My name is Jodi Kaplan and I have been involved with AHA for about 12 years.

I recently joined the Board of Directors and have co chaired the Rock N Bowl fundraising event for the past two years.  I am very proud to finally have the time to give back to AHA by fundraising, volunteering with programs and sharing my knowledge and experiences with others.

My son was diagnosed with a receptive and expressive language processing disorder 18 years ago.  We could not understand why, at 1 ½ years of age, he did not turn when we called him, why certain sounds bothered him and why he was always cranky.  Autism was mentioned a few times, but our son was not diagnosed with autism at that time. By first grade our son had been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disability – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and now with high functioning autism.

As educated parents, my husband I tried to do whatever we could for our son.  We sent him to a special schoolfrom the time he was 22 months old where he received special education services, occupational therapy, speech therapy and physical therapy 2-3 times per week each for 3 ½ years.  He also received private speech therapy as well as private occupational therapy for many years.

Our son progressed and entered public school in kindergarten.Fortunately for us, AHA and Pat Schissel were involved in our school district when advances in the education of children with autism were being introduced into mainstream schools.  Pat brought a well know psychologist to our district who implemented a social skills program for autistic children that started in 3^rd grade. Although not officially labeled as autistic, our son received the benefit of this fabulous pilot program.  I became involved as a member of AHA at that time.

I started going to every AHA conference I could go to.  Our family participated in the walk for NAAR year after year.  We made friends thought AHA and we continued to learn. I always wanted to be more involved with AHA, but with 3 children and a full time job, my time was limited.

I had enrolled at Adelphi University in their School of Education and earned an M.S. in Deaf Education in 2001, while my son was in elementary school. I have been a teacher at the Lexington School for the Deaf for 11 years, 4 of which were in the Infant Toddler Program and 7 years as a teacher in the preschool. I am conversant in American Sign Language and have extensive knowledge of cochlear implants, digital hearing aids, FM systems, and the impact of hearing loss on spoken language development.  I have since become certified in Special Education as well.

I began teaching in the Parent Infant Toddler Program at the Lexington School in 2001 and worked with families who had children under the age of three.  While in the Infant/Toddler program I helped parents determine the best mode of communication for their deaf child and their family.  I taught them how to communicate with theirbaby;whether to use sign language or oral language.  I also taught them to use the amplification systems they had. I loved this job.  I was counseling families with newly diagnosed children and helping many get through the initial grieving process.  I was a natural;understanding, and having been through the infant toddler stage just a few years before.

During my 11 years as a teacher in a school for the deaf, I have had many different types of students.They are all deaf or hard of hearing. Most have hearing parents who have little or no experience with deafness.  Most of my studentshave comorbid disorders in addition to a hearing loss including autism, ADD, ADHD, seizure disorders, cerebral palsy, juvenile diabetes, CHARGE syndrome and Cytomegalovirus.  Many have cognitive and physical difficulties that cause developmental delays.  Most of my students come from immigrant families where the primary language in the home is not English.

The education and support that I received through AHA has molded me into a confident parent,teacher, and advocate.  I am very happy that I now have the time to give back to AHA in a formal way.  I look forward to participating on the Board and in programs that we offer.  I look forward to raising money for AHA to keep our organization strong and viable.

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I attended support meetings seeking advice and information for myself and my husband as we coped with the challenges of raising our son who at age 16 was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified was a term used to indicatie that an individual has some characteristics of autism spectrum disorder but does not easily fit other more well defined categories). I became a board member probably about 9 years ago.  I really became intensely involved with the workings of AHA when I volunteered to create a member database after seeing a post in the AHA newsletter seeking members with database skills.  Over the last decade I have developed many automated tools that have been incorporated into the database including membership and school placement tracking and conference registration tools and reports.  I have also contributed several articles to our newsletter, now called On The Spectrum, often drawing on my experiences as a mother of an individual with ASD. For a short period I also assisted Bernice Polinsky with facilitating the support group for parents of adolescents and adults on the spectrum.   I’m currently working closely with Pat on creating our Resource Survey and Resource Database.  This new tool will greatly enhance our ability to help other families who reach out to AHA for assistance.   I’ve been through several phases in AHA’s evolution.  For many years we worked out of spare bedrooms and basements, answering hotline calls from dedicated telephone lines in our board member/volunteer’s homes.  Now we have a wonderful headquarters in Amityville, NY and even a satellite office in Manhattan.  We’ve become a well respected organization in the field of autism advocacy, education and support.

Here’s to the continued growth of AHA in 2012 and many years to come.

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First up was Kailyn. She’s a 16-year-old on the spectrum, and she looked beautiful as she began her speech. Kailyn talked about feeling lonely, particularly during middle school. She struggled to connect with her peers and ended up transferring schools. From there, even when she didn’t know any of her classmates, she was able to make friends. It was a struggle, sure, but Kailyn pushed through it. I admire her courage. Not only did she overcome social challenges, but she shared her story with a room full of strangers at Tuesday’s conference. She is truly remarkable.

Morgan was next to take the stage. He is a high school junior with ADHD and PDD-NOS. He spoke openly and maturely about his difficulties communicating. Recognizing one’s challenges is a critical piece of overcoming them on the autism spectrum, and Morgan accomplished that. And while he now may struggle with figurative language and comprehension, Morgan revealed he’s an avid reader. It’s clear that he perseveres, and I know he will achieve anything he sets out to accomplish.

When Morgan finished, I’m not sure anyone saw Alex‘s speech coming (in a good way). The 18-year-old was brilliant, and really knew how to make the crowd laugh. Through his jokes and one-man-show role playing (you had to be there), the crowd adored him and really got to understand who he is.  Alex accepts his diagnosis (more than accepts actually, he loves it). He was able to make having Aspergers work to his advantage. Both talented and creative, Alex is bound for success.

Finally was Drew. This high school senior has passion for many different things, and Asperger Syndrome could never hold him back. Instead, as Drew realized, his diagnosis drives him forward. He wouldn’t have it any other way. In the beginning, things were tough. It took a couple of years for Drew to get to where he is now. He self-advocates at his CSE meetings. He identifies the things he needs to work on and helps teachers understand what they can do to support him. Drew has goals and knows how to reach them. I’m impressed by him and so were the adults at the conference.

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The Neighborhood Charter School of Harlem (NCSH) will have its GRAND OPENING next year, welcoming many children ready to embark on their educational journey. Even more exciting, it will have an inclusion program for children with high-funtioning autism and Asperger Syndrome — what we’ve all been waiting for! This will be the first charter school of its kind in all of New York City, and it definitely won’t be the last.

NCSH will:

For more information, visit the school’s website: www.ncsharlem.org
Or contact: info@ncsharlem.org

Student recruitment materials and applications for students with ASD are available this November.

Also, NCSH is seeking a dynamic Head of School. A job description is available on their website under Careers.

Exciting stuff!

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