Written by kelly on 18 September 2012
Our friend and partner Jeremy Bernstein will be appearing this Saturday 10:00 am to 4 pm at the Porter Ranch Whole Foods market…19340 Rinaldi St. Northridge Ca.
The good folks at Whole Foods have supported Jeremy for 2 yrs. in a row now! Beautiful! Make a point to do your weekly shopping here this weekend in Porter Ranch!
You will be delighted and amused by Jeremy and his charming Jewelry enterprise~ J.J.’s Jewelry! Stop by to buy healthy food, perhaps buy Jeremy’s jewels and donate for his travel expenses to help him return to Canada. This trip to Canada is quite an honor! As a 2011 ANCA Int’l Naturally Autistic People Award recipient in 2012 he automatically becomes an Awards host and workshop participant! The following year in 2013 he will become an Awards Ambassador alongside the amazing Dr. Temple Grandin! This awesome award infrastructure created by ANCA truly molds success for the Autistic population. Hard work and persistence equals success for all people Autistic or not! Please support these qualities for success in this persistant young man!
Jeremy has alot of energy and his wise parents Ray and Diane have helped him to funnel it into a productive and entrepreneurial ventures! We first met this fun young man in April of 2011 at Our Chalk Art Festival.
Jeremy cut the innaugaral cake for our Annual event…and we have counted on him ever since to add his dimension of fun! It was fantastic to see him win his award and wow the crowds in Vancouver at the amazing 3 day event! We were thrilled he returned for our 2012 Chalk Art Festival! Often times he had a large crowd around his table admiring and purchasing most of the day! 
Even the Mayor of Covina~ Kevin Stapleton! As always, he was also ALOT of FUN to have on hand. Those of you that have experienced Jeremy’s energy will never forget it! We very much look forward to seeing Jeremy again this time in the host city of Mapleridge B.C. Canada!! Help him help himself and others with his brand of ingenuity by coming out and supporting him! Every small bit HELPS! Thankyou greatly.
…..Making friends with Autism Coloring Books will be there to be sold for Jeremy’s benefit!! Come by and pick a few up! They are fantastic teaching tools for families, schools and communities!
Written by kelly on 10 September 2012
This Saturday, September 15th at 3 p.m. I am getting an early Birthday present! A slot for AutismHWY, Making Friends with Autism , The Art of Autism, Joel’s Vision Arts and Celebrate Autism to share center-stage at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena California! A Southern California icon serving the community for 118 yrs. Growing up here in the San Gabriel Valley I am very proud to have this chance! I hope you will come out and JOIN US.
Join us for a chance to talk about Autism and meet some people thriving with it…Discover books describing the daily challenges the many talents,the comical moments and most importantly the hopes and dreams of acceptance and inclusion!
I will be sharing my Coloring Books: “Making Friends with Autism” and “Why Does Wyatt Do That?” PLUS previewing our new addition: MFWA “Awareness Every Month” Coloring Pages. Which will be coming soon! Teaching Brain Awareness on the AutismHWY!
Debra Hosseini will be on hand with her fabulous book The Art of Autism: Shifting Perceptions. A visually stunning collection of Art created by 77 Artists on the Autism Spectrum. Hear about the Artists personal journey and see the inspiration of their work! Such an uplifting movement and most likely the largest collaboration of Spectrum Artists Internationally! Quite a mosaic of talent! Please come and be awed! All of you Artists out there on the spectrum: come out and meet a true champion for your cause! 
We are so proud to be joined by Joel Anderson! Artist, Advocate deluxe! Joel has many accomplishments and projects that never cease to slow down. He is on a mission to help Autistic children be understood and loved for who they are! He is an exceptional role model for all of us! Joel is available to speak publicly to any and all that need useful Awareness tools!! Schools, Communities and Families can all benefit from Joel’s good will and talent! Soon Joel will be traveling to Canada for a 3rd yr. in a row! In 2010 he became an ANCA Int’l Naturally Autistic People Award recipient for his excellence in Community Service. In 2011 he returned as a Host and Performer during the fantastic 3-day event. Next month he will return as an Ambassador for these excellent Awards joining the ranks of Temple Grandin! This young man has alot to offer the Autism Community you really won’t want to miss a chance to meet him and his creative business partner /Mom~Sandi!
Topping all of that will be Linda Gund Anderson sharing the literal mind of Autism and it’s “Unintentional Humor”!! In her hilarious book of the same name! Linda and her son Brent are Advocates and leaders in this positive movement ‘spectrum families’ are making! Working resource and information fairs, conferences and more criss-crossing across the entire country! Founder’s of the website www.celebrateautism.com Linda and Brent are a great team in our knowledge building efforts as we share our perspective from the AutismHWY!! See you all this Saturday!
Written by kelly on 05 September 2012
Wow…it’s hard to believe we are mere weeks away from The 3rd Annual International Naturally Autistic People Awards Convention/Festival. 
October 19, 20 and 21st in Mapleridge BC Canada will be a superb weekend to be sure. It seems like last year’s event in Vancouver was just the other day! I am so grateful that I was afforded the chance to be there. This is truly the most remarkable experience an Autistic person and the people who love them can have.
Complete acceptance and accolades for the talents painstakenly cultivated. The encouragement to reach for your goals is intoxicating and such a helpful tool for empowerment.
Empowerment for an emerging voice. Autistic People creating an event to share and celebrate their unique accomplishments. It is very important for all of us that this event thrives year after year. The global bonds that the participants make each event create new bonds and ventures that are very much needed in our fast growing community. Please help that to continue!
SEVERAL ARTISTS, PERFORMERS, NOMINEES & SELF ADVOCATES NEED HELP WITH TRAVEL EXPENSES….Please $upport them, every small donation is appreciated in a BIG way!!
IF you truly have a passion for helping people to be the best that they can be please $upport these fine Autistic individuals using their talents to navigate life. Help raise the bar for them and for so many others in the years ahead!!
Written by kelly on 21 August 2012
Another great day at San Fransisco’s Amusement park. Our third year attending California’s, Great America Disability Awareness Day and I am asking myself the titled question. Is anybody really listening? Many people campaign to sign you up and sell you services at these events that are dubbed Awareness Days. “Resource Fairs”…are resource fairs. On “Awareness days” I would love to see these resource companies providing some useable awareness. Set up for a day of info and experiential teaching. Real awareness should be free and easy to obtain for all people. You need not sign-up for a fee or join a program to get some later if you’re lucky. Yes, we all need to pay our bills by selling our books and our services/programs to keep afloat. However, I see more organizations selling than teaching at these events. Sell your programs at the “Resource Fairs” and teach the public on “Awareness Days.” 
So, after attending another wonderful event at a mainstream BIG Amusement Park…I have to furthur question, is anyone truly becoming more aware? Sure Autism is more of a hot topic today. Mainly because the numbers of diagnosis have risen dramatically in the last 10 yrs. Everyone has now heard of ‘it.’ What they think they know about ‘it’…is a whole other story!
Professionals included.
Teaching people about Autistic people is what constitutes Awareness in my mind. How do Autistic people experience our world? What brings them comfort? How are they processing information? What brings them success and happiness? How can we best facilitate that? The lists of questions and things to be explained about people on the spectrum is endless. To infinity and beyond. Give me an inch and I will go a mile. Trying to teach you something about AUTISM you can take to the streets. Road rules to understand those of us living on the AutismHWY! Not just attending to provide you with a brochure of my services or a pencil with my company info printed on it. I talk the talk for Awareness because, REAL Awareness is the first step. If we don’t get people educated in a more functional manner the acceptance and comfort we crave will simply never follow. 
Each year we have had a unique Awareness experience with teaching opportunities arising organically!
This year was particularly intense.Living up to our 2012 coloring book: “Why does Wyatt do that?” There are always many reasons and ever changing areas of concern in regards to our ‘famous title’ question! Today my 13 1/2 yr. old needed some very deep pressure, deep meridian tapping along the sides of his skull. Most folks would not understand that so…I only showed my hand slightly. (Moving to a more private location for the intenser moments) When I say meridian tapping , most would probably say head-banging. Wyatt feels pressure from the input he is experiencing (environnmental or physiological) and will not feel calm until it is literally banged out of him, up and down the sides of his head in repetition. One hour or so before the end of the event this occured. Wyatt became stressed, began whooping then screaming and was in intense pain. This momentary intense pressure builds up outwardly through a series of self injurious behaviorial pinchings of his arms head and chest ( &*importantly anyone who may try to stop him.) He grabs my wrists and then directs my hands to clap his ears and head. Up and down with gradating intensity. The finger pressing claps (kinda like the way I used to flip my killer softball pitch) gradually become karate chops (as directed) and seem to re-boot his being. Hitting, tapping and finger-rolling massaging these pressure points has become a sometime daily occurance over the last year. It can happen in any time of day in any condition and can last 20 minutes or longer. Are people ready for this? Most likely not…especially when he is in that intense zone but, when you know what your child needs you must ‘go there.’ I am coming-out proudly as a full fledged head-wrapping, meridian tapping mama unconcerned what anyone may think of it. However, quite willing to rap about it so you and many others can begin to wrap their heads around it!
This particular Awareness is not amusing and somehow I just love the irony of explaining something so serious at an Amusement Park! Guess, I just answered my original question!
BEFORE…
AFTER…
You will be delighted and amused by Jeremy and his charming Jewelry enterprise~ J.J.’s Jewelry! Stop by to buy healthy food, perhaps buy Jeremy’s jewels and donate for his travel expenses to help him return to Canada. This trip to Canada is quite an honor! As a 2011 ANCA Int’l Naturally Autistic People Award recipient in 2012 he automatically becomes an Awards host and workshop participant! The following year in 2013 he will become an Awards Ambassador alongside the amazing Dr. Temple Grandin! This awesome award infrastructure created by ANCA truly molds success for the Autistic population. Hard work and persistence equals success for all people Autistic or not! Please support these qualities for success in this persistant young man!
Jeremy cut the innaugaral cake for our Annual event…and we have counted on him ever since to add his dimension of fun! It was fantastic to see him win his award and wow the crowds in Vancouver at the amazing 3 day event! We were thrilled he returned for our 2012 Chalk Art Festival! Often times he had a large crowd around his table admiring and purchasing most of the day! 
Even the Mayor of Covina~ Kevin Stapleton! As always, he was also ALOT of FUN to have on hand. Those of you that have experienced Jeremy’s energy will never forget it! We very much look forward to seeing Jeremy again this time in the host city of Mapleridge B.C. Canada!! Help him help himself and others with his brand of ingenuity by coming out and supporting him! Every small bit HELPS! Thankyou greatly.
