1. Next TACA Costa Mesa support group meeting

2. Upcoming TACA Costa Mesa Meeting Schedule

All meetings at the Vineyard:

TACA has FIVE So. California meeting locations:

3. General News:

a) Scientists Identify Gene Linked to Autism By Malcolm Ritter, The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Scientists say they've identified two variants of a single gene that might raise a child's risk of autism by twofold or more.

The variants are fairly common and can't bring on the disease by themselves, the researchers said. Scientists believe several genes, perhaps five to 10, have to work together to produce autism.

Previous studies have identified variants in other genes that might contribute to the disease but none has been proven to do so. Finding autism-related genes might help scientists develop treatments for the perplexing disorder.

The new work provides strong evidence that the gene influences susceptibility to autism, but more studies will be needed to confirm the link, said lead study author Joseph Buxbaum of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

``It looks like they might have something there ... but it's a bit too soon to say definitively,'' said Susan Santangelo, a Harvard expert not involved in the study.

The study appears in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Autism, which normally appears by age 3 and usually in boys, interferes with a child's ability to communicate and interact with others. Affected children might not respond to their names or even look at other people.

The new study looked at 411 families, analyzing DNA from more than 2,000 people. Of those, 720 had autism.

The study found that the two gene variants had been inherited by family members with autism more often than one would expect by chance. That implicates the variants in the disease.

The gene is involved in providing energy to brain cells, so variant versions might hamper the operation of those cells, the researchers said.

On the Net: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/aic/about/default.htm

b) State bills that could AFFECT FAMILIES WITH SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN

I faxed the attached letter to all Assembly members on the Education Committee regarding the latest series of attacks from Lynn Daucher regarding California Special Education Law.

I have already received three phone calls last week from Assembly members that are interested in meeting with me to discuss the damage these bills will cause if passed.

Please take the time to copy and paste some of my text and include your own personal issues about these four bills.

Three of the four bills, as some and/or most of you may know, are going to be heard on April 14th before the Education Committee.

We do have time to educate and influence an Assembly vote. I know there is a lot going on politically but we have to keep our eye on the ball and right now CA ed code demands our attention. If you think it is difficult developing an IEP for your child with autism in the current special education climate, it can and will get worse if these bills pass. In fact, a free appropriate public education for most individuals with autism would be virtually IMPOSSIBLE if these bills pass.

PLEASE take the time to voice your opposition.

The Autism Education Network's web site is finally here...www.autismeducation.net. I am happy to post letters for parents to quickly and easily download in order to voice opinions. Submitting letters via fax is the most efficient way to be heard and/or calling Assembly members directly.

Here is the fax list of Assembly members on the Education Committee:

Jackie Goldberg
fax: 916-319-2145

Alan Nakanishi
916-319-2110

Mark Wyland
916-319-2174

Bonnie Garcia
916-319-2180

Fran Pavley
916-319-2141

Gene Mullin
916-319-2119

Manny Diaz
916-319-2123

Loni Hancock
916-319-2114

Sarah Reyes
916-319-2131

Carol Liu
916-319-2144

Rebecca Cohn
916-319-2024

Below, I copied my letter into the body of this email just in case you can't open the Word document for one reason or another.

Michele Waterman
Executive Director
Autism Education Network
408-558-9404 office
408-472-3676 cellular

----------------------letter faxed to Assembly below-------------------

March 30, 2004

Dear California Assembly, Education Committee:

I am the parent of a four-year-old with autism and a resident of Campbell. I am also the founder and executive director of the Autism Education Network, a 501(3) (c) nonprofit organization.

I am writing to express my strong opposition to several special education bills specifically AB2359, AB2360, AB2361, and AB2362.

I am very concerned about the motives behind these bills. The purpose of state and federal law regarding special education is to protect the rights of students with disabilities not help school districts become less accountable.

I strongly encourage each and every one of you to take the time to understand how these bills will adversely affect all students with disabilities receiving special education services through California public schools if passed. Unless you have a child in special education and understand the intricate procedures regarding federal and state law related to developing an individualized special education plan for a child with a disability, there is truly no way to understand the detrimental impact of these bills.

I would like to set up a ten minute appointment with each and every one of you to explain how these bills will damage your credibility with many of your constituents should you vote yes for these bills. I know this is an election year and I am certain that millions of voters are watching how legislators vote on special education issues and social services which affect the disabled community.

Finally and most importantly, none of these bills actually fix any special education problems. All off these bills, however, help school districts evade their legal obligation to provide an appropriate public education for disabled students including autism by making it almost impossible for a parent to seek appropriate placement in a nonpublic agency or nonpublic school if the district cannot appropriately address their child’s exceptional and complex needs and/or make it impossible for a parent to receive reimbursement for legal fees should a parent prevail in a due process hearing.

Today, there are 1.5 million individuals with autism in the United States. Over 350,000 of which receive public special education services, 25,000 of which reside in California. The autism rate in the public education system jumped 1,354% in the period from 1991– 2001.

The autism epidemic is unequivocally straining special education resources in California but reducing parent’s access to legal counsel and giving school districts second chances to fix problems which they are unequipped to fix is not the answer. The average cost for an appropriate specialized education for a student with autism is $40,000.00 per year per child through a nonpublic school or agency.

If California wants to save money on administrative hearings, legal expenses, and the cost of placing an autistic child in nonpublic schools, then California needs to get really serious about incorporating effective and appropriate methods of instruction in public schools. Research proves that early, effective interventions reduce the cost to serve this population by two-thirds over their life span.

Until we find a cure, education is our best hope.

Sincerely,

Michele Waterman
Executive Director
mwaterman@autismeducation.net

c) STATE Developmental Disability Community Funding is under attack!

Services will be eliminated or drastically reduced
unless you take a stand and prevent it from happening!!

Community Action Meetings scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 8, 2004

Come and hear about Governor Schwarzenegger’s devastating proposals and what action each of you can take to prevent this.

Join us for an open discussion of the Governor’s budget proposals and other current legislation for 2004-2005. We’ll discuss local and statewide advocacy and networking efforts, including strategies and timelines for action and steps you can take! It is imperative that we tell the decision makers about the devastating results of these proposals. A question and answer period will be included so that YOU have a chance to discuss the areas that are of greatest concern to you and your family.

This event is open to individuals with developmental disabilities, family members, service providers, support staff and anyone and everyone who is concerned about this attack on the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. While our community was able get the Governor to admit his error in proposing to suspend the Lanterman Act last December, his administration is at it again, just in a different way.

The Community Action Meetings will be held at Jay Nolan’s offices in Mission Hills. Please RSVP to Sherlene Allen (818-361-6400 x151) so we can make sure we have enough space and also let us know if you need any accommodations. If you would like to be added to our Community Action Alert Email list, please send an email to sherlene@jaynolan.org.

d) Behind the Budget Pleas: WASTE. Welfare, disability programs shouldn’t get pass because of who they help

By RAY HAYNES - Republican assemblyman from Murrieta

What a field day for the heat. A thousand people in the street. A-singin' songs and carryin' signs. Mostly say, "Don't you dare cut any of our programs!"

With apologies to Buffalo Springfield, the annual summer budget fight has started early in Sacramento. Welfare mothers, students and many others are showing up at the Capitol to beg us lawmakers to give them your money.

Except their stories are mostly false. Most of these people are scared into protesting by people who make money from the system. Welfare bureaucrats, union bosses (who profit from the dues public employees pay) and "service providers" profit from the system, sometimes making handsome profits, and they want the flow of money to continue. A program becomes their excuse to profit at taxpayers' expense. Worse, they threaten to deprive people who really are hurting in order to protect their $100,000 annual salaries.

Take the Department of Developmental Services. DDS deals with developmentally disabled people - some who need a wheelchair, some with mental challenges, all relying upon government to help them. California provides many services to those suffering these disabilities. And every time anyone suggests we look at these services, the craven administrators try to protect their phony- baloney jobs by hiding behind the wheelchairs.

This year, the governor proposed changes in how the state deals with the disabled, so the Capitol is filled with very frightened people in wheelchairs. But of course no one wants to throw them out of their wheelchairs. They are being scared by the profit-fattened administrators who are the real targets of the governor's spending
controls.

Consider some facts: In 1998-99, California spent $9,500 on each person with a disability served by a state Regional Center. Today, it is $13,400. In addition, in '98-'99, the state spent $124,000 per person who has to live in state-run disability facilities, called Developmental Centers (DCs). Today, it is $205,000. In addition, we are running a 20 percent vacancy rate at the DCs. We could close down two or three DCs, deliver the same quality service, and save money.

As for Regional Centers, they are a mess. One lobbyist privately admits that of the 21 Regional Centers, seven are adequate, seven are bad and seven are horrible. They have become dominated by the "providers" who profit from the system. They've gone from service center to profit center - at whose expense? The disabled. “Providers” have approved "services" such as a pool (built at taxpayer expense)at a house supposedly to help a disabled person, but, of course, everyone else uses it, too. They have approved house additions at taxpayer expense, and have talked about approving expenses for "dolphin therapy": swimming with dolphins, like you can do in Hawaii for $300 per hour.

Another DDS program recently attracted a lot of negative attention. It was discovered the DDS and the local regional center were attempting, through a "Sex Offenders Active Reorientation System," to place four sex offenders together in a home in a Southern California desert community. They say these sex offenders are no danger to the community. If that is true, why would they need full-time supervision
and security costing almost $600 per sex offender per day (total cost: more than $800,000 to house these four for a single year)?

Cutting these "services" and controlling bureaucratic expenses won't throw anyone out of his wheelchair. It may cost a bureaucrat or two their jobs. And it is these bureaucrats who draw up and approve their own budgets. Somehow they just can't see the wisdom of eliminating their jobs, so they scare already frightened disabled people into protesting. It is shocking; it is distressing, but it is overdue.

The governor hasn't budged, so the battle is joined. Stay tuned to see if we can actually control spending on these programs, or if the bureaucrats who profit from the system can dodge the budget bullet again by hiding behind the wheelchairs. Wednesday, March, 24, 2004

If you would like to Contact Mr. Haynes: (if you like or dislike this article, please contact Mr. Haynes!)

Assemblyman Ray Haynes
Assembly District 66 - Proudly Serving: Riverside, Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore

Capitol Office
Phone: (916) 319-2066
Fax: (916) 319-2166
Email: Assemblymember.haynes@assembly.ca.gov

IMPORTANT NOTE: Views expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the views of TACA.

4. Vaccine News

a) POTENTIAL FEDERAL LEGISLATION S. 2207

Ladies & Gentlemen:

The Senate is making another attempt to deny justice to parents and children who have suffered an adverse reaction to a mandatory pediatric vaccine. Sen. Frist will be pushing S. 2207 ASAP. We must stop it in its tracks. Please help.

For the third time in less than a year - and for the second time in just the past 40 days - the U.S. Senate next week will be voting on a bill to cap damages and limit contingent fees in medical malpractice cases and in product liability cases involving drugs and medical devices, including vaccines.

Contact your Senators now; please urge them to oppose this unwarranted attack on the rights of patients and families:
http://action.peopleoverprofits.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=16841
The Senate will be voting on S.2207, a bill cynically named the "Pregnancy and Trauma Care Access Protection Act." It was introduced only last week and sent directly to the Senate Floor, without going through Committee. It would inflict a sweeping range of tort restrictions, including a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, in cases involving ob/gyn goods or services, and in cases involving goods or services relating to emergency or trauma care.

The bill that failed in the Senate last month would have imposed all the very same restrictions in ob/gyn cases that this bill would impose, but now emergency or trauma care cases - cases involving persons suffering from an emergency medical condition - have been added to the scope of the bill.
Enough is enough! Please help us defeat this bill. The vote is presently scheduled for April 7th.

Yesterday, the AMA received a pep talk from the Sen. Frist, who pledged to keep working on behalf of these bills. The medical community is extremely energized and very well organized on this issue. Doctors are relentlessly lobbying their Senators, calling them constantly, visiting them every week, even waiting for them as they de-plane at airports on trips home.

WE MUST MAKE CERTAIN THAT SENATORS HEAR FROM US, TOO! Doctors cannot have the field to themselves. This is serious stuff. In addition to capping damages, S.2207 would impose a whole host of restrictions in ob/gyn and emergency care cases, including:

• Caps on contingent fees;
* The near elimination of punitive damages;
* Limitations on calling expert witnesses;
* Product liability protections for manufacturers and sellers of drugs and devices;
* Elimination of joint and several liability.

• Please, Please, Please make certain that your two United States Senators hear from you today.
As always, thanks for all you do. Together, we can prevail again!.

Peacefully,
Jeff Sell
JZSell@JZSLAW.com
http://www.JZSLAW.com

b) U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids

The CDC says it sees no harm in the preservative thimerosal. Advocacy groups attack its stance.

By Myron Levin
Times Staff Writer

April 1 2004, 7:22 PM PST

Hundreds of thousands of infants and toddlers who get flu shots starting this fall could be exposed to a mercury-laced preservative that has been all but eliminated from other pediatric vaccines due to health concerns.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-vaccine2apr02,1,1037077.story?coll=la-home-headlines

5. Upcoming Rally In Sacramento

One Voice for Autism Rally

Place: North Steps of the California State Capital Building
Time: 12 noon - 3 p.m., April 17th, 2004
For more information, contact: Valerie Jacobsen, Phone 925-371-8266,
e-mail, jacobsen5@msn.com or Barbie Dunham e-mail ctlautism@aol.com

Unlocking Autism, a member of the California Autism Coalition, will sponsor the One Voice for Autism rally on April 17th, 2004, in Sacramento, California. The purpose of the event is to unite the Autism community, empower parents, caregivers and service support staff and raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders for Autism Awareness Month, which is the month of April.

Unlocking Autism will be displaying the Open Your Eyes Project, which consists of a portion of the 8 feet high California picture boards representing the amount of children diagnosed to that point in April with Autism. The picture boards have been on display throughout the country, including Washington DC. When all boards from all states of the country stand together, they spread the distance of four football fields.

In 2003, according to the latest figures released by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS), California experienced another dramatic increase in the number of new children professionally diagnosed with the most severe form of autism. In California there are now over 25,000 children afflicted with this life long disability, with 13 new children on average being diagnosed daily. Autism now accounts for 70 percent of new intakes to the Regional Centers . This disability used to be the third most common developmental disability but now is becoming the most common developmental disability among children under the age of 10.

The figures reported by DDS DO NOT include individuals with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder not other wise specified), Asperger’s, or other autism spectrum disorders. This leads to the conclusion that the increase in cases is NOT due to a change in diagnostic criteria to include a broader range of autism related disabilities.

In the state of California, services families receive through the Regional Centers and school districts are under threat because of the budget crises. Threats include cuts to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), Medi-Cal reductions, Purchase of Service Standards which will eliminate critical services, a service provider rate freeze and cuts to Special Education programs that serve children with autism.

For 2004, the federal government has allocated only $54,000,000 dollars to autism research and treatment, a small portion of what should be funded. The cost of caring for an individual with autism throughout their lifetime can easily exceed a million dollars.

The cause of autism has not been officially recognized but theories range from genetic causes to harm caused to the neurological system during gestation, birthing difficulties, environmental toxins and vaccine preservatives. Thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, is a neuro-developmental toxin which contains mercury. There is a significant body of research that links thimerosal in vaccinations with autism. According to Valerie Jacobsen, a California State Representative with Unlocking Autism who is one of the planners for this year’s event, "My son was no longer the same baby after receiving his 3rd round of Vaccinations. I know in my heart what happened to my son, and the research I have seen to date backs up my suspicions. This rally is not about vaccinations, but you cannot speak about Autism without speaking about cause since the numbers are increasing so drastically."

Autism is at epidemic proportions. Twenty-five years ago, autism was diagnosed in about 1:10,000 people. In the United States, the number of individuals with autism is about 10 million, or 1:166, with the number rapidly growing. Autism is an epidemic few can continue to ignore.

Join our rally on April 17th to bring attention to autism and
to support families afflicted with this lifelong disability.

April 18th, the California Autism Coalition will hold a general membership meeting. For more information on agenda and location, please contact Marcia E. at MarderE@aol.com

April 19th, California Disability Community Action Network will sponsor an event addressing the possible budgetary cuts to the DDS system. For more information, please contact Marty Omoto at martyomoto@rcip.com

6. Dr Jerry Kartzinel Medical Seminar

Topic: Dr Jerry Kartzinel – Pediatrician from ICDRC
International Child Development Resources Center - Melbourne, Florida
COMMON MEDICAL PROBLEMS & TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
IMPORTANT NEW STUDIES TO BE REVIEWED
Guidelines and suggestions for PARENTS and Physicians
NOTE: Even if you have seen Dr Jerry BEFORE, this presentation material changes.

Date: Saturday June 19, 2004
Time: 9:00am – 1:00pm (lunch on your own)
Location: Orange County, CALIFORNIA – (you must RSVP to receive directions)
Costs: $25 per person BEFORE June 10, 2004
After June 10th and On-Site: $35.00
Scholarship opportunities are available if needed

Registration: Payment is $25 per person –

Please make your check out to ICDRC
Mail to: TACA – Dr Jerry Seminar
PO Box 12409 Newport Beach, CA 92658-2409

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR INFORMATION:
Name of each attendee
Email address (confirmation will be sent via EMAIL ONLY)
Mailing Address, City, State, ZIP Code
Phone Number
Note: This event will sell out. Please be sure to mail your check early. Thank you. CHECKS WILL BE RETURNED IF MADE OUT TO THE WRONG PARTY!!

Questions?? tacanow@cox.net
Who is Dr Jerry? http://www.icdrc.org
Babysitting: Unfortunately no babysitting is available for this event

7. Need more support? MORE COFFEE TALK!

Coffee Talk is going to be your hour (or so) once the kids are away at school to chat with other families affected by Autism. This is an unstructured, casual meeting environment to chat and talk about what you want to talk about.

Date: Tuesday, April 13th
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Location: Diedrich Coffee – Costa Mesa
1170 Baker Street (off the 405 freeway and Fairview Street)

NO need to RSVP, just join us for a little coffee, a little talk, no big whoop!

8. April is Autism Awareness Month:

Remember to DO SOMETHING to recognize April as Autism Awareness month! This is not just for your family which is aware of autism everyday, but for the folks around you! As more people become of autism, the lack of funding for research and treatment and how it affects families – THE MORE GOOD FOR OUR FAMILIES THAT WILL HAPPEN! Go out there, People, and make folks aware!

Ad Idea: Want an AUTISM AWARENESS PIN FOR APRIL?? Attend a TACA meeting for this fundraiser and AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH! (see section 2 of this email for a list of TACA meetings near you!)

ANOTHER IDEA:
This is your great opportunity to really shine in your own community and get the word out about autism to the average citizen.

Talk to everyone about it...clerks in the grocery store, checkout attendants at Wal-Mart, people at the gas station...you never know when you are going to run into a new family.

There are plenty of conversation-opening items available at the Unlocking Autism website.

Send your pictures to the Open Your Eyes project and get 10 other families in your community to do the same thing (our site makes it easy to submit electronically now!) Print out the Open Your Eyes form and distribute it throughout your child's school.

Print out copies of the color sheets and information from our Kidz Korner and visit your child's school or their sibling's school and teach the other kids about autism.

Print out a flyer touching on the rise in autism and pass it out in your communities. Meet with your local bookstores and ask them to set up a table at the front of the store with various books on autism.

Wear an autism awareness t-shirt or bracelet from Unlocking Autism Gear. They are great conversation starters and attention grabbing!

Visit www.unlockingautism.org today for more ideas!

LOCAL EVENTS: Here is a list of activities FOR APRIL

1.       CAN WalkNOW April 17th
info: www.cureautismnow.org www.walknow.org

2.       Power of 1.5 Rally in Washington DC April 21-23
info: www.unlockingautism.org

Radio Program on Autism:
Monday, April 12, from 1 pm – 2 pm ET (WMNF 88.5FM). The show is on medicine, hosted by Carol Roberts, MD, and is also heard on the Internet at www.WMNF.org . The first half of the show is talk, the second half listeners call in with questions. The show is based in Florida, but with the Internet can be heard anywhere. Speakers include: Dr Jeff Bradstreet, attorney Jim Donnelly and our very own MARY ROMANIEC (parent to Daniel).

9. Passover offers some Gluten-Free/Casein-Free diet offerings!

From the fabulous Gina Levy:

A few comments on what is available for Passover…

In LA, the kosher shopping areas are Fairfax between Beverly & Melrose, and Pico, east of Robertson. There are some bakeries that make everything with Potato starch and ground tree nuts; no matzo meal is used. The one I like is Beverly Hills Bakery on Pico near Cardiff. Sale prices will start on April 8. They will close on April 11 - to reopen as a regular bakery on the 14th. They are not open on Saturdays or April 6, 7, 12 & 13 as these are the first and last days of the holiday. Schwartz's Bakery on Fairfax also bakes for Passover, but sometimes uses matzo meal.

In the grocery stores, look for items made with Potato Starch Only or that say Non-Gebrots. Western Kosher on Fairfax has a nice selection this year. Certain Jews avoid matzo soaked in liquid, so they use potato starch for everything. This year I found cake mixes, chocolate chip cookie mixes (non-dairy too!) and blintz mix. I haven't tried them yet.

We use oat matzo and haven't had any problems. These particular oats are specially grown, harvested and baked to ensure no cross-contamination. They are however, $18 per pound!

Be careful with the macaroons in cans. One of the companies changed their recipe last year to include matzo meal. Only Streits is still 100% coconut. Buy in quantities when you can find them at 99 cents a can! I have also found them at the 99 cents stores after the holiday. They do keep very well.

If you are CF as well as GF (we aren't) make sure it says Pareve and there is no D next to the kosher symbol.

And from another TACA Friend: Chabad.org - Torah, Judaism and Jewish Info: (front page right is a "find a Passover Seder anywhere in the world" link) plus many great articles.

10. Upcoming Fee-Based Conferences & Seminars
     in Southern California:

=====
Estate Planning Seminar
When: Thursday, April 22, 2004
MetLife, as well as Attorney Chris Poulos, will discuss the importance of a special needs trust, and other aspects of planning and protecting the future of a loved one with a developmental disability.
Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Locale: Regional Center of Orange County-East Area Office, 801 Civic Center Drive, Board Room B, Santa Ana, Cost: FREE Reservations (English recording) can be made by calling (714) 796-5100 ext. 5904.
=====
Academy of Private Practice SLP Annual Clinical Conference Sensory Integration and the DIRtm model
presented by Rosemary White, OTR.
Apr 22 Los Angeles
$190 by April 1st
Marina Del Rey Hotel
Mindy - web www.aappspa.org / email - aappspa@aol.com / phone: 805-497-7661
=====
Autism Conference announced for Southern California by CASD.
Location: Long Beach – May 14-16
Watch web site for speaker list: http://www.casdweb.org/index.htm
If you have questions or would like more information, please email the director at kazuko@grandecom.net.
=====
Autism One Conference
MAJOR conference in CHICAGO, IL. Yes, that is far, but the speaker lineup and content is AMAZING. Largest amount of speakers and variety of topics! For more details: www.autismone.org
Dates: May 27-30, 2004.
=====
Autism/Asperger's 2004 CEUs for ASHA & APA
Tony Attwood, Ph.D. offers the 2nd in his Asperger's Workshop series, going in-depth on "Behavior & Anger Management, Challenges of Adolescence, Pre-Teen & Teens, and New Perspectives on Turning Special Interests into Positives." 8 am -4:30 pm
Jul 31, San Bernardino Prof.$135 (group rate Prof $115- Student/Family Member $110 (Fam. group rate $95) Person w/ ASD $75 Please see web site for up-dates. Future Horizons 800-489-0727 www.FutureHorizons-autism.com and email: info@FutureHorizons-autism.com
=====
DAN! (Defeat Autism NOW!) CONFERENCE UPDATE:
Spring DAN! Washington D.C. - April 16-18
Fall DAN! Los Angeles, CA - October 1-3
Watch www.autism.com/ari for more details!

11. Social Events:

Just FYI, while the carousel may not always be an option, OCME does have a set schedule for their monthly weekend train rides: http://www.livesteamclubs.com/Ocme/Rundays.html

While this isn't a TACA specific event, it certainly caters to a common interest in our kids. The trains run every month, the third full weekend of the month.

12. Personal Note:

Wow, as usual the world is spinning with fierce force and a myriad of activities in the Ackerman house. Here is an update:

- The amazing daughter Lauren turns 21 yesterday. I cannot tell you how old that makes me feel! But I can say that words cannot describe how proud I am of her! Lauren is in her third year at UCI holding down an “A” average in all her upper division classes! (Wow! That is smart peoples!)

- Officially I retired (!) from a full-time job as of March 31, 2004. People are calling me a “lady of leisure.” I keep waiting for the leisure part to happen. I am more like the “lady of ADD” simply because finishing one task and moving to the next has not happened since my journey as “haus frau” started! (OK, so Lauren is 21 and I am retired??! That does confirm I AM OLD!)  The office thru me an amazing going away party. The usual card with good-bye sentiments but the unusual and incredibly touching gift – almost $1,500 in cash and checks donated to TACA! Guess they know my mission all to well. (I AM SO LUCKY TO KNOW THESE FOLKS!)

- And Senor Jeff turns 7 on Wednesday! We have been working on the countdown to cake and presents for Jeff. He also knows he only has a day or so of being 6. Him being 7 sounds SO OLD! I keep thinking that we have time to bring up the deficits in Jeff’s skills -- he is so young. But as Jeff ages, I absolutely see progress and see he is making great strides but some skills (breaking it down to social skills and especially speech) he is still behind and definitely qualifies for services. Reports from all providers are being compiled for IEP season as I type. It is always great to see the progress from year to year but also be slapped up side the head with the deficits. Of course, I will rejoice the progress but my focus as the stay-at-home mom is all about Jeff. He is my project.

I am happy to report – husband Glen has no changes in his life right now! He is the only one in the family without change! As usual, he is the rock of stability while his ADD wife bounces around during the day. Does he wonder what I do during the day? He told me this morning he was scared of what I just may do now that I have more time. Scared???! Now why is that? I think I will ponder that until the next interruption!

Hugs, thanks, and be SAFE,
Lisa A. Jeff's mom