organizations and institutions that provide Trustee services. It should be noted that when a Trust is funded with money or assets of the beneficiary, such as a recovery from a lawsuit or a gift/inheritance directly to the disabled individual from another family member, payback rules apply with regard to the government benefits received by a disabled individual over the course of his or her lifetime.

When properly created, a Supplemental Needs Trust provides a comfortable and secure future for the individual with autism, enhancing the quality of his or her life by providing funding for the “luxuries” in life not supplied by the government, while not affecting that person’s rights to receive government benefits.

Andrew is the principal of the Law Offices of Andrew M. Cohen located in Manhattan and Garden City, and he is the father of three daughters, one of whom has multiple disabilities and graces the cover of his business brochure. His practice focuses on Trusts & Estates and Elderlaw, with an emphasis on planning for families with a disabled child. Andrew is a charter member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, a national organization of attorneys who are dedicated to providing high quality legal services to the disabled community and, in May 2010, he was selected by Exceptional Parent magazine to receive its Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award. Andrew was added to the Long Island Board of Directors of Easter Seals New York in February 2011 and he was an advisor to Parents magazine for its March 2011 commentary on special needs planning. Andrew believes that it is crucial for parents of individuals with special needs to make all of the arrangements necessary to protect and provide for each family member, and he is a frequent lecturer on this topic. Visit www.amcohenlaw.com for additional information about Andrew and his practice.

Redefining Autism: DSM-V Changes

2012-01-26T11:39:00.003-05:00

The American Psychiatric Association ("APA") is finalizing the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the "DSM"), the first major revision in 17 years. Proposed revisions in the DSM-5 may narrow drastically the definition of autism spectrum disorder.

The proposed name change would consolidate diagnoses under one category, Autism Spectrum Disorder, eliminating Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Autistic Disorder (autism) and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder from the manual.

Under the current criteria (DSM-IV-R), a person can qualify for a diagnosis of Autistic Disorder by exhibiting a total of six (or more) items (out of 12 behaviors) in three categories:
1. Qualitative impairment in social interaction
2. Qualitative impairments in communication
3. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities

Under the proposed definition, three domains become two:
1. Social/Communication deficits
2. Fixated interests and Repetitive behaviors

To qualify, a person would have to exhibit persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction in 3 sub-domains and at least 2 (out of 4) fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

There is much recent debate that this narrowing of domains will have an effect on the incidence of autism diagnoses and potentially services.

Navigating Your Child's Special Education Program: A Guide for Parents and Guardians

2012-01-26T10:01:00.006-05:00

QSAC's Evening Parent Program has put together an exciting and diverse agenda which incorporates outside speakers able to address issues pertinent to families with children on the Autism Spectrum. One of our guest speakers, Michael S. Kutzin, Attorney at Law, presented valuable information to our parents on navigating their child's educational future. Many parents and guardians are overwhelmed and confused when facing decisions based on their child's special education program. Mr. Kutzin put together an informative presentation for our parents that he allowed me to pass along on my blog.

If you would like further information from Mr. Kutzin please email him at kutzin@seniorlaw.com

Edna M. Kleiman, QSAC Founding President, Passed Away

2012-01-20T16:22:00.000-05:00

Edna M. Kleiman, QSAC founding president, passed away last evening.

Edna was QSAC's first president serving from 1978 to 2004. QSAC's first group home was dedicated as the Edna M. Kleiman House in 2000.

"Edna was the catalyst in creating QSAC. She was a force to be reckoned with," stated Gary Maffei, QSAC Executive Director.

Donations can be sent in Ms. Kleiman's name to:
QSAC
P.O. Box 2442
New York, NY 10116

Donations can also be made online at www.qsac.com.

I'm All Ears [Guest Blog]

2012-01-17T13:46:00.001-05:00

Like many with autism, I am really, really good at holding my ears.
From the time I was wee little, I'd jam my fingers into my ears at fireworks and movies.
Of course, I've since upgraded to headphones for such events...
But I still hold my ears closed tight, and not just at auditorily offensive things.
If something is scary,
Or bright,
Or if I'm just not quite certain,
My hands go to my ears.
When we were in Disney World, all the photos that the rides took of us... my hands were to my ears.
And I got to thinking, just now, about how my figurative hands are invariably parked at my figurative ears, too.
Though the story doesn't matter much, someone said something that maybe, could have upset me yesterday.
But I wasn't sure.
Hands in my ears, I texted (my friend) Leigh to ask her if I "should" be upset.
And I waited, teetering on the verge of upsetness for more than 24 hours till Leigh had a minute to respond.
She did.
Not upset, it was decided. Hands removed from ears.
And how silly is that? That I had to hold my ears while waiting for someone else to tell me if I should be upset?
Why can't I say, darn it, that rubbed me the wrong way and I'm a little angry! I should go talk to that person!
Or else, more likely for me, yeah, that wasn't the nicest thing to say, but it's not worth getting bent out of shape over.
I have a mind of my own, after all.
Enough with the plugging of the ears.
Experience the world for all it's worth.

Lydia Wayman is a 23-year-old Pittsburgher who loves cats, writing, more cats, and more writing. She also has autism. Lydia found her voice through typing and uses her writing ability, combined with a degree in education, to blog, write books, speak, and consult for families. She believes that a girl with a dream and a keyboard can change the world and has set out to do just that.

OPWDD is Changing the Way Services are Funded in New York State

2012-01-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

As you may be aware OPWDD is changing the way services are funded in New York State. The new model is the 1115 Waiver, also known as the People's First Waiver. Changes will occur incrementally over the next 2-3 years. There are numerous forums providing families and providers with information regarding this system wide change. We highly recommend that you regularly visit the OPWDD website for up-to-date information.

Please note that QSAC and other providers are receiving these updates at the same time as you , therefore your service coordinators and other program staff will not have answers to questions. Again, we recommend you visit the OPWDD website.

We Have a Guest Blogger on Legal Matters for Special Needs Families

2012-01-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

Andrew M. Cohen (J.D., LL.M.)

Andrew M. Cohen (J.D., LL.M.) is joining our blog and will contribute guidance on legal matters that affect special needs families. These topics range from wills and trusts to what to do if your child is arrested. Andrew is the principal of the Law Offices of Andrew M. Cohen located in Manhattan and Garden City, and he is the father of three daughters, one of whom has multiple disabilities and graces the cover of his business brochure. His practice focuses on Trusts & Estates and Elderlaw, with an emphasis on planning for families with a disabled child. Andrew is a charter member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, a national organization of attorneys who are dedicated to providing high quality legal services to the disabled community and, in May 2010, he was selected by Exceptional Parent magazine to receive its Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award. Andrew was added to the Long Island Board of Directors of Easter Seals New York in February 2011 and he was an advisor to Parents magazine for its March 2011 commentary on special needs planning. Andrew believes that it is crucial for parents of individuals with special needs to make all of the arrangements necessary to protect and provide for each family member, and he is a frequent lecturer on this topic. Visit www.amcohenlaw.com for additional information about Andrew and his practice.

Teaching Functional Communication Skills

2012-01-09T20:39:00.004-05:00

Throughout the course of this school year, a major emphasis in my classroom has been functional communication training. Those who are familiar with working with individuals with autism spectrum disorders understand the importance of building communication skills, and how building communication skills can enhance an individual’s quality of life while also decreasing problematic behavior. This year in particular I have a classroom full of students who tend to engage in a high frequency of various problem behaviors. To make it more difficult, most of my students are non-verbal.

Back in September, I remember evaluating all of my students and seeing how obvious it was that most problem behavior exhibited by my students was due to a communication deficit. Of all the verbal operant’s that required work, the most important one to build for my students was manding. This is the ability to request for basic wants and needs. In many instances, Picture Exchange Communication (PECS) is a great way to teach basic manding skills to a non-verbal student. This would require a student to hand an instructor a picture of a highly preferred item as a way of communicating their wants and needs. It is important to understand that a key pre-requisite skill for using PECS is discrimination skills. A student must be able to receptively discriminate two various pictures in order to effectively use PECS. My students have very poor discrimination skills, so PECS was not really an option.

What has been effective for my students has been basic sign language training. Of course sign language is not easy, and it involves a lot of effort to teach. Just teaching my students a few basic signs has significantly decreased problem behavior. For example, I have one student in my class who loves juice, candy and gym. In the past, this student would always pull staff towards what he wanted, or even run and grab what he wanted instead of sitting and asking appropriately. Teaching this student these three basic signs has enabled him to now ask for his preferred items in a functional manner. More importantly, this has increased his overall quality of life.

Another student of mine not only cannot use PECS due to poor discrimination skills, but can also not really use much sign language due to poor fine motor skills. What has worked for this student has been basic gestures. This student has a tendency to constantly get up and attempt to push staff away while searching for a desired toy. Obviously teaching the student to sign "toy" or hand over a picture of what toy he wanted was out of the question so we taught him to just sit and point to the direction of what he wanted. This was very basic but worked because it taught this student a simple way to say "I want."

Overall, I think I have learned that communication training does not have to be fancy to be effective. Just looking at my classroom this year I can see how the most basic forms of communication training can help students a long way.

Teaching Safety Skills at the QSAC Day School

2012-01-09T14:58:00.002-05:00

Like all parents, parents with children with autism worry about their child’s safety. This can be much more stressful for parents the more severe the child’s disability. Unfortunately, teaching basic safety skills are often overlooked as focus on developing language, communication and social skills become the priority. Although some safety issues may be more controllable; such as ensuring a safe living environment, other issues, such as what to do when lost, may not be.

Firefighter George walking with our student

According to the Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response and Education Collaboration or AWWARE; “In a 2007 online poll through the National Autism Association, 92% of parents reported that their children with autism have a tendency to wander. In 2011, preliminary data from an Interactive Autism Network study found that almost half of all children wander.” In addition, “more than one third of ASD children who wander/elope are never or rarely able to communicate their name, address, or phone number; two in three parents of elopers reported their missing children had a ‘close call’ with a traffic injury; and, 32% of parents reported a ‘close call’ with a possible drowning.”

At the QSAC Dayschool, four teachers made this their focus at the beginning of the school year. The students ranged from severe language and communication skills deficits to students that required the use of assistive technology to communicate to verbal students with social skill deficits. When the teachers were posed with the question, “What would your student do if they were lost?” the answer wasn’t good. We were pretty sure most if not all of our students would not be able to identify who could help them or provide their personal information when requested. The teachers were asked to begin to develop a safety skills lesson that would be geared towards the individual needs of their students. This involved task analyzing the skill, that is, breaking down the skill into smaller, teachable steps and identifying the skills that their students needed to learn. For all of our students, we wanted to ensure that they would be able to relay their personal identification to a community helper. This was especially challenging for our students that didn’t have any communication skills. We thought it would be best if they carried an identification badge on them that could be easily accessed as needed. Although this may sound like a relatively simple solution, this was not an easy feat for our students who wouldn’t tolerate carrying anything on them. Our students were well aware of the badge’s presence and consistently attempted to remove them. With constant reinforcement for keeping it on for longer and longer durations of time, they were able to keep and tolerate these badges on them. Eventually, they were able to keep these on throughout the entire school day! For our other students that had more communication and language skills, we wanted them to be able to answer personal information either through verbal interaction or through their device. A lot of trials took place for our students to reliably answer their name, where they live, phone number and their age. Although some of our students were able to answer this already, they were able to do this under specific teaching contexts, i.e. during repeated trials, face to face with a teacher, using specific questions...etc. In other words, these skills were not generalized to other settings, other people or other instructional cues.

The teachers, their assistants and the students worked long and hard on this and eventually, were ready for the ultimate test; we invited 3 different community helpers (a firefighter, police officer and EMT) to come in on separate visits to meet them. Although we have had community helpers visit some of our students in the past, we wanted this experience to be different for our students and from typical visits.

Our community helper visitors were asked to greet and ask for the personal information from each student. For our students that wore badges, the visitors were asked to look at their badges and pretend to write their information down - something they did not tolerate in previous months. In addition, each classroom worked on additional skills for each of the visits. Some of our students were required to ask each visitor 1 question about what they do. With our EMT visitor, some students took turns reenacting an emergency situation. The students got a chance to learn what questions they might be asked in case of an emergency and how they might be expected to respond. Our EMT also placed band aids on the students of two of our classrooms, a major issue for many of our children.

EMT Ulsheimer reponding to an "emergency"

Each of our students responded extremely well to each of our visitors and some future goals for some of our students will be identifying a community helper when lost, asking for help, reading a map and walking in a group in the community. For children who have a history of wandering, teaching safety skills must also include learning triggers to wandering and ways to be proactive. Children who may wander to get to or get away from somewhere or something may need to learn to tolerate when they can’t have something or tolerate alternatives to things they want or to learn to request to get away from something. Teaching these basic skills is just the tip of the iceberg as we know this will be an ongoing process. As we head into the New Year, we hope that teaching safety skills becomes a priority for our families and teachers for a happy and safe 2012!

Thanks to Firefighter George, Officer Carroll and EMT Ulsheimer for all their help!

Visit the National Autism Association for more information on Autism and Wandering.

Create a Family Emergency Wandering Plan.

Shave the 'Stache for Cash [Photos and Video]

2012-01-06T11:22:00.003-05:00

On December 30, 2011, QSAC board member Paul Halvatzis was joined by local business owners, elected officials, family and friends at Redken Saloon Salon on 30th Avenue in Astoria for the culmination of his Shave the 'Stache for Cash campaign. Halvatzis parted with his long-time mustache, which he sported for 35 years, to help raise money for the autism community.

Santa Visit Courtesy of QuadCapital [Video]

2012-01-04T12:01:00.001-05:00

Check out this adorable video of Jaiden, Brandon and Isaac opening gifts brought to them from Santa at Quad Capital on December 16, 2011.

From Avoiding Eye Contact to Hosting Tea Parties

2011-12-29T16:58:00.000-05:00

When four-year-old Jaden entered the QSAC preschool in January 2011, he experienced major difficulties socializing, speaking, making eye contact and acknowledging his peers and teachers. Less than one year later - through persistent efforts of QSAC teachers in collaboration with Jaden’s family - Jaden has achieved remarkable progress. He will now answer who, what, and where questions as well as ask questions spontaneously. Jaden loves to host pretend tea parties for his friends. His teachers are proud of his ongoing accomplishments and will continue to help Jaden achieve great things in the future!

A Lot Can Happen in Seven Years

2011-12-27T11:50:00.001-05:00

Crimson enrolled at the QSAC Day School when she was nine years old. Although a capable learner, Crimson had difficulty tolerating many academic tasks or even short delays in having requests fulfilled. As a result, she exhibited a wide range of disruptive behaviors such as dropping to the floor, screaming, and crying. Highly-intensive intervention was required. Rewards were provided for every correct response to academics tasks and for very short durations of time without problem behavior. Gradually, she learned to tolerate longer and longer delays. More and more, she tolerated frustrations throughout the day that had caused intense outbursts in the past. As her behavior improved, more and more focus could be given to her social and academic skills. Now, as a 16-year-old, Crimson demonstrates that a great variety of improvements in many areas. She no longer exhibits intensely disruptive behavior. She speaks at appropriate volumes and with appropriate tones. She learns quickly and is largely independent in a wide variety of self-care and vocational tasks that are a part of the school’s transition program. She is social with her peers and instructors, shows an interest in her daily activities, and is a regular performer at our annual graduation festivities! We’re proud of the progress that Crimson has made and look forward to seeing the possibilities for her future unfold.

Working Towards Independence

2011-12-23T14:30:00.001-05:00

Aaron has been receiving QSAC services since he was two years old. He began with QSAC’s Early Intervention class at age two and is now four years old and attending the QSAC Preschool. His teacher remembers the first day he arrived to Class 10, where he was crying because he was so scared. He didn’t talk much and needed a lot of help to eat, get dressed, and complete class activities. Through working with teachers alone and in groups, and through continual repetition and practice, he progressed substantially and has become very independent. His family was especially happy when he was toilet trained and didn’t have to wear diapers anymore. More recently he has been working hard to improve fine motor skills. Aaron will be missed by his many friends and teachers when he graduates from the preschool in August 2012.

Kiwanis Club and QSAC Team Up for Annual Toy and Food Drive

2011-12-22T16:08:00.001-05:00

From left to right standing: Sara Giangiobbe, Jeffrey Lambus, Jason La, Esther Williams, Cory Polshansky,
Donna Fuery, Paul Halvatzis, Nicole Dorsey, Cheyenne White
Kneeling: Elizabeth Heydweiller, Claire Laplaca, Kyndell Johnson, Ana Guncay, Andrea Sullivan

The Kiwanis Club of Astoria & Long Island City teamed up with QSAC staff to organize our annual toy and food drive. Special thanks to everyone who coordinated and contributed!

An Appeal from Our Board President

2011-12-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

This year, more children in New York State were diagnosed with autism than with childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. And more and more people with autism are being turned away because the demand for services is outpacing available resources.

That’s why expanding and improving our services to the autism community is the only solution.

Our young children are getting older and as the mother of a 26 year-old woman with autism, the future for adults with autism is more challenging today than ever before. Thousands of autistic children in New York are on the verge of becoming adults and we are facing the staggering challenge of figuring out how to care for them.

Please make a gift today and help QSAC enhance our services to families struggling with autism.

Over 30 years ago, QSAC was founded to fill a major void in providing education and care to the autism community in New York. Our services have grown over the years to meet the changing needs of the community and help families achieve remarkable and lasting progress with their children.

We have award-winning services and a highly trained team of experienced professionals to serve families affected by autism. And with your generous support, we are confident that we will reach our ultimate goal — enabling all people with autism to live meaningful and fulfilled lives in our society.

Best wishes to you and your family for the holidays!

Yvette Watts

President, QSAC Board of Directors

P.S. Please remember, your generous tax-deductible gift today will help QSAC to serve families most in need.

Santa Visits Courtesy of QuadCapital

2011-12-21T15:39:00.001-05:00

Jaiden, Brandon and Isaac open gifts from Santa on December 16 at Quad Capital, a proprietary trading firm on Wall Street which spread much joy and holiday goodwill by generously donating 75 toys to children from many of QSAC’s programs.

Long Island Support Group Holiday Party

2011-12-21T15:21:00.000-05:00

The children from QSAC's Long Island Support Group had a great time at the annual Holiday Party. They participated in fun activities like baking holiday cookies and arts and crafts!

QSAC's Elves Wrap Toys for the Holidays

2011-12-21T14:11:00.001-05:00

Our elves are working diligently to wrap gifts for more than 400 children that receive QSAC services. The gifts were purchased courtesy of the generous donations provided by The Heckscher Foundation for Children and the Kiwanis Club of Astoria/Long Island City.