Social Skills Research Project opportunity for Families with Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing with Special Needs

New information from the Colorado Autism Monitoring Project

The following information is from Kelly Mast, Autism Projects Coordinator for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

I am pleased to announce the release of new data from the CDC’s Autism Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Project – of which Colorado is a part. Roughly every two years we are able to provide new estimates on the number and characteristics of 8-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder. Today we present information for those children who were born in 2004 and 8 years old in 2012. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/community_report_autism.pdf)

Key findings of the new report are:

• For the Network overall (11 sites), the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder remains similar to two years ago with 1 in 68 children identified with ASD.
• In the Denver metropolitan area (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties), we identified fewer children with ASD (1 in 92) compared with the Network overall. This estimate, however, is slightly higher than the number we identified last year (1 in 101).
• In Colorado in 2012, we primarily worked with health care facilities and only a handful of our fabulous school districts. From previous work, we know that school districts play a vital role, along with health care providers, in evaluating and serving children with autism. In fact, in 2008 in the metro area, we found that about 30% of children with ASD only received services in the educational setting. As a result, our estimate this year likely under represents the actual number of children with ASD in the Denver metro area.
• Despite 87% of children with ASD having a developmental concern indicated in an evaluation prior to age 3, only 41% received a comprehensive evaluation for these concerns by 36 months. I challenge us to narrow this gap. Many communities across Colorado have prioritized early childhood screening in their maternal and child health plans. Please go to www.colorado.gov/cphe and search “early childhood screening” or explore www.coloradoabcd.org to find out more.
• Colorado data continue to show that Hispanic children are less likely (2x less likely!) to be identified with autism by age 8 and they also receive developmental evaluations later than white children. I challenge us all to do more to assure all children - regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic situation - are evaluated early. If interested, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities is hosting a webinar on April 21, 2016 at 1:00 Mountain on “Parents Taking Action: Empowering Latina Mothers of Children with ASD” (www.aucd.org/template/event.cfm?event_id=7822&id=16 ). If others have resources or are spearheading initiatives to address this area, please let me know! At 12:30 today, CDC will host a Partner Discussion about the Network data. Call in information is as follows: Call Line: 888-795-0855 Call Passcode: Autism

Additionally, on April 21, 2016 from 10:00 to 11:30, JFK Partners at the University of Colorado School of Medicine is hosting a webinar on autism spectrum disorder in collaboration with the HCP program at CDPHE. I’ll present a detailed update of the Network data, and you’ll also hear about new research efforts to identify causes of ASD (Susan Hepburn) and interventions for sleep problems (Ann Reynolds). Information can be found on the JFK Partners website (www.jfkpartners.org) under “Events.”

Finally, many, many thanks to all of you for your continued support of the Colorado Autism Monitoring Project! Many of you have been active partners in data collection and we could not do this work without your continued partnership. Others have provided guidance and insight into the information we analyze and report. You’re continued collaboration make this effort successful. More information about the ADDM project can be found on the CDC’s website, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/addm.html.

Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award: April 2016

Congratulations are in order for Jonathan Brennan, who works at the Longmont CORE/Labor Source (CLS) site, on being selected as the April 2016 recipient of the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Here is some information from Jonathan’s nomination, which ably demonstrates why he selected as this month’s recipient:

Jonny has been an excellent addition to the Longmont CLS team. Jonny's enthusiastic attitude is contagious and truly promotes an extremely positive atmosphere both for our staff and clients. Jonny has a strong drive to learn, and it shows in his dedication to the job. He has demonstrated extreme initiative in many ways. Recently, on his own time, he went to a training at KGNU to learn how to use the equipment so that our KGNU class on Fridays would be able to potentially get airtime on the radio.

During this class, Jonny has also introduced several ideas to engage not just the class, but the greater community. He developed the "CORE Gazette," which includes excerpts from each of the individuals in the KGNU class about various things such as "Today in History" or "Recipes for Favorite Cupcakes," and printed out a few copies and distributed them to other CLS staff. These are just a few examples of how Jonny goes above and beyond his job requirements on a consistent basis to promote quality services and a positive work environment for everyone!

Great work, Jonathan, and congratulations on this well-deserved honor!

Imagine!'s New Mission Statement

Today we'd like to introduce Imagine!’s new mission statement, and share the graphic poster below, that is one example of how we're introducing our new mission at our offices.

 

Several people commented about how much they liked the artwork in the background of the graphic. As the graphic points out, it is a piece created by an individual who accepts services from Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source (CLS) department.

In addition to the art above, CLS art classes have been busy creating many beautiful watercolor paintings (like the ones below), and some of them are available for purchase! You are encouraged to check out the CLS Etsy page here to purchase art and support some very talented and creative artists.

Celebrating 5, 10, and 20 Years of Service

Today, we'd like to recognize five team members that are celebrating 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years of service here at Imagine! this month.

March 1, 2016 was the 10th anniversary for Heather Sabo, who works with our Foundation

March 13, 2016 was the 20th anniversary at Imagine! for Karen Quirk. Karen works with our Behavioral Health Services team (IBHS).

March 21, 2016 was the 5th anniversary for Claudette Moloney, who works with our
Innovation program.

March 23, 2016 was the 5th anniversary for Daniel Reizenstein, who works with our
Out & About program.

March 25, 2016 was the the 20th anniversary for Ashli Miller, who works with our
Supported Living Services program.

On behalf of all of us whose lives you have impacted, thank you for your service Heather, Karen, Claudette, Daniel, and Ashli!

Autism Awareness Day at Coors Field

 https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/corockies/EN/promotion/home

A Slope Side Update from Scott

Our friend Scott wanted to share an update from the slope of Eldora Mountain Resort, where he has been carving up the mountainside. Through the Ignite Adaptive Sports Program, Scott has been going up to Eldora a couple times each ski season, using a sit ski. This last time he went up, however, we changed things up a bit. One of Scott’s major goals for this last year has been to increase his stability and stamina while standing or walking. He practices standing and walking exercises both at home and while attending classes at Imagine!’s CORE\Labor Source. So upon discussing this, Scott and the team decided to try out an A-Frame support stand for Scott to use on the slopes. It gives him plenty of assistance to bear his weight as needed, and as you can see in the video below, Scott had no troubles sailing off into the sunset. Stay tuned for more updates, and special thanks to the Ignite Adaptive Sports program at Eldora.

Can’t see the video? Click here.