Agenda for April 13 Autism Rally

[Guest guest]

Dear Friend of ASO:

The agenda for the Autism Rally at the Ohio Statehouse has been finalized! There is a great lineup of speakers including Lee Grossman, Executive Director of the Autism Society of America. The full agenda follows my signature. Please plan on attending!

Being is Columbus for the rally is a great opportunity to meet with your state representative and state senator. Please contact them to set up a meeting - if they are not available, be sure to schedule a meeting with one of their aides. Not sure how to find your state legislators? Visit www.house.state.oh.us, click on “Your Representatives†and enter your zip code. Visit www.senate.state.oh.us , click on “Your Senators†and enter your zip code.

What should you discuss at a meeting with your legislators? Be sure to bring a copy of the Ohio Autism Taskforce Report with you to give them (you can download a copy of the report from our website www.autismohio.org). Pick 2 or 3 recommendations that would impact you directly or that you feel passionate about and highlight those to your legislators. Share a personal story of how you/your family/your love one with autism have/has been impacted by the poor services in Ohio that would be improved by the recommendations you are highlighting. Be sure to keep your presentation short and positive! This should't be about complaining but about making constructive suggestions to improve services for persons with autism in Ohio. Prepare a written copy of your comments - in outline form or limited to one page, to leave with your legislators.

The ASO has been hard at work "behind the scenes" to make the recommendations a reality. We have identified 16 of the 43 recommendations that will require budgetary action. Since the legislature is in the process of formulating the state budget for the next two years (it will be passed into law in June 2005) those are the recommendations that we will be concentrating on initially. We will keep you informed of our progress and how you can help. When the budget process is complete, we will begin work on the other recommendations.

If we all work together, we can dramatically improve services for persons with autism in Ohio. Thanks for your help!

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Barbara C. YavorcikPresidentAutism Society of Ohio701 S. Main St.Akron, OH 44311(330) 376-0211fax: (330) 376-1226email: askASO@...home: byavorcik@...web: www.autismohio.org2005 ASO Bi-Annual Conference"Reaching Beyond the Horizon - Challenging the Autism Spectrum"Friday and Saturday, October 14-15, 2005 Kingsgate Marriott in Cincinnati, Ohio

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Autism Awareness Rally

Speaker’s agenda

4/13/05

11 AM

Statehouse

Columbus, OH

11:00 AM - 11:05 AM - Doug Krinsky - Welcome everyone

Thank Joe Dunn, Bill Shackleford, Mike Holstein, Mike Armstrong - work they have and are doing Recognize any dignitaries - Governor? - Presentation of certificate Introduce speakers and State Representative Jon

11:05 AM - 11:15 AM - State Representative Jon

Overview of Autism Taskforce charge Review final product Highlight final product - Waiver (WS-1), First Signs (ID-1), Ohio Autism Center (TS-1) , Autism Resource Manual (AL-1) and Scholarship (FS-1) Personal thoughts Vision of services for individuals with Autism in Ohio

11:15 AM - 11:20 AM - Representative Ken Carano

Personal thoughts on Ohio Autism Taskforce final product Highlight recommendations - expand the special education weighted formula to include preschool age children (FS-3), update the special education formula to reflect current costs (FS-6), increase the appropriation for special education catastrophic funding (FS-7), adopt an incentive program to retain students to serve in professions that serve individuals with autism (FS-9), create tax incentives for employers (FS-11), need to promote appropriate employment opportunities with the Ohio Department of Development and Ohio Rehabilitation Commission (AL-6).

11:20 AM - 11:25 AM - State Senator Fedor

Personal thoughts on Ohio Autism Taskforce final product Highlight recommendations - Health Insurance corporations prevented from excluding autism (FS-2), enact mental health parity (FS-15), eliminate the existing exclusion with BCMH for services with individuals with autism (TS-12), MRDD allow the reallocation of permission to serve children on a waiver among counties (WS-2), conduct a long term fiscal cost study of a lack of appropriate early interventions (FS-4), and provide adequate resources to enable Ohio Legal Rights to account for the increase in cases involving autism (FS-10).

11:25 AM - 11:30 AM - Barb Yavorcik, President, Autism Society of Ohio

· Autism Society of Ohio connection to success of recommendations

· Coordinating efforts of all advocates going forward to enact all recommendations - contact information

· Highlight recommendations - Review the Ohio Autism Service Guidelines and expand them (TS-8), create an autism license plate (FS-5), create a statewide standard and protocol for effective transition of individuals from one service system to another (AL-2), analyze whether individuals with autism are adequately served with vocational, adult day care residential and supported living services (AL-5), and increase the quality and quantity of family support services (AL-3).

11:30 AM - 11:35 AM - Dr. Sinclair, Cleveland Clinic

· What will these recommendations mean to children with autism?

· Highlight recommendations - Establish a standard practice of autism diagnosis and educational identification (ID-2), and (ID-5), improve the regional capacity to provide a timely medical diagnosis (ID-3), provide continuing education to professions and occupations in regard to attributes and characteristics of autism (AL-4), develop a regional service delivery system (TS-2), and elimination of the regional disparity of services (TS-3).

11:35 AM - 11:40 AM – Debbie Cowan, Belle Faire - Monarch school

What will these recommendations mean to educators and schools? Highlight recommendations - modify rules for ESY (TS-5), social skills training (TS-7), create an Ohio credential for students preparing to teach individuals with autism (TS-4), an educational endorsement by school personnel (TS-9), and fully fund the Parent Mentor program in the ODE (FS-8).

11:40 AM - 11:45 AM - Sondra , Adult with Autism

Read personal poems

11:45 AM - 11:50 AM - Bernie Kosar Sr., Grandparent of a child with autism

Extended family connection Struggles families go thru for support Why is it so important to help these individuals?

11:50 AM - 11:55 AM - Lee Grossman, President of Autism Society of America

What is ASA working on? How do these 43 recommendations fit into the national strategy?

11:55 AM - 12:00 PM - Representative Jon and Doug Krinsky

It is just starting We need your help to help ASO and get with your state Legislators Thank you for coming