Yvona Fast posted a blog post
GRASP Newsletter January 2013
December ended with a lot of upheaval in the autism community. There were the DSM changes affecting Asperger’s and Autism spectrum, federal hearings about rising autism rates, and deadly school shootings in Newtown Connecticut that shook the whole nation.troubling legacy is raising awareness that people on the sThe New Year is upon us – with renewed hope for positive change. Chris Ballou will be running across the Gobi desert to raise funds for GRASP. With GRASP's help, Alexis Wineman—the autistic Miss Montana—took away the "America's Choice" popularity prize. And even Sandy Hook shootings pectrum are not violent or prone to premeditated murders.Here at GRASP we once more have a number of articles to share with you:· Call for artists!!! Help design a GRASP race logo for Chris Ballou's next run for GRASP. Winner will have their artwork in the center of a flag he'll carry and display on his run across the Gobi Desert!· Beauty Queen with Autism Makes Miss America History· Miss Montana Alexis Wineman shares life with autism through video contest· Bullying Harms Kids with Autism, Parents Say· Troubling legacy of Sandy Hook may be backlash against kids with autism· Learning from Newton – includes and interview with Henry Clarke· Cognition and behavior: Pitch perception heightened in autism· Patricia Corby, woman accused in autistic son's death, pleads guilty to murder charges· Hurricane Sandy washed away plans to open center for autistic children in Queens· Anti-vaccine book tells kids to embrace measles· Aboard the Asperger’s bus, a quirky ‘mishpocha’Run for GRASP Flag - "Call for Artists" SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 2013 Do you know (or are you) a boy or girl with Autism that loves to draw? How about a teenager with AS that loves Photoshop? Or an adult on the spectrum in the graphic arts profession? We are seeking a race logo for “Run For Grasp” that will be printed in the center of a 12”x18” lightweight flag that I will carry the entire length of the Gobi Desert. What is Run For GRASP you ask?Well, I am running across the harshest and unforgiving deserts around the world to raise money and awareness for the Global Regional Asperger’s Syndrome Partnership or simply, GRASP. What is your next run?My next run is the Gobi March, a 250-kilometer (155-mile) staged foot race that takes place in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. Competitors are unsupported, meaning they have to carry everything they need while they run across a wide variety of terrains including dirt tracks, sand dunes, dry river beds, hills, villages and more. Why?My son Ryan was clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) when he was 4 years old. While there are many charities for finding a cure there was a serious need to help teens and adults who have AS. Many diagnosed with AS have difficulty in social situations and fitting in. This problem can be magnified in middle and high school when teens can bully and target peers with AS. GRASP has been there for my family, now its time to give back! All funds raised go directly to GRASP. Back to the Flag…Artwork can really be anything the artist wants, any number of colors, just needs to say “Run for GRASP” and be a maximum of 3 inches by 6 inches and submitted in electronic format. Please share this around the Autism community. If you know someone, please encourage them to submit their artwork to: runforgrasp@icloud.com Deadline to submit artwork is February 17th. After that we will also request submissions for 150 boys, girls, teens or adults with AS that really demonstrates the ability to never give up when facing their daily struggles. These names will also be selected and printed on the flag to symbolize their courage and tenacity. I will draw on their strength when I face my own struggle. Thanks for your support. http://runforgrasp.blogspot.com/2013/01/0-0-1-174-994-patriot-group-8-2-1166-14.html?m=1Beauty Queen with Autism Makes Miss America HistoryBy Lesley Young January 15, 2013She didn’t walk away with the crown, but Alexis Wineman knows she topped the American public’s list for Miss America.Wineman, an 18-year-old from Cut Bank, Mont., made history this weekend as the first person with autism to compete in the 92-year-old beauty pageant. Though she did not become Miss America, Wineman was chosen as “America’s Choice” after beating out the other 52 contestants in an online vote that took place in the weeks leading up to the event. Nearly 200,000 votes were cast, and the win –- announced during the live telecast of the pageant Saturday night on ABC — secured the reigning Miss Montana one of 16 spots in the semifinals. “I didn’t know until they announced it to everyone,” Wineman said, calling the popular vote win “unreal.” “I felt like I was America’s Miss America,” Wineman said during her long drive back from the pageant in Las Vegas to her home in Cut Bank. Not only did Wineman impress the public, but she made her mark in Las Vegas among a host of impressive ladies, according to Art McMaster, president and CEO of the Miss America Organization. “It just seemed that anyone Alexis came into contact with just fell in love with her,” he said. “She was the talk of Las Vegas and she really is a special young lady.” The chance to be on television was a definite highlight, Wineman said, as was the opportunity to make so many new friends during the competition. But what brought the most joy to Wineman while competing for the Miss America crown was the chance to share her story, and through that, to open people’s eyes to what is possible. “I became an advocate for the special needs community,” said Wineman who was diagnosed with autism at age 11 and is using her position as Miss Montana to increase awareness of the developmental disorder. “I showed that you can become something great if you work hard to get there.” Though the big day is over, Wineman won’t be settling down anytime soon, with speaking engagements lined up until her reign as Miss Montana comes to an end in June. But first she needs a little downtime. “I need to put all the glitter and pretty beauty stuff behind me for a couple of days,” Wineman said. “I’m going to go downstairs at my house and play on my PlayStation 2.”More in Living »Copyright © 2013 Disability Scoop, LLC. All Rights Reservedhttp://www.disabilityscoop.com/2013/01/15/beauty-queen-autism-history/17078/Miss Montana Alexis Wineman shares life with autism through video contestOn Saturday, Cut Bank resident Alexis Wineman will take the stage in the Miss America Pageant, but for now she is hoping to garner enough votes online to become a finalist in the contest.In the Miss America online video contest, Wineman explained why she feels she should be the next Miss America.Wineman's platform issue, titled "Normal is Just a Dryer Setting: Living with Autism," focuses on her life since she was diagnosed with a form of it in 7th grade. She said she hopes to bring national awareness to it."Most people do not understand what autism is, and one in 88 people having some form of autism, this understanding is becoming more and more necessary," Wineman said in the video.Wineman is also keeping friends, family and fans up to date on her Facebook page, where she said she has enjoyed walking the runway at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas and making appearances at various events.She has also been chosen as one of 14 contestants to be featured on the show "20/20."Click here to see her video and cast your vote.© Copyright 2013 KRTV.comhttp://www.krtv.com/mobile/news/miss-montana-alexis-wineman-shares-life-with-autism-through-video-contest/Bullying Harms Kids with Autism, Parents SayMany suffer emotional trauma, physical injuryFRIDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 70 percent of children with autism suffer emotional trauma as a result of bullying, according to a new study.The study also found that many children with autism fear for their safety at school and that those with autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or depression had the highest risk of being bullied.Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by social, communication and behavioral difficulties.Researchers surveyed the parents of more than 1,200 children with autism, and found that 38 percent of the children were bullied over a one-month period, and 28 percent were frequently bullied.Immediate consequences of being bullied included emotional trauma (69 percent) and physical injuries (8 percent). Nearly 14 percent of the children who were bullied said they feared for their safety.Eighteen percent of the children with autism were triggered into fighting back after being bullied, and 40 percent had an emotional outburst that led to school disciplinary action.Nine percent of the children with autism bullied other children, and 5 percent frequently bullied others, according to the study, which was published Jan. 10 in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.Children with autism who also had a conduct disorder or an oppositional defiant disorder were more likely to be bullies. Children with autism who also had ADHD, conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder were most likely to be bully-victims, which means that they're both bullies and victims of bullying."Our results provide insights that will help teachers and school staff identify children with autism who may be at the greatest risk for bullying involvement, either as victims or perpetrators," senior study author Dr. Paul Law, director of the Interactive Autism Network at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said in an institute news release."Outside of school, parents should be encouraged to talk to their child about bullying, particularly if they are concerned their child may be a victim," Law said. "Parents should also set up appointments to talk to the staff or teachers at their child's school to learn more about how they can work to prevent bullying and help children involved in bullying cope with the consequences."About 1 in 88 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder, which can range from Asperger's syndrome on the mild end to full-blown autism.More informationThe U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about autism.Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/01/11/bullying-harms-kids-with-autism-parents-sayTroubling legacy of Sandy Hook may be backlash against kids with autismSTORY HIGHLIGHTS There are reports alleged Connecticut gunman Adam Lanza had a form of autismParents are reaching out to principals to make sure kids with autism aren't being targetedPeople with autism are battling misunderstanding and feeling scrutinized(TIME.com) -- On the first day back to school after 20 first-graders and six adults died at a Connecticut elementary school, students at a Utah middle school gathered to discuss the massacre. A boy raised his hand. "The reason why this man shot little kids is because he has autism," he said. Tricia Nelson's seventh-grade son was at the assembly. He's shy, not the kind of child apt to speak in public, but his hand darted up in response. "Autism doesn't make people shoot other people," he said. At 12, Nelson's son is somewhat of an expert on autism. His younger brother, who is 10, has a severe form of the neurodevelopmental disorder. He doesn't speak and he attends a school for special needs. But he is not violent, said his older brother; he would not kill anyone. Amid unconfirmed media reports that alleged gunman Adam Lanza, 20, had Asperger's, a high-functioning form of autism marked by social awkwardness, autism experts are mobilizing to combat misconceptions about the condition. Parents are reaching out to school principals to ensure that students with autism aren't being taunted. Advocates have issued statements disavowing any link between autism and premeditated aggression. And children -- more often than not the siblings of kids who have autism -- are standing up for others. "He was in tears when he was telling me what happened," says Nelson of her older son. She is an events organizer for Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism research and advocacy group. "He said, 'This boy is going to spread rumors.'" After Nelson's son spoke up, a teacher seconded his comments. She urged the students not to make assumptions. Yet as the country struggles to come to grips with the loss of life at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, people with autism are finding themselves the focus of misunderstanding and more than a little scrutiny. Calls and emails to Autism Speaks' hotline are up 130% since Friday's shooting as worried parents wonder how to channel their concern. In an effort to address possible backlash against people who have autism, this week Autism Speaks plans to release formal suggestions for how to educate school leaders, teachers and friends about the characteristics of children with the condition. "We've had a number of families say their children's classmates have said, 'I hear the shooter has autism, and doesn't your brother or sister have autism?'" says Peter Bell, Autism Speaks' executive vice president for programs and services. "It seems like they're wanting to put the blame squarely on the fact that the shooter may have had autism. This rush to put a label on the situation has caused significant harm already." To dispel misunderstandings, developmental experts are trying to share accurate information about autism spectrum disorders. Poor social skills, trouble communicating and repetitive behaviors are all hallmarks of autism, but there's no correlation with violence, says pediatric neuropsychologist Michelle Dunn, director of Montefiore Medical Center's Neurology and Autism Center in the Bronx. "Even if (Lanza) had Asperger's, it wouldn't explain his behavior," says Dunn. "In terms of premeditation and how horrific this act was, there is absolutely no association." People with autism can get easily frustrated, especially when their routines are disrupted. They may yell and scream, throw themselves on the floor or punch something. But it's important to publicly reject any connection with planned violence, says Dunn. But a widely circulated essay, "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother," by Liza Long, is making that message harder to convey. In the post, Long shared her complex relationship with her 13-year-old mentally ill son, who loves Harry Potter and stuffed animals but has also threatened her with a knife on countless occasions. As her story made the Internet rounds, autism advocates rushed to point out that autism is a brain-related developmental problem and not a mental illness. The former chairwoman of the Newtown school board has also expressed dismay, noting that some of the murdered teachers had worked with kids with special needs, including children with autism who attend Sandy Hook. In a survey sent Monday to 31,000 parents who are members of MyAutismTeam, a social network that serves as a Facebook for parents who have children with the condition, 30% indicated that they're worried their children will be treated differently by teachers and other students in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. They're also nervous that bullying -- kids with autism are already disproportionately targeted -- will increase. "To have this association to mass murder pinned to them is like putting another target on their heads," says Christine Pasour, the mother of an 11-year-old son with Asperger's. High-functioning teens with autism are also perplexed. On Monday, Dunn got a call from a mother who wanted to make an appointment for her 17-year-old son, who has been getting questioned by classmates. "Some of these kids who know their diagnosis are asking the question, 'Could I turn out to be violent too?'" says Dunn. "He is very worried about himself." On message boards and social networks, parents are offering strategies for confronting the uncertainty. Discussing autistic kids' quirky or unusual behavior candidly with school leaders and classmates can help, they suggest. Pasour posted on MyAutismTeam that she'd read "some horrible, horrible" comments on various news sites about Lanza's reported Asperger's diagnosis. "Keep in mind that this may be the first time many Americans will even hear about Asperger's ... This has the potential of creating horrible bullying situations for our kids." Her son has been home sick with the flu, but when he returns to school Wednesday, Pasour, from Dallas, North Carolina, plans to ask his principal and teachers to "keep their ear to the ground" to make sure no one is saying anything inappropriate. It comes down to education, says Pasour. "Children have an amazing ability to grow and to learn and to be empathetic," she says. "Either they learn ignorance and hate or they learn love and compassion." This story was originally published on TIME.com. © 2012 TIME, Inc. TIME is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Used with permissionhttp://www.cnn.com/2012/12/19/health/shooting-autism#cnn-disqus-area“Learning from Newtown” on Insight WCNY TVhttp://video.wcny.org/video/2320826034The show discusses the shooting, gun violence, Adam Lanza, aggressive behavior, and Asperger’s. At the end is an interview with GRASP’s Henry Clarke.Cognition and behavior: Pitch perception heightened in autismPopularity trackerJessica Wright 11 January 2013Children with autism are better than controls at remembering melodies and detecting differences in pitch, according to a study published 13 November in Autism1.People with autism may have trouble perceiving emotion, but they do have an emotional response to music — even if they can’t express it, according to some studies.They may also have better pitch perception than controls do. According to one parent-report study, people with autism are about 500 times more likely than the general population to have absolute pitch — a savant-like skill that allows an individual to classify pitch completely out of context.This affinity with music suggests that music could be incorporated into autism therapies, the researchers say. In the new study, researchers looked at pitch perception in 25 children with autism and 25 typically developing children between 7 and 13 years of age. Two children in each group had played piano or had been in a band.The children listened to pairs of single notes that were either identical or differed by 25, 35 or 45 cents — a measure of pitch. (There are 1,200 cents in an octave.) The children also listened to short melodies in which a note of the second bar occasionally varied in pitch.Overall, children with autism are better able than controls to detect differences in pitch, the study found. These differences are statistically significant for 45-cent variations in single notes and for the 25- and 35-cent differences in melodies.Children with autism are better than controls at detecting pitch in melodies than in single notes, suggesting an enhanced ability to detect patterns, the researchers say. Studies have shown a similar skill with visual patterns in people with the disorder.The children also played a computer game designed to help them memorize which of four animals prefers one of four melodies, each in a different key. One week later, the children listened to these melodies again and tried to identify the associated animal.Children with autism are better than controls at remembering the melodies, the study found. What’s more, eight children with autism, but only two controls, correctly identified at least 15 of the 16 melodies. One 8-year-old boy with autism who was fidgety and appeared not to be paying attention had a perfect score, the researchers note.Of the 25 children with autism, 14 have an aversion to loud sounds, according to their parents. These children do not have better pitch perception than the other children with the disorder, the study found.References:1: Stanutz S. et al. Autism Epub ahead of print (2012) PubMedPatricia Corby, woman accused in autistic son's death, pleads guilty to murder chargesCorby faces sentence of 15 years to lifeSAN DIEGO - A woman who drowned her 4-year-old autistic son in a bathtub, then drove his lifeless body to a police substation where she admitted the crime, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder.Patricia Corby, 37, sobbed as she admitted killing her son, Daniel, last March 31.She will be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on Jan. 28.On Thursday, there was a delay in the hearing due to a medical emergency by another defendant. Medics had to be called in to respond.Also, the judge had concerns about moving forward with the plea deal due to Corby's "extreme emotional distress." At times, the court could not hear Corby's responses to the stipulations in the plea agreement.According to testimony at a preliminary hearing in September, Corby contemplated suicide before holding her son down in several inches of water until he was lifeless in the family's Carmel Valley condominium.District Attorney's Office Investigator Walter Escobar testified that Corby told him her son -- diagnosed with a high likelihood for autism – had made strides in his battle with the developmental disorder but not enough to satisfy her.Corby, who cared for her son at home, felt she had no time to do anything, Escobar testified."She felt like her whole existence was dedicated to her child," Escobar testified. "She felt like she had no life. She wanted Daniel to be normal."Escobar testified that Corby told him that after she killed her son, she tried to drown herself but couldn't, realized what she did wrong and drove to the police substation four miles away to turn herself in.A police officer tried to resuscitate the child, but paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.The victim's father, who was at work at the time of his son's death, testified that he and his wife amassed $70,000 in debt getting their son numerous types of treatment.He testified that he saw no signs that his wife suffered from any mental disease before she killed their son.Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. City News Service contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.http://www.10news.com/news/patricia-corby-woman-accused-in-autistic-sons-death-pleads-guilty-to-murder-charges12272012TOTAL HEARTBREAK: Hurricane Sandy washed away plans to open center for autistic children in QueensThe grand opening in Howard Beach came and went as sever flooding ravaged the facility -- destroying the foundation, walls, computers -- forcing the charity to borrow money to rebuildBy Greg B. Smith / NEW YORK DAILY NEWSPublished: Tuesday, January 8, 2013The doors of the newly renovated N.Y. Families for Autistic Children center in Queens was supposed to open on Nov . 17 -- but Hurricane Sandy destroyed that plan.Parents of autistic children waited with great anticipation for the grand opening of a center in Howard Beach devoted exclusively to their kids.Then came Hurricane Sandy.Cold black water flooded the newly renovated building, soaking walls, blowing out the electrical system and destroying furniture, computers and everything else in its path.Neither the insurer nor relief agencies offered help, so the charity — N.Y. Families for Autistic Children — borrowed to try for a comeback. The group quickly ran up $165,000 in bills, and it has no money to pay staff.“We’re trying to move forward, but we took five steps backward because of the storm,” says the group's director, Andrew Baumann.Autism strikes one in 88 children and affects a child’s ability to communicate with and relate to others. Parents say they’re often frustrated searching for help and the proper resources.Carmel Vobis, whose 12-year-old son, Sal, has autism, is looking forward to the center opening up.“He's alone a lot. This will be another opportunity to see other kids and have more social time,” she said.Cheryl March, one of the center’s co-founders, struggled for years to find help in raising her autistic daughter, Victoria. Resources were scattered or nonexistent.“We had nothing and we didn’t think that was right. We needed one-stop shopping, one central location where you could go for everything. This is a great awesome first step. These kids have nothing. And it’s a struggle for the parents. They need help.”NYFAC first moved to build a center with all resources in one place in 2005. Between car washes, golf outings and public grants, the group cobbled together $4.2 million to buy and transform a former Chinese restaurant on Cross Bay Blvd.Construction began in early 2012 and by late October, the center looked brand new and ready for its Nov. 17 opening: It had freshly painted gray-blue walls, an old electricial system ready to be switched to a new system, a new elevator awaiting city approval.But on Oct. 29, water rose ominously outside the glass front door, then pushed open the doors and rushed inside in an unstoppable cataract. It rose to three and a half feet and the lights flickered off. Destruction raced through darkened halls.Water immersed donated pianos, guitars and a drum set in the music room. The old electrical panel and the mechanics for the elevator -- which had never carried actual passengers -- surrendered to the deluge. Toys, games and X-Boxes were ruined. A new refrigerator floated out of the kitchen.When dawn broke, so did Baumann’s resolve. It was as if all that work was for nothing. The city had spent millions and there was only a ruined hulk to show for it.And then it go worse. As the cost of repairs added up, Baumann knew he had no flood insurance because the center was located in the supposedly safe Zone B and hadn’t yet received a certificate of occupacy from the city.The Federal Emergency Management Agency told him the center wasn’t eligible because charities are treated like businesses and FEMA only covers homeowners. NYFAC applied for a federal small business loan the day after the storm, but months of paperwork later the SBA still hasn’t sent anyone to inspect the place.Because the center is still not up and running, no revenue is coming in to run programs and pay staff.“Right now my revenue stream is none,” Baumann said. “I need a piano. I need books. I need toys. I need games. All the games are gone.”On Tuesday, Baumann’s son, Anthony, and another student, Robert Long, worked with staffer Megan McCoy on a cookbook before the center is fully up and running.Now NYFAC is hoping it can open the center soon. Two weeks ago, it launched a new fundraising drive to pay off the loan and pay staff, but as Baumann noted, “It’s very hard to get donations again.”Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/hurricane-sandy-washed-plans-open-center-autistic-chidren-queens-article-1.1236104#ixzz2I9surHVnAnti-vaccine book tells kids to embrace measlesA new children's book introduces kids to the "wonderful world of illness"By Katie McdonoughMeasles is responsible for thousands of tragic (and preventable) deaths each year. Which is perhaps why so many reviewers are panning a new (and apparently self-published) book by Stephanie Messenger, an Australian author and anti-vaccine activist. According to the author’s page, “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles” was written to:Educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully. Often today, we are being bombarded with messages from vested interests to fear all diseases in order for someone to sell some potion or vaccine, when, in fact, history shows that in industrialized countries, these diseases are quite benign and, according to natural health sources, beneficial to the body. Having raised three children vaccine-free and childhood disease-free, I have experienced many times when my children’s vaccinated peers succumb to the childhood diseases they were vaccinated against.Amazon reviewers have not taken kindly to Messenger’s suggestion that measles can be an “adventure,” either. As one recently wrote:Isn’t Melanie lucky that she didn’t get pneumonia from her measles like 1 in 15 children (7%) do? I had measles when I was a toddler in the 1950s before there was a measles vaccine available. I was in hospital in an oxygen tent for over a week with bilateral pneumonia when I had measles.And another:I can only presume that the author was born after the successful vaccination programme made people complacent about the dangers of measles. I was not so lucky. In the epidemic of my childhood I was nearly blinded, and still have scars on my eyeballs. I was the lucky member of the family; my sister died from complications. Measles kills children. This book is irresponsible and misleading at best. At worst it could lead to the death of a child.Messenger’s title seems to allude to the Roald Dahl book, “George’s Marvelous Medicine.” Dahl, however, was a strong proponent of vaccination, a position rooted in the tragic death of his young daughter from measles.Aboard the Asperger’s bus, a quirky ‘mishpocha’Members of a Birthright group talk about the joys of seeing the country with people just like themselvesBy Jessica Steinberg January 4, 2013More than 20,000 Birthright participants will have spent 10 days in Israel by the end of the 2012-2013 winter season, including 20 participants with Asperger’s Syndrome, now known as the “Mishpocha,” or Bus No. 195.It’s not the first time that Birthright has included an Asperger’s bus — this one is a project of Shorashim/KOACH, the college organization run by the Conservative Movement — but for many of the participants, who range in age from late teens to mid-20s, it’s been a while since they’ve spent so much time with their own “population.”“It’s an interesting dynamic — very enlightening to connect with one’s roots,” said Jason Shatz, who is studying at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and had a tough time deciding whether to go on Birthright with the Asperger’s group or with the Wesleyan bus. “In some ways it’s quite nice to be with such a population, even though I’ve developed socially in a significant way ever since I went to college.”For the bus’s “other” Jason, Jason Cohen, a 21-year-old sports management major at Ithaca College, the trip felt like an opportunity to return to his “Asperger’s roots,” something he hasn’t done since his high school days.Funny, smart and personable, and sometimes amusingly out of context, the Birthrighters and one of the three soldiers traveling with them sat in the lobby of their hotel on the last day of the trip last week, speaking about the “quirks” of fellow Asperger’s sufferers, favorite highlights of the trip and what it will be like to say goodbye at the end of their journey.“It was great to be around other people I can identify with,” said Lauren Katz, a 19-year-old from Eureka, California, who is studying art at College of the Redwoods. “I’ve always been the kind of person who’s never really fit in; I never interacted withGathering together a sizable group of young people with Asperger Syndrome was one of the ideas of the trip, said group leader Howard Blas, who has run similar Birthright trips in the past. Despite the high-functioning level of many of the Asperger’s participants, they often feel socially bereft back in their home settings; this was one place where they could experience a particular social bond.“It’s not common for me to meet other people with Asperger’s or higher-functioning special needs people in Albany,” said Beth Katzer, 25, who works as a teacher’s assistant and part-time administrative assistant. “This trip was so important for me, to make friends I could see myself being friends with for the rest of my life. Even though we all have challenges, we could all come together.”The Birthright trip was much like any other, including camel rides and orange-picking, trying out Israeli snack foods, floating in the Dead Sea and jeep rides in the Golan Heights. But they also met with Israelis with Asperger’s at Shekel, an umbrella organization for Israelis with special needs. The two groups bonded over favorite television shows and the Birthrighters’ first tastes of peanut-flavored Bamba and chocolate-covered marshmallow Krembos, and there was comfort in the ingathering of fellow Asperger’s sufferers, agreed the Birthrighters.“There are kindred spirits in this population, and we share the same zeal for sharing the things in which we have expertise and same enthusiasm,” said Shatz. “Regular life has been good to me and my experience with Asperger’s is somewhat of a moot point although I do visit it now and then…. I struggle socially more than other people, but I think I’m getting there.”It was that kind of disarming honesty that charmed and humbled Tomer Daloomi, one of the three soldiers who joined Bus No. 195. Told just four days before the trip that he would be placed on a Birthright bus, he didn’t know what to expect, but has unexpectedly found himself seeing Israel through a very different prism.“I’m usually cynical, like most Israelis, but these guys are just not sarcastic,” he said. “They were saying how they felt with no masks on at all. They’re just always themselves.”http://www.timesofisrael.com/aboard-the-aspergers-bus-a-quirky-mishpocha/#.UOa-uxjFwJk.email Help GRASP make a difference. Donate now by clicking the link below: http://www.nycharities.org/donate/charitydonate.asp?ID=2223See More