J-Mac to speak and sign autobiography in Geneva

Jason "J-Mac" McElwain

Ontario ARC is sponsoring a free autism symposium featuring Jason "J-Mac" McElwain -- a young man with autism who is most famous for his 2006 game at Athena-Greece High School, where he scored 20 points in less than three minutes.  J-Mac and his father, David, will speak about the game that changed everything and life with autism.  J-Mac will also be available to sign copies of his autobiography, The Game of My Life: A True Story of Challenge, Triumph, and Life with Autism.  In addition, a panel of local experts -- including our own Maggi Sullivan, the agency's autism coordinator -- will discuss autism spectrum disorders and host a question and answer session. 

The event is a part of the Geneva Reads project -- a series of community events based around books to promote literacy in the community.  This series revolves around The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

Details! Details! Details!
Who: Jason "J-Mac" McElwain, local autism experts
When: Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Time:  6 p.m. -- Book Signing; 6:30 p.m. -- presentation begins.
Where: Geneva High School Library, 101 Carter Road, Geneva
Cost: None, event is free to the community and no need to RSVP
More info?  Contact Noreen Quinn at (585) 919-2022

Watch the video that started is all after the jump.

Cartridges for Kids

This month, the individuals worked very hard to collect lots and lots of computer and printer cartridges around the campus.

We have numerous collection boxes around the campus. Once everyone returned from gathering the cartridges, we prepare and package them for shipping. Many people on the campus are glad to get rid of their cartridges and say thank you, when we collect them.

When the box is ready for shipping, we call Fed Ex and they come and pick up the package. In a couple weeks we will receive a check for the work we did.

The checks aren't a lot of money, but we put them toward a group activity that we agree on.

The whole process takes about 2-3 hours to complete.

FLCC College Experience

Recently, we invited Lynn Bessell, Administrative Coordinator at the Eberhardt Center to speak with us about the process of buying a home. Our monthly theme this month is Home of your own, so we thought we would try something new and learn a bit about Real Estate.






Lynn works as a part time realtor for Realty USA and she was kind enough to invite a few friends with her from 1st Priority Mortgage. The ladies handed out packets explaining the process and answered questions we had prepared for them. They made a difficult process a lot easier to explain. We really appreciated Lynn’s help and the friends we made in our community.

Alert: Medicaid hearing for NY State in Rochester on Thursday 1/20

The Medicaid State Redesign Team is hosting open public forums across the state to hear what you have to say about reducing costs, increasing efficiency and improving quality of the system.  Their next meeting will be held in Rochester...

Thursday, January 20

10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Strong Museum of Play

One Manhattan Square, Rochester, NY

Additional materials and information is available at the state's Web site.  Take an active role in this very serious matter!

Related news stories:

• Daily Messenger, serving Ontario County: State solicits public input on Medicaid hearing on Thursday in Rochester
• Democrat and Chronicle, serving Rochester, NY: State team on Medicaid resign to hold forum here

Dad develops iPad ap to help son talk

We've document several news stories here about how the iPad can help people with disabilities communicate.  But, here's the story of a father who created a simple and very affordable application for the iPad.




For more information, visit Verbal Victor online.

Community Experience gets a visit from its new four-legged friend

The Community Experience had a special visit from some new friends at the Ontario County Sheriff's Department -- Deputy Pat Fitzgerald, his 7 year old German Sheppard Frankie and Sgt. Greg Shaffer. Deputy Fitzgerald spoke to the group about Frankie and how she is used for finding illegal drugs, protecting people and locating people. Frankie is from the Czech Republic, like our other furry friend Daphne, another dog from K-9 unit. Deputy Fitzgerald explained how he and Frankie started working together and how she was trained. The group got the chance to pet Frankie as she is very gentle and well trained. Deputy Fitzgerald explained that Frankie would be retiring in the next couple years because German Sheppards are in active duty until they are approximately 9-10 years old. The Community Experience will be baking a new batch of dog treats for the K-9 unit and visiting them again soon.

News Round Up

• Sun Sentinel, serving southern Florida: Springs woman with disabilities lights up the business world
• Observer-Dispatch, Utica, NY: Service meets spiritual needs of disabled
• The Washington Post, based out of Washington, D.C.: Vaccine's link to autism discredited again with finding of fraud in research
• The Associated Press: Simon, Still, Weir sing on autism film soundtrack
• WebMD Health News, WebMD.com: Back to back pregnancies may increase autism risk

Happy Birthday, Ann!

Who doesn't love a birthday party?  What isn't there to love?  Cake, frosting, singing, candles and being surrounded by friends, family and all the people you love -- those are all things that bring a serious smile to even the most grumpiest of  faces.   

Sarah gives Ann a hug and rose during Wednesday's festivities.

Ann Lupo -- an agency volunteer through the Senior Companion program -- recently celebrated her 90th birthday.  And to mark this special occassion, our Canandaigua-based community learning centers threw her a surprise birthday party inviting her Ontario ARC friends and family.  Participants got together to make a healthy lunch of spaghetti and meatballs and decorated the tables with angel centerpieces. 

We don't just have birthday parties for anyone -- Ann is a great friend to the agency.  Her volunteer efforts give individuals in our programs the opportunity to one-on-one time in the community  It also allows our staff to find more activities tailored to meet the needs and wants of participants.  She is much loved by both staff and participants at the Congregational Church Community Learning Center. 

Happy Birthday, Ann!