Important Milestones News for May

Monthly Milestones | MAY 2021

Milestones National Autism Conference, June 16-17 | Virtual & On-Demand

Registrants can look forward to...

- 80+ virtual sessions for professionals, family members and self-advocates

- On-demand access to sessions and professional development through August 15

- Select LIVE sessions – engage with experts in real time

- Continuing Education in 12 disciplines for autism professionals

- Spanish translations available for select sessions

- Opportunities to network with attendees and speakers

- A virtual Sponsor and Exhibitor Expo with giveaways!

- A virtual art exhibit featuring the work of artists with ASD from across the globe

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2021 Keynote Speakers

Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, MA

June 16

Morénike Giwa Onaiwu is a woman of color on the autism spectrum, an educator, public speaker, parent of children on the spectrum, and advocate. She is involved in various social justice activism endeavors and is a contributing author/editor of several publications, abstracts, and books focusing on community engagement, intersectionality, disability, advocacy, and inclusion.

Alix Generous

June 17

Alix Generous is a mental health activist, writer, entrepreneur, child therapist, and artist. Her TED talk, “My Inner Life with Asperger's” has been viewed over 1.9 million times and she has spoken around the world about her life experiences. As an #ActuallyAutistic influencer, Alix Generous is passionate about her work in autism and mental health advocacy.

FOR PROFESSIONALS:

Successfully Serving Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders in

Social & Recreational Settings

Presenters: Milestones Program Director Beth Thompson, MSSA, LSW

Chris Garr, Chief Executive Officer, Youth Challenge

Wednesday, May 26th 2021

11:30am -1pm EST

Do you know who to call for help when a family approaches you about accommodations for a child with disabilities?

In this workshop, staff that support individuals accessing and utilizing services at recreational centers will learn techniques to help inform program planning, how to deliver them with reasonable accommodations, and who to call for resources when you get stuck.

Objectives:

Gain practical knowledge about how individuals with ASD may present themselves in social and recreational settings
Learn the basic characteristics of what autism spectrum disorders are and how they may impact a family's or individual's ability to participate in public social and recreational activities
Hear evidence-based everyday accommodations and interventions that help individuals with ASD equally engage and enjoy social and recreational activities
Discuss strategies to increase community engagement with individuals with ASD

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FOR SELF-ADVOCATES:

Stay connected, meet new friends and learn from others with the

Milestones Self-Advocate Social Group,

an online network for individuals with a formal or self-diagnosis of ASD or other disabilities.

Ages 16+

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monthly Discussion Group Meeting

Thursday, May 13, 4:00pm – 5:00pm

Community members can meet in the Meeting Room voice channel on Discord to engage in casual conversation regarding topics of interest.

Zoom Event – Special Interest: Show & Tell

Friday, May 14, 5:30pm – 6:30pm

For this activity, we will be talking about and showing off our special interests. Each participant will be given time to share. You can share in any way that best represents your interests (e.g. showing off your collection, talking about your interest, playing a YouTube video about it). This activity will be hosted via Zoom. The link to join the activity will be shared within the #Announcements section on the Discord site prior to the event.

Saturday Night Book Club

Saturday, May 22, 7:30pm – 8:30pm

During the Book Club, members will meet to discuss the books they have recently been reading. We will take turns sharing the title of the book, what we enjoyed about it, things we may have disliked about it, and share suggestions with each other about other potential books to read. This is intended to be a relaxing conversation hour.

Card and Board Game Group - Magic the Gathering and other card games

Sunday, May 23, 5:30pm – 6:30pm

This group will meet via a Google Meets link (to be shared in the Announcements channel) to show off their favorite trading cards, build decks together and discuss strategies. Per community choice, Magic the Gathering will be the focus of this upcoming event. However, feel free to share about your Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and other collections!

Monthly Minecraft

Sunday, May 30, 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Come build with us! Each month, we will be meeting to play Minecraft together as a group and to chat in Discord.

For this activity you should have:

Minecraft for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, XboxOne, or PC (Bedrock Edition)
For information on how to setup Minecraft cross-system play, click here.

*Individuals without a copy of the game can still participate in this Meet & Greet activity via Discord Voice Chat, but may miss out on certain aspects of the social experience.

How do I join?

Contact Nathan at nmorgan@milestones.org and complete a brief admission form to receive your personalized link to be accepted into the group.

Click the button below for more information about the group and how to join.

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18th Annual Autism Seminar Series

A Better Understanding of the Spectrum of Autism and Practical Interventions

Milestones is proud to be a part of this virtual series designed to improve understanding of the medical, behavioral, social, sensory and educational issues related to ASD.

An emphasis will be placed on practical intervention techniques. Presenters are local and national experts in the field of autism.

MAY SEMINAR:

Transition to Adulthood

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 | 5pm – 6pm

Beth Thompson, MSSA, LSW, Program Director, Milestones Autism Resources

Thank you to everyone who joined us this year for our first

virtual spring event!

Whether you created a fundraising team, entered the online raffle or made a donation, you played an important part in helping us surpass our goal and raising more than $57,000 this month for the

Milestones autism Helpdesk. That is amazing!

Here are this year's top fundraisers:

Adam Berebitsky

Sam Pines

Brian Taylor

Jon Dittrich

Ilana Hoffer Skoff

Thank You to Our Committee Members:

Co-Chairs Jon Dittrich and Brian Taylor

Grace Blatt

Anne Davalla

Tabatha Devine

Fran Dittrich

Claudia Gomez

Hannah Harp

Daniel Holtz

Courtney Lepene

Miles McDaniel

Matt Soble

Victor Torres

Lisa Zimmerman

Still wish to donate?

You can still support Strike It Big Your Way by clicking here.

Thank you for joining our mission!

Remember Milestones when shopping on Amazon!

Visit smile.amazon.com and select Milestones Autism Resources as your charitable organization. The Amazon Smile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to Milestones. It costs you nothing extra to give!

DONATE TODAY