Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

8/08/08
Story by Peggy Graham

JCCC hosts autism conference

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Johnson County Community College division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host a free conference, Autism Spectrum Disorders: Beyond Diagnosis, Oct. 16-17 on its campus. The conference will include information for family members, educators and healthcare providers of children with autism spectrum disorders and information for teens and adults on the spectrum as well as those who support them.

Oct. 16

• 6-7 p.m., opening reception, Carlsen Center lobby
  
  
• 7 p.m., Life on and Slightly to the Right of the Autism Spectrum: An Inside View for Success, Polsky Theatre
  
  Keynote speaker Stephen Shore, Ph.D,  gives an autobiographical account of  his life as he relates the challenges facing people on the autism spectrum. Topics include classroom accommodation, teaching of musical instruments, as well as issues faced by adults such as relationships, self-advocacy, higher education and employment.  The session ends with a short audience activity demonstrating what it feels like to have autism and to struggle through some of the challenges surrounding communication and socialization.
  
  Nonverbal until age 4 and diagnosed with "atypical development with strong autistic tendencies," Shore was regarded as "too sick" to be treated as an outpatient and recommended for institutionalization. Shore has gone on to complete his doctoral dissertation at Boston University on matching best practice to the needs of people on the autism spectrum. He has written several books, Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Ask and Tell: Self-advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum, and the critically acclaimed Understanding Autism for Dummies. Shore recently accepted professorship of Curriculum and Instruction at Adelphi University, Garden City, N.Y., where he will teach courses in special education and teaching students with autism.

Oct. 17

• 8-9 a.m., continental breakfast, Atrium connecting the Regnier Center and Nerman Museum.
  
  
• 9 a.m.-noon, Learning, Teaching, Assisting Family, M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Auditorium, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art 
  
  Presenting panel consists of University of Kansas experts Kathyrn Ellerbeck, M.D., developmental pediatrician, and Matthew Reese, Ph.D., psychologist, both in The Center for Child Health and Development, KU Medical Center, and Debra Kamps, Ph.D., associate director and senior scientist, KU’s Juniper Garden Children’s Project.
  
  Video and panel discussion, presented by students, faculty and staff who support people on the spectrum, follows.
  
  
• 12:15-1:45 p.m., luncheon, 319 Commons Building
  
  Keynote speaker is Kate Duffy, co-author of Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism. While operating a home-based writing business, she raised two sons diagnosed as having sensory integration disorder and Asperger syndrome. She has also worked at Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley in a number of capacities – English and entrepreneurship adjunct faculty, mentor for new adjunct faculty,  learning specialist for students with neurological conditions and K-12 entrepreneurship coordinator.
  
  
• 2-4 p.m., speakers  from the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, Hudson Auditorium
  
  Ari Ne’eman, president, ASAN, a non-profit organization of adults and youth on the autism spectrum, is currently studying political science and economics at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County as a Sondheim Scholar of Public Affairs. Ne’eman is an Asperger's autistic and has been active in the autistic culture, neurodiversity and disability rights movements for a number of years. He first became involved in self-advocacy as a high school student, arguing for his own inclusion and access to high-level academic coursework. He later became involved in disability and education policy advocacy. 
  
  Scott Michael Robertson, vice-president, ASAN, is a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University-University Park. His in-progress dissertation research at Penn State is examining how online communities can assist autistic self-advocates in developing resources for college transition for autistic students. Robertson diagnosed himself as an Asperger's autistic person during his freshman year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1999. Since graduating summa cum laude from RPI with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2003, Robertson has actively pursued many avenues of advocacy for the autism community.

The Autism Spectrum conference is free and open to the public. For more information or to reserve a space in the conference, contact Susan McGarvey, 913-469-8500, ext. 4327, or mcgarvey@jccc.edu.