Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County

Stamford, CT (April 28, 2012) —  Over 250 people joined Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County on April 28^th for ‘Walk With Me Coastal Fairfield County’. The walk, which is a signature Easter Seals event, was the first of what will be an annual event for the budding affiliate. “Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County has had a wonderful program at Camp Hemlocks for decades, and with the opening of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities in Stamford, we are reaching into our community now more than ever,” says Leslie Chambers, Executive Director of Advancement.

Despite a chilly breeze, supporters came to Cove Island Park in Stamford from across Connecticut for what turned out to be a beautiful day. The event raised over $40,000 for Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County, a clear success for a first year walk event.

Easter Seals was honored to have the support of Scott Davis, an adult ambassador who received Easter Seals services as a child, and Andrew Burbank, the team captain of Yankees Fever, a young man with cerebral palsy who raised over $1,600 for the walk — a goal he set specifically to celebrate his 16^th birthday. They also had the support of Christopher Simon, a 17-year-old with autism who had been non-verbal for years, and who brought the audience to tears when he stood tall, took the microphone in hand, and sang the National Anthem to a speechless crowd.

“Special events are wonderful ways to engage supporters,” said Easter Seals CFC Board Chairman Wiley Mullins, “but the walk is truly a way for everyone to come and celebrate Easter Seals and the people we serve – no matter what. That is why we are here.”

Teams both large and small, including individuals, came from across the state to show support, raise funds, and walk for Easter Seals, proving that even one person’s efforts can make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities and special needs. Lewis Tatananni of G.E., under the flag of ‘Team T’ single-handedly raised almost $8,000 in two weeks. “It’s addictive,” said Lewis. “You see yourself hit your goal, and then you say ‘I bet I can do more’.” It was this sort of infectious generosity, and spirit of the entire community, that enabled the walk to be a first-year success.

Special thanks must be given to all of the family members who participated and helped raise funds. This outstanding event would not have been possible without help of our great volunteers, including over 30 students from the Sacred Heart chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha.  

Special thanks to Easter Seals National Premiere Sponsor CVS Caremark, as well as National Presenting Sponsor Amway, who both showed up with great teams, and Regional Sponsor MassMutual who had a booth at the event. Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County truly values their support and collaboration.

Walkers were pumped up by a great selection of music provided by Steve Soyland and 95.9 the FOX and their Street Team, who came on as media sponsors for the event. Children enjoyed spin-art and games donated by Target in the kid’s area, while some of the adults took advantage of the chair massages by Stamford Sport and Spine. Easter Seals would also like to specially recognize local sponsors People’s Bank, Robek’s, Walmart, Starbucks, California Pizza Kitchen, Billy’s Bakery, Kohl’s Cares, Ride Away, the Stamford Media Center, and Benay Enterprises for their support. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County greatly appreciates the outpouring of support. For an update on the top teams and walkers, please visit our walk website at www.walkwithme.org/stamford.  To view photos and videos from this great event please visit www.eastersealscfc.org for links to our Facebook and Blog!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are not representative of Easter Seals as an organization, or Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County as an affiliate. We do, however, believe in helping individuals with disabilities and other special needs voice their concerns and viewpoints.

As you may recall in earlier news on the Autism front, the DSM-V is proposing new criteria for diagnosing autism, leaving many individuals on the lower end of the spectrum now without a diagnosis and ineligible for services they may have received otherwise. As the number-one service provider to people with Autism in the world, you can imagine that Easter Seals has received a number of responses with regards to this issue. This one came to Easter Seals CFC from an individual with Asperger Syndrome, and we thought we’d share it with you.
 

Autism is not pleasant.  For those on the spectrum and for those that have family members on the spectrum, you understand.   I thank my stars that I am only mildly affected by my Asperger’s.  But by the new definitions, there was nothing wrong with me to begin with.  I’m a bit conflicted, though.  This feels like a hollow win… to finally be dropped from the diagnosis and considered “normal.” As if things were always this easy for me.  As if there is no daily struggle, nor was there ever.  I got thrown in to the proverbial ” NT pool” as a high-functioning kid, and I luckily learned to swim.    

But maybe this is our ultimate goal, right? To be considered normal?  Not really.  We don’t want or need a label - we just want to be happy.   We want to participate fully in the human race.  To exchange words, emotions with NT’s.  To feel like we are a part of our community.  Some people assume we are all loners by choice.  It’s not that we don’t feel loneliness - we just can’t emote it effectively.  We don’t know how to escape it.  We want desperately to break through that strange barrier that seems to separate our minds from our bodies.  Everyone on the spectrum struggles with this; and we all need help. 

So when I read this article, my first reaction was a pretty obvious one:  Why?  Why would the APA want to exclude people on the spectrum?  For the sake of medical clarity?  If this were about clarity, then we would stay inclusive and be having a discussion of degree.  We would enable the families, schools, and medical professionals to decide what was the appropriate amount of help and the correct course of action for each affected person.  That’s what we do now.

Is this change for policy reasons?  The APA is undoubtedly a politically involved group.  Their standards and definitions drive medical and legal practice and the resulting costs behind it.   But if the goal of policy is to help more, than this move would be counterintuitive.  The APA is treating the problem of support for autistic people, not by helping more of them, but by changing the definition of “help.”  And any medical or government administrator who thinks he’ll get to keep the excess budget space for better Autism programming obviously hasn’t worked in the field long.  In my experience, less participation always results in less state funding.

Perhaps this is a move to focus our efforts on the most affected individuals.  A noble thought, but a frustrating one.  Those on the spectrum that will get cut off from support are also those most capable of adapting to a life among NTs.  But without a diagnosis to bring to bear on school administrators and other people involved in a Autistic child’s development, the support will be more “sink or swim.”  I swam.  I worry about those who can’t. 

But in the end, I’m left thinking this change sadly isn’t about helping. It’s not about enabling those on the spectrum to achieve happiness. This is about posturing. Obviously the numbers of diagnoses will immediately drop - as if all our problems magically disappeared. “Look,” the APA administrators will say, “we solved the ‘autism crisis.’  We’re so brilliant.”  And the politicians will rejoice.  The NTs will stop caring as much. The Autism charities will slowly lose support.  And around the country, tens of thousands of high-functioning autistic kids will just keep going.  They won’t notice the change. They’ll struggle.  They’ll flap.  They’ll tweak. They’ll try so hard to keep up in overfilled NT classes with underpaid teachers.  And we’ll grimace. And sigh.  And we’ll all learn to say to them, “Oh well.  I sure hope you can swim.”

- J.V.

Autism is now reaching epidemic levels in the United States as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now estimated that one child in 88 has autism or a related disorder.  Dr. Thomas Zwicker, Director of the Easter Seals Autism and Developmental Disabilities Center knows from his professional practice that more and more families are in need of help in our community. “A key to addressing this epidemic for families dealing with the disorder, is early diagnosis and outstanding   treatment….here at the Easter Seals program, we provide state of the art evaluation and treatment services for children and adolescents” explains Dr. Zwicker.

“We know that high quality, intensive Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) treatment works – comprehensive ABA therapy combined with targeted speech and occupational therapies have the most demonstrated scientific evidence for helping children make significant gains in addressing developmental areas affected most .”

The Easter Seals Autism and Developmental Disabilities Center, which opened its doors in December of 2011 currently provides a range of evaluation and treatment services including: comprehensive team-based diagnostic services  through the Yale Child Study Center and  an array of treatment services including home based ABA services, school consultation, a feeding clinic for severe feeding disorders, parent training and family support, as well as seminars and workshops for professionals and parents. “We know that nationally we need more answers to the questions about what is causing this epidemic; we also know that we can help children make significant gains right now .”

To learn more about the Center and its services, please contact Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County in Stamford at (203) 388-2192.

Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County provides exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities. Now, more than ever, we are proud to continue the longstanding tradition of service in Connecticut, touching the lives of hundreds of individuals with disabilities and special needs in Coastal Fairfield County and throughout the region.

For more information about or organization and programs, or how to get involved, please contact Leslie Chambers, Executive Director of Advancement, at lachambers@eastersealscfc.org Visit us on the web at:  www.eastersealscfc.org