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 » »

Gus & us: diagnosing autism early


Posted by Bob Glowacki on April 9th, 2008

It was great to read Matt’s post yesterday about Easter Seals Bay Area launching an Early Intervention Autism Program to serve children 18 months through 3 years old. A story about autism on the OnMilwaukee blog points out why programs like that are so necessary. The story features Gus, a client we serve at Easter Seals Southeast …Read More » »

Documentaries help the public understand autism


Posted by Beth Finke on March 27th, 2008

A story in last Tuesday’s LA Times highlights three documentaries that attempt to put faces on autism.

With estimates of children with an autism disorder running as high as one in
166, several new documentaries — Autism Every Day, Autism: The Musical and Her Name Is Sabine — are attempting to broaden the public’s understanding of the condition.

One of the documentaries …Read More » »

Dreams come true for Easter Seals staff member


Posted by Beth Finke on March 20th, 2008

When their house got hit by Hurricane Katrina, Easter Seals of the Gulf Coast (AL) staff member Lydia Gaudet and her family decided they could live with the damage. She and her husband Steven immersed themselves in disaster relief, and their eight children helped clean up neighborhood yards.

The family’s selfless dedication to helping others inspired members of the …Read More » »

Book review: Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”


Posted by Heather Pint on March 12th, 2008

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tells the fictional story …Read More » »

Health insurance for people with autism


Posted by Bob Glowacki on March 11th, 2008

Most states do not require private insurance companies to cover even essential autism treatments and services. Nationwide, few private insurance companies or other employee benefit plans cover Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and other behavioral therapies. In fact, many insurance companies designate autism as a diagnostic exclusion, meaning that no autism-specific services are covered.

There are 16 states that …Read More » »

Larry King keeps autism in the news


Posted by Lisa Tate on March 10th, 2008

Autism is receiving a lot of attention –- here at Easter Seals, in the press, in the legislature –- it’s everywhere. Shows like last Thursday’s Larry King Live pay a lot of attention to “cause and cure.” If that helps inform and educate people about this increasingly prevalent disorder, I guess I have …Read More » »