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Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) is conducting a seminar for parents and others on this Saturday, February 16, 2013 from 1pm-5pm.    It will take place at the Home State Bank, 611 S. Main Street, Crystal Lake.  The event is free and open to any interested party (regardless of diagnosis), but  registration is requested.      http://www.tacanow.org/illinois-autism-learning-seminar-rsvp-form/

The speakers include Dave Geslak of the Exercise Connection speaking on exercise, Jackie Dorshorst, SLP, speaking on communication and language, and Dr. Anthony of Premier Wellness Chiropractic discussing neuro-developmental issues.  Each topic is detailed on the attached flyer or can be found here    (http://www.tacanow.org/local-chapters/midwest/illinois/crystal-lake/.

TACA meets regularly in McHenry County; this year they will be holding four Autism Learning Seminars in Crystal Lake on the following dates: Feb. 16, April 20, Sept. 21 and Nov. 16.   Please watch The Nemo News for more information on these future TACA seminars.

TACA also holds monthly Coffee Talks on the second Friday of the month at the Panera on Randall Road in Algonquin, Illinois, from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Coffee Talks are informal gatherings where parents, siblings and extended family support each other and share information and resources.

The Crystal Lake TACA group supports those concerned with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays.  TACA’s mission is to support, educate and empower those who care about individuals with autism, including parents, extended family and professionals in the autism community.

For additional information, contact Linda Betzold at linda.betzold@tacanow.org or at 847-922-5392.

If the Mayan Calendar doesn’t get us all today, TheNemoNews will return in early January with more news and items of interest.  Thanks for following our journey this year.

We hope you have a Happy Holiday and here’s hoping 2013 brings us all the best!

Countryside Association   (http://www.countrysideassn.org/)  is sponsoring a workshop titled “Financial planning for people with disabilities, with a focus on the Tax Law Changes.  It takes place on Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 6:30-8:30 at 21154 Shirley Rd. in Palatine.    The meeting is free of charge and open to the public.  CEUs are available for those with QIDP credentials.

Bill Deitch, founder of The Estate Planning Law Group (http://www.teplg.com/) will speak on strategies for protecting assets.   An additional financial professional will discuss how the results of the election may affect the investment markets during the coming year.

 For additional information, contact Marla Pendergrast at  847-540-3706 or mpendergrast@countrysideassn.org

Marla Gamze-Pendergrast

The ability to ride a bike is not only fun and healthful.  It can be key to transportation and inclusion with peers.  Yet the ability to ride a bike eludes many with intellectual and physical disabilities.   Enter Lose the Training Wheels, (LTTW) bike riding program created by Dr. Richard Klein, retired Professor of Engineering at UI – Champaign Urbana.

Using a unique system of graduated wheels, sponsor organizations, volunteers and therapy professionals, LTTW teams offer week-long workshops around the country helping children and adults learn to ride a bike.  They have a very high level of success.

There are two camps taking place near Lake and McHenry County this summer.  (There are none in Lake County.)  Camp registration is around $200-$350 depending on location,   In addition, volunteers are still being enrolled.  They camps are:

June 25-29, Milwaukee, Co-hosted by the Autism Society of SE Wisconsin (ASSEW)
414-427-9345 , assew3@assew.org and the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin (DSAW) 414-327-3729, info@dsaw.org.  Limited space is available.

 July 30 – August 3^rd — Hosted by the Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region.  Contact Mary Beth Scholtes at 630-261-6287, mscholtes@eastersealsdfvr.org.

Each site has multiple sessions each day.  There are over 80 camps going on around the country this summer.  They are listed here.

Tony Records, the court monitor appointed to oversee implementation of the Ligas Consent Decree will speak at a Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Community Living Initiative.  He will speak on Tuesday, May 15, at the WIFi Building, 8180 N. McCormick Blvd, Skokie, IL.  Last month, Tony spoke at the state ARC convention.  His presentation can be downloaded here.  The  Ligas Consent Decree affects thousands of Ligas class members in the State of Illinois.

The Community Living Initiative for people with disabilities was announced last fall at another Town Hall meeting sponsored by  Jewish Federation, Jewish Child & Family Services and Keshet.  In addition to launching a pilot project, they hope to develop a model for other communities to adopt and replicate.   They will give an update at the meeting.  The previous meeting,  Creating Options, was reported in TheNemoNews.com.

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A new initiative at the Law Offices of Rivkin & Rivkin (a law firm specializing in estate planning and special needs planning) will offer low-cost legal planning for a limited number of families that qualify for the services.  The planning services include special needs trusts, simple wills, and power of attorney documents.  The program is called the “Discounted Supplemental Needs Planning Program“. Qualified families will pay a fixed $500 fee for these services.  (The going rate is in the thousands, so this is quite a discount.)

Up to 12 families a quarter will be considered for this assistance.  To participate, the families need to be Illinois residents, have relatively modest assets, have not yet done estate or supplemental needs planning, and believe that the actual cost of such legal services would be a significant burden to their family.  In addition, families must pre-register in order to participate.  Each candidate family will need to attend an education session and, if they opt to participate, complete materials online.

The first education session will take place on June 2, 2012 from 9:30am to noon in Vernon Hills.   For more information, contact Jennifer Axelsen at jaxelsen@rivkenlaw.com

“We know that there are many parents in the area who face the many challenges of raising a child with special needs.  One of those challenges is obtaining a simple, but high-quality, estate plan that provides for their family – including protecting public benefits eligibility for a child who currently, or might one day, qualify for such benefits.  Our firm is committed to improving the quality and affordability of this planning, and we are excited about the opportunity to assist some of these families through our DNSP program.”  -according to Denise Kaplan of Rivkin & Rivkin, LLC.