Upcoming Meetings
May 14, 2002
Guest Speaker :
To Be Announced
June 11, 2002
Guest Speaker : General Meeting
Topic: To
Be Announced
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April is Autism Awareness
Month
F.E.A.T. - Chattanooga is doing
its part to help make the community aware of Autism and our family support
group. Five or six billboards are being placed around the Chattanooga area
with the help of ClearChannelOutdoor. The billboards state "April is National
Autism Awareness Month" and our F.E.A.T. phone number. TV interviews
will take place on WTVC-NewsChannel 9 on Monday, April 15 at 6:00 a.m. and
at Noon on April 17. WDEF-NEWS 12 will host us on Thursday, April 18
at 6:00 a.m.
A mass mailing to child care providers and family doctors/ pediatricians is
being planned for the near future
Read Our April
Feature Story
Participate in Home Program Study
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Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker
Proclaims April
as Autism Awareness Month
Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker recently signed a proclamation
naming April as "Autism Awareness Month" in Chattanooga. A reprint of that
proclamation appears later in the newsletter. In addition, Tennessee Governor
Don Sundquist signed a similar proclamation for the state of Tennessee.
Proclamation
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Outback Steakhouse
Luncheon -
YOUR HELP NEEDED
Your help is still
needed for this year's annual 'Lunch in the Outback' at the Hamilton Place
Mall Outback Steakhouse on Saturday, April 27 from Noon until 1:30 pm.
Tickets and sponsorships are still available. You should have received
a 'Lunch in the Outback' information packet that outlined ways you can help
F.E.A.T. with this fund raiser.
If you haven't purchased a ticket yet or can help sell tickets, please call
the F.E.A.T. hotline
at 296-0092 or email us at
message@featchatt.org to reserve tickets.
Each ticket is $10 and includes a buffet of beef, chicken, ribs or shrimp,
vegetable, Caesar salad, soft drink or tea, and dessert. It's a great
deal for some great food and it helps fund all our organization's work throughout
the entire year.
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Free I.D.E.A. Workshop!!!
STEP, Inc. (Support and
Training for Exceptional Parents), a federally funded program that provides
information, training and support to parents of children in special education, will be
providing a workshop regarding the development of your child's IEP.
This is a hands-on workshop that is designed for parents who have attended
the BASIC Rights workshop and are ready for the "Next Step"-fine tuning the
IEP document to reflect all of your child's unique needs to lead toward positive
educational outcomes. Participants may bring their child's IEP and learn
specific techniques to use in developing goals and objectives designed to
meet their child's individual needs.
Thursday, May 16, 2002 6pm-9pm
Next STEP: Development of the IEP
"Individualized Education Program"
(sponsored by FEAT-Chattanooga)
Country Suites @ Hamilton Place
(near the Cracker Barrel)
Call 1-800-280-7837 or 296-0092
to register
Directions: I-75 to Shallowford Road Exit #5, go West on Shallowford Road
(away from the mall), Turn Right onto Shallowford Village Drive, turn left
onto McCutchen Road, the hotel is on your right. All materials used at the
workshop are free to parents of children with disabilities. Space is
limited so call now! Childcare will not be available for this workshop.
Other upcoming workshops
available from STEP:
BASIC Law: April
25, 2002, 6:30-9:30 pm.
Siskin Children's Institute.
Call 423-648-1750 to
register.
Evaluation & Assessment Workshop:
April 25, 2002,
6:30-9:30 pm. Chattanooga area.
Call 800-280-STEP to register
and for exact location of workshop.
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Autism Awareness Pins
F.E.A.T.-Chattanooga
has sold out of the Cloisonne style (metal backing with clasp) autism awareness
pins. However, you can purchase them for $9.00 each from the Autism
Society of America at
7901 Woodmont Ave. Suite 300, Bethesda, MD 20814-3067
FAX: 301.657.0869 or online at
http://www.autism-society.org.
FEAT-Chattanooga is exploring the possibility of ordering more for our
group and making them available at a reduced rate in the near future and will
notify members when this occurs.
Has anyone explained to you what the ribbon represents?
The autism awareness pin is composed of red, blue, and yellow interlocking
puzzle pieces which represent the mystery of autism. The puzzle pieces
also represent the strength that we can gain by joining together to help our
children or someone we know with Autism. The different colors of the
puzzle pieces represent the spectrum of autism, symbolizing the diversity
found within the autism community. The brightness of the colors symbolizes
the hope we have for our children and in general for people with Autism.
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UTC Students
and FEAT Members
An exciting new program is getting into place at the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Students (primarily psychology
and education majors) will be able to receive practicum experience toward
their degree working with families that have children with autism by providing
respite and other assistance free of charge.
If you are a family with a child with autism and would like some help (number
of hours per week will be determined when students are assigned), please complete
the attached sign up sheet and bring to the next meeting or mail to FEAT-Chattanooga,
PO Box 23731, Chattanooga, TN 37422 or email us the information at
message@featchatt.org.
If you've already signed up, your information has been forwarded to UTC.
We will let you know more details about this program as soon as possible.
UTC
Respite Care
Sign-up Information needed:
Yes, I am interested in signing up for respite care or other assistance.
I understand that details of the program will be provided to me as soon as
they are known.
Name Address City State
Zip Telephone number(s)
Email # of children with autism if Male or Female
Age(s)
What type of respite care you may need
(for example, student baby-sitting, student assist with teaching self-help
skills to child, student playing with child while you take care of domestic
chores, etc.)
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