Autism Society of Indiana’s Autism Expo 2012 – Little Star Center was there!

Check out the photos from the Autism Expo 2012. Little Star was there as always and it was a great event! Thanks so much to the Autism Society of Indiana – keep up the amazing work you do! So glad to partner with you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Star Center Lafayette Celebrates it’s One-Year Anniversary with Families and Staff

Little Star Lafayette celebrated it’s first anniversary on March 16th at the Lafayette location. Staff and families were invited to stop by, have a hot dog from the hot dog cart, eat some cake and enjoy the festivities!

We even had sunglasses for the kids!

Thank you to the Little Star Lafayette Families and Staff for a great year! We couldn’t have done it without you!

A Fighting Chance: “Be Prepared, Not Scared” – Self Defense Class at Little Star Center

Earlier this month, I hosted a rape prevention class at Little Star Center. The class was attended by LSC staff, moms and friends.

The motto of A Fighting Chance is “Be Prepared; Not Scared.” Marita Bower, the class instructor, and her “bad guy” demonstrated the most common attack scenarios.

They addressed ways to avoid an attack; escape if you can’t avoid it; and survive if you can’t escape. It was an intense four hours, but well worth the time. I came into the class not knowing anything about self-defense and left feeling that I would be able to know what to do if I was in a bad situation. As I work with many young women, I am planning on having another class for staff and moms this summer. If you would like more info on A Fighting Chance, please visit their website as www.AFCselfdefense.com

Mary Rosswurm

Executive Director

Little Star Center, Inc.

Little Star Celebrates Ten Years of Serving the Needs of the Autism Community in the State of Indiana – Official Press Release

Press Release – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:          Amanda Ryan

Community Outreach & Marketing Director

317.249.2242   |   [email protected]

Little Star Center Celebrates Ten Years of Serving the Needs of the Autism Community in the State of Indiana

2012 Marks a Decade of Providing Autism Services to Children and Young Adults

CARMEL, IN, March 13, 2012 – Little Star Center, a non-profit center for children with autism, is celebrating its 10th year serving the needs of the autism community in Indiana. Little Star was the first center to offer intensive applied behavior analysis services in the state. While there are several ABA centers and in-home providers in the state now, most can be directly linked back to Little Star.

Little Star Center was founded by Amy and Steele Gudal, parents who, at the time, had no options for their daughter with autism with regards to specialized treatment.

“Credit has to be given to the Gudals for doing something that had never been done before in Indiana. They were truly trail blazers,” says Mary Rosswurm, Executive Director of Little Star Center. “We are looking forward to another decade of setting the standard for autism therapy in the state of Indiana.”

Based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Little Star provides an atmosphere where children, therapists and families can interact, support each other and receive on-going training so that each child can reach their full potential at home and in a variety of settings outside of therapy. After decades of research, the United States Surgeon General has endorsed intensive behavioral intervention for individuals with autism as the treatment of choice. Over 50 years of research documents the efficacy of ABA in reducing inappropriate behavior and increasing communication and learning.

Little Star Center Carmel opened its doors in September, 2002 and since then has opened a location in Lafayette in March, 2011.

About Little Star Center

Little Star Center is a truly unique and special place for children and families affected by autism. Little Star offers intensive daily one-on-one individualized ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy that allows access to peers, a state-of-the-art facility, and full-time BCBA supervision.

For more information please call 317.249.2242 or visit us on the web to learn more at www.littlestarcenter.org.

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Tips for an Easy Flight Alone for Individuals on the Spectrum (A Mother’s Point of View)

My son, Brad, travels several times a year to Boston to visit his father and has been doing this for three years now. Although Brad is an adult with autism, I feel comfortable allowing him to fly by himself, but more importantly, Brad feels OK with traveling unaccompanied. I wanted to share some “tips” that I have learned that others may find useful as well.

  • The first is, of course, that the flight must be a non-stop. I know that it is often difficult to find non-stop flights these days, but I would not feel comfortable having Brad try to navigate an airport by himself. Perhaps someday, though.
  • Next, I always go to the counter (not the gate) at the departure airport. I simply tell the airline employee that my child has a disability and that I will need to accompany him through security. At this point you will need to show your ID and you will be given a pass that allows you to pass through security with the other ticketed passengers.
  • Once through the security line, but before passing through the metal detector, I make sure to tell Brad what he needs to do. By this time, the security agents are pretty aware that I am with a person that requires extra time. Once, Brad was asked to step into the “sniffing chamber” – I simply told Brad what to do and let the agent know that he was an adult with autism.
  • The next crucial step is at the gate. I always take Brad’s ticket and speak with the gate agent. I let him/her know that my son is flying alone and has autism. I have never had anything but people try to be helpful. I request that the gate agent let the flight attendant’s know about my son’s special needs. They will put a note into the computer which the flight attendant’s can see when they print out their passenger list. One time Brad was upgraded to first class so he would have more room! In general, though, the gate agent will try to seat him in a row by himself. He has always been offered priority seating, so he can have more time to get settled in. On several occasions, the gate agent has escorted him down the jet way herself.
  • I always make sure that Brad has snacks and something to keep him busy, such as a video game. He knows to ask the flight attendant if he needs anything.

Brad’s dad is able to meet Brad at the arrival gate by simply going to the airline counter and requesting a pass through security as he is meeting his child with a disability.

I really have found that the airline personnel go above and beyond to try to be helpful! Of course, I understand that Brad is higher functioning and that many people with autism would not be able to fly unaccompanied, but I hope perhaps I was able to pass on a thing or two that you didn’t know!

Mary Rosswurm

Executive Director of Little Star Center and parent of a young adult with autism

Little Star Center Provides First Responder Training

Indiana requires law enforcement and other “first responders” to complete one hour of autism-specific education each year. While this amount of time is clearly not adequate, it does at least offer some information to officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and firemen about persons with autism.

The Purdue University Police Department recently contacted Mary Rosswurm, Little Star’s Executive Director, and inquired if Little Star (LSC) could provide their department with a training on autism. As Mary has an adult son with autism, as well as serves on the Indiana Commission on Autism, which helped enact the First Responder Training Act, she was very eager to help. The training occurred in West Lafayette and was divided into two sessions of 16 officers each.  Police Sergeant Keene Red Elk specifically requested training by LSC, because the video recorded training they received the year prior was not interactive and did not address the many questions that the officers had about autism.

The instruction focused on identifying individuals with autism and general tips and strategies on how to assist them during emergencies and crisis situations. Teaching law enforcement to identify individuals with autism is difficult, as they have limited time to interact with the person and must assess the situation quickly. The training focused on the social, communication, behavioral and sensory issues commonly seen in people with autism. Within each of the topic  areas, they discussed possible situations requiring interaction with law enforcement.  The group also discussed supports and strategies that could be used to assist officers in dealing with the challenges that are typical to persons affect by autism.

The police officers had many questions about communicating with non-verbal individuals with autism. Tim Courtney, LSC Research & Training Director, conducted the program and  demonstrated the Proloquo2go, which is an iPad communication application that is becoming increasingly popular among non-verbal persons with autism. Several of the learners at Little Star currently use these devices. Department personnel discussed possibly purchasing an iPad with Proloquo2go to facilitate communication with individuals with autism that are non-vocal.  Tim discussed the limitations and extensive training needs for individuals to communicate with assistive devices and noted the willingness and commitment of the Purdue University Police Department.

“I presented examples of tragic situations in which interactions with police officers resulted in fatalities or injury,” said Tim. “I reviewed the positional asphyxia risks of physical management with individuals with autism. Individuals with autism can have underdeveloped trunk muscles and can suffocate when pressure is applied to their chest.  I was surprised some of the officers were not aware of the positional asphyxia risk.”

One interesting area specific to the Purdue Police Department was addressing behavior exhibited by individuals with autism attending the University. The officers presented examples of behavior, based upon the presentation they now thought may have been exhibited by an individual with autism. The group brainstormed possible ways to deal with these situations should they arise again. This led to a discussion on how to best work with parents of newly enrolled students with autism. The police officers felt having the parent or caregiver visit the police station and provide essential information about their student would be a good practice. The information could be plugged into the 911 database and easily accessed if needed.

“It was a pleasure to spend time with these officers,” said Tim. “I look forward to working with them to help ensure that Purdue University is a safe and enjoyable environment for all its student body.”

After the Purdue training, Tim was invited to train the Tippecanoe County Crisis Intervention Team.  Purdue University law enforcement is one of four area police departments participating in the Tippecanoe County Crisis Intervention Team.  The Crisis Intervention Team is a community partnership of law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, mental health consumers and their family members.  Other area police departments include Lafayette, West Lafayette, and the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department.  Training consists of a full 40 hours and covers mental illnesses, development disorders and treatments, psychotropic medications, methods of approaching a crisis situation, suicide prevention, techniques for de-escalating the crisis and available community resources.  The Crisis Intervention Team model was developed in Memphis, TN in 1988 following the tragic death of a person with mental illness in crisis.  The model has since been adopted by communities across the U.S.

 

About Tim:

Tim graduated with a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in 2006 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst that same year. He has worked as a behavior analyst since 2003 with different organizations across the United States. In addition to his work as a behavior analyst, Tim has been a co-instructor in the ABA department of FIT since 2007. His research interests includes functional assessment, medical and dental avoidance and escape behavior, verbal behavior, and dissemination of the science of Applied Behavior Analysis. Tim is currently working on his Ph.D. in Special Education at Purdue University.

LSC Carmel Plays in Co-Ed Volleyball Tournament – Rough Start, but Had a Blast!

Little Star Center Carmel headed out to the Monon Center starting in October to play some co-ed volleyball against some average (let’s be honest – above average) competition! Although LSC’s regular season ended with a 1 – 7 record, tournament play showed that LSC had really stepped up their game! Winning three games in tournament brought them to Game 13 where they just barely came up short. There were 18 games in the tournament.

LSC is looking forward to playing in other Carmel Parks and Recreation co-ed sports!

 

Dr. Kevin W. Beadle, D.D.S. Visits the Kids of Little Star to Talk About Proper Dental Care

Dr. Kevin Beadle, D.D.S. of Carmel Pediatric Dentistry visited the kids of Little Star Center to teach proper brushing habits and how to keep their teeth healthy.

Using a story like “Bucky Beaver and the Good Food Forest,” Dr. Kevin was able to emphasize good oral hygiene, prevention and good nutrition when it comes to taking care of your teeth.

CARMEL PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY is tailored toward a child/parent friendly environment: Infants, children adolescents and special needs. They have a state-of-the-art facility located just minutes away from Little Star Center Carmel at 12188-A North Meridian Street.

 

 

 

 

Little Star Center proudly presents Thomas Zane, Ph.D, BCBA-D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos and Video from ASI’s Excellence Awards – Little Star Center Received the Excellence in Direct Care Award

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

Zionsville, Indiana

A great crowd came out to support the Autism Society of Indiana and their 2011 Excellence Awards. Little Star Center was there to receive the Excellence in Direct Care Award, an award for providers who demostrate excellence in direct care services to infants, toddlers, children, youth and adults with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) through their work in medical, therapeutic, recreational and other settings using innovative and scientifically supported best practices in partnership with families and other professionals.

This was the first time a center received the award, not an individual. The nominations came from our great families, friends and civic leaders.

Thank you so much for your support. We are honored to receive this award and will continue providing these services we were awarded for.

See Award Presentation Here