Spectrum Life Magazine Winter 2021 Issue from Autism Empowerment

FREE OREGON and WASHINGTON’S PREMIER MAGAZINE FOR AUTISM COMMUNITIES

SpectrumLife TM

m a g a z i n e

WINTER 2021

LET’S PEER UP WITH JENELL THEOBALD YOGA FOR EVERY BODY HARPER’S PLAYGROUND ADVENTURE PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES WISCARSON LAW - SPECIAL EDUCATION ATTORNEYS THRIVING WHILE AUTISTIC: A QUALITY SELF-DEFINED LIFE

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WINTER 2021

contents

Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald

FEATURED SECTIONS

From the Publisher From adversity to advocacy.

ADVOCACY

Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald Disability-led advocacy for mental health support.

EDUCATION

Wiscarson Law - Special Education Attorneys Empowering families to balance the scales of justice.

Accessing Accommodations in Higher Education Getting off to a smart start in college and beyond.

HEALTH + WELLNESS

LIFESPAN

13 16

Thriving While Autistic Stories from the Spectrum: Becca Lory Hector. Ask Spectrum Life Holiday humor and holiday carols.

33 38

Yoga for Every Body Accessible yoga for all.

therapy

Recreation Harper’s Playground Creating a more inclusive world, one playground at a time.

The World is Disordered Flipping the script on this neurotypical society.

42 46

Adventure Psychological Services Service to the neurodivergent community .

Upcoming Autism Empowerment Events Podcasts, Enrichment, Support.

Spectrum Life Resource Directory Spectrum Life Magazine online helps you find autism-friendly service providers.

www.spectrumlife.org

FROM THE PUBLISHER

SpectrumLife TM

m a g a z i n e

WINTER 2021 | VOLUME 10, ISSUE 5 SPECTRUM LIFE MAGAZINE TM A program of Autism Empowerment TM Karen Krejcha, Autism Empowerment, Publisher Dave Born, Graphic Designer

For the first time since Autism Empowerment began publishing Spectrum Life, we have released two Winter issues in the same calendar year. There is a huge need for enrichment and storytelling in autism communities. Whether you’re autistic, neurodivergent, or a neurotypical parent, friend or ally, we all have value and gifts to share. What I love about this issue is that our writers and interviewees have turned challenge and adversity into the kind of advocacy and activity that makes our world a more welcoming and inclusive place for all. Our cover story features Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald (page 7), a powerful teen advocate for improving mental health care. Thriving While Autistic (page 13) tells the story of Becca Lory Hector and the importance of creating a quality self-defined life you don’t need a vacation from. Our features on Harper’s Playground (page 19), Wiscarson Law (page 26) and Adventure Psychological Services (page 42) share the common thread of founders flipping the script on adverse experiences and promoting inclusion on the playground, in the classroom and in our society. We agree with Neurodivergent Doctor that The World is Disordered (page 33) but there is hope. Accessing Accommodations in Higher Education (page 30) helps college students get off to a smart start, Yoga for Every Body (page 38) helps to rejuvenate our health and Ask Spectrum Life (page 16) helps add some unique cheer to your holiday caroling. At Autism Empowerment and Spectrum Life, we strive to help others thrive by promoting a culture of Autism Acceptance. We hope to equip, inspire and empower others to live mighty, magnificent, purposeful lives filled with love, community, and meaning. We appreciate you spending time with us and allowing us to join alongside you in your life journey. Please visit our SpectrumLife.org and AutismEmpowermentPodcast.org websites for additional content.

Editorial Advisory Board: Amy Donaldson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Laurie Drapela, Ph.D John Krejcha Tara O’Gorman, MSW Heather Parrott Brian Tashima Mailing address: Autism Empowerment P. O. Box 871676 Vancouver, WA 98687 (360) 852-8369 www.AutismEmpowerment.org spectrumlife@autismempowerment.org Autism Empowerment is a 501(c)3 nonprofit devoted to promoting a culture of acceptance and empowerment for children, teens, adults and families within Autism, Autistic and Asperger communities. Autism Empowerment makes no warranty, guarantee, endorsement or promotion of any service provider or therapy option listed in this publication or our websites: AutismEmpowerment.org and SpectrumLife.org. This is a free community magazine created as a courtesy to the public. Autism Empowerment cannot be held liable for any action or decision based upon information found in this publication or our websites. It is the responsibility of individuals to discuss any therapy or treatment option with their care team. Every effort is made to ensure accuracy and verify information, however readers using this information do so at their own risk. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without prior written consent from the publisher, Autism Empowerment. © 2021 All rights reserved.

ON OUR COVER

Thanks for your support. Happy Holidays!

Karen Krejcha Executive Director & Co-Founder: Autism Empowerment™ Editor: Spectrum Life Magazine™

www.spectrumlife.org www.spectrumsmagazine.org

Jenell Theobald of Let’s Peer Up is a powerful advocate for mental health reform. See our story on page 7.

Photo credit: Charles Zhang

We are thankful you are reading this Winter issue of Spectrum Life Magazine!

advocacy

Photo credit: Charles Zhang

EMPOWERING CHANGE WITHIN THE AUTISM COMMUNITY

IN THIS SECTION Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald ........................................................................ 7

ADVOCACY

P with Jenell Theobald Let’s Peer U Up Mental health advocacy for neurodivergent people. By Karen Krejcha It is often through life challenges that we discover our gifts and passion to serve others. A mission or cause speaks so much to our heart that we’re empowered to do bold things, advocating in ways we may have never anticipated. Spectrum Life Magazine is delighted to introduce you to Jenell Theobald, a passionate neurodivergent teenager from Beaverton, Oregon who is so devoted to helping improve the lives of youth and adults with disabilities that she founded her own nonprofit organization, Let’s Peer Up. She’s looking for advocates to join her in this essential work. Hello Jenell. Thanks for connecting with us! Please tell our readers a bit about yourself. My name is Jenell Theobald. I am a 9th grader. I enjoy reading, writing, art, graphic design, and music. Like many Americans, I inherited multiple different cultures. My mom is a first-generation immigrant and some of my dad’s ancestors can be traced back to the Mayflower. I was born with both physical and mental disabilities. For instance, you may have noticed from my photos that my eyes appear to be closed. Well, that’s because I have a congenital eye defect that prevents me from opening my eyes all the way. When I was young, I was always compared to my “perfect” sister, but now that so many people have helped me on my way, I can appreciate that I am actually very lucky, and I have some special gifts that make me unique and help me understand other people like me. How old were you when you were first diagnosed on the autism spectrum? What do you remember about that experience? I was diagnosed when I was 5, but my preschool teacher first noticed signs when I was 2. In fact, signs were first noticed by non-medical people who regularly work with children, such as a school bus driver friend, long before the medical professionals started to take them seriously. My mom recalled that I didn’t have separation anxiety like most babies. When I “graduated” from our new-mommybaby group at 6 months of age, I was the only baby who couldn’t sit up. I didn’t start walking until I was almost 20 months old. On the other hand, I could calmly listen to a 15-minute story when most babies would get bored and crawl around, and I

knew my alphabet before age 2. In addition, I was very sensitive to sound, light, and food textures. My dad once yelled, “No more broccoli until you eat your cheesecake!” I played with toys differently. My teacher noticed that I had a severe language processing delay when I entered preschool. If I was called on to answer a question, I wouldn’t be able to come up with an answer unless they came back to me later. My parents signed me up for a test at the OHSU Autism Clinic, but there was a very long waiting list, so it was a while before the diagnosis actually happened and I was confirmed to be on the spectrum. What were your early school years like? I learned academic stuff easily, but I always struggled with social and behavioral aspects. I was bullied a lot. But I was kind of a jerk too. In kindergarten, I was expelled twice for “unacceptable” behavior, such as throwing a book at another kid. By 5th grade, I had switched among seven different schools, on average once per year. I didn’t have my first real friend until 5th grade. I had an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in lower grades, but was told later that only kids who were struggling academically could be on an IEP, so I was switched to a 504 Plan instead. What has school been like for you since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Like most people, I’ve really struggled a lot during the pandemic. However, it was harder for me than for most. I was never good at time management, and COVID made it ten times worse. I really struggled with engagement and getting my work done on time. However, I managed to get through it, and luckily now I’m back in actual in-person learning. (I never thought I’d actually miss going to school.) We heard you’re a big advocate for Camp Meadowood Springs. Tell us about the camp and your experience there. I first started attending the camp when I was 6, which is the minimum age. My family heard about it by accident. I was really surprised by how fun and helpful it was. Besides typical summer camp activities, many volunteers were there to facilitate throughout the day, and there were individual therapy sessions each day with university students training Continued on page 8 www.spectrumlife.org

Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald, continued from page 7 to become speech pathologists or such, under expert supervision. I went three more times over the years. I really felt like I was understood and accepted there. Then I met the Oregon Elks, who are sponsors and do a lot of volunteer work for the camp each year. I learned that they lacked the resources to advertise the camp, so I made a Wikipedia page for the camp, and also got camp flyers approved for multiple school districts in Portland and surrounding areas. I helped with their fundraising events and promoted the camp at many different events. In 2019 I organized 35 volunteers to travel to eastern Oregon to join hundreds of Elks over Memorial Day weekend to prepare the camp for their summer sessions. After that, I joined the Elks’ Antlers program, and continued volunteering for the camp in different projects. We’d love to hear about the nonprofit you founded. What is Let’s Peer Up? Let’s Peer Up (LPU) is a nonprofit I founded to advocate for equal representation of people with disabilities. We successfully

convinced the city I live in to establish an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Technical Advisory Committee, which is recruiting members and will start in January 2022. People with disabilities are underserved. Oregon, along with the rest of the country, is undergoing a mental health crisis. There are not enough professionals. With the help of the Portland State University Capstone program, LPU came up with an idea that could build a better community support system at the state level, which can be expanded to other states.

www.spectrumlife.org www.spectrumsmagazine.org

At what point did you realize you had a passion for helping neurodivergent youth? Going to Camp Meadowood Springs was my favorite summer activity when I was at elementary school. But the fun only lasted for a week, so I wanted to extend this to a wonderful year-long experience. When I talked to a special education teacher at my middle school, she told me three of her students didn’t have any friends, which made her heartbroken. Let’s Peer Up was trying to do school peer clubs in the beginning, since there were not many programs like that. But soon I heard the program Best Buddies was planning to enter Oregon, so I decided that LPU didn’t need to do the same thing. At the same time, through the local community Youth Ambassador Program, I attended many local city council, board, and commission meetings, and learned that the neurodivergent population is underserved. After more and more research, I was shocked by how bad the situation is.

Among all Oregon cities, only Portland has a Commission on Disability. Massachusetts does the best job in the country. Almost half of the cities, even very small ones, have Commissions on Disability. I made an appointment with the Mayor, and started campaigning for a disabilities board or committee in our city. I even arranged a Zoom meeting, connecting the Assistant Director of Massachusetts Commission on Disabilities with Continued on next page

Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald, continued from page 8 city personnel. Our advocacy campaign was echoed by many people. We ultimately succeeded. The City established an ADA Technical Advisory Committee. Realizing our advocacy efforts can make a much bigger impact, I decided to focus on advocating for neurodivergent people whose voices haven’t been given attention. Is your family also involved in the nonprofit? My sister tags along. She gave testimony at our city council meetings. My parents are also very supportive. They drive me around and donate to Let’s Peer Up from time to time.

those youth who also have interests in advocating for people with disabilities. This past year has been so tough for so many mentally. What advice would you give to autistic students who might be having challenges? I put a quote on my Let’s Peer Up connect card: “We are all unique, and have our own place in the puzzle of the universe.” This is a quote by musician Rod Williams. I really like what he said. Some of us, like me, have different abilities, but we can have meaningful lives, just like everyone else.

What advocacy issues are you most passionate about and why? My advocacy issues focus on diversity, not only on racial diversity, but also on neurodiversity. According to 2019 Census data, 1 out of 5 Americans has some sort of disability, usually a mental disability. Before Covid, Oregon ranked 1st in people having mental issues, and its support system ranked near the very bottom. Covid made the situation worse. There are not enough licensed counselors. Many of them are so busy, they don’t even take a waiting list. Not enough providers sign contracts with insurance companies, so not many can afford to see professionals when they need to. This hits those with financial disadvantages even harder. During Covid, many states passed mental health related bills, but Oregon didn’t do much. A huge percentage of the population remains underserved. This situation needs to be changed. Tell us about some of the places you’ve spoken and some of the advocacy work you’ve done. I spoke at the Elks Oregon State Convention, Pioneer Square Summer Festival, School District Board meetings, City Council meetings, City Human Rights Commission meetings, many different youth conferences, and the Energy Trust Women’s Month conference. I met the School District Diversity Director, City Mayor, and many city employees. Per the City’s request, I did research related to how to set up the Disability Committee, help promote the committee, and recruit members. We are currently starting to work on urging state legislators to pass bills to help the neurodivergent population and improve the support systems available to them. Your advocacy work has also earned you media recognition and awards. I was in Pamplin Media’s 2020 Amazing Kids magazine. I was also an Oregon State Honoree for the 2021 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. I also earn the Presidential Volunteer Service Award every year, although my work with LPU doesn’t count as volunteering since it’s my own organization. Which award is the most meaningful to you and why? The Prudential Spirit of Community Award is most meaningful, because I got to know many youth across the nation who are doing meaningful things. I got into their alumni group, so it is possible for me to connect with

What advice would you give to parents who want to support their autistic children? You can look into Camp Meadowood Springs and other such places to see if one of them would be right for your kid. Support groups are good places where you can share experiences and find many resources from other parents. And, don’t get so stressed out about it. It will get better over time. How can readers learn more about Let’s Peer Up or your advocacy work? You can email us at LetsPeerUp@gmail.com. Our website is http://www.letspeerup.org. We also have Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I know we need to improve our social media. We need manpower, so I hope more youth (and advisors) who are interested in our mission will connect and join us. What are your goals for the future? I am thinking of getting into art-related fields, such as design and animation. Of course, advocating with people with disabilities will always be my passion. I will never give up on it. Continued on page 10 www.spectrumlife.org

Let’s Peer Up with Jenell Theobald, continued from page 9 What else is important for Spectrum Life Magazine readers to know? People on the spectrum are more likely to have mental health issues. A very high percentage of autistic youth experience depression. I was there. Each of us knows somebody personally who struggles with mental health. It could be a friend, relative, neighbor, etc. In fact, one of my classmates recently committed suicide. The mental health crisis is serious. People with disabilities need better support, and this is a very big percentage of the general population. I hope mental health advocates will contact me. Together we can make a much bigger impact.

Karen Krejcha is the co-founder of Autism Empowerment, where she serves as Executive Director. She is the Editor of Spectrum Life Magazine and host of the Autism Empowerment Podcast. Karen was diagnosed on the autism spectrum in her 40s, after the diagnosis of her two children. She has been married to John for over 29 years and is devoted to promoting a culture of acceptance and empowerment within autism communities and worldwide.

www.spectrumlife.org

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lifespan ALL AGES AND ABILITIES

IN THIS SECTION Thriving While Autistic.................................................................................. 13 Ask Spectrum Life.............................................................................................. 16

LIFESPAN

Thriving While Autistic: Creating a Quality, Self Defined Life.

STORIES from the SPECTRUM Autism from an Autistic perspective

By Becca Lory Hector I looked over at my mother. She, too, was processing the report we had just heard. Tears brimming her eyes, she turned to me and asked, “Are you okay?” I thought about it. For most of my thirty-six years, I was NOT okay. In fact, I spent a good chunk of those years angry, sad, confused, resentful, lost, and very much wishing it would all go away. Suicidal ideations became the norm for me somewhere around eight years old. The planning, wishing, and hoping for the courage to do it, didn’t become the norm until my twenties. For three decades, I had failure after failure, followed by deep depressive episodes, only broken by panic attacks as my anxiety raged. Was I okay? “No, I’m not. And I haven’t been,” I answered, “but maybe now I will be?” I didn’t know it then, but that moment was the beginning of a new life for me. In that instant, for the first time in over thirty years, I was able to see that not only was there potential for my life to be different, but that it could, maybe, even be a life I could enjoy. It was a year after that sunny day in May, nine years ago, at the ripe old age of thirty-six, I was diagnosed with autism. It was a gorgeous, sunny, spring afternoon in May when my life changed forever. I remember the weather in particular as it’s been an enthusiasm of mine since childhood. As I sat in the passenger seat of my mother’s Jeep digesting the news, I noted that it was an especially low-humidity day, sunny but not hot — an anomaly for the time of year in New York. I began work on building that possible life. It all started with an idea, a hopeful goal for the future. Armed with the new self-knowledge my diagnosis provided, I set out on this giant mission; to create a life that I didn’t need a vacation from. What I had come to realize in that first year, was that so much of what I pressured myself to achieve, didn’t come from me at all. In fact, I was pushing myself to burnout trying to attain other people’s wishes, wants, and dreams for me, instead of my own. I was using all my precious energy and time to pursue a life that I didn’t even really want, and then, continuously beating myself up inside for “my failures”. It needed to stop, and I needed to redefine my life. I began thinking about the big trigger words in my life — the ones that carried the baggage of other people’s expectations with them. Words like happiness, family, love, and yes, the dreaded word, success.

What did it mean to me to be successful? What does it mean to have success? Is success the end goal of living? And when I broke down what that word meant to me, I realized that what I truly believed success to be was not the version of success I was chasing, and so epically failing to catch. I had been in pursuit of an endless list of “things” that would prove my success to the outside world. Chasing degrees, jobs, relationships, anything that would show the world I was “successful”, but no matter how many boxes I ticked, I was still consistently miserable. It was time to redefine success in my own terms and put all of that same energy and time into pursuing this new self defined version of success. It was time to find that inner voice I had silenced for so long and ask myself what success really meant to me. It didn’t take long to see that what success meant to me was very different from the version of success that had been spoon-fed to me by a world fueled by sameness. Success to me wouldn’t look like the “right” job, house, or husband, but instead success to me would be to feel like I fit in my life instead of shoving myself into a life in order to belong. Success for me would be to live a life that is aligned with my values and to wake up most days happy about opening my eyes. Success to me cannot be quantified, tallied, or compared. It is a subjective journey to reach a personal goal. Success is not one thing to many people, but rather many things to many people. And with that understanding of myself, life suddenly went from being a competition with others, to being a uniquely individual challenge. It was obvious. How had I missed it for so long? Silly me! Of course, my success would never look like other people’s success, and it was time to stop wanting it to. And with that, it was time to chase the life that I wanted for myself; a life that I was happy to wake up in, a life that met MY expectations of a self defined successful life, a life I didn’t need a vacation from. When I found out I was autistic nine years ago, one of the first things that I began to think about were all of the things in my life I could have done differently. I wondered, how many of my bad choices, poor decisions, mistakes, and traumas were the result of being uninformed about my neurology. Continued on page 14 www.spectrumlife.org

Thriving While Autistic, continued from page 13 Like most of us who are diagnosed late-in-life, I spent my first year post-diagnosis cycling through my life and revisiting every one of those memories through the lens of autism, deciding about each one whether it was really my fault or if it was ‘the autism’. Needless to say, that first year was full of a lot of anger, and even more sadness. I yelled and cried for little me, who had muddled through the world for over three decades feeling lost, alone, and broken. As I processed through that year, I realized just how unkind I have always been to myself. How for years, whether or not it was true, I blamed myself for every hardship I encountered, every failed relationship, and every job I left behind. I had come to understand in those thirty-six years that my needs and wants were ‘wrong’ and that my natural instincts must be suppressed in favor of the ‘right’ behavior. Without any direct instruction, the world had taught me that anything coming from my authentic self was not to be trusted. And the worst part? I believed every bit of it. Nine years later, and I can tell you that none of it was true except for how unkind I had been to myself. Since my diagnosis, I have carefully, slowly, and with intention, deconstructed my life, and rebuilt it with all my new self-knowledge as my guide. I have stripped away as many of the self-imposed challenges as possible, knowing they were built on the ‘shoulds’ of others. And then, I rebuilt. I layered in all that I know about myself because of autism and let that guide me to my goals. I spent hours upon hours reading personal development books, listening to podcasts, and watching TED talks on quality of life and how to achieve it. But I kept running into the same problem. No matter where I looked for personal development that suited me, none of it really seemed to fit naturally because it was all for neurotypicals by neurotypicals. Still, I knew I was onto something as select bits and pieces from each source were working on their own, despite no one single source being a fit. That’s when I had an autistic epiphany. Suddenly, I could see the patterns in all of the books, and that a lot of the same things were being said by all. It just wasn’t in a format that worked with my brain. So, I stumbled through everything, ditching what wasn’t working and fine-tuning what was. Each day I took one small step forward to creating the life of my dreams, a life I didn’t need a vacation from. It may have taken almost a decade, but I did it. I created a life so entirely opposite of where I started from, that it is wholly unrecognizable, and so am I. Gone are the long hours, working nights to avoid rush hour in New York City. Gone are the noisy highways and lines for EVERYTHING. Gone is the bleakness of winter and the humidity of summer. Gone, too, is the angry and sad woman who suffered through thirty-six years on this planet. Continued on next page

www.spectrumlife.org

Thriving While Autistic, continued from page 14 Gone is the miserable lump of a human who communicated solely in sarcasm. Gone is the desire to be gone. In her place lives the real me, my authentic self. The one I spent so much energy masking to survive, now lives freely and openly in a life that the old me wouldn’t even dare to dream of.

For more information on the course and to check out the rest of my work, head over to https://beccalory.com.

Each day that I wake in this life, I am grateful. Grateful to still be here, grateful to be autistic, and, most of all, grateful to be me. Every single moment of the blood, sweat, and tears it took to get here was worth it. Knowing how life-changing this shift has been for me, I could not just keep it to myself. So, carefully, I began to translate the skills and lessons I learned out of my head onto paper. I thought I would create a guidebook of sorts from my journey for the many autistic people that would benefit from this kind of support now, and not when research catches up. I am proud to say that I designed a three-unit virtual course so you, too, can build an authentic life of your own. One that isn’t just about surviving but has you thriving in your autisticness instead. If you are ready to start your journey to being your Authentic Autistic Self and living your Best Autistic Life, all of the work that I did to build my magical autistic life is now available to you as a virtual course. “Self Defined Living: A Path to a Quality Autistic Life” is designed to help you create your own life that you don’t need a vacation from.

Becca Lory Hector was diagnosed on the autism spectrum as an adult and has since become a dynamic autism advocate, consultant, speaker, and author. Becca has published multiple articles and books about life on the autism spectrum with the goal of spreading acceptance, building understanding, and encouraging self-advocacy. The creation of her international, grant-approved, virtual course for autistic adults, “Self Defined Living: A Path to a Quality Autistic Life,” is allowing her to help improve the lives of autistics in the now, and on an almost daily basis.

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Find out if you’re eligible A Washington State ABLE Account is a flexible and convenient way for people living with disabilities to keep their current benefits while also investing in their life to come. www.spectrumlife.org

LIFESPAN

Ask Spectrum Life Autism Resources for our Community

By Karen Krejcha

Each issue, Spectrum Life Editor and content curator, Karen Krejcha answers frequently asked questions about autism-related resources across the lifespan for our community. Dear Spectrum Life readers, One observation about the holiday season is that the same holiday and Christmas carols tend to play on repeat over and over and over. For a neurodivergent family like ours, music on loop is already our jam, but I’ve noticed it tends to make neurotypical folks a little anxious. So to add a little humor and fun to your holiday season, I wrote a few holiday carol parodies for you to enjoy, sing and share. We’d love to see and hear your original parodies too. Send them in to spectrumlife@autismempowerment.org and you may see them posted in a future blog at SpectrumLife.org, hear them in a future Autism Empowerment Podcast or shared on social media.

www.spectrumlife.org www.spectrumsmagazine.org

Deck the Halls with Less Anxiety Sung to the tune of Deck the Halls Deck the halls with less anxiety, fa la la la la la la la la! ‘Tis the season for sensory calming, fa la la la la la la la la! Everyone included with easy access, fa la la la la la la la la. Enjoy, have fun, then decompress, fa la la la la la la la la. Embrace the ones who came before us, fa la la la la la la la la. Add your stories to the life chorus, fa la la la la la la la la. Acceptance and grace beyond measure, fa la la la la la la la la. Everyone has gifts to love and treasure, fa la la la la la la la la! Meaningful lives for all the masses, fa la la la la la la la la. Inclusion in all our classes, fa la la la la la la la la. Equipped at home and in all weather, fa la la la la la la la la. Empowered people come together, Fa la la la la la la la la! Continued on next page Continued on next page

Ask Spectrum Life, continued from page 16

I’m Preparing for the IEP Sung to the tune of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Thank You for Respecting My Boundaries Sung to the tune of Winter Wonderland

Wow! These Procedural Safeguards are confusing!

Telephone rings but I’m not listening. Prefer you text, or email me, I don’t like surprise, So don’t be unwise. Thank you for respecting my boundaries.

I’m preparing for the IEP Meeting that will accommodate my child. I might need a little wine, Or some help from the divine. To get this thing just right, I doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight. The jargon and acronyms bewilder me. I-D-E-A, L-R-E and FAPE. They say I’m a momma bear But the truth is, I just care I want my child to thrive and shine their light. I’ve got a binder full of Procedural Safeguards. I do! It’s true! I get a new copy each time. And I’m going to get informed consent! Oh, I’m preparing for the IEP. Got all my Wrightslaw books here by my side. From Emotions to Advocacy And All About IEPs I’ve got my degree in LRE tonight. From Emotions to Advocacy And All About IEPs I’ve got my degree in LRE tonight. I did! I did! I really did learn the acronyms. Least restrictive environment! Free and Appropriate Education! Individualized Education Program! Individuals with Disabilities Education Act! Never stop advocating!

Fluorescent lights give me a headache. They’re way too bright, and I can hear them. Don’t wear strong perfume, If we’re in the same room. Thank you for respecting my boundaries. In the nether we can explore biomes. Yes of course, I’m talking about Minecraft. It is my child’s favorite passion. You can teach me yours, I’d like that! Later on, we’ll hang out online. No small talk, that is just fine. To be accepted as me, Authentic and free. Thank you for respecting my boundaries. Thank you for respecting my boundaries. Thank you for respecting my boundaries. © Karen Krejcha November 2021 Ask Spectrum Life will be back answering your questions in 2022 so keep sending them in! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

“Caroling” Karen Krejcha is the co-founder of Autism Empowerment, where she serves as Executive Director. She is the Editor of Spectrum Life Magazine and host of the Autism Empowerment Podcast. Karen was diagnosed on the autism spectrum in her 40s, after the diagnosis of her two children. She has been married to John for over 29 years and is devoted to promoting a culture of acceptance and empowerment within autism communities and worldwide.

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recreation

IN THIS SECTION Harper’s Playground..............................................................................19

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INCLUSIVE WAYS TO HAVE FUN

RECREATION

Inclusion beyond the playground. By John Krejcha The United Nations held the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 and under Article 31 of this convention, affirmed the right of every child to engage in play and recreational activities. Part of this article also encouraged play not only to be appropriate but equal. How does equal access to playgrounds really happen when they can’t be accessed by everybody? That’s where Harper’s Playground comes in. Recently we were able to connect with G Cody QJ Goldberg who is the Founder and Executive Director of Harper’s Playground to see how their nonprofit is bringing true inclusion to Oregon, Washington and beyond. Hello Cody! Thanks for connecting. What is Harper’s Playground? Harper’s Playground is many things, really. Founded in 2010, we are officially a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the mission of “creating a more inclusive world, one playground at a time.” There is also a place named “Harper’s Playground” within Arbor Lodge Park in North Portland. That was our first project, and is distinctive as the only one carrying our name. Harper’s Playground is also a set of unique design standards which we now offer through consulting to other communities on how to achieve those standards. Finally, I think of Harper’s Playground as a movement. We are a movement to create a more inclusive world, well beyond the playground, initiated by my wife, April, and inspired by our daughter. We felt called to do this work because having a child with a disability opened our eyes to the devastating existence of ableism and exclusion. We discovered that typical playgrounds, even those achieving the “Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant” designation, were woefully insufficient for both children experiencing disability, as well as their typically-developing friends. Why did you choose the name Harper’s Playground? This is easy. As alluded to above, Harper’s Playground is named for Harper Goldberg. She inspired the name in the summer of 2009 when she and her little yellow walker she was just learning to use became stuck in the wood chips that surround typical playground structures, which then inspired her mom and me to do something about it. We chose the name because it almost immediately tells the story, really. I’m a big believer in the power of storytelling to illustrate a point and to inspire action. Harper’s story is one of inspiration and determination.

Please tell us a little about Harper and her journey with inclusion, both the good and the challenging. I’d imagine that Harper’s journey in this arena is like so many others, especially for children like her who experience a significant disability, in that it really started when we were looking to enroll her in kindergarten. The Individualized Education Program (IEP) process she went through at Portland Public Schools (PPS) was excruciatingly painful and dishonest, really. They told us that, for Harper’s own good, she would not be allowed to attend our neighborhood school. In fact, they offered her the option of riding a bus to a very distant school which would require her to commute for 90 minutes in each direction. I can’t even imagine suggesting to the parents of a nonverbal five-year-old to do such a thing. The entire process felt abusive. We were just starting out on our playground journey at the time, and the pain of the experience with PPS served to inspire us to channel that energy into the playground. Harper’s journey, which is really a family journey, remains very present, too. We see daily examples of exclusion, whether directly or through stories from our friendship network. The good has almost always involved how community after community responds to the notion that a playground should be inclusive. The challenge continues to follow the school experience, usually. Why is play so important and why is inclusion around play important? It is impossible to overstate the role that play has in creating a healthy human. The positive impacts are so far-reaching and so varied that it really can be daunting to explain them succinctly. The healthiest outcomes in all domains are nurtured through play. I think the best effort to make the description as concise as possible is this one from the National Institute for Play: “Play is the gateway to vitality. It generates optimism, seeks out novelty, makes perseverance fun, leads to mastery, fosters empathy and promotes a sense of belonging.” As soon as I began my journey towards becoming a playground designer and advocate for inclusive playgrounds, I started reading as much as I could about play. Continued on page 20 www.spectrumlife.org

Harper’s Playground, continued from page 20 One of the many facets I love about play myself is that it is naturally inclusive in nature. A playful person, or a playful experience, is always inclusive. Children are naturally inclusive, too. They learn to exclude from adults, and especially from adults involved in school systems and in the design of the typical playground. When we work with communities, we often encounter adults who are convinced that a playground can’t be both inclusive and work for all of the kids. They miss a fundamental part of the importance of unstructured play and unstructured environments to help foster that type of play. They also don’t understand that if it’s not inclusive, then the kids who don’t experience disability also suffer because they want their friends who experience disability to be able to play alongside them. Kids are far more empathetic than most adults. I knew this when I was a kid, and it is part of why I vowed to never grow up. Harper’s Playground prides itself on being radically inclusive. How do you achieve this? I think that I first heard the phrase “radically inclusive” from the Timbers Army. To me, it is a way of being that is always seeking to improve. It’s a process, and an evolving one. We achieve it in our playgrounds by being vigilant in our pursuit of looking at our designs through the lens of anyone who might need to navigate the space with wheels. If someone cannot physically reach an area of the playground, then it cannot be deemed “inclusive.” So, it always starts with access. It starts with being physically inviting. But that’s not enough; you must go further than that. The next levels of our design standard include being socially and emotionally inviting. The ultimate goal is human interaction. Radical design has to do with, “what are the outcomes you want to achieve?” The outcomes for us are community building and connection — giving the most people the most opportunity to connect with one another. I do believe that the word “inclusive” is now ubiquitous in a lot of arenas, but I feel like its earliest genesis comes from people with disabilities because they have literally been left out on the sidelines. It’s frequently a school term; is it an inclusive classroom or not? April and I learned about this concept of inclusion for people with disabilities from a woman named Kathie Snow, who wrote a book called Disability is Natural, and she’s a global speaker on the topic. We heard her speak back when Harper was between six months to a year old. It really opened our eyes to the whole topic of inclusive and inclusiveness and how we would likely need to be vigilant about Harper’s inclusion in the future. Without having heard Kathie speak, I don’t even know if we would have known about inclusion or how long it would have taken us. What goes into making a park ADA accessible? How do you ensure inclusion? The point of why Harper’s Playground exists is that what goes into making a park ADA accessible is far too little. What inspired our family to do this work was our first visit

taking Harper to a park. The park’s design was inaccessible and excluded her from playing, yet the park was technically deemed ADA compliant! So almost nothing is required to make a park ADA compliant. A ramp into the wood chip area, and a transfer deck, from the widget area onto the structure are all that are really required. That does not do anything, really, to support inclusive design. I think the simple answer to how to ensure inclusion is that there’s policy change. We replace ADA requirements with inclusive design requirements for all outdoor play spaces, maybe all indoor play spaces, maybe every place that’s built. You’ve designed and consulted on a number of parks over the years. Where are they? (Editor’s Note: We have expanded descriptions and addresses for each playground in an extended article version available at our www.SpectrumLife.org website.) • Harper’s Playground in Arbor Lodge Park - Portland, OR Where do we begin? I would like to call it our flagship. The central feature is Harper’s Hill in the very middle of the park that remains pretty special. It was the first one we had ever conceived of, and it just inspired so many copycats that work so well. But to single out any single design feature or element is really to do a disservice to a well-designed park. It’s the whole thing that matters — all the pieces work together. I’m especially fond of the bronze figures at Arbor Lodge Park. Pete Helzer (the bronze sculptor) did such a beautiful job with those, and I think they really set a special tone for the space that is unique to that environment. • Anna & Abby’s Yard - Forest Grove, OR • Couch Park - Portland, OR • Esther Short Park - Vancouver, WA (coming soon) • Gateway Discovery Park - Portland, OR • Dawson Park - Portland, OR • Eli’s Park - Seattle, WA (coming soon) • It’s More Than A Playground - Wabash, IN • Let’s All Play Place - Salem, OR • Marshall Park - Vancouver, WA (accepting funding) • Nike’s Tokyo Sport Playground - Tokyo, Japan • Owen’s Playground - Bainbridge Island, WA • Place to Play Park - Cedar Falls, IA You gave a TED Talk about inclusion and play in 2014 quoting Buckminster Fuller. You never change something by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. ~ Buckminster Fuller, American architect, inventor, and visionary. It is so appropriate because the ADA model is not what he’s referring to — the ADA model is trying to adapt a model. Continued on page 22

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Photos courtesy of Harper’s Playground

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Harper’s Playground,, continued from page 22 On the flip side, it seemed like there were countless individuals, some of them within the bureaucratic systems but mostly outside of that, who could not wait to help us. The level of time and energy it took to integrate all that help from all those people was really overwhelming at times. There were all-nighters trying to figure out what to do with all the people who wanted to help us. It’s a beautiful story to have those opposite ends of the spectrum being present. One of the designs that you use often is that of a sea turtle, something we don’t normally see in the Northwest. Why do you incorporate that into your designs? We just thought the sea turtle was cool. My wife and I had a special experience of watching a mama sea turtle lay its eggs during our honeymoon. But as we thought more about what animal we should choose and the meaning behind it, we just were struck by the idea that sea turtles have such difficulty maneuvering their bodies on land, but in water, they soar like a bird. The idea is that if you create the right environment, everyone can fly.

Rather than creating a new one, Harper’s Playground is the embodiment of what Buckminster Fuller was talking about, which is, you’ve got to completely redesign it and do it all the way. That’s why it was appropriate for our story, because the existing model is just not working or (and the answer that the industry was trying to do which was) an adaptation of a bad model is not working, because it doesn’t work. The only way to really fix something like this is to do what Buckminster suggested, which is what I think speaks to why Harper’s Playground is continuing to be adopted far and wide. That goes way beyond the playground. That’s the only answer for inclusion for people with disabilities in housing, or in the workplace, or anywhere. Not to adapt or make an adaptation for them, but to literally change the whole thought process about including people with disabilities in the workplace, or wherever, all the way. What were some of your hardest challenges when starting your first project? Having any clue what we were doing was certainly an awesome part of it. I really think that we benefited from the fact that we didn’t know what we’re getting into. Maybe knowing what was involved would have been scary. But really the best answer to this question is twofold, and it’s on opposite ends of the spectrum. One of the biggest challenges was in the bureaucracy that we were faced with. There were a lot of bureaucratic hurdles, a lot of naysayers, a lot of roadblocks, and gatekeepers that seemed to have a vested interest in seeing us fail.

If somebody wants to create an inclusive playground in their area, how would they get started? There’s no reason to even get started unless you have a strong commitment to seeing an important project come through from start to finish. It starts with assessing one’s own commitment. These are big projects that take a lot of effort. That’s where they start. If they can answer yes, I am committed to seeing this thing through, I think their next step should be to head right to our website and download our how-to book because we’ve outlined a bunch of the next steps to the ribbon cutting. How do you choose which requests that you will help with? You know, it really does go back to that commitment. We’re still so small and have such little capacity to be all things to all projects, that we really can only help those that are committed to seeing themselves all the way through. That’s the critical ingredient they have had. I do think that good community projects are championed by a small group of individuals with heavy, deep levels of commitment to see projects through. That’s really what we’re looking for when we’re looking for a partner. Continued on next page

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Harper’s Playground, continued from page 22 her short life and within that book she featured Harper’s Playground. Julianna had a rare disease and was not able to play often nor at typical playgrounds. To find out after she had passed away about this story from her mother was very moving. Another story that I recall is one where I asked a child of perhaps five years old what her favorite part of our playground was. I remember this exchange quite well because kids almost always name a single feature; sometimes it is the hill, other times it is the sand area. On this occasion, this little girl looked around for a bit and then said, “I just like the whole thing, it’s unlike any other playground I’ve ever been to.” Both of these stories inspire me to want to ensure that there are more places like Harper’s Playground around the world.

What are your goals for the future for Harper’s Playground? Global domination of the playground industry! We really do want to see every place, everywhere become inclusive. For us, it goes beyond inclusion because such a big part of our model is natural in nature and more sustainable, and it’s yet another reason why we believe the model should be adopted. The model has proven to be better for everybody, all ages, all abilities, and kids without any disabilities. It’s a richer experience and we’re passionate about seeing the model adopted widely. Our vision is very, very big. It really gets back to why this is such important work to me on a personal level. When I was faced with Harper’s diagnosis, and what the future might look like for her, and was feeling overwhelmed by it all, I made a very clear commitment to myself and to my personal future, which was to try to find a way to change the world for her. About four years later, when we happened upon the idea of these playgrounds, I knew that this was it. I want the global model to change because I think it’s one of the best ways to change the world for Harper. I also as the executive director of Harper’s Playground believe it’s the right thing to do.

How can people learn more about Harper’s Playground and each individual park? It’s about visiting parks and spending time there. If you observe how playgrounds operate and you look critically at how people interact, you’ll see what’s special about our model. Website: www.harpersplayground.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/harpersplayground What else is important for Spectrum Life Magazine readers to know? We are excitedly entering the final stages of our Marshall Park fundraising, and as they say, it takes a village. Since the very first project, we’ve continued to bite off just a little bit more than we can chew, but we’ve always been able to deliver. We love to see communities stepping forward and we could use everyone’s help this time especially. For more information on how to donate, and for ordering personalized bricks and pavers, we’ll be breaking ground as early as May or June of 2022. www.harpersplayground.org/playgrounds/marshall-park

Do you have any favorite stories to share about kids who have found joy in your parks? There are two stories that really come to mind. The first relates to a child who visited our first playground only once. Her name was Julianna, and she wrote a book about

“Jungle Gym” John Krejcha is co-founder of Autism Empowerment and serves as Programs Director. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Spectrum Life Magazine and is a co-host for the Autism Empowerment Podcast. John is married to co-founder Karen Krejcha and is the father of two amazing children and their feisty cat, Zula. While John is the only one in the family who is not on the autism spectrum, he identifies as a neurodivergent and loving ally.

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education KNOWLEDGE TO EMPOWER FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

IN THIS SECTION Wiscarson Law - Special Education Attorneys ............................. 26 Accessing Accommodations in Higher Education ...................... 30

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Free Resources... for Parents and Caregivers of Children with Autism from Seattle Children’s Autism Center

The world of autism spectrum disorders is constantly changing and we at Seattle Children’s Autism Center are eager to share with parents and caregivers the latest therapies, research, news and tips for families.

1. The Autism Blog

https://theautismblog.seattlechildrens.org/ We provide information that may be helpful for raising a child with autism. Posts are written by physicians, nurses, psychologists and family resource staff who are knowledgeable about the diagnosis and the latest in treatments and therapies. Topics range from selecting a summer camp to sibling support to new research findings to our perspective on the latest news and information about autism.

2. Autism 101

Available on-demand in English and Spanish. Watch past lectures on our website. Autism 101 is an on-demand session providing information and support for parents and families of children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Topics include up-to-date, evidence-based information about ASD, behaviors associated with autism, autism prevalence, treatments available and resources for families. Learn more: https://www.seattlechildrens.org/autism101

3. Autism 200 Series

Available online. Watch past lectures on our website. Autism 200 is a series of 90-minute classes for parents and caregivers of children with autism who wish to better understand autism spectrum disorder. Classes are taught by providers and faculty from Seattle Children’s and the University of Washington and other community stakeholders. Topics include transition to adulthood, early intervention, school support and more. Each class includes time for questions. Learn more: https://www.seattlechildrens.org/autism200

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EDUCATION

Wiscarson Law Special Education Attorneys Empowering families to balance the scales of justice By Karen Krejcha school district members of the IEP team about how if I were a better parent, then they would not have trouble with my son when he was at school. The meeting ended with me crying, frustrated, and seething with anger over the reality that they understood nothing about my son. For every issue since Winter 2017, Diane Wiscarson and her team at Wiscarson Law have generously donated time writing articles about special education law for Spectrum Life Magazine. Thousands of readers continue to benefit from Diane’s expert knowledge but many do not know her amazing backstory which explains why Diane and her team are so passionate about serving families in Oregon and Washington. This is their story. Hi Diane. Please tell us about the origins of Wiscarson Law. When I was in law school, I was also attending Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings for my son who experienced Asperger’s Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, and severe Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). His IEP meetings were awful. I was told by the school district IEP team members that if I was a better parent, my son would not have the challenges he had. They also said that we needed to be better disciplinarians at home, so that our son could not get away with all of his challenging behaviors. We were also told that our son was a square peg, and that to be able to “fit into life” he would need to change to be a round peg, like all of the other kids. I told them I did not know how to do that! (I should have said a lot of other things, but did not know how, at the time.) When you are in law school, part of it is like that movie from the ‘70s, Paper Chase. You read all kinds of materials and cases that you barely understand, and then you show up for class. Professors randomly call upon students to present information to the entire class. It is terrifying, especially when you first start law school. I spent at least the first year of law school trying to blend into the wallpaper and not get called upon in class. To be fair, professors tell you upfront that if you have not read the materials for the class to let them know, and they will not call on you that day. But, this guarantees that you will get called on during the next class, so it is just best to be prepared. One day, during my first year of law school, I had an IEP meeting for my son in the morning, then materials to read for my evening class, then a class at the law school. The IEP meeting was awful, and again, I got a lecture from the

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I did not get anything read for class that day, and went to law school class, still just barely not continuing to cry. I knew there was no way I had done my reading, and I just could not be called on that night. So, I went to my law school professor and told him to please not call upon me that day, and explained that I had not done my reading for the class. Well, you guessed it! I started crying again, and said that I had a terrible IEP meeting for my son. He asked me if the school was following the law. I said that I had no idea that there were any laws to be followed. He also said something about Procedural Safeguards, and I had no idea what those were, since I had never received them at any IEP meeting. After that, I started educating myself on the laws related to kids with differences, and the rest is history. I figured if I did not know about the laws to protect our kids, then I was sure that other parents did not either. Thus began my interest and passion for special education law. Wiscarson Law is a special education law firm I founded more than 20 years ago. We specialize in helping students with disabilities — and their families — receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). We simplify complex rules and regulations so that individuals and families can make informed decisions. Over the years, we have added services for guardianship and advice for securing government services for the disabled. We are licensed in both Oregon and Washington and actively represent students in both states. How many attorneys and staff members do you have? We currently have three attorneys (including one who does work behind the scenes and does not actively practice law), five educational advocates, two law clerks, and three administrative staff members. What inspired you to focus on special education law? My desire to practice special education law stems from my own frustrating experience with the IEP process. My husband and I have three boys, one of whom required an IEP through all of his years in public school. Continued on next page

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Wiscarson Law- Special Education Attorneys, continued from page 26

While attending law school, I was also trying to figure out how to get my son’s educational needs met, with little success. After learning from a law professor that there were laws and legally defined educational rights, I knew I would spend my legal career helping families with disability-related needs. Do other staff have a personal connection to someone on the autism spectrum or with other disabilities? Along with my own experience regarding my son’s disabilities, almost all our staff members have a loved one in their life that has a disability. Several of our staff members have children on the autism spectrum. Another staff member has a child with cerebral palsy who requires 24/7 care. All of us understand the incredible amount of time, money, and effort it takes to raise a child with disabilities. What type of services do you offer at Wiscarson Law? Our main focus is on making sure that students with disabilities receive a FAPE. We primarily help families resolve special education issues and conflicts by working collaboratively with school districts. We also assist our clients with guardianship matters and securing public services specifically for people with disabilities. In extreme cases, we file complaints with the appropriate state department of education. In addition, we represent families in due process hearings, which are actual trials with an administrative law judge.

What kind of issues seem to be most prevalent? Has this changed over time? One of the most common issues we see is that IEPs are either not appropriate for the student or are not being followed as written. This has not changed much over time. Recently, we have had many people contact us regarding issues faced due to the COVID shutdown and comprehensive distance learning. What are some of the toughest challenges you have faced in your years of practice? When students have been traumatized by their experiences at school. Within the last few years, I have had three students who have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) caused by school! This is incredibly tough, and very difficult for students to regain any ability to attend school. Very sad. Another tough challenge is the number of kids who are needing residential treatment placements for serious issues. These kids have some pretty serious mental health challenges, and are unable to access their education without 24-hour mental health support. Those services are expensive, very difficult to come by, and not really available locally. This is very hard on families — both emotionally and financially.

Continued on page 28

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Wiscarson Law- Special Education Attorneys, continued from page 27 In extreme situations, we encounter school districts that will spend more taxpayer dollars fighting a ruling than if they had taken the corrective actions to adhere to the ruling, or if they had provided a FAPE to the student in the first place. Districts are sometimes more concerned with establishing a precedent of the services they will provide to students, rather than adhering to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We understand that school budgets are challenging, but it does no good to deny students with the FAPE to which they are legally entitled. What are the differences you see between special education laws in Oregon and Washington? There really aren’t many large differences. The IDEA is a federal law, so all states have to follow the federal law. There are some individual differences between states, and even between districts, but these are just how things might be implemented, but the differences are really quite small. Also, from district to district, or from state to state, things might have different names, but the content is the same. For example, a behavior plan might be called a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), a Behavior Support Plan (BSP), or a Functional Assessment Behavior Plan, but they are all the same thing. How has COVID-19 changed the way that Wiscarson Law has provided its services? Due to COVID-19, we have changed the way we do consultations with potential clients and how we attend district meetings on behalf of our clients. We currently conduct all consultations via Zoom. District meetings are also online via Zoom or Google Meet. This change has actually been a benefit, as we can attend many more meetings back-to-back and our clients are not being charged for our travel time. Our services have not changed — just the way we provide them. And, there are more families that need help, as some students have really been impacted negatively during the time there was no in-person school. Some students have not been able to access learning at all remotely, so that has been really challenging for families. Also, now that students are in person, transitioning back has been very difficult for some. What words of wisdom would you give to parents who are early on in their child’s educational journey? Ask questions until you understand what your child needs — from all sources you can. School staff, doctors, caregivers, mental health providers, tutors, etc. Once you understand what your child needs, then you can work on getting that in place at school. Be sure to get on the IEP or 504 Plan exactly what the school will support or provide to your child. The only way to have it enforceable is to have it documented on the IEP/504 Plan. Document, document, document. Phone calls are fine, but there is no evidence of what is said in a phone call, and no way to know if there are misinterpretations or miscommunications. If a phone call occurs, send a follow-up

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email to make sure you have the same understanding as the person you were communicating with. Would you share examples of cases you have filed to support students on the autism spectrum within the school setting? We spend most of our time attending IEP meetings and advocating for what kids need from the public school system. This has meant 1:1 aides being obtained, dyslexia services added to IEPs, and other accommodations made so that kids can have a more level playing field. Our services are very individualized — we work to meet the needs of students, one kid at a time. Here are a handful of examples of cases filed on behalf of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: • In July 2021, United States District Judge Michael Simon held up (in a 44-page opinion and order) a 163-page due Continued on next page

Wiscarson Law- Special Education Attorneys, continued from page 28 process ruling from July 2020 by the Oregon Department of Education decreeing that a young boy on the autism spectrum will receive 900 hours of compensatory education. Wiscarson Law navigated this extraordinary landmark settlement that is now recognized as a guidepost by special education attorneys across the country. • In March 2021, the Issaquah School District received a final order issued by the State of Washington Office of Administrative Hearings for the Superintendent of Public Instruction in response to a due process complaint filed in August 2018 by Wiscarson Law on behalf of a client. The district was required to pay several hundred thousand dollars for private school education and reimbursement to parents for its failure to provide a special education student with a FAPE in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. • In 2017, Wiscarson Law worked alongside a client to achieve a landmark position in Oregon’s history. For the first time ever in the State of Oregon, a public school district and the Oregon Department of Human Services agreed to collaboratively pay for out-of-state education and residential services for a student with a subset of self-injurious behavior (SIB) called “automatic SIB.” The student’s treatment and education were then funded by the Salem-Keizer School District and the Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Developmental Disabilities Services. • In March 2016, Wiscarson Law filed a Due Process Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights which was investigated and ultimately ruled in favor of a student in Dallas School District, which resulted in the development of an appropriate IEP, compensatory education to the student and staff training. This was after 2014, when the student’s mother was informed that her son’s kindergarten days had been reduced to 75 minutes per day. This action was taken by the school district without including the parent in the decision, and in the absence of an IEP for the student, making this action unlawful. • In 2015 and 2016, Wiscarson Law filed Office of Civil Rights complaints against the Beaverton School District and Portland Public Schools, respectively, and both complaints resulted in successful rulings against the districts and the requirement to provide compensatory education to hundreds of impacted students. The complaints were regarding the discriminatory actions by the districts of their consistent and systemic practice of dismissing special education students in self-contained classrooms early to load special education buses before the general education students were dismissed.

Where are you located and how can our readers find you online? Our office is located at 3330 NW Yeon, Suite 240, in Portland, OR 97210. Our website is www.WiscarsonLaw.com. You can contact us through the website, or our telephone number is (503) 727-0202. What is the process to work with Wiscarson Law? Do you offer consultations? Whether we are contacted by phone, email, or our website contact form, the first step is a consultation with one of our attorneys. We also try to include an educational advocate in each consultation, in the event that the issue can be resolved without legal intervention. During the consultation, the facts and the issues are discussed and advice is given to a parent/guardian. If the issues are something we can help with, we talk about what needs to be accomplished, and how to get it done. Our consultations usually last about 45 minutes and there is a $100 consultation fee. What are your goals for the future of Wiscarson Law? I can’t imagine that there will ever be a time that special education law will not be needed, so it is my hope to keep providing the help and services for our clients well into the future. I always tell people that since I have a law degree, I will never have to be unemployed. I would sure be happy though, if all of the special education problems within schools could be solved, and there was no longer a need for what we do now! I can always do estate planning or some other form of law. We are very grateful for all your contributions. What else is important for Spectrum Life Magazine readers to know? Just remember, you know your child better than anyone else. And, when the special education laws were written, they were written to REQUIRE parent participation. You are likely the MOST important member of your IEP team, and you should not be made to feel like your input is not important or valuable. Keep advocating for your child — the law encourages and requires it.

As a result of the rulings, both school districts stopped their practice of dismissing special education students early, unless specifically required in their IEPs.

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EDUCATION

Accessing Accommodations in Higher Education Getting off to a smart start.

by Diane Wiscarson and Carly Cannon

Starting college can be an exciting and intimidating time. There are many differences students will experience, such as being in a new place and interacting with new people. In addition to these already significant changes, accommodations previously available to students who received special education services in public high school will likely change too.

Who should students talk to about accommodations? Every college or university has a Disability Services office, which is legally required. Students are expected to initiate their own accommodations with their college or university’s Disability Services office. Disability Services facilitates accommodation requests, communicates with faculty, and is the first place a student should go if they are not receiving the accommodations to which they are legally entitled. Disability Services will not communicate with parents unless they have received one of two documents from the student. If parents want to help a student manage their accommodations, the Disability Services office must have received either a waiver or consent form from the student, or proof of an established guardianship. Without one of those, the Disability Services office is not allowed to talk to a parent, and they strictly follow this rule to enforce each student’s privacy. A waiver or consent form will likely be provided, upon request, by the Disability Services office for the student to sign. This waiver/consent form allows Disability Services to talk to a student’s parents, as well as the student. This form must be signed by the student, who is authorizing and requesting the contact.

504 Plans and IEPs do not go to college. Unfortunately, students’ 504 Plans and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) do not transition from high school to college. It is important to keep in mind that 504 Plans and IEPs expire when a student graduates from high school or ages out of the public school system. Just because a student qualified for accommodations in high school, does not mean that they will automatically receive those same accommodations at their college or university. In fact, colleges and universities may not provide all the accommodations that a student had in high school, and colleges and universities do not provide any modifications at all. What’s the difference between an accommodation and a modification? Accommodations are tools that help a student access their education or space. Modifications are methods that alter a student’s education or space to make the experience accessible for that student. They are changes in what students are expected to learn, based on their individual abilities. An example of an accommodation is extended time on exams, whereas an example of a modification is an alternative grading rubric for the student with the modification.

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Guardianship is a court proceeding which results in a Letter of Guardianship. The Letter of Guardianship is issued by the court and allows a parent or other appointed adult to make decisions and acquire information about a student after the student has turned 18. What other documentation is required? Students (or the guardian) will need to provide the Disability Services office with documentation of their disability and a list of accommodations needed. For documentation, students should provide a medical statement and evaluation from their medical provider detailing the student’s disability. If possible, the medical evaluation should include how the student’s disability impacts them and their education. Although colleges and universities vary on how recent the documentation needs to be, the more recent the documentation, the more representative it is of the student requiring an accommodation. Additionally, Disability Services will require a list of accommodations the student is requesting. This can be challenging because the pressure is on the student (or the guardian) to ask for specific accommodations. Knowing what accommodations a student may need will likely require some preparation.

Continued on next page

Accessing Accommodations in Higher Education, continued from page 30 How can students and parents prepare? Parents and students should discuss a student’s post-high school education plans at the student’s 504 Plan or IEP team meeting while the student is still in high school. This is the first step in preparation for college.

Examples of commonly available accommodations include extended time on exams, permission to make audio recordings, use of smart pens, laptops, and calculators, access to voice recognition software, and access to text-to-speech programs. Students should make an appointment with an advisor at their college or university’s Disability Services office. Though students can initiate receiving accommodations at any point in their college career, the sooner students start communicating with their Disability Services office, the sooner their accommodations can be secured and in place. Students can even make appointments as prospective students who have yet to even fill out an application to the college or university. Once an appointment with a Disability Services advisor has been made, students should start gathering documents to bring to their appointment. First, students should submit a request for accommodations form. This can be found either by contacting their Disability Services office or by looking on their website. Second, students should bring their medical statement and evaluation by their provider. If the student does not currently have a medical statement or evaluation for their appointment, that is okay! Students can plan on sending in their documentation after their appointment and can even have preliminary accommodations put in place if a medical appointment or evaluation is pending.

If an accommodation request is denied, your student’s college or university likely has an appeals process. Students can also choose to file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) or even file a lawsuit against the college or university. Each of these options follows different timelines, potential results, and costs. Prior to making a decision, students and parents might find it helpful to discuss their options with an attorney. In Summary Students should be encouraged to start the process early in requesting accommodations from their college or university. If parents want to be a part of that process, talk to your student about requesting a waiver or consent form to allow you to speak to their college or university’s Disability Services office, or consider whether a guardianship is an appropriate option for your student. Work with your student’s 504 Plan or IEP team to develop a document to provide to the Disability Services office at your student’s college or university. Lastly, ensure your student is receiving their accommodations by contacting Disability Services at their college or university, and if that is not effective, consider filing a complaint.

Photo courtesy of Wendy Wilson

Previous 504 Plans and IEPs can be used by Disability Services offices at colleges and universities as documents that show which accommodations have worked for a student in the past. Those documents also show what the 504 or IEP team had determined to be the student’s needs and are typically very helpful to the Disability Services office. Additionally, they can provide a good reference for students to use as they make a list of accommodations to request from their college or university.

Lastly, students should bring their latest 504 Plan or IEP. Remember that students are responsible for requesting specific accommodations and explaining which accommodations have been successful for them in the past. Therefore, 504 Plans and IEPs can be of great assistance. What to do when colleges or universities fail to provide accommodations? Students can change, alter, add, or remove accommodations at any time. All changes go through Disability Services. If a student is not receiving an accommodation they are supposed to be receiving, the Disability Services office should be contacted immediately.

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Diane Wiscarson is the founding attorney of Wiscarson Law, the only firm in Oregon and Southwest Washington with a primary practice area of special education law for families and has represented thousands of families of special education students in Oregon and Washington. Carly Cannon is a law clerk at Wiscarson Law and a student at the University of Oregon School of Law, where she is focusing on special education law. Find more information at www.wiscarsonlaw.com.

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health & wellness

IN THIS SECTION The World is Disordered .................................................................... 33 Yoga for Every Body ................................................................................ 38

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Photo courtesy of Mary Rebekah Moore

DEVELOPING A SENSE OF WELL-BEING AND WHOLENESS

HEALTH + WELLNESS

The World is Disordered Flipping the Script on this Neurotypical Society In September 2021, Dr. Anson Service (aka Neurodivergent Doctor) published a video on YouTube called Autism: The new view. The World is Disordered. This educational and insightful video brought up three main talking points: 1.) How is autism typically presented and viewed by the world? 2.) What are the problems with this pathological and deficit-based model? 3.) What might it look like to be a healthy autistic person? Due to space limitations, we will be including key takeaways from Dr. Service’s presentation in this article. We invite you to view the YouTube video and to read the extended version of this article at our SpectrumLife.org website. By Dr. Anson Service https://bit.ly/theworldisdisordered How is autism typically presented and viewed in society today? Much of the information society appears to know about autism is derived from pathological and deficit-based viewpoints. The world has primarily been focusing on what they think is wrong with autistic people. I rarely, if ever, hear anyone from the scientific community talking about what is right with autistic people. Furthermore, there is little focus on what is wrong with the world that autistic people must live in. I often hear similar stories from people who are diagnosed with autism later in life. Their stories are about how others do not know what to think of them, and that they have spent their lives feeling misunderstood. I believe society is genuinely puzzled by autistic individuals and they are asking questions to know more. However, I think society and the scientific community have been largely asking the wrong questions, maybe even questions supporting old ideas. What autism is not. Many ideas that society has about autism are largely misguided, short-sighted, uninformed, contradictory, and unhelpful. Autism is not a set of problems and deficiencies. I often find that what some believe constitutes autism is actually the presentation of a different condition or disorder, such as anxiety, panic, mania, depression, or another disorder. But when those other disorders are co-occurring with autism, many assume it to be only autism. Conversely, autism is often not identified at all and a person may be misdiagnosed with some other disorder, like trauma, attachment disorder, or a personality disorder. If society is not going to ask better questions, and science often focuses on what is wrong, then let’s take an opportunity to ask the right questions to arrive at a more accurate idea of autism and what that is like for autistic individuals.

• What is autism like for a person who has not been traumatized by a society that does not support them? • What is an autistic person like who is doing really well? These are good questions to start with – so, let’s begin to answer them now. 1. For some autistic individuals, autism is being able to recognize the smaller details that neurotypical people do not. Neurotypical people can often be more concerned with social rules of behavior. Autistic people tend to have different operating patterns in their frontal and occipital lobes, allowing them to see patterns and details better than others. Continued on page 34 www.spectrumlife.org

The World is Disordered, continued from page 33

2. Many autistic people are very good at recognizing patterns in various settings. They try to make sense of deeper systems within a variety of things, including social settings. As a result, they can often see unnoticeable patterns in human behavior, comedy, ant colonies, architecture, and systems design. 3. Many autistic individuals are rules-driven. Rules often mean consistency. One might think, “If this happens, and that is the result, then this is what I can expect going forward.” This means you can usually count on an autistic person to follow that pattern or rule themselves if they see it being beneficial. 4. Many autistic people say they see no use in judging others by their home, job, or how a person looks. They often look beyond social expectations and just know if they like you or not and if you make them feel good. 5. Most autistic people say what they mean. Even during a meltdown, you can be fairly confident what they are saying is exactly how they feel at that moment.

It may change after they feel different, but you usually don’t have to guess whether or not an autistic person is trying to trick you or lie to you. There are usually no underlying sneaky motives or hurtful agenda. 6. They can become intently focused on certain things which may develop into a strength. Their conceptual understanding and attention to detail in something they are very interested in can be a very valuable asset. 7. They can be fantastic employees, giving their all to their job while there, trying to avoid drama, and largely contributing in ways neurotypical people cannot. 8. They think about problems differently, promoting different solutions that may solve problems better than traditional approaches. 9. When you ask a question, you are more likely to get the raw, unfiltered answer. It often won’t make sense to them to try to sugarcoat anything. They will usually just give it to you the way it is in their mind. So, no games. That’s great. Continued on next page

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The World is Disordered, continued from page 34 10. An autistic person can be your best friend and can be loyal. They are naturally very trusting. They expect an open, honest relationship that is not built on expectations that don’t align with what they want. 11. An autistic person has an inordinate amount of emotional empathy and can sometimes feel things with such intensity that they need a break from it. They usually have a very strong idea of right and wrong, what makes sense and what does not, and things like injustice and unfairness really do not do well in their mind. When they resonate with a certain cause, they may go all in and even go so far as to create an organization to work toward solutions because nobody else is. 12. Many autistic people will see things very logically, often seeing things as right or wrong, black or white, yes or no. However, when others see gray area, many autistic people do not, possibly because they understand a subject differently, or have more knowledge on it, or it simply doesn’t make logical sense to them. They tend to be less susceptible to something neurotypical people suffer from called the framing effect, which is making decisions based on emotion. When neurotypical people make decisions based on emotion, it often leads to problems. 13. They are usually very willing to share information and resources related to their areas of interest and passion. They want you to also experience that amazing thing, and that is very kind and caring of them to do that. Listen to them and you may learn something. There is a good reason for their level of interest, passion, and expertise. 14. Many are capable of superhuman things. They have likely been through difficult things and emotions that neurotypical people do not understand or feel as intently. They live in this world made by and for neurotypical people. They are carrying invisible weight. For some autistic people, just being able to get through each day and week in one piece requires incredible strength, effort, and patience that others do not see being exerted. Imagine if... as you walked around all day doing what you do, someone added five pounds of weight to the backpack you were carrying every hour. By the end of the day, you would likely be exhausted, but you would learn to carry that weight and develop strengths in that area over time. This is one of the reasons I believe autistic people are stronger than many realize — they carry so much invisible weight — weight made of expectations and punishments that they never agreed to.

Imagine what an autistic person could do in a world that honors their autism and does not see them as out-of-order or dysfunctional. Now that we have identified that autism isn’t just a set of problems to be misunderstood, let’s take a careful look at our world today. A few ways the neurotypical world is disordered: • We live in a society that is confusing, stressful, contradictory, shameless, full of unnecessary sounds and lights, ripe with trickery, hypocritical, overwhelmingly and artificially smelly, and dangerous on many levels. • Women are continually being told what acceptable beauty looks like, but the standards are impossible. And the same companies that create those standards sell expensive solutions. • Studies suggest that the average person lies to others several times each day, usually in small, confusing white lies. Unfortunately, these daily acts of accepted social dishonesty are part of this neurotypical world. • In some cultures, it is considered rude and aggressive to look others in the eye when talking. In the United States, it is culturally expected to look the other person in the eye when speaking to them. • And let’s not even get started on government contradictions and hypocrisy that we all know is there but never gets resolved. That is the sick, disordered world we all have no choice but to live in. Being autistic and trying to assimilate to this disordered world’s values, beliefs, and behaviors may feel like you are trying to put whipped cream on a turd, then wondering why it smells like poop. You can try to cover up the truth, but underneath, it’s still a turd, and our society is kind of a turd based on the previously mentioned problems. What if natural autistic traits were part of the solution? Consider autism from the vantage point where society is actually what is disordered, and natural autistic traits may very well be part of the solution. Consider the idea that many of the people throughout history who have moved society forward in a positive way were or are highly suspected of being autistic. If the positive traits of autism are not really problematic, but simply clash with this disordered turd world we live in, then we have to ask why neurotypical people aren’t bothered by it more than they are? And if they control it, because they greatly outnumber the neurodivergent, why aren’t they doing what makes sense to change it? In this context, why isn’t there a disorder based on the obvious and glaring problems of being neurotypical? Maybe it could be called Neurotypical Social Cognitive Disorder, or NSCD for short. Continued on page 36 www.spectrumlife.org

The World is Disordered, continued from page 35 Advocating for a better way. We could go on and on with these examples. The truth of the matter is because this neurotypical world we live in is not going to serve the neurodivergent, the neurodivergent must identify themselves and come together to change some of these things in this world. This situation will only worsen with time unless we step forward and do something about it. More neurodivergent people are being recognized now than at any point in history. Because it is becoming increasingly difficult to live in this neurotypical world, we are breaking down badly. Diagnostic criteria might look something like this: A. A person with NSCD has less than intense passion for any subject or special interest and is unable to focus for longer than 12 hours on any subject aside from electronics use. They also quickly switch between thoughts, ideas, and tasks rendering them unable to become an expert in any area in a very short period of time. B. They lack awareness of potential problems that could occur in crowded public places, large groups of people, and in situations where the intent and personalities of others are unknown. C. The person becomes distressed when alone, requires unnecessary noises to feel comfortable, thus avoiding silence, cannot entertain themselves well, seeks out validation with compliments, and prefers eye contact and pointless small talk. They are taught that providing small bits of untruthful information to others is considered “polite” and they constantly seek praise from others through social media. Of course this idea of pathologizing neurotypical people is just a joke. But when the tables are turned, we begin to see the absurdity of pathologizing autism in this society. They say, I say. They say autistic people have challenges with shifting between ideas, thoughts, and tasks. I say neurotypical people have a hard time concentrating on their passion for long enough to become great at it and bring them joy. They say autistic people become distressed when exposed to too many stimuli at once. I say neurotypicals have created unnecessary chaos and chronic overstimulation everywhere so that they can create and sell treatments such as anti-anxiety medications, ADHD medications, spa treatments, and vacation packages, all aimed at lowering our natural response to the artificial, unnecessary chaos. They say autistic individuals do not deal well with complex social situations. I say neurotypicals have difficulty being authentic and they struggle with honesty in their social approach.

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I know there are those who will disagree with me when I say autism itself is not the problem. However, the real disadvantage in my opinion is that those without autism greatly outnumber those with an ASD diagnosis. The neurotypical people are the ones who have created and ruled this disordered society in which autistics are forced to live and have no real say in. Autistic people were never consulted about the idea that some stimming behaviors are okay while other forms of stimming are seen as bothersome to others and need to stop. They aren’t the ones who decided effective communication includes not saying what you mean so you sound nicer. Neurotypical people get to be in charge of their own bodies and space, whereas autistic individuals often do not have a choice. They are told when to hug people, when to shake hands, how often to make eye contact, and that they need to allow people into their space. And when an autistic child or adult melts down, they get even less control over their bodies, sometimes being forced into harmful holds, or into hospitals, and are not given what they need until they comply, which is not always therapeutic or helpful. There is no shame in being neurotypical or neurodivergent. On the contrary, everybody’s neurological functioning should be respected and honored as a form of diversity. Neurodivergent people are essential to our humanity. In actuality, there is no right or normal way of thinking, just as there is no right or normal ethnic culture or gender. It is all about equity of social power. It is crucial that the world not only accept but support the idea that autistic and ADHD and other neurodivergent people are not sick and disordered, but positively different. I would also like to fully acknowledge that there are many autism traits and characteristics that are very challenging. Children who communicate differently, and those who find it most difficult to regulate their emotions and behaviors, have difficulties that many who are autistic have never had to experience. There are just too many presentations of autism to cover them all, and I do not mean to say that autism is all rainbows and butterflies. Unfortunately, however, the pendulum has swung too far toward pathology, and there is much more to it than that. Continued on next page

The World is Disordered, continued from page 36 What might it look like to be a mentally healthy autistic person? To me, an autistic individual doing well in life feels respected, dignified, believed, and able to operate in this world in a way that is free from triggers or includes tools and accommodations to reduce them significantly. But how could that look and feel in the real world? • It means the autistic person wakes up well-rested because they went to bed feeling confident about their next day. • If they have sleep problems, they have the proper, affordable treatment for that. • If they eat breakfast, they have a healthy choice of affordable and available foods that their bodies do not reject. • As they leave home, they have an idea as to what to expect going forward. Family, friends, and employers understand that consistency is important to them and give them as much advance notice of unavoidable changes as possible. • They know that their personal space is going to be respected at work. They are treated with dignity and respect by all people. • Their workplace supports sensory and schedule accommodations — dimmable lights, opportunities for breaks, and the promotion of self-care. • When they eat, they have a range of foods available that are nutritious and cater to their sensory needs. • After work, they take time to decompress. If overwhelmed, they may even melt down or shut down for a bit. However, they know that this may be part of their process of honoring their autism, and they take time for that. • If they are around others when they struggle, they pull out an autism card so other people know what’s going on and their behaviors aren’t misinterpreted, and so it doesn’t escalate. Others understand this and that is another way they feel respected. • They may get phone calls or texts from friends. Everyone understands that a call may be short, and there may not be much talking, but they still feel good knowing people care enough to call, chat, or text. • They go outside and spend some time exercising, perhaps in nature, where their brain may be most at home.

• They may see a text from friends to go out and do something as a group later in the week, but the friends ask them far enough in advance so they can plan for it and mentally and emotionally settle into the idea. • They feel comforted that they have the option to work at home when they feel the need and can take ample time off for their interests. • They set out their clothes and prepare for the next day. Then they lay down and sleep, possibly with their weighted blanket made with sensory-friendly materials, knowing they had a great day and are content with doing it all again tomorrow. This is just one example of a great day for an autistic person. This example represents a single adult who works for a wonderful employer. Neurodivergent individuals are speaking up and uniting, and it is past time for the world to listen. Learn more at: www.NeurodivergentDoctor.com References: 1. Mottron, L. The power of autism. Nature 479, 33–35 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/479033a 2. Rudacille, D. Playing by the rules. Spectrum (2011) https://bit.ly/rudacillejuly2011 3. Yi L, Pan J, Fan Y, Zou X, Wang X, Lee K. Children with autism spectrum disorder are more trusting than typically developing children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116, Issue 3, Pages 755-761 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.05.005 4. Jaarsma, P., Gelhaus, P. & Welin, S. Living the categorical imperative: autistic perspectives on lying and truth telling–between Kant and care ethics. Med Health Care and Philos 15, 271–277 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-011-9363-7 5. Shah, P., Catmur, C. & Bird, G. Emotional decision-making in autism spectrum disorder: the roles of interoception and alexithymia. Molecular Autism 7, 43 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-016-0104-x 6. Smith, A. The Empathy Imbalance Hypothesis of Autism: A Theoretical Approach to Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Autistic Development. Psychol Rec 59, 489–510 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395675

• Once they finish exercising, they end their evening by watching their favorite YouTube videos and chatting with friends online. They only feel the need to do that for an hour or two because they are not retreating from anything. Dr. Anson Service is a licensed mental health counselor, and part of a team that assesses individuals for autism, ADHD, and more at Adventure Psychological Services. Dr. Service has written for various magazines and authored several books and is happy to further educate others on autism and other areas of neurodiversity. He and his wife have raised three young men and are now raising their puppy named Luna. www.neurodivergentdoctor.com.

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HEALTH + WELLNESS

Yoga for Every Body

Accessible yoga for all.

By Ryan Lockard, CSCS*D, CSPS*D and Galen Torrey Fairbanks

Providing access to fitness and healthy living for people with special health needs has been our mission at Specialty Athletic Training since we were founded in 2012. We started by providing individualized 1:1 personal training instruction and then added small group fitness classes. The pandemic made it difficult for many of our clients to not only access our services, but many of their other daily activities. Being isolated in quarantine with limited social outlets, we noticed that their mental health was being dramatically affected. We reached out to our dear friend Galen Torrey Fairbanks to create a unique and inclusive virtual yoga series. In August of 2020, we offered our first virtual yoga series for our clients and their families and we have been offering 5-10 week series ever since! The classes are for all ages and ability levels, and we encourage all family members to participate. Galen, how does yoga benefit people with disabilities? Yoga can be helpful for all people, including and perhaps especially those with disabilities, in feeling better in their bodies, calmer in their minds, and more connected to their communities.

student to create their own unique sound while supporting the nervous system in feeling calm and creating community with each other. We incorporate playful movement through poses like Vrksasana or Tree where I ask students to embody their favorite tree and then give them options to reach their arms out like branches, or stay still, or move in the wind. Since everyone’s version of the pose is celebrated, everyone feels included and successful. Balancing poses like Tree also have functional benefits like helping with balance, proprioception or knowing where your body is in space, and coordination, as the pose is asymmetrical. Moments of more mellow movement and energy can assist in establishing healthy self-soothing techniques. We often give ourselves a hug and then massage our arms, feel the support of the chair or floor beneath us, audibly exhale our breath, or do restorative Yoga poses like Stonehenge. These types of practices help ease the body in and out of movement, support feeling safe in low-key environments, and help create healthy relationships with our bodies and self. What are some techniques that Spectrum Life Magazine readers can practice at home?

Through my training, research, and experience teaching yoga to individuals with special health needs with Specialty Athletic Training, I’ve found that students respond well to the social aspect of class, playful and inclusive breathwork and movement, and self-soothing practices. After class, most students express feeling calm and in less physical pain than they were before class. The consistency and predictability of meeting each week at the same time, with the same group, and repeating the same postures allows students to feel connected and safe with each other and in their own bodies. When the nervous system feels safe, the body feels relaxed. We’re able to socially engage, look and listen, mirror emotions with others, and our heart rate and digestion are optimal. This is a state that as humans, we want to be in more often than not and it allows us to be in relationship with others. It may be especially helpful for individuals with disabilities, or those who feel nervous, overactive or underactive, or have difficulty with communication, regulating emotions, or sleeping. This familiarity allows us to learn and practice additional Yoga skills that help us stay in this relaxed state, and by keeping these playful and inclusive, everyone feels successful. The Pranayama IN THISpractices SECTIONwe do often include vocalizations like or breath creating the sound of a boat horn, owl, or bumble bee on the exhale breath. This fun and creative exercise allows each

1.) Bhramari Pranayama or Bumble Bee Breath Breathe in. As you breathe out, make a humming or buzzing sound like a bumble bee makes. You can do this with your lips open or sealed. Hands can rest wherever is comfortable or you might place your hands on your chest, top of your head or forehead, below or over your eyes, or over your ears to feel the vibrations from your sounds. Do as many rounds as you like and notice how you feel during and afterwards. Continued on next page

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Yoga for Every Body, continued from page 38

2.) Vrksasana or Tree Pose

3.) Stonehenge Pose

From seated or standing, begin to walk, march, or jog in place. As you feel ready, keep one foot lifted off the ground and use the support of a wall or chair as needed to balance. Turn the lifted knee out towards the side of your space and place your toes on the floor or the sole of your foot on the inseam of your opposite leg. From here, you might lift one or both arms out or up; you might flow in the wind or stand tall and strong. After a few moments, shake out your legs and try it on the other side!

Begin laying down on your back with your feet near a chair or couch. As you’re ready, lift your lower legs and rest them on the seat of the chair or couch cushions. Rest your hands on your torso and focus on the texture of your clothing or the rise and fall of your body as you breathe in and out. You might place an eye pillow over your closed eyes or a blanket over your body. Relax here for as long as feels comfortable.

Galen Torrey Fairbanks believes that yoga should be accessible to all and is excited to introduce simple yet powerful Yoga exercises to the Specialty Athletic Training community! Since 2014, Galen has taught yoga in studios, gyms, outpatient facilities, and more; managed successful yoga studios; and graduated from a trauma-informed teacher training through Living Yoga. Through an ongoing workshop series with Specialty Athletic Training, she shares yoga shapes, breathing techniques, meditations, and philosophy with the intention that students and their families walk away with tools to gently move their bodies and calm their minds. No previous yoga experience is necessary. Visit www.galentorreyoga.com.

Photo courtesy of Lavinia Nitu - Ma.Ni. Photo Studio

Photo credit: Bekah Taylor Photography

Interested in joining Galen’s class? Our next 5-week series with Galen will begin on Sunday, January 2nd, 2022. The cost is $100 ($20/class). You can register by emailing us at: info@specialtyathletictraining.com.

Ryan Lockard is the Founder and CEO of Specialty Athletic Training, a personal training company located in the Portland Metro area and Central Oregon, that specializes in fitness programs for children and adults with special needs. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NCSA), Certified Special Populations Specialist (NSCA), and currently serves on the board of directors for the Autism Society of America. He can be reached at Ryan@SpecialtyAthleticTraining.com or www.SpecialtyAthleticTraining.com.

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therapy THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS AND RESOURCES

IN THIS SECTION Adventure Psychological Services .............................................................. 42 Spectrum Life Resource Directory............................................................46 Upcoming Autism Empowerment Events.............................................47

• Picked up free of charge by Donate for Charity • Proceeds go to Autism Empowerment and Spectrum Life Magazine

PEDIATRIC THERAPY CENTER Supporting Children With Developmental Needs • Occupational Therapy • Physical Therapy • Speech Therapy • Groups & Camps

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1815 NW 169th Place • Beaverton www.BOLDPediatrictherapy.com www.spectrumlife.org

THERAPY

Service for the Neurodivergent Community. By John Krejcha

clinicians who are skilled at psychological assessments. We also welcome interns. How did you come up with the name Adventure Psychological Services? I wanted something different in mental health; something that captured more of my spirit and would attract like-minded clinicians. I have been all about adventure and I feel like life adventures are one of the best treatments for mental health issues. But the idea behind the name was inspired by a couple of friends of mine who opened Adventure Dental in Vancouver, and their practice theme was so wonderful and fit what I was doing so well that I ran the idea by them about using the Adventure part in our practice. They loved the idea, so I went for it. Do you have a personal connection to someone on the autism spectrum? Serving Vancouver and Southwest Washington for almost nine years, Adventure Psychological Services is a mental health practice that openly welcomes individuals, couples, and families of all backgrounds, orientations, and identities. They do their best to honor pronouns and take pride with you in your neurodivergent or gender identity. Spectrum Life Magazine recently connected with founder Dr. Anson Service (aka The Neurodivergent Doctor), to learn more about how his practice serves autistic and neurodivergent communities. Dr. Service, thank you so much for your time today. Please tell us the backstory of Adventure Psychological Services. We started up in 2013 in the basement of a building in downtown Vancouver. We quickly outgrew it as more clinicians wanted to join our group. Most of the clinicians are independent and enjoy the camaraderie and support of being in a group of different clinicians with different backgrounds and focuses. We expanded to our Hazel Dell location where we have mental health providers, a medication prescriber, and

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Not many people know this about me, but I was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. I was diagnosed as an adult, which is happening more often now that the understanding of autism has developed. Understanding that about me really helped me understand a lot about my entire life. It is quite a mental process to go through, and I still get emotional about it from time to time. Not in a bad way, but in a grateful way, and I have learned to have more understanding and compassion for myself and others throughout that process. I really feel like the knowledge of being autistic is a gift, and I have been very selective about whom I share that gift with. If people don’t need to know or I feel like they cannot be entrusted with that gift, I do not offer it, meaning I do not tell them. With that being said, this magazine is intended for the autistic community, and I hope this knowledge about me is respected. I also have a long history of being very close to autistic individuals. My wife (we’ve been married 27 years) has also been diagnosed autistic, and I have a son who is as well. Continued on next page

Adventure Psychological Services, continued from page 42

I highly suspect my late father was autistic although that is only speculation, but based on some pretty sound data. A lot of people I know who are autistic have family members that are also autistic. Funny enough, several of my colleagues with whom I attended graduate school have been diagnosed as well within the past few years. The term, “birds of a feather flock together”, makes sense to me in this way. I have always seemed to get along with other neurodivergent folks. What inspired you to create a practice that serves autistic and neurodivergent communities? I did not start out knowingly serving the neurodivergent community. I was afraid of what I did not understand, and I did not understand autism well at all. I did spend time as a graduate student working with children 8-12 years old diagnosed with ASD, but they all just seemed like variations of myself. I did not really understand why they were considered so dysfunctional. Later, after realizing I too was autistic, that made more sense to me. A LOT made more sense to me about my life. Living in a messy world as an undiagnosed autistic individual and being married to an undiagnosed autistic wife felt like a game I did not get the rulebook to. Once I thought I understood how to play it, the rules changed, and changed frequently and without notice. On top of that, the rules sometimes don’t make sense, so I spent a lot of time, effort, and resources just trying to survive, often with my head in a fog. Don’t get me wrong… I have had a good time in life, but I have certainly fallen into some potholes along the way that I didn’t see coming.

Fast forward to today. Because I have been immersed in a neurodivergent world and raised in a neurodivergent household, identifying others who are neurodivergent seems to come naturally to me. I am emphatic about challenging many of the myths and misunderstandings about autism in the world, especially within the healthcare community. I also have a lot of empathy for neurodivergent folks, because I get the struggle. I have been through hell in my life because I did not understand myself, my strengths, or my limitations. And I have a LOT of limitations and things that I have struggled with. When you spend much of your life being mislabeled, miscategorized by the school system, by church, by people who don’t know you, by friends, and society, and then finally are able to start making sense of it, it is like a whole new world opens up. It is a world that I believe not many people have the privilege and honor of knowing. Sometimes I wish I had known this about me as a child, but back then autism was still considered a form of schizophrenia, and that does not fit me, so it is understandable that what was going on with me was missed as a child. I want to point out that I am not saying I have all the answers or know myself so well. In fact, if anything, I feel like the more I understand, the more evident it is that I lack understanding about life and these things. When I was 17 years old, I knew everything. Those were the days (sarcasm). The more I learn and experience, the more I become aware of my ignorance and limitations, but I also am becoming more aware of my strengths and those attributes that are good. Continued on page 44 www.spectrumlife.org

Adventure Psychological Services, continued from page 43 What type of services do you offer at Adventure Psychological Services? We offer psychological assessments and diagnoses, including autism and ADHD assessments, as well as counseling and medication management. We offer in-person and telehealth services. What age range and intersecting identities do you work with? We like to stick with ages 13 years old and older. There are clinics that specialize in testing younger children, but we have found fewer places that focus on older individuals, especially females, BIPOC, and our LGBTQ+ community members. It truly is our pleasure to work with all genders and people of all backgrounds.

A typical autism assessment includes a set of questionnaires, some of which are completed prior to the first one-hour interview appointment, and some after. Then the face-toface testing happens, which we hope to be able to do over telehealth soon, which is anywhere from two to three hours long, depending on several factors. Then the data is compiled, interpreted by qualified licensed professionals, and a report is written to explain the results which includes diagnosis if appropriate and those results are discussed in a one-hour feedback session. I made a short video about this on YouTube to show people who do not know what to expect. What is the average waiting period for assessment and diagnosis? Sometimes the wait can be several months, but sometimes you can get in within a couple of weeks. The report takes several weeks, and sometimes longer to complete. After an assessment, what comes next? That is something we discuss in the feedback sessions. I encourage everyone who is newly diagnosed to learn as much as they can. Make a list of triggers that they can share with those close to them. Create plans with loved ones in case there are signs of meltdown being exhibited. They can also attend a monthly group we run for autistic adults at the office. What kind of insurance plans do you accept? Insurance depends on the individual clinician. At this time we do not take Medicaid insurance for testing, but we hope to figure out how soon. How would somebody get started to determine what would be best for them? You can schedule a 10-minute no-cost consultation with one of our clinicians if you have questions about testing.

How has COVID-19 changed the way that you provide your services? Some therapists have gone to telehealth, while others have stayed in person. We wear masks, sanitize, and use plastic barriers. Have you noticed a recent increase in demand for services for teens or adults? Yes, both. But I am not sure if that is because we are becoming more known for this, or if there is an actual increase in need. You mentioned offering autism and ADHD assessments and diagnoses. What does a typical assessment look like? This is an interesting question because we are trying to formulate an autism assessment that is far more streamlined and affordable. We hope to be able to help as many people as possible without them having to be stressed out about the cost. Insurance often pays for an assessment, but I have received hundreds of messages from people who cannot afford an assessment because of not having insurance or insurance refusing to cover assessments like this.

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Where are you located and how can people connect with Adventure Psychological Services? Address: 717 NE 61st Street, Suite 202, Vancouver, WA 98665 Website: www.adventurepsychological.ansonservice.com Phone: 360-718-6548 Facebook: www.facebook.com/adventurelearningandassessment Would you mind sharing some insights about autistic clients you have helped support? What is most inspiring is when a person comes in for an assessment after having been through a lifetime of being misunderstood, and having to react behaviorally and psychologically to the narrative that has been thrust upon them, and the narrative they have developed in their own minds about themselves. When they are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder we see a change take place, often right in front of us. It is almost

Continued on next page

Adventure Psychological Services, continued from page 44 like a new program is being downloaded on a computer that is made for the operating system that the computer was created with. It is like a light comes on with a dimmer. It gets brighter and brighter. You are there with them as they start to realize, bit by bit, that the experiences, when viewed through the lens of autism, actually make sense. Often, they report this is the first time in their lives things from their past make sense. Sometimes there are tears of joy. Sometimes it is shock and amazement. Sometimes it is not a surprise at all and they just think it is good to know going forward. Sometimes there is anger that it was not identified earlier and their experiences could have been different. Best of all, there is self-acceptance and forgiveness, and self-compassion. It truly is a beautiful thing to witness. After they leave, I think there are a host of other cognitive processes that they experience, such as fear in telling others and anxiety about being told they cannot be autistic because (insert false reasoning here). I find that some may also experience imposter syndrome, fear of appropriating a diagnosis, and they may wonder if they have just been faking autism symptoms their whole life. I also understand that many will see an increase in traits and characteristics associated with autism after a diagnosis, which they may be confused about. I believe the next phase is that they come to terms with it and are kinder to themselves and allow themselves to be more authentic going forward. This is an interesting process that I have observed in others and myself and I will be recording a video about this soon. You recently started a video blog on YouTube called The Neurodivergent Doctor. Tell us about this? My YouTube videos are as much for me as they are for anyone else. I am in a unique position as far as autistic individuals go. I am able to see people as a counselor and I am able to share with the people who watch my videos information that I have learned, or experiences that have proven to be valuable to others. I am able to use my experience as a neurodivergent person as well as having a family that is neurodivergent.

What are your goals for the future for Adventure Psychological Services? I would like to be able to duplicate what we are doing around the world. I had a person from another country message me last week telling me that his specialist would not assess him for autism because it was impossible for anybody over the age of eight to be diagnosed with autism. He sought a second opinion and received the same results. I would like to make testing and services available and accessible to people around the world. Yes, that is impossible, maybe, but I will try. The best way I can think of to do that is to be able to reach psychologists around the world and share with them training and resources so that they can test others. This may be best done by reaching those who are actually autistic so they can identify open-minded providers. I have created a growing list on my website at neurodivergentdoctor.com of psychologists who tell me they are able to identify autism in adults who have been missed. What else is important for Spectrum Life Magazine readers to know? This was a thorough questionnaire. I would like to point out my use of sarcasm, idioms, and metaphors, all thought to be absent in autistic individuals. While I may have a little harder time with this than most people, I find them very effective in communication (and I sometimes overuse them) and would like to challenge the idea that autistic people “can’t” do that, or anything else, for that matter. Also, getting the word out about these issues is most important to me, and if people can share content on my YouTube channel, TikTok, or other useful channels by other advocates with whomever they can, that would likely make the biggest impact.

At my office, I can only share this information with six or eight people a day in person, but through YouTube and other platforms such as TikTok, I am able to reach thousands or hundreds of thousands. As previously stated, I really want to dispel the myths and correct misunderstandings about autism and help people find some answers. So many people are suffering because they are not being taken seriously by many healthcare professionals, and many within the education system are not dealing with this well either.

John Krejcha is co-founder of Autism Empowerment and serves as Programs Director. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of

People are looking for help, answers, acceptance, and validation, and I hope to provide some of those things to as many people as possible through YouTube, TikTok and my website.

Spectrum Life Magazine and is a co-host for the Autism Empowerment

Website: https://neurodivergentdoctor.com YouTube: https://bit.ly/neurodivergentdoctor TikTok: @neurodivergentdoctor

is the only one in the family who is not on the autism spectrum, he

Podcast. John is married to co-founder Karen Krejcha and is the father of two amazing children and their feisty cat, Zula. While John identifies as a neurodivergent and loving ally. www.spectrumlife.org

SPECTRUM LIFE

resource directory

www.spectrumlife.org

Spectrum Life Magazine serves youth, adults, and families in the autism community. We seek to partner with nonprofit organizations, businesses, support groups, educators and professionals from a variety of fields who desire to support our community in a meaningful way. If you are an autism-friendly provider who desires to connect with new clients, we can help you make those connections through online directory listings. We also offer advertising and sponsorship opportunities for Spectrum Life Magazine and the Autism Empowerment Podcast. Please contact John Krejcha at spectrumlife@autismempowerment.org or call (360) 852-8369. Spectrum Life Magazine and Autism Empowerment do not endorse, promote or guarantee the services or outcome of any one provider or type of therapy.

We currently list over 1,300 autism-friendly service providers from Oregon, Washington and throughout the United States. Some of the directory categories where you are able to search for providers in your region include: Adult Services Advocacy Assessment and Diagnosis Autism-Friendly Businesses Camps Caregiving Chiropractic Dentists Educational Support Employment Assistance Financial Planning Government Agencies Housing Legal Medical Professionals Psychiatrists/Psychologists Recreation Safety Schools Special Needs Trusts Sports and Fitness Support Groups Therapy and Interventions Transportation Travel The SpectrumLife.org website contains current and past issues of Spectrum Life Magazine, supplemental blog stories, Autism Empowerment Podcast features and a robust autism and disabilty resource directory. Please share this valuable Autism Empowerment program with your friends, family and colleagues. Thank you for your support! To learn more about our Spectrum Life Resource Directory, please visit and bookmark www.SpectrumLife.org. If you have a resource you’d like to see added, please contact us at spectrumlife@autismempowerment.org or through our website.

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As an Independent Apartment Community (IAC), Stephen’s Place offers positive living options for adults with developmental disabilities. fo With forty-one modern apartments, our focus is on community; empowering and enabling each resident to be a productive contributing member of their community.

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Apartment rent is inclusive of all meals, supportive services, nursing & ADL assistance and programming including: Job Skills Training, Placement & Coaching Life Skills Training Ho Horticultural Therapy Group Fitness Classes & Yoga Arts & Crafts Movie Nights Sporting Events Group Outings to Local Attractions Transportation Services We also offer a Day Program to people who live outside of the Stephen’s Place community, but would like to build peer relationships

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