Los Angeles Families for Effective Autism Treatment ( LA FEAT)

Had the absolute pleasure of eating at Mychal’s Place Cafe at 2302 Artesia. Its an extension of Mychal's Learning Place which has been around for over 20yrs providing a Path To Independence (P2I) for young adults with disabilities. Someone posted about the cafe last week and then I saw an article about it in the Daily Breeze so decided to check it out 🙂. Such an amazing place with delicious food and great service. Thank you to the owner, Ed for taking the time to talk with us and take a photo with Zane. Please go and support this cafe! It’s local, it’s delicious and it’s for a good cause!

Hello Parents, please take a look at the attached flyer submitted by Elaine Macias Gilmartin, BCBA from the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana.

She is part of a team conducting a study to explore and understand the experience of Latino caregivers of children with autism ages 3-10 who receive or have received ABA services in California or Florida. This study will only include participants 18 years old and over and physically in the United States for the duration of the study.

Participation in this study includes the following:
· Completing an online screening form to check eligibility to participate in English or Spanish
· Completing a short online demographic questionnaire in English or Spanish
· Participating in an individual interview via Zoom in English or Spanish
· Reviewing a summary of the interview to verify/correct the information

The expected participation time will be approximately 80 minutes (10 minutes to fill out the screening form, consent form, and demographic form, 60 minutes for the interview, and 10 minutes for reviewing a summary of the interview). Participants would receive a total of $50 in E-gift cards for participating.

Please share this with anyone interested in participating in this study!


If you would like to take part in this study, please fill out the form:
https://forms.gle/Ae6RNyzNESgte8pw8
Si desea participar en este estudio, llene el formulario:
https://forms.gle/t9M1veHJbk6amyy18

Please note that participation in the study is entirely voluntary. Please don’t hesitate to contact Elaine if you need help or have any questions. She is happy to discuss the project further with you anytime.

Elaine Macias Gilmartin
[email protected]
626-673-9566

April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
Did you know that there are over 3.5 million people on the Autism Spectrum and many are non-verbal. But, there have been HUGE strides and gains in how we teach non-verbal students. Many non-verbal students are assumed to be cognitively impaired...but this film shows we may be wrong.
The documentary.....SPELLERS...is about non-verbal people autism learning to communicate through communication boards! It's about shifting the paradigm of thinking that people with autism are "gone" and instead realizing THEY ARE IN THERE!
Inspired by the book Underestimated, the documentary challenges conventional wisdom regarding a group relegated to society’s margins: non-speakers with autism, who most “experts” believe are cognitively disabled.
The film poses the question....“What if we’ve been wrong…about every single one of them?” SPELLERS answers that question, in convincing fashion, through the stories of eight non-speakers—Aydan, Evan, Sid, Maddie, Jamie, Vince, Cade, and Elizabeth—who all found their voice through the miraculous process of using a letterboard to communicate their thoughts and feelings. As Jamie explains, “we think, feel, and learn just like everyone else.”
The film sends a strong message of hope to every parent of a non-speaker: your child can do this, too. We need society to wake up to the reality that we may have underestimated the abilities of more than 50 million people worldwide!
It will be screening in Santa Monica on May 27th at 10am. Below is the trailer. Thank you Trevor and Anne Webb for bringing this very important film to my attention!

SPELLERS | Official Trailer WINNER--BEST DOCUMENTARY--PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL 2023 !!Inspired by the book Underestimated, by Jamie and JB Handley, from Executive Producers Jenny McCarthy-...

Please help with those questionnaires if you can.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P62WJ7X

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PZ3FQFX

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P5TR5CB

Korean and Latino Children Autism Diagnosis in California Please take this survey if you are a Spanish or Korean speaking parent of a child diagnosed with autism in California.

Hello Parents. Below is a request from a graduate student looking for Spanish or Korean speaking families. Please respond to Joanne if you are interested. Thanks!
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My name is Joanne Choi and I am a graduate student currently pursuing my doctorate in Applied Clinical Psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Anaheim, California Campus).

I am conducting a research study for my dissertation to determine if there is a need for professional language interpreters for autism diagnostic assessments.

I am contacting you in hopes that you would share this survey to your Spanish and Korean speaking members which asks multiple choice questions about their experience during the assessment process for their child with an autism diagnosis.

The eligibility criteria are:

· Parent or caregiver of an individual diagnosed with autism in California

· From a dual or multi language home in which Spanish or Korean is spoken

· The individual with autism is between the ages of 2 through 19

· The individual was diagnosed with autism by a trained professional (i.e., psychologist, developmental pediatrician, psychiatrist, neurologists)

Research will be completely anonymous, with no face-to-face contact with the researcher. Participation will take approximately 5 minutes, during which participants will complete an online multiple choice questionnaire in the participants’ preferred language (i.e., English, Spanish, Korean). All participant information will be protected according to IRB standards.

This topic is very close to my heart because I am also a mother of a son diagnosed with autism from a dual language home. Additionally, I am currently working as a Board Certified Behavior Analysis (BCBA) who works closely with many different non-English speaking families. I have personally seen the need of interpreters for dual/multi language families to access appropriate services.

If you are open to sharing this survey or have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me at 562)506-7265 or [email protected]



Sincerely,

Joanne Choi

When first my kiddo was diagnosed with autism, LAFEAT helped me navigate this world...
it’s been 14 years since, and I still use the resources put together by the wonderful parents who so diligently and compassionately founded this group.
Thank you always....
You know who you are!!

With all the support and excitement around the ASLA WHEELS & REELS outdoor movie event...We are thrilled to announce that we will be ADDING another Day! Come Sing and Dance... Friday April 23rd or Saturday April 24th. Purchase your ticket @ http://www.autismla.org/1/events/