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Growing Up With Autism: Life Transitions

A Symposium for Families and Professionals

Friday, May 11, 2012
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Weill Cornell Medical College
Griffis Faculty Club
521 E. 68th Street (at York Avenue)
New York City

A unique educational and networking opportunity for parents, families and professionals designed to answer your pressing questions about Autism Spectrum Disorders. Come meet a panel of experts and discuss a wide array of topics, from clinical evaluation to intervention. Join us for interactive panel discussions, breakout groups, and a networking mixer.

See Cornell's website for more information.

The Sweeney Family is featured this month on CNN's Impact Your World. The Impact Your World series at CNN provides information on how different relief organizations around the world are providing support and how individuals can help.

CNN's Katie Walmsley visited The Sweeney's this week at our New York City apartment. The focus of the piece is the Theatre Development Fund's   mission to make theatre accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum, and their families.

The story went viral last Fall after The Sweeney's attended the Theatre Development Fund's Autism-friendly performance of Disney's The Lion King on Broadway. That led to this CNN segment:

The Disney-centric Sweeney Family will next attend the autism friendly performance of Mary Poppins:

"After a highly successful inaugural autism-friendly performance of Disney’s THE LION KING, Theatre Development Fund (TDF) is continuing its mission to make theatre accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum, and their families, with a special autism-friendly performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS.  

TDF’s Autism Theatre Initiative, which is a part of TDF's Accessibility Programs (TAP), will present Disney’s award-winning musical MARY POPPINS at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street, NYC) on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 1pm."

As April is Autism Awareness Month, we also ask that you remember our friends Jackie and Joe Ceonzo at SNACK NYC. We are in the middle of our annual "Friendraiser". Please visit Dusty's page:

Dusty Sweeney's 2012 SNACK Fundraising Page

Here is the link to Katie's Fundraising Page for SNACK.

Here is this year's SNACK video:

"Social media like world's biggest focus group"

He states in the article:

"Social media is becoming a bit like the world's largest focus group. In some cases it goes beyond that to a sample size that is sufficiently large and thus random to accurately predict outcomes. Occasionally it predicts as well or better than traditional polling. Take for example the U.K. political/media tool Tweetminster that was used to analyze tweets and predict the 2010 U.K. election."

Wow, this is really off the mark. Doug really does not understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative market research. Next he states:

Social Media is about more than using Twitter to tell the potential outcome of elections. Microblogs, and social networks are connection avenues. What better way to find out what individuals think about a product or service. My first reaction to an article like this one is to put my investor spin on it. Based on a recent study, 70% of small cap investor news is spread using microblogs like facebook. We live in a fast paced society where few of us take enough time out of the day to breathe let alone scan major websites for lengthy “interesting” articles. Everyone wants information fast right at their fingertips, the invention of social networks thirty years ago would have never worked. Means of communication has evolved with society and the true founders of social media realized that information mediums would need to develop into something new, something fast.  ---- Reword that if you can but its so true when you really think about it. (Maybe the real money is in finding tools that evolve with society).
 

MedClaims Liaison (MCL), a leading national patient advocacy company, and Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, released the results of a joint survey demonstrating families seeking autism-related care are bewildered by the myriad challenges they face obtaining proper insurance reimbursement.
 
The survey was initiated in December 2011, when over 28,000 requests for participation were sent to advocates who have registered to receive alerts from Autism Speaks in six states where autism insurance reform laws have been enacted - California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.
 
Survey Highlights

• A majority of respondents indicated their confusion around their own state's law and how it impacts their coverage
• 26% responded "I don't know" when asked if they lived in a state that has passed autism insurance reform unaware that in fact laws were in place
• 68% said they lived in a state that had passed reform, but 53% did not know how their own particular health insurance policy was regulated by the law
• A majority of respondents (54%) characterized the quality of coverage for autism related services provided under their policy as "poor" or "unacceptable"; more than half obtained services from healthcare providers who do not accept their insurance
• 77% of respondents are frustrated by the process of dealing with medical bills and reimbursements
• 47% say the amount of time they have had to spend on claims and reimbursements has conflicted with work
• 55% are having trouble affording their medical expenses 
• The lack of understanding is severely impacting access to reimbursements as 40% of respondents said they "never" submit claims if they do not think the treatment will be covered by their policy

 
Click Here For Full Press Release

• Creating the Buzz
• Spreading the Buzz
• Engaging the Buzz
• Trolling the Buzz
• Mining the Buzz 
• Leveraging the Buzz

You have to give credit to our friends at Pepsi/Gatorade who really capture the concept in this video:

Here at OutsideIn, we apply this to the qualitative research world:

"Don’t Be a Robot: Creating Engagement Through Personalization in Social Media"

Highlights include:

• Go Narrow - As a social media user build a niche for yourself. Whether it be tennis or knitting, if you have a passion, share your thoughts about it. Chances are someone else shares the same passion. The commonality between users is the first step in engaging with your audience in a social media environment.
• Content is King - Keep your content fresh, updated and relevant. Stick to your topic and provide information on upcoming events, industry trends and related news articles. Reach out to other users who are already talking about your interests.
• The 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 Rule - Everything that you’re doing in the social space is to serve a three-fold goal. 1/3 of your content should be promotional about your products, company or activity. The other 1/3 should serve as an educational resource for your audience. The final 1/3 should be engagement which includes responding to user comments, posting new questions and interacting with your community members on any platform.

To see the full article at M/C/C, click here.

Katie and Dustin Sweeney @ Disney's Lion King for Autism

Now Round II is coming with Disney's Mary Poppins:

"Theatre Development Fund (TDF), the nation's largest not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts, is proud to continue serving the autism community with our Autism Theatre Initiative, making theatre accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum and their families. Following the tremendous success of our autism-friendly performance of Disney's THE LION KING, TDF is delighted to offer an autism-friendly performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 1pm.

Now in its 6th phenomenal year on Broadway, MARY POPPINS is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London and New York in recent years. For this special performance, accommodations will be made, including a supportive audience environment, designated quiet areas, adjustments to lights and sound, and online resource materials."

Tickets are available here.