UM-NSU CARD: Week of December 8, 2008

[Guest guest]

Karp wrote: ACE Chair Shapiro wrote: For your information and sharing. NEXT WEEK AT December 12, 2008 UM-NSU CARD: Support Group for Parents of Adults (NMB Office) Facilitator: Deborah Chin Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm For more information please contact at: or dchin@... Stay informed about CARD news, community activities and events, family and professional workshops and conferences, and other important information. http://www.umcard.org/files/Newsletter.pdf ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Autism Spectrum Assessment Clinic (ASAC), located in Coral Gables, Florida, provides comprehensive psychological evaluations to children and adults to investigate the possibility of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purposes of the evaluation are to

determine current level of functioning, clarify diagnosis, and provide treatment recommendations. ASAC includes a team of highly experienced professionals who specialize in diagnosing or ruling out ASDs, including clinical and school psychologists, doctoral level psychology students, behavior analysts, and consulting clinicians from CARD who assist in the assessment process and who ensure that individuals diagnosed with autism and their families are connected to CARD services and supports. State-of-the-art assessment measures, such as the ADOS and ADI-R are used in ASAC evaluations. For more information or to schedule an appointment,

call or visit our website at www.psy.miami.edu/asac ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.coe.fau.edu/card/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE JOIN OUR TEAM! CARD FRIENDS, Please join me in my fight to make a difference in the lives of the more than 1 million Americans

living with autism today.I am participating in Walk Now for Autism to help find a cure for autism. Autism is the second most common developmental disorder in the United States affecting one in every 150 children born today. Despite some promising discoveries, the cause of autism is unknown and a cure does not exist. Research is crucial. Every 20 minutes another child is diagnosed with autism. Not only must we find ways to improve the quality of life for children and adults with autism, but we also must find a cure, and soon.Walk Now for Autism is our chance to make a difference in the fight against autism by raising money for autism research and heightening public awareness. Please join me in my fight as I raise money to help fund essential research. You can donate to Walk Now for Autism and/or join my team online using the links at the bottom of this page. Donations can also be mailed to Autism Speaks using the donation form located on my page or send me a

check made out to Autism Speaks.Thank you for taking an important step in the fight against autism.Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Autism Speaks 501 ©(3) Tax Id #: 20-2329938Matching gift program: Many companies provide their employees with matching gifts. Please consult your employer on its matching gift guidelines and attach matching gift forms accordingly.Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Autism Speaks ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Autism Society of America Publishes New Online Course on Autism and Environmental Health http://www.autism-society.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle & id=12427 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- H. Kates, DDS, PA | Anesthesia for Dental Health North Miami Beach, FL Many special children do not receive appropriate dental care due to difficulties tolerating and/or cooperating with the dental treatment or surgery. Our mission is to provide special needs children with the highest standard of patient care and safety while undergoing extensive dental treatment in order to assist them in maintaining dental health. Using anesthetic medications, children special needs receive treatment in a fully monitored environment while they sleep. We welcome working as a team with your general dentist, or we can offer a referral from our network of professionals. Please call for more information. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guardianship And Other Legal Matters Questions, Concerns, Information? Go to Our Message Boards Questions About WaiverProvider.Com? Call Planning Is Crucial: Why You Need To Be On Top of Wills, Trusts, and Guardianship. Attorney, La Belle, speaks about legal documents necessary to protect people who have

disabilities. is a parent of two children who have disabilities. He has over 20 years of experience practicing law. uses easy to understand language, and keeps his focus on low-cost solutions to important legal issues. explains that "Full blown" or plenary guardianship is expensive, and that in many cases a cheaper alternative may be used. also discusses the benefits of special needs trusts, wills, power of attorney, and many other hot legal topics. http://www.waiverprovider.com/richard_labelle.html Watch The Presentation Why You Need To Plan Set up a plan for when you're not here. Keep this in mind. Involve the whole family in the process Understand the basics, but don't get lost in the details. Keep an eye on the calendar- 18 is still a magic age. Why you need a will. Inexpensive, But Important Documents Why you need a will (continued) Part of a package, but, most importantly, it's best for you to make decisions, not a judge. Living Will/ Advance Directives- take care of yourself, too. Pre-need declarations of guardian. Power of attorney- very useful. It's better for you to make decisions about what you want, rather than others making decisions for you if you're not able to express yourself. Terry Schiave Case- whole case was because she didn't have a living will and someone- a judge- had to decide what she would have wanted. Why is this important? Because making these decisions is very, very rarely a decision to simply "pull the plug". It often involves withholding medications and/or food and water. Guardianship, and Alternatives Living Wills (continued) Items to address in a Living

Will- mobility assessment; cognitive assessment by several experienced professionals; swallowing assessments/therapy; assistive technology assessment; pursue cutting edge therapies/procedures/technologies. "Full blow" or plenary guardianship Explained Guardian of person/property Explained Guardian Advocate Explained Costs and other things to consider Alternatives To Guardianship and Special Needs Trusts Is Guardianship Necessary? Alternatives To Guardianship Power of Attorney Take steps to be ready for 18th birthday Special Needs Trusts More than 2,000 makes a person ineligible for benefits Special Needs Trusts have only one simple purpose- to allow persons with disabilities to keep assets (property, money, etc.) and still qualify for

public benefits. By using a special needs trust, a person with disabilities can avoid a "spend down" of their assets Special Needs Trusts Special Needs Trusts (continued) If you leave a person with disabilities more than 2,000 they will lose their benefits until they "spend down" their money. Avoid the need for a "spend down" with a special needs trust. Special needs trusts are not a loophole or a gimmick. They are specifically authorized by Federal and state statues. Why should I worry about this? I don't have any money. A special needs trusts will protect your child's benefits. Consider purchasing a life insurance policy to fund the trust. A simple term life insurance policy can be as low as $10 per month. Creat a fund for when you won't be there- when your child will need it the most.

Think about the alternative of not setting up a trust. Your loved one with disabilities will end up, when you're gone, probably receiving enough assets to kick them off of their benefits. The effort you put in on the front end will pay off in the benefit to the person with disabilities in the end. Special Needs Trusts (Continued) Start planning as soon as possible You don't have to put a lot of money into a special needs trust. You can start with $10.00 What should be in the special needs trust? Think of a trust as a tool to improve the quality of life of your loved one with disabilities. Where do I start? Why you should have an experienced attorney draft your special needs trust. What type of special needs trust do I need? Advance planning can preserve

options so that more flexible trusts, like third party special needs trusts, can be used. Once the money is in the hands of the person with disabilities, the only option is to use a type of "pay back" trust. Watch The Presentation Choosing a Trustee and Trust Advisors The choice of a trustee is vital. The trustee makes all the major decisions for the trust, including how

and when the money in the trust is invested and spent. You can't buy trustworthiness. The trustee should be trustworthy beyond question. Spending trust money on something that's not allowed by the government can result in the person with disabilities losing their benefits. "Trust Advisors" or "Trust Protectors" help insure that the person with disabilities has the highest quality of life possible. TIP- The APD CARES Hotline Is There to Help You You can contact The Agency For Persons With Disabilities (APD) at 1-866-APD-CARES or 1-. APD's website states "It will be manned Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. (EDT). The phone operators will answer questions directly. For more complex questions, however, the caller will be transferred to the best person to respond in a timely manner" If your much needed services are cut, remember that you have the right to a fair hearing. The Florida Advocacy Center has very useful information about these hearings. http://www.advocacycenter.org/news/APD_Tier.html Please write to waiverinfo@... if you have any information or stories you would like to share with our WaiverProvider.Com readers. FREE Calling For Support Coordinators. Support Coordinators, we know that you have way too much to do. That's why WaiverProvider.Com tries to make finding a provider simple. Providers on WaiverProvider.Com are ready and willing to take new clients. Every provider has a website, so you can quickly learn about their company. Each

providers website is unique. Some put pictures of themselves or their employees on their website. Others put pictures of their group homes. But, it gets even better. If you can't find a provider on WaiverProvider.Com, call us at , and we will call providers for you at NO COST. We will get back to you with a list of available providers within 2 business days. Just tell us exactly what you need in a provider. Here is an EXAMPLE- Your Request Might Be..... I Need: A female provider Enrolled in tier 4 To work every Saturday from 10am-4pm Service is Respite For a male child in New Port Richey Prefers Provider be a CNA- total care And yes, you can be THAT specific. We will call around for you, and tell providers that's

what you need. And we do it for FREE. Just call us, and tell us what to do. To Advertise with WaiverProvider.com call . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.disabilityscoop.com/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ransom SCORE group

would like to hold a soccer clinic on Sunday, December 7th 11:30am - 1:30pm Please call: or email: mwhite4809@... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW DATE! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *If you would like to be added to our email list or if you would like to be removed from our email list, please click here: http://www.umcard.org/contact.php UM-NSU CARD is a state-funded resource and support program dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with autism and related disabilities including deaf-blindness and pervasive developmental disorders. UM-NSU CARD does not endorse specific programs or points of view presented in this email.-- ACE Chair