Identifying & Accepting Happy Autistic Kids at the Playground

Tell me the truth: What would your reaction be, if you encountered a kid like Leo endlessly pacing a playground structure as in the video below? If you didn't read this blog, or blogs like it; if you didn't have your own Leo, if you weren't a variation on Leo yourself? Would you back away awkwardly from the weird kid while scanning the perimeter for his adult? Would you tell your own children in an intentionally over-loud voice, "well, I don't know what he's doing so we'll wait until he's all done"?

Or would you relax into his joy, recognize it, accept that pacing a circuit is some kids' idea of The Very Best Fun?

(Please tell me it's the latter. I've been busting my ass just a little bit for Autism Acceptance Month. More below.)

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At Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, Our Slice of Life: All Autistics Autism Acceptance Month series continues to rock on, showcasing autistics of all ages and abilities -- so stay tuned and keep reading (Leo may make an appearance).

From the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network: All Done Autism Acceptance:

I did not start out from a place of acceptance. As a disability community outsider and a fairly non-intuitive person, I lacked the context, experience, and insight to see past our society’s too-prevalent autism stereotypes of pity and parental burdens. I never knew anyone who identified as Autistic, never realized the full variation of the autistic experience, never considered that autism did not have to preclude Leo from living a full and happy life. Thankfully, the online and offline worlds are alight with autism acceptance trail blazers — autistics of course, professionals and parents too. They have not only shown me the way, but shown me incredible patience along the way (I’m not always the best listener). And I remain mindful that I still have much to learn about autism, and that much of that learning will come from Leo himself.

From an interview with Annie Fox about Thinking Person's Guide to Autism:

What we try to do in our book is help people learn to think critically and rationally about autism even when they are in the midst of this whirlwind of new information. So many parents are so distraught when they learn their child is diagnosed with autism. We want to help them through that. And we want to let them know that even though the media tends to perceive people with autism and special needs like this lightning bolt of ‘bad luck,’ people with special needs are part of our community. They’ve always been here. This is just another way of being. These people need more understanding. Yes! They need more support. Yes! But that doesn’t make them “other” or “less than.” These are families that need compassion and understanding, but not pity. We want to help people get past fear, myths and negative stereotypes.

The good folks at Babble Toddler Times wanted input about early intervention and autism (they also wanted advice for other paents to feature -- I suggested an autistic autism parent, but the logistics did not work out):

My advice is threefold: Find a pediatrician who takes your concerns seriously, find positive, evidence-based autism resources and role models (this is exactly why we created Thinking Person's Guide to Autism), and try to understand that your child's behavior is a form of communication. Our kids deserve to achieve their potential, but can easily get left behind if their unique needs are not properly identified and addressed early on. Autism experts can help us recognize where our kids need help — be it with communication, self-help, academics, or social skills — and the best strategies for supporting their needs. 

And in a bit of a surprise, Babble named this site one of their Top 30 Autism Blogs of 2012. Frankly, Thinking Person's Guide to Autism would have been a better choice (also, Leo and I never met Steve Jobs, though my spy network says he really liked Leo's part in the Apple iPad video) -- but being included is flattering, and I'm grateful. (And you should vote for TPGA for next year!)

Finally, we've had TPGA interviews for a ton of additional radio stations: KCBS-AM San Francisco, WSNJ-AM Philadelphia, WVNE-AM Boston, WYRQ-FM Minneapolis, WOND-AM Philadelphia, WQYK-FM Tampa, and four more coming. Mali and Leo heard the local interview with Jeff Bell; Mali was so impressed that she waited until the segment was over before demanding I put her Goblet of Fire audio book back on. Should you ever need to get the word out about a book, I hope you'll be fortunate enough to enlist the services of the phenomenal Media Masters Publicity -- we have them to thank for these radio spots!

Vanquish the Forces of Autism Evil! Declare Your #AutismPride!

When I hear about yet another dangerously misinformed autism parent killing their child because of  autism fears, I literally fall to my knees with grief. What kind of world do we live in, if people can't bear the thought of having a child like my bubbly, affectionate, exuberant Leo? In which fears about the challenges and expense of caring for an autistic child snowball into murder? In which people are so unaware of the vibrant diversity of Autistic adult experiences that they view the possibility of life-long dependence -- which may very well be my son's future, and which does not exclude a fulfilling, happy, and social life -- with soul-destroying horror? In which autism is declared the catalyst for a mentally ill mother's unforgivable act?

The answer is that we live in a world where autism negativity and fear mongering are rampant, and I blame the media. Squarely. The Internet overflows with positive, respectful autism examples and role models that in no way downplay the difficulties that can come with being Autistic, but acceptance and even pluck don't grab eyeballs the way that tragedy does. This needs to change. The stakes are too high; we need balance in media portrayals of the autism experience.

I also blame autism organizations and websites like Age of Autism, Adventures in Autism, AnneDachel, and SafeMinds, which have made unilateral demonization of autism their mission; which do no outreach whatsoever based on building positive supports and communities; and which use calculated cult-like "us or them" mindsets, attack dog techniques, misinformation, and censorship practices to keep their almost exclusively autism parent and grandparent faithfuls' righteous indignation and self-pity at a roiling boil.

It doesn't matter how much you love someone with autism -- if you continuously and publicly declare them damaged goods, you are hurting them. And their peers. And telling everyone else it is acceptable to hurt Autistics.

Countering negative autism attitudes and the pervasive media influence that shapes them has been a driving force behind Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. Providing positive role modeling and information is one of the primary reasons our project exists. And, as successful as the website and Facebook communities are, this latest tragedy makes me frantic to get our TPGA book out (I'm marking up the proof right now, if there are no more hiccups with the publication process and thanks to the superhero manuscript powers of Jen Myers, it should be available in one week). I really, truly hope our book will make a difference.

Information is power. We need to use our own power -- our social media voices -- to get out better autism information, and influence the media towards balanced autism portrayals. I hope you'll help spread the word about TPGA, ASAN, and other adamant autism advocacy orgs. If you're on Twitter or Facebook, please take the time to make a public statement of Autism Pride or #AutismPride. Your message might make all the difference to a desperate autism-fearing parent like Stephanie Rochester.

Leo at age two, around the time of his provisional autism diagnosis, and 100% adorable.

Please also read Emily Willingham's post Autism is not the monster. Postpartum depression is, and it has some help.

Awareness Is Lovely But Now It's IEP Day

While I've been making several contributions to Autism Awareness Day/Month -- interviewing the luminous Laura Shumaker for BlogHer, insisting that true autism awareness lies in one understanding: that behavior is communication, musing on what a Radiolab Autism Awareness Day show would be like, and hanging out on CafeMom all month long as one of their autism experts -- tomorrow's going to be a more hands-on kind of autism day.

It's Leo's annual IEP.

And it will be interesting, going into a meeting where everyone is on Leo's side, in which for the first time ever the staff and I corresponded on and brainstormed goals together. During which the staff and I agreed on several wish list items for Leo, like riding a two-wheeled bike, but also agreed not to include the wish list items in the IEP because then the activities will become a data-driven imperatives and Leo may reject them.

In which many services could be permanently stripped because despite Leo's significant needs (even in our large school district, only a handful of kids have non-public-school placements), California's budget is all f'd up, and word on the educational-email-forums-street is that deep, painful cuts are coming. And Leo's an expensive kid.

I'm looking over his goals right now, and they look good. Helpful. Ready to help Leo make a critical transition, one he seems poised to make: to conceptualize and articulate the abstract. His teacher and Supervisor M, who still consults on his program both at school and at home, both have faith in our boy.

The goals will need some fine-tuning to make them air-tight -- the idea being that if the entire class staff disappeared mysteriously, the replacement staff could pick up the goals, look at their current status, and resume implementing them as intended with nary a hiccup.

My chest is tightening as I write this, stupid nerves. At least Leelo could care less about IEPs or awareness campaigns. He spent the weekend being his own happy self: happy to wake us up in the morning by bounding into our bed for snuggles, happy to go to the opening weekend of the farmer's market with his dad, happy to hike along miles of beach with my cousin and me and Mali, happy to play with his iPad and his trains and all the shampoo bottles he's emptied into his tub, happy to try a bit of bacon (!) if followed by a bite of cinnamon toast, happy to let his little sister show him how to play the apps Quibble and Swapsies, and happy to put his head on my shoulder while he watches Teletubbies or Hamtaro two hours past his bedtime. Happy.

The awareness and goals will make a difference Leo's his future, and I'll never stop working on them -- but I truly appreciate the fact that he's happy. Right now. In this very moment.

If Radiolab Covered Autism Awareness Day

Last week, Seymour beat out all but one of his public media co-workers for a coveted ticket to Radiolab's San Francisco performance with Zoe Keating -- and, being an intuitive who can differentiate between supporting and enabling addictions, he gave his ticket to me. I spent Sunday evening sitting & chatting with fellow curiosity devotees, gleefully soaking in a live show that was every bit as good as Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich's audio performances yet better than you could possibly imagine.

And as I watched the show and took bad pictures with my not-smart phone's camera, I wondered -- what would a Radiolab show about autism awareness be like? Since Radiolab always surprises me, I can't say what they would do -- but I can tell you what I'd like to see:

First story: Behavior Is Communication (From my BlogHer Autism Awareness post)

I want to tell you a secret about Autism Awareness. Ready? Here it is:

Behavior is communication. That's it. That's all. That's everything.

If you put your mental backbone into behavioral awareness, into trying to understand why a person with autism, or a person associated with autism, behaves the way they do -- if you can make yourself truly aware of that person's needs -- then that is when the connections will happen, that is when you will make a difference, that is when awareness can leapfrog goodwill, and translate into real-world benefits and positive actions. 

You need to remember that an autism label is just that -- a label. It can help describe your child, but it doesn't define your child. You need to set the label aside, enlist it as needed, and instead hyperfocus on what your child does, and why they do it. You'll probably have to jettison some lingering hopes and dreams about your child's future to focus on your child's reality -- but since parenting always involves a large amount of eventual ego-disentangling, assure yourself that you're actually ahead of the curve.

But, the behaviors! They don't always make sense, not on the surface, not if you've never encountered anything like them before. Does your child scream if they can't wear their favorite shoes? Can they talk happily (and indefinitely) about sprinkler systems or precious gems or superheroes? Do they enjoy fondling material of certain textures without regard for where or on whom that fabric may be located? Do they fear the toilet, the market, the dentist? Make understanding those behaviors the focus of your approach. Decide which quirks are quirky, and which are legitimate impediments to learning, self-care, health, and socialization -- then put your energies into helping your child get past the roadblocks.

Second Story: A Social Skills Year Abroad in Japan (From Carol Greenburg's essay George Takei on My Mind)

I left home at 17, and spent what would have been my last year of high school in a tiny Japanese fishing village nestled among Mandarin orange groves on the shores of the inland sea. My comparatively trivial status as just a bit of an outsider explained my inability to fit in in the US or Japan, and was entirely predictable. All autistic people are to some extent outsiders wherever they go, so it never occurred to me I'd be accepted readily in Japan. I guess if I had thought it through, I would have seen flaws in my plan. A socially inept uber-individualist like me in such a heterogeneous, conformist society: not such a great idea on the face of it.

I was obviously an odd duck, but at the time no one knew autism explained much of my behavior. My hosts quite logically concluded that my strangeness was a result of my American upbringing. Untrue of course. My mother is not autistic. In fact she is an uncommonly gracious woman by the most rigorous standards of any culture. I was raised right, but developmentally delayed by autism -- it took me much longer than average to learn the simplest niceties such as greeting people and saying goodbye properly when I entered and left a room. Luckily, when I was finally capable of absorbing basic social skills, I had the privilege of living in the most polite society the world has ever known under the tutelage of people who showered me with amazing kindness.

I quickly reached my goal of becoming fluent in Japanese, as I had hoped, but I learned so many other skills I never even knew existed: that people and their feelings are usually more important than principles, so that sometimes an ounce of diplomacy counts more than a pound of the blunt indiscretion I called honesty. I learned about "Gaman," loosely translated as endurance, a quality I already had in abundance. But true Gaman is so much more than that, to merely survive is admirable, but to do so with grace and consideration for those around you is a higher value.

Third story: Talking With Dora Raymaker

We talk with Dora Raymaker, an adult with autism, as she demonstrates via fluid and nimble AAC communication, why it is important to understand that difficulty in thinking and difficulty in speaking are not always paired, and why we must encourage the inclusion of people on the autistic spectrum in matters which directly affect them. 

Fourth story: Telling Tales About Autism and Science

In the storytelling-taking-science-by-its-lapels spirit of our episode Tell Me a Story, scientist Emily Willingham asks, "So, where are we now? Now that we've made strides in shuffling off the burden of the biggest distractor of a global vaccine etiology, where does that leave the science of autism?"

Emily talks about how the science is where everyone should have been looking all along: in the genes. She tells us what to watch for in the science of autism in the coming years: copy number variation (CNVs), Mitochondria, specific genes, hormones, and epigenetics.

And that's what I'd like to see on a Radiolab autism awareness day show. I'm Shannon Des Roches Rosa, and I'll be opining on CafeMom all month long, as one of their designated Autism Experts.

Tweet it Loud, Blog it Proud: I Love My Child With Autism

One critical point I meant to incorporate into the Welcome to Yellowknife post but didn't get to: I believe one of the most forceful ways to increase autism awareness and acceptance is to declare how much we love the people with autism in our lives: Our children, our siblings, our friends, our cousins, our partners, ourselves. Tweet it loud, blog it proud.

Also, I finally got to read Kristina Chew's reaction to Autism Awareness Day, 'Aut' With Our Autistic Son, and am glad to know that others feel as strongly as we do about community visibility as a form of autism advocacy. Thank you, Kristina.

Hope those of you who celebrate Easter have a lovely one. I can't wait to see Leo's reaction to our cousiny Easter Egg hunt, upon realizing that those plasticky eggs have CANDY in them. If you see a mushroom cloud of happiness emanating from the San Diego coast, you'll know that his hunt was a success.

Leaving you with an Easter thought from last week's Unitarian sermon: Jesus did not come to be worshiped, but emulated. This is a lesson for all of us, about thinking vs. following, no matter what label we give our faith.

Susan Senator Interview, SmockityFrocks Brouhaha, & Lost Classmates

Three short treatments of three notable events from this past week:

I had the honor of interviewing Susan Senator for BlogHer about her upcoming book The Autism Mom's Survival Guide. Here's an excerpt from what I wrote; you'll need to go to the interview to read Susan's own words of wisdom:

Did you know that autism parents can choose an identity other than Avenging Warrior or Martyr? That it is reasonable to aim for happy lives for us and our children, despite our kids' challenges? If this is news to you, then you need to read Susan Senator's forthcoming The Autism Mom's Survival Guide, A.S.A.P.

The Autism Mom's Survival Book is an important book, a desperately-needed book, a book that can help the next wave of autism parents sidestep the kind of post-diagnosis anxiety & depression that hit me in 2003 due to a lack of guidelines for my new Autism Mom identity.

Left Brain/Right Brain seemed to think the interview was useful. (Thanks!)

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Autism parents and advocates throughout the Internet reeled after Niksmom tweeted her dismay over blogger SmockityFrocks stating outright what so many autism parents fear: that people assume our children are spoiled and ill-mannered before they consider any other explanation. Like, you know, autism. Liz Ditz, Emily, and StorkDok have all written blog responses as SmockityFrocks's original post's comments are closed.

Updated: SmockityFrocks took down the post, with additional defensiveness rather than an apology. Jesus is still crying. The rest of us know how to use Google Cache.  

Update 3.29: Cache is gone. Here is a permanent Google Doc link to SmockityFrocks's original post: http://is.gd/b5AAy

Update 3.30: SmockityFrocks posted a sincere apology. My reaction: Excellent, we're cool, and thank you. I also left a comment on each blog post below, notifying the blogger about the apology if they hadn't yet updated (except Barb's Kim's and Down the Rabbit Hole, as for some reason their comments weren't working for this computer).

Here's my take, from a comment I left on StorkDok's site:

People rarely have epiphanies of compassion when they're feeling as defensive as Smockity. What I hope she's learned from this, whether it sinks in now or later, is that our children with autism deserve more tolerance and empathy than people might naturally give (although as [StorkDok] pointed out, I'm sure Jesus would have given the girl and her grandmother the benefit of the doubt), and that kids with autism have watchful, vocal advocates.

But hey, I'd like to thank Smockity for inspiring so many bloggers to write Autism Awareness Day posts! I'll list responses here as they come in (be sure to read the comments as well ... that's where some of the most helpful thinking is happening):

1. Liz Ditz: A Message for SmockityFrocks
2. Emily at A Life Less Ordinary: Thou Shalt Not Mock Other People's Children
3. StorkDok: So this is what those Moms are thinking when they give me and my son "that look" 
4. Elise at ASD2mom: Snarky Ignorance and Autism Awareness [3.28 Updated with Must-read postscript]
5. Terri Mauro at SpecialChildren.About.com: What Those Snippy Typical Parents Are Thinking Behind Your Back
6. JoeyMom: Judgments Aside
7. Life as the Mother of Four: I Wrote an Email to SmockityFrocks but William Erased it so I Can't Print it Here
8. Melissa H: We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming
9. Kim Wombles: When Life Gives You a Chance to Show Empathy, Get Defensive Instead
10. AutismHerd: In Which a Mother Chooses a Mote Instead of a Pen
11. BeThisWay: Hey parents of Autistic, Asperger’s and other ASD kids! Some of us parents of typical kids get it!
12. Mittentime: I Don't Often Post About Autism
13. Confutata: In Which Squillo Considers Motes and Eyes
14. Barb Dittrich: All Eyes Are on You! [Christian perspective, really lovely]
15. Kristina Chew at We Go With Him: Yes We Are the Weird Ones  
16. Lynne S at Understanding My Son: Judgment 
17. Tim at Both Hands and a Flashlight: Grace on Aisle 5 [hanky-worthy in a good way]
18. BCPSS Parent at Surviving the System: Maybe It's Not Paranoia [This has really shaken her up; please leave a supportive comment]
19. Raising Complicated Kids: Want a Little Challenge? 
20. 9.39: Our Mall Meltdown, or, The One Where I Tell Smockity Frocks Where to Go
21. Jean Winegardner at Washington Times Communities: When Autistic Behavior is Misunderstood
22. Retired Waif: When Awareness Means Nothing [longtime disability advocate's perspective]
23. Ramblings By a Liberal Feminist Geek: Autism Awareness (or Lack Thereof)
24. Jennyalice: How a Person's Name Becomes an Adjective [If SmockityFrocks reads but one reaction, I hope it's this one.]
25. Fuchsia With Yellow Polka Dots: Compassionate Disapproval for the Autism-Ignorant
26. Melissa at Miracle Baby: It Really Does Take a Village
27. Mom-Not Otherwise Specified: Autism Awareness and the Smockity Flap
28. Down the Rabbit Hole: Oh the Joys of Judgmental People [Perspective from a person with autism who used to *be* that four-year-old child]
29. ASDmommy at What We Need: What Comes Around
30. Martian Momma: Frocking Hell - It's World Autism Awareness Day!
31. Caitlin at Welcome to Normal: The Legend of Smockity Frocks
32. Christa at Hyperlexicon: Untangling
33. ShePosts: Smockity Faces Backlash After Inadvertently Mocking An Autistic Girl
    

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Iz's Godfather Michael, with whom I've been friends since we were both younger than Mali, continues to demonstrate just how much-more-than-a-food blogger he is, for KQED Bay Area Bites. His last post was about an elementary school classmate of ours, the same age as Iz is now, who was murdered the summer before middle school. And, well, I'm not going to provide an excerpt. One read of Michael's post is all I can handle for now. But I hope you find it compelling.

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Grab bag: Leo's classroom setting is changing (more on that soon), he's been the sweetest boy in the world, and he's starting to eat carrots willingly; Mali is obsessed with Tudor Revival architecture (don't you call it plain Tudor! SHE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE!) and finally had enough with Leelo pushing her and turned around and clocked him even though he has 60 lbs and 18 inches on her; Iz has declared that she will "go emo" if she doesn't get to see her beloved Violet (who moved schools this year) soon, and continues to be the world's most fortunate child as she is being whisked off to a ski hill with her cousins for the weekend. Which is good, because at the moment Leelo is my model child; I would give almost anything to separate those bickering girls for an entire weekend.

Hope your weekend is loverly. We're going to go see flamingos.

Awash in Autism Awareness, and What You Can Do

Autism: Coming Down a Trail Near You.

Leo has been home sick for several days, which means I was too distracted by autism to realize that Autism Awareness Month has begun.

He has an icky but manageable cold. I have tissues and hand sanitzer, and he's cheerful and ambulatory -- so I've been doing the same thing I always do to raise autism awareness, Pinky: making him a visible part of our community.

I've been hauling Leo onto local trails and sitting with him in the farthest corners of local cafes. Since "cheerful" does not mean "at his very best," his autism has occasionally been on display. There are some loud noises, there is some head slapping. Not enough of either to be disruptive, but there's not doubt that Leo is on that spot of the trail, in that part of the cafe.

We don't leave or move on, because tolerating hikes and cafes are part of Leo's learning process as a community member. So the noises and slaps are quickly followed by encouragement from me, by reassurance that he will be okay in the few minutes between him disappearing his croissant and me disapparating my coffee, that we will turn around and head back for the car after we've hiked to the lake.


The lake turned out to be reinforcer enough.

While ours wasn't an official effort, trust me: Anyone who has been anywhere near my son this week has been aware of autism.

And it's not enough. My son and our family and his peers need more than your awareness; we need your acceptance. For that to happen, for us to get beyond the theoretical and the puzzle ribbons, you and my son have to get to know each other. Cookie Magazine (of all sources) recently published some first steps you can take, via Paul Collins's guidelines for inviting his autistic son to your typical child's birthday party.

If you don't click through, then at least try to absorb this excerpt:

Having an autistic kid over can be almost thankless—while you'll get our fervent appreciation, there'll be at most a mumbled thanks from [our child]. But here's the thing: He notices. Months after [the] party, he kept surprising us with all the details he remembered, and he's still asking to go again. Of autism's many paradoxes, now you know its greatest one: Your kindnesses may not be acknowledged, but they're always felt.

I am not going to hide my son away so that you don't have to deal with him or think about him, but I will teach him to function the best he can when he's around you. For you to truly participate in Autism Awareness Month, you need to try to accept him as he is, right there in front of you, doing his best to navigate your frequently incomprehensible world.

Five other takes on Autism Awareness Month:

• Autism Hangout: It's Autism Awareness Month! Get Involved
• Dora Raymaker: Having Awareness of Awareness
• Autism Awareness Month: Talking With an Autistic Adult
• Kristen Spina: Where It Begins
• Kim Stagliano: Helping a Friend Affected by Autism
  

Leelo Thanks the Blogsphere; in Particular Suzanne, Mary Beth, and Giddy

You did it! You tender-hearted and phenomenally generous denizens of the Blogosphere got Leelo and his local friends their scooter ramp, and you did it less than four days. I am so, so, so, so grateful for all your help, and will have no compunctions about shoving my Doc Martens-booted foot up the butt of the next person who makes a derogatory comment about bloggers.

But Oh My Goddess, thanks so much to everyone who helped with Leelo's Campaign, especially the last three people to donate over $20: Suzanne, Giddy, and Mary Beth. Leelo thanks you from the prompted bottom of his cuddly little heart:


Mwah,

Squid

Technorati Tags: autism, autism awareness, Friend of Leelo's, fundraising, Leelo

Help Leelo's Local Friends

Leelo's special ed department/occupational therapy department (i.e., special needs motor work) has no money to buy the kind of equipment they'd like; the kind that would really make a difference not only for autistic kids like Leelo but for all the kids in our city who rely on school district--i.e., public--support for their sensory and occupational therapy needs. Specifically the department would like to buy a scooter ramp as it will perform about fifty different functions in one compact space.

I said that I'd help. I said that if I invoked the power of the blogosphere, and got enough people to skip a latte or two (or five), there would be no way we couldn't raise enough money to get those kids their ramp.

So, feel like doing some good during this upcoming holiday season? I am trying to raise $757.90, which includes the ramp's purchase price and shipping. If we can raise the money by 12/20/06, it will be a lovely holiday gift for the special ed department. In fact you can even print out this page and tell your friends that you made a donation in their name instead of getting them a cluttery, tangible gift. A skipped latte's $2.50 is more than welcome.

Straight donations are great, of course, but I am also selling handmade Leelo coloring books at $20 each. The books feature the bold lines and simple rhymes that Leelo and his friends enjoy, plus scenes that will make any parent--but especially parents of autistic children--chuckle (or sigh) in recognition. All proceeds will go towards the ramp.

If you want a coloring book, go to the donation page, and click on the "contribute" button. You'll be redirected to PayPal. Put "coloring book" in your PayPal subject line, and don't forget to include your shipping address.

You can also help by ordering Leelo shirts and gear. A $10 donation is part of their purchase price. You can get Leelo gear at GoodStorm (t-shirts only) or CafePress (t-shirts, stickers, mugs).

I will add a further $10 donation from my own pocket if you send a picture featuring your Leelo gear to me at aba_help AT yahoo D0T com.

Here is the scooter ramp's description:

"This ramp incorporates a climbing feature with the addition of bilateral hand rails in addition to the rope attachment for hand-over-hand climbing. The ramp can be adjusted to 2 different inclines. Both ends of the ramp are beveled where the ramp meets the base and floor to give a smooth ride. Assembly consists of 4 wooden pieces held together with wing knobs. No tools ever needed. Easily disassembled and compactly stored."

Again, our deadline is 12/20/06. Leelo and his friends say Thank You! And please feel free to spread the word.

Technorati Tags: autism, autism awareness, fundraising, occupational therapy, special education