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1601 Our Life in a Nutty Shell, Living with Autism and Loving It

Friday, July 15, 2005: 3:30 PM-5:00 PM

209 (Nashville Convention Center)

This session will outline the lives of a family, from receiving a diagnosis to successfully living with the challenges and the triumphs. An overview will be presented of successful ways to obtain services, work within the system and provide for a full community based life for the entire family. I. Introduction

II. Diagnosis

III. Making a Plan for Our Life

IV. The Pitfalls and the Successes

V. Acquiring An Autism Lifestyle and Rediscovering Our Family Away from ASD

VI. A Continum of Services, Making Lemonade out of a Lemon via A Children's Medicaid Waiver

VII. Defining Triumphs and Learning from Mistakes

VIII. Creating a Life Span Systematic Approach for and Natural Circle of Support

IX. Maintaining Sanity While Trying to Prioritize the Needs of an Entire Family

X. Knowing It's OK to Say No and Lightening Up

XI. Acceptance, Affirmation, and Just Plain Love

XII. The Future

Our goal with this session is to show the overall life of a family that has worked through the challenges of raising a child with autism, has made mistakes, but feels that though things can seem so, so difficult at times, there is a way to recover and utilize an entire workable system of support.

This session will provide tools for families to assist with many things from accepting a diagnosis, financial woes, sibling issues, educational issues, community inclusion efforts, relationship difficulties,as well as awareness and advocacy skills that are easily obtainable. This session will also be one of positive, humorous, and emotional stories from a family that has taken that next step and has created a solid foundation for the future of their child with ASD and themselves.

The overall goal of this session too is to let folks know that things that may never have seemed possible can be obtained. Our family will broach each that folks may not want to think about as well, but knowing positive outcomes are always possible and the being prepared, even for things we amy not want to face, can assist in the end. This session too will lift the spirit of attendees, make them laugh, and also provide them an avenue where they will be able to acknowledge that it's ok to make mistakes and to not be perfect.

We also want this to be from the heart, from folks that are opening their lives to allow folks to know that if we can achieve what we have...they can too.

Content Area: Family and Sibling Support

Presenters:

Carolyn Gammicchia
Mom

As an advocate for our son I have been active in the ASD community for several years and have served on boards of ASA chapters and national ASA committees. I've also been very active in several community based service organizations and educational committees within the State of Michigan. As a PIP graduate, I co-founded the L.E.A.N. On Us. However my most important roles have been wife and mother and auitsm has strengthen me to be so much better at both.

Andrew W. Gammicchia
Dad

Carolyn and I have been married 15 years. We are both police officers and our lives really changed when we found out Nicholas had Autism. But we have survived, thrived, and are really one of the most fulfilled families. We want other families to know it is possible.

Nicholas Gammicchia
Teenager!!! I'm a thirteen year-old boy with Autism

I am a thirteen year-old boy that is in the seventh grade. I love Disney World and Disneyland, riding roller coasters, and bicycling with my family. I want to tell people about the things I do and how being in my home school and in my community has been so great. I also have autism, but so do some of my friends, and it's not us, but part of us.

Alexander Gammicchia
Big Brother

I am fourteen and have really learned a lot from my brother with autism. He has taught about many things and has been good brother too. I want people to know that I have at times thought that it's not the easiest way to live life, but it's not so bad either. I also was chosen as a Millenium Dreamer Ambassador in 2000, one of 2,000 kids in the world from 90 countries, because of my autism awareness efforts.

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