Autism Bookshelf: The Devil In His Own Words

This is the first post in an occasional series, Autism Bookshelf, reviewing important books in the history of autism and autism intervention.

Whenever I hear an author’s ideas routinely reviled, I become very curious.   I always want to hear the devil in this own words and make up my own mind.   This is the impulse that led me to read Bruno Bettelheim’s The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self. 

DDA Provides Details on Short Term Funding

Happy New Year, Motivations! 

In the last post, I reported that the Development Disabilities Administration (DDA) pledged to provide short term funding in 2012 for all waiting list families in the 'crisis prevention' category.   Since that time, if you are on the DDA waiting list and in this category you should have received a letter dated December 15, 2011 providing more information.   The program is being called the 'DDA Waiting List Initiative' and the funds entitled 'Services of Short Duration.'   The letter was accompanied by a User Guide (also available here) with descriptions of the eligible services and how to apply.

In our case, our son's waiting list Service Coordinator was right on top of this.  She immediately scheduled time with us to discuss the funding, identify a need and plan for the application.  If your family is listed as 'crisis prevention' and you either haven't seen the letter or need similar assistance with your app, call your Service Coordinator right away.  

Consistent with the improved communication with families promised last year, the DDA also held 2 question & answer session conference calls.  The second call was at noon today and provided some useful information: