See how Easter Seals changed my family's future

Easter Seals came into my family's life in our darkest moment and gave us a precious gift: Help and hope for our son, Scottie. I hope that by seeing our story, more families find the light of hope.

-- Barbara Gaither, Scottie's mom

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Special moms celebrate Mother’s Day too


Posted by Beth Finke on May 8th, 2008

Last May I published a blog about Mother’s Day Week, and that post seems just as relevant this year as it was in 2007. And so … I’m posting a link to it! Happy Mother’s Day Week to all you special moms!

CVS Caremark All Kids Can™ grants help families with autism


Posted by Beth Finke on April 30th, 2008

The Easter Seals 2008 Training Conference Awards Banquet was Monday night, and man, I’m still stuffed.

Still happy, too. Here’s why: In addition to the well-deserved awards Easter Seals gave out to individuals at the dinner Monday night, CVS Caremark Charitable Trust awarded $350,000 in grants to different Easter Seals autism programs across the country. This means the Trust …Read More » »

Autism Spokesperson Network member makes TV debut


Posted by Bob Glowacki on April 28th, 2008

Last Friday I was on a local TV show along with one of our Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin families that is living with Autism. You might remember the blog I wrote about Gus. – he and his family were featured in an onmilwaukee.com story about how vital early diagnosis and therapy is for children diagnosed with Autism.

We …Read More » »

No-brainer: families with autism end up with lower incomes


Posted by Beth Finke on April 23rd, 2008

The results of a study in this month’s Pediatrics journal will come as no surprise to those of you raising children with autism. The study surveyed the parents of 11,684 school-aged children with autism. It found that on average a household with a child with autism makes $6,200 per year less …Read More » »

What’s with the rapid rise in autism?


Posted by Lisa Tate on April 22nd, 2008

Is the rise in autism due to better diagnosis? Heightened awareness? Or is there a genuine increase in incidence? As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I’m often asked those sort of questions. When we don’t know what causes autism, these can be difficult questions to answer. So it was good to read a press release about an expert doing …Read More » »

Autism documentary wins AP award


Posted by Norma Rossi on April 21st, 2008

Celebrate! An autism documentary that Easter Seals Peoria-Bloomington helped put together just won a big award! The Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association named Autism Epidemic best documentary of the year at an award ceremony in Springfield this past Saturday.

Autism Epidemic first aired in August 2007 to spread awareness of autism and to get more children screened at an …Read More » »

What do autism assistance dogs do?


Posted by Beth Finke on April 17th, 2008

I’m blind. I use a Seeing Eye dog to guide me safely to work each day. I literally couldn’t get around without her.

I know how valuable a service dog can be. In some cases, though, I don’t understand what specific things the service dog does to help with the disability.

A recent story in …Read More » »

Teaching literacy to students with autism


Posted by Beth Finke on April 16th, 2008

You might remember the blog where Patricia Wright reviewed Paula Kluth’s book You’re Going to Love this Kid. Now Kluth has paired with Kelly Chandler-Olcott to write a new book: A Land We Can Share: Teaching Literacy to Students with Autism.

The publisher sponsored a free webinar about literacy and autism …Read More » »