The Last Few Months @ TheAUTSPOT.com

by Dele

Throughout the first half of 2010, many different organizations have been playing key roles in providing guidance and support to the families affected by autism, and TheAUTSPOT.com has been present at every step of the way to help these organizations fulfill their missions. This past March, TheAUTSPOTfoundation teamed up with the Los Angeles Clipppers and the Donald Sterling Foundation to host the 2nd Autism Awareness Clipper Night. About 200 parents and children from the Talk About Curing Autism organization and TheAUTSPOT.com were able to enjoy a free night of professional Basketball at the Staples Center, as the Los Angeles Clippers battled the Golden State Warriors. The Donald Sterling Foundation does a lot for the city of Los Angeles and has been so generous over the years through their efforts to invite various support groups and community outreach programs to the Los Angeles Clippers games. Donald Sterling and company show great support for TheAUTSPOTfoundation and the foundation’s efforts to give aid to the families in the autism community. greg and tafari

The Autism Research Institute always seems to be the greatest provider for national autism related seminars by hosting their bi-annual autism conferences each year. This past April, they held their Defeat Autism Now Conference in Baltimore, Maryland and were glad to have TheAUTSPOT.com be a part of it. Hundreds of people were in attendance, and it really went to show just how many people were willing to share their support for autism awareness month. The conference hotel was located right by Johns Hopkins Medical Center, where autism was first diagnosed as a disorder 67 years ago. Many parents and specialists in attendance were delighted to learn what TheAUTSPOT.com was all about, and were even more excited to share the news of our line community with their autism support group members once they got back at home.

Autism Speaks is well known for their highly attended “Walk Now for Autism” events that take place annually across the U.S., and TheAUTSPOT.com made sure to make their appearance at their hometown Walk for Autism on April 24th in Los Angeles. TheAUTSPOT.com has established a respected reputation of handing out live goldfish to all the children at the walks, and this was a tradition that TheAUTSPOT.com continued at this walk for autism as well. The walk was another huge success with 20,000 people in attendance and over $1.25 million generated for autism research!

The Autism One Conference kicked off May 24th, in Chicago, Illinois as usual, and the four day event brought together families from all over the world that either parented or worked with children with autism. Hundreds of specialists, professors, and service providers were amongst the crowd, and TheAUTSPOT.com got to share the stage in the mission to bring motivation and new research to people who have a heart for the autism spectrum disorders. On the last day of the conference, all the attendees got the opportunity to hear Jenny McCarthy make her keynote speech in the grand auditorium before the conference was wrapped up.

Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) held its 7th Annual Family Picnic Sunday, June 13th near their headquarters in Irvine. Throughout the past couple of years, TheAUTSPOT.com has worked in close collaboration with the non-profit to coordinate and provide community outings for families in the Southern California region. TheAUTSPOT.com warmly accepted TACA’s invite to attend the family picnic, and felt rewarded to cross paths with Talk About Curing Autism once again to educate the committed families involved in the organization about the online support at TheAUTSPOT.com. Together, TACA and TheAUTSPOT.com presence in the autism community has helped many families find answers and solutions for caring for their children.

TheAUTSPOT.com also started off the summer in great fashion by hosting its first ever annual summer picnic at Bixby Park in Long Beach, California this past Saturday. Local families that have already gotten involved in TheAUTSPOT.com or have heard about what TheAUTSPOT.com provides got the chance to actually meet one another and share the same kind of support that TheAUTSPOT.com promotes. Thanks to the efforts of our most active AUTSPOT advocate, Jane Tipton-King, we were able to get a moon bounce and bubble blower donated to us for the picnic and all the children couldn’t be happier. We provided aresource fair, which families took advantage of by gathering useful information to help their children, and the afternoon was finalized with a raffle which awarded families with educational books, therapy sessions, and access to recreational events.         picnic pic

Since we launched in November, many more families and specialists have been getting involved with TheAUTSPOT.com which is currently approaching 6,000 members. We have thousands of resources Nationwide (therapists, doctors, day care programs, after schools programs, special education lawyers, dentists, summer camps, recreation, support groups, etc.) in our resources library, and in July we will begin the transition to incorporate resources from across the globe, as well as many more from the United States. The blogs and groups sections have also been a tremendous help to our users. TheAUTSPOT.com members have been asking for advice and opinions about countless different topics from potty training to college education, and have been receiving a ton of feedback from other site members and specialists who are willing to share their knowledge and experience. We have also realized how difficult it can be for families to find out about all of the helpful autism relatedsupport groups, seminars, and conferences that are taking place across the nation. The Calendar section at TheAUTSPOT.com is just beginning to fill in that void.  We encourage you to take the time to see what is going on in the autism community across the nations, and post the autism related events that you know of in your local area, so that other people in the community can benefit from them as well. TheAUTSPOT.com has really begun to build a reputation of being the largest and most helpful online support system for all individuals that have ties to the autism spectrum disorders. Our efforts have even been recognized by two local newspapers in the Los Angeles County area. Click the links to view the articles: www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_14751220, http://www.pvnews.com/articles/2010/04/01/local_news/news4.txt

We look forward to seeing you at TheAUTSPOT.com, and please help us spread the word about TheAUTSPOT.com! We know that with your help, we can raise the level of autismawareness and create a bridge to link more experienced individuals with parents of newly diagnosed children so that the disorder can be more vigorously addressed with collaborative strength.

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Guest Post: Tom Dickinson

by Dele

A the AUTSPOT.com and member Tom Dickinson: Guest Blog on Diets

Known as “thegfcfchef” for his efforts to provide delicious gluten free and casein free recipes and ideas to families in the autism community. We got a chance to speak to Tom about his craft and his views about the autism spectrum disorders. Take the time to read what Tom has to say, and if you have not gotten a chance to get a taste of Tom’s recipes, be sure to join his group “Where there’s a meal, there’s a way” in the groups section at TheAUTSPOT.com! Enjoy!

1. What is your connection to Autism?

I remember being a small child and having a lot of difficulties when I was little.  I developed slowly in a lot of things.  I couldn’t walk until I was two and I couldn’t ride a bicycle until I was eleven or twelve.  I remember getting testing for a lot of things when I was a kid and I was always told that I had a perceptual problem and that was it.  Thought nothing of it.  Went to a lot of educational therapy when I was younger too.  It wasn’t until I was an adult that I did some more reasearch and found some of the tests that I was given as a boy were the same tests they give to diagnose Autism.  I had heard about it when I was younger and when I began struggling at a job that I was working at, I did more research and I asked a family member about it and they confirmed that when I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed as borderline Autistic.  After that, with the help of my wife, I really gained a lot more information on supplements and vitamins so I could help myself  an changing certain things in my diet.

2. What made you decide to commit to gluten free casein free food as a choice of cooking style?

After my wife helping me to get my own situtation under control, I realized that I wanted to help others who were like me or who had a more severe case of Autism and needed the help.  I don’t think I decided it at first.  I think that God decided it for me.  I was ready to commit to having a catering company and cater to anyone who could pay for my services and that was it.  I was one of those believers who thought that if you take cream, butter, and wheat out of a dish, you took out the flavor.  But after reading recipes that people had made that were GFCF and testing a few, I decided that I wanted to help other people like me and I started to put a lot of care, love, and passion into this style of cooking.  I learned that it wasn’t about taking things out.  It was about replacing them.  Mimicreme works just as well as regular cream.  Earth Balance Spread and Ghee works just as well as regular butter, and there are some gluten free breads that have a lot of great flavor in them and my whole attitude has completely changed about food like this.  It can taste awesome.  It can be beautiful, and it’s funny now because I show people a picture of a ravioli dish that I prepared and they look at it and think it looks great and it is very eye appealing.  But when I tell them it’s gluten and dairy free, there eyes pop out and they’re totally shocked.  I like it when I get that look from people.  Actually.  The funny thing is, is that if I wasn’t borderline Autistic, I probably wouldn’t have such a focus on food or the dedication and commitment to tune everything else out and put my heart into making this my signature cooking style.  It’s kind of weird to think about it that way.

3.) What are your hopes for gfcf meals and the autism spectrum disorders in the future?

My hopes are that GFCF meals are referred to as a diet anymore.  My whole commitment to this style of cooking is to take GFCF and change it from being labeled as a diet, and have it labeled as a cusine.  You don’t here people saying Vegetarian Diet, or Vegan Diet.  It’s now Vegetarian and Vegan Cusine.  I wan’t GFCF to be held in that same regard.  Also I want to get the message out that GFCF meals don’t have to be just steamed vegetables, plain rice, and baked chicken.  GFCF can be indulgent, vibrant, sexy food.  And yes, I did say sexy.   To answer the second part of the question my hopes for autism spectrum disorders is that there is more awareness made about them.  That people who are not personally affected by autism become more educated about it and are a little more understanding and eager to help.

4.) What is the best advice you can give to parents and families looking to implement a gfcf diet for their children and families?

Take it slow.  Replace a few things at a time.  Don’t try to make something that your kids don’t know what it is or won’t like.  There’s so many gluten and casein free products out there that you can give your kids stuff they’ll like.  Make a GFCF Meatloaf.  Make GFCF Spaghetti and Meatballs.  Udi foods makes great frozen pizza crusts.  Daiya foods makes great soy free cheese substitutes.  Make a GFCF Pizza.  Like I’ve said before.  It’s not about taking out.  It’s just about replacing.  And if you don’t have a recipe for it, get a hold of of me and I’ll give you one.

5.) How can we help get the word out about your meals?

Word of mouth is the best form of advertisting.  I’m sure a lot of people see a lot of the gluten free casein free ingredients and don’t know how to use them.  I’m sure a lot of moms are trying to make GFCF food that their kids won’t eat and wonder if someone could teach them how to make it.  I know for sure that a lot of professionals in my industry, especially in the restaurants, get frustrated when someone who is gluten and dairy free comes into the restaurant and they think it’s a pain in the rear end.  Fortunately, some don’t and they’re very accomidating.  I’m sure someone has asked why more professionals aren’t commited to this style of food.  Let me tell you, you have one here that is.  There are a few of us who are commited to GFCF.   I have never referred to myself as a master chef, or super chef, or the chef of all chefs.  I’m a GFCF Chef, and I’ll do whatever I can and go anywhere to help someone to be more educated about GFCF cooking and teach people that this style of food can be fun. If someone tells me “Oh, you can’t make that GFCF.”  Watch me.  I’ll but my tail to make sure that I make it GFCF.” There are also a few others like me who are commited to this food like the company gfmeals, which puts out a great product.  We’re the few and proud in this food industry who are here for the people who need it and want to help.  Why?  Because where there’s a meal, there’s a way.

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theAUTSPOT.com Hosts A Variety of Events for Autism

by Dele

The National Foundation for Autism Research will be holding its 6th
annual San Diego Race for Autism in Balboa Park, CA this Sat, March
27th, 2010. The purpose of the 5K Run/Walk is to raise funds for
programs to give aid to children diagnosed with Autism in the San
Diego community. TheAUTSPOTfoundation has generously donated funds to
the autism research [...]

Entire Story Here

All Of America Thinks Your Child Is Like The “Rain Main”

by Aaron

I just can’t seem to stop mentioning pro-tweeter, autistic savant, who’s real name is Mary Day-Petrano or, EquiisSavant, as we know her by on Twitter. Why? Well even though I don’t agree with some of the things she believes in Equiss get’s me thinking, something I greatly respect. The most reacent issues that has been [...]

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Guest Post: Anonymous Teacher.

by Aaron

I write this blog as somewhat of an outsider, I don’t have a child with ASD and I am not a therapist or a teacher of children with ASD.  I teach children with hearing loss. My path crosses with the ASD community often though; as I have had several children with ASD in my class [...]

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Where is the Vaccination Discussion?

by Aaron

I’m surprised.
After the ruling by the United States Courts two days ago officially saying that vaccines have no relation to autism (view our blog below) I immediately booted up my Twitter client to see the communities reaction… There was none. Either the autism community needs a biggest presense on Twitter or parents of autistic children [...]

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Vaccines Cannot Harm Children on Their Own

by Aaron

At least that’s what a special US Court ruled yesterday March 12. Loyal readers know that I rarely, if ever, bring up the vaccines being related to autism. But this story twas brought to my attention around 5:30p.m. yesterday and I thought it warranted some attention on the blog-regardless of personal beliefs. I’m not taking [...]

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A Simple Way theAUTSPOT.com Can Change Your Life

by Aaron

Hello Aut Community!

I wanted to do this blog post to personally thank each and every one of you for signing up on theAUTSPOT.com -the reason it exists relies on  active memebers like you. We strongly believe in the power of social media and how it can help promote awareness for our cause; so not only [...]

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