Growing Up Special

         A huge area of concern for parents around the globe is  reports declaring that Autism diagnosis numbers are on the rise…some in fact, are saying that the numbers are doubling.  I read a recent article here: http://bit.ly/I5rII  .  This increase in numbers is frightening for those who are of childbearing years.  Baby boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed as being autistic as baby girls are; is that for real?   What is causing our children to be born with this condition?  Is it the environment, diets, or genetic disposition?  Is this an epidemic, or are our fears and faulty diagnoses at the core of the problem? 

         Frankly, if your child is one who is affected by an Autism diagnosis or label…it really doesn’t matter.  The fact is that your child is facing some serious issues both socially, emotionally, and physically.  What is desperately needed is some answers; and the only way to get those answers is through research.  Funding is a big part of the research solution.  Learn more about Autism and it’s research issues here:  http://www.autism.com/ .  If we all work together…we can improve the lives of families around the world who struggle with the effects of Autism.

I’ve had the recent pleasure of “meeting” an extra-ordinary person with a calling on her life to teach communication skills through sign language to families.  Louise Sattler is a very interesting person who has had a variety of experiences in different settings, including the educational field where she was a licensed school psychologist, which has enabled her to work with children and their families to develop strong and effective communication skills.

I met Louise through an online contest, believe it or not.  It was run on Twitter.  I happen to have won a poetry contest; and the prize, that I chose, was a DVD that made by Louise Sattler.   Louise has a site called:  http://www.signingfamilies.com/ . There you will find all kinds of information about Louise and what she does; but, I didn’t know all of that, when I won the DVD.

I chose that DVD because of the title and what I could potentially use it for.  The title is, “Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language”.   I work with children in several capacities and I liked the idea of learning some sign language just in case I needed to know it in the future.  I was so excited when i got the DVD because, just watching it I could see the passion and the commitment that Louise had for teaching sign language to children and their families.

Bravery came over me and I approached Louise about doing an interview with me so that I could blog about what she does through her workshops, her speaking engagements and through her DVD’s.   Louise agreed to do that and I thought that I would share the news of what she does because it helps so many people.  By teaching sign language as a way of communicating it allows families to be more effective in advocating for their special needs loved ones.

http://www.signingfamilies.com/ caters to those who live and work with individuals with special education needs.  Signing isn’t just for the deaf communities…people who struggle with many issues of disability can benefit from communicating through sign language.   So if you work in education, in health- care, daycare, foster care, adoption, or you have a business or a family member who is impacted…this is a great way to brush up your communication skills so that you can strengthen your ability to communicate effectively in your relationships.

If you would like to contact Louise Sattler about her programs & her work she can be reached at Louise@SigningFamilies.com; or, you can contact her to do a workshop, give an interview or a presentation by calling her business line at:               410-715-9647       .    Louise is also on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Louiseasl . She is very down to earth and she also teaches in Spanish-she is bi-lingual.  Ask her about her programs….tell her that Writewhereyouare sent you and you will get a discount.    You can purchase her DVD’s at her site:  http://www.SigningFamilies.com/  or here on Amazon. com: http://bit.ly/913i5/. 

Ps.

  You can always stop by and see me also at:  http://www.writewhereyouareblog.com/ .