Parents and Grandparents will have an opportunity to share thier stories while giving and recieving support. This year's Family and Friends Campaign as well as other upcoming events will be discussed.

Learn about what treatments families are finding successful. Share you own child's story. Connect with other families using diet and biomedical treatments to help their children be the best that they can be.

Come hear parents success stories with diet and biomedical interventions for their children affected with autism.

So many families living with autism also have a child or children who are typically developing. Autism affects the entire family, and we often struggle to give our other children the time and resources they need. The sibling's perspective is unique and important, as siblings often give us insight into many aspects of life with autism. For many families, siblings will be a crucial part of our ASD child's future. Come hear what our panel has to share and learn how to best support your typically developing children.

Our panel of siblings of children with autism will answer questions about their experience growing up as a sibling of a child on the autism spectrum. The panel will share their personal stories and perspectives on how autism has affected their own lives and the dynamics of their families. We are excited to have Zack Gonzalez, who wrote Saving Deets! A Family's Journey with Autism (October, 2009) as part of our panel of siblings.

11 a.m. check in, 1 p.m. shotgun start, 6 p.m. dinner & raffle

Four person "scramble" format

More information

$30 dinner only. Dinner at 6 p.m.

Parents will present on the various therapies, both biomedical and traditional, that they have used with their children on the autism spectrum. They will share the planning, implementation and results of these therapies. Please join us for a meeting filled with responsible hope!

Augmentative Communication Technology

Hilary Hoffsetter and Shannon Brooke will speak about low- and high-tech assistive communication technology and systems that are available for any nonverbal individual, not just those with autism. Devices will be available to handle and try out at the meeting. Hilary and Shannon will also be discussing how to determine the type of assistive technology that is appropriate for the nonverbal person in your life and how to know when someone is ready for a new communication strategy.

Hilary Hoffstetter is the Northern Illinois Consultant for DynaVox/Mayer Johnson and Shannon Brooke is a Speech Language Pathologist from Easter Seals in Waukegan.

Research Updates & Sleep and Autism

Dr. Chapman is currently involved in clinical research on autism as a condition of oxidative stress. Specifically, she is studying glutathione replacement therapies in autistic children. She is also collecting preliminary data on Vitamin D levels in families of children with autism.

Dr. Chapman provides integrative healthcare in Portland, Oregon. She has a special focus in pediatric developmental disorders and utilizes both natural and conventional therapies in the treatment of Autism, Asperger syndrome, sensory integration disorders and ADHD.

Hear from TACA Moms Jalene and Janice who each have more than 3 years of personal experience implementing special diets for their families. They will help you learn to implement special diets for your child affected by autism.

Thanks to Hugo's own, Doris and Meghan, there will be plenty of GFCF food to sample.

Is your child having behavioral problems at school?  Has your child been suspended?  Learn the proper laws and procedures that must be followed as well as ideas on how to handle behavioral issues during the IEP process.