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Join us on Monday May 21, 2012 from 7-9pm

Click here for meeting information and map
2150 East Southern, Tempe 85282

Speakers: Bart Stevens & Julia Anderson

Bart will help us eliminate the overwhelming and confusing obstacles of Special Needs Planning.
Lifestyle Preferences, Legal Issues, Special Needs Trust Funds, and access to Government Benefits
should all be considered during the planning process. He knows that this can be a daunting task, but he
lays it all out in an understandable way.

Julia will share Project SEARCH -a business-led collaboration that enables young adults with disabilities
to gain and maintain employment through training and career exploration. Project SEARCH is launching
it's first Maricopa County program this summer!

Teens & Young Adults are encouraged to attend in order to socialize with multiplayer
video games (no games rated M or above), air hockey, outdoor games and/or
arts & crafts. We have several TVs, but game systems and extra controllers are
always welcome - be sure to label them with your name!

Fee for all teens and young adults is $5.00 - cash preferred (even if they attend the
parent meeting). Snacks & drinks provided. No charge for parents, guests and professionals.

First-timers: Please click here to download & complete our Participant Forms and
bring them to the meeting.
Click here to see the most current AZ ASSIST Newsletter
Past Newsletters are available at the bottom of this page.


We now have events in the West Valley!
Email westvalley@azassist.com to be added to their mailing list!

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The Autistic Self Advocacy Network with the help of the Mitsubishi Electric
American Foundation is launching a new program for Autistic college students.
In August 2012, ASAN will be inviting 13-18 Autistic students to
participate in the Autism Campus Inclusion leadership training.

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In July 2011 the IRS certified AZ ASSIST as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



AZ ASSIST: Who We Are
"Many families of our students with solid intelligence and language will not qualify for federal monies that support adult treatment programs; this means we need to assist our families with the transition as their child moves into adulthood; it is not only the student who makes the transition." from Social Communication Learning Styles as a Guide to Treatment and Prognosis: The Social Thinking: Social Communication Profile™ A Practice Informed Theory by Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke and Stephanie Madrigal, January 2011.

AZ ASSIST, Inc.
began when two moms of teens on the Autism Spectrum grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of knowledge, resources or support for themselves or their children and wanted to be able to connect with others in the same situation. 3 years later, we have outgrown 5 locations, have assisted hundreds of families and are at the hub of the newly emerging local transition community here in Phoenix, Arizona.

Our mission is to provide education, strategies, and support related to transition into the community after high school to parents of teens and young adults on the autism spectrum and to provide transition education and create opportunities for social skill development for teens and young adults on the Autism Spectrum.

To outsiders at first glance, our youth may not seem like they need much support. Social acuity is generally taken for granted - unless you or a loved one doesn't have it. Those who live this day by day know how difficult it can be when one struggles to understand nuance, perspective, context, nonverbal expression or many of the other components that go into social cognition. As they mature, the rules grow more complex and social expectations continue to increase. Non-autistic people acquire
the bulk of their social cognitive knowledge well before kindergarten, largely from inference, yet adults on the Spectrum are still learning, usually explicitly from an extensive trial and error process. Combined with challenges in executive skills functioning plus sensory issues, our young people are working with different brains and this means their journey towards independent adult life is not going to look like their peers or move at the same pace.

AZ ASSIST, Inc. is a community of families of teens and young adults on the Spectrum plus autistic adults and professionals who generously share their time and expertise. Please join us as we learn more about transition, as we share our experiences, celebrate our successes and support each other through our challenges.

We invite and encourage our teens and young adults (ages 14-24) to come to the meetings in order to socialize, make new friends and hang out. We provide snacks and video games. They listen to music, exchange phone numbers and enjoy being together.
There is a $5 activity fee for each attendee.

Meetings and social events provide opportunities for our teens and young adults to get together with more social activities planned for the future.
Please refer to the Calendar for times and locations.

For more information, please contact info@azassist.com




Debbie-W
Debbie-W
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