The Help Group welcomes the 2006-2007 Post-Doctorals and Interns
Back row (L to R) Dena Scott, Thomas Gatyas, Whitney Kingsbury, Libby Rapkoch, Neda Saedi, Carolyn Stalzer, Deborah Gorton
Front row (L to R) Keyondria Bunch, Angelina McCormick, Judy Brawerman, Carrie Dilley, Karen Enyedy (Director of Training)
Pre-Doctoral Psychology:
Dena Scott ? The Wright Institute, Berkeley
Whitney Kingsbury ? University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne
Libby Rapkoch ? Pacific University
Keyondria Bunch - USC
Carrie Dilley ? Fuller
Post Doctoral Residents in Autistic Spectrum Programs:
Amanda Wood ? Pepperdine
Silvia Haro-Givetz ? Pepperdine
Post Doctoral The Help Group/UCLA Neuropsychology Program:
Danielle Chase, Ph.D. Drexel University
Juliet Warner, Ph.D. University of Cincinnati
Psychology Trainees:
Thomas Gatyas - Pepperdine
Neda Saedi – CSPP Alliant
Deborah Gorton - Fuller
Judy Brawerman – Philips Graduate Institute
MFT Art Therapy Trainee:
Carolyn Stalzer – Loyola Marymount University
Social Work Trainee:
Angelina McCormick – UCLA
The Help Group
Graduation Ceremonies Give Cause to Celebrate
for Students at Summit View, Coldwater Canyon Prep, Village
Glen,
Pacific Ridge, Bridgeport & Sunrise School
June marked the graduation of 58 high-school students from
The Help Group family of day schools. Graduates gave inspiring
speeches to an audience filled with enthusiastic faculty,
families and friends.
FIRST 5 LA Awards Major Partnership For Families Grant To The Help Group
The Help Group and
San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Centers, Inc.
(SFVCMHC) were recently awarded a major grant from First 5
LA as part of its Partnership for Families Initiative.
This program is designed to provide a wide range of services
to high risk pregnant women and families with children age
five and younger. The Help Group's program known as Project
SAFE (Support and Advocacy for Family Empowerment), is committed
to building partnerships within the San Fernando Valley to
help strengthen families and enhance the community¹s
capacity to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children.
Children from El Salvador, Korea, England, Japan and Mexico
Participate in The Help Group's Village Glen Summer Day Camp
For Social Skills Development
Children with high functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder from around the world have traveled to the United States to attend The Help Group's Village Glen Summer Day Camp. This camp serves children ages 5 through 16 and is designed to promote overall social skills development through fun, hands-on activities. Families from El Salvador, Korea, England, Japan and Mexico have made the journey to the United States so that their children may participate in this unique and innovative camp. These families have made this commitment, since programs designed for children with HFA and Asperger¹s children are not available.
THE HELP GROUP
- UCLA SEMEL INSTITUTE ON ASPERGER’S DISORDER TRAINS EDUCATORS,
CLINICIANS AND PARENTS
The Help Group
in collaboration with the Semel Institute on Neuroscience
and Human Behavior at UCLA offered the first ever four-day
intensive professional training workshop on effective educational
intervention for children with Asperger’s Disorder.
Dozens of educators and parents from across the country and
abroad attended the workshop on Thursday, July 20th through
Sunday, July 23rd at The Help Group’s Sherman Oaks Campus
& the Semel Institute at UCLA to hear experts present
the latest information on the best practices in educating
children and adolescents with Asperger’s Disorder
One of our visions
in the outpatient department is to provide prevention services
to
the community, because every child deserves a great future…
The Help Group’s
Director of Outpatient Services, Terri Morgan, and her team
of experts, including Dr. Buffy Schroller and Nora Alvarez
held a successful in-service today to discuss early identification
of children with development delays. One hundred WIC staff
attended the in-service. The San Fernando Valley WIC center
serves over 67,000 clients a year and helps low-income women,
infants and children up to age 5 with nutritious foods and
health care referrals. Buffy and Nora provided them with pertinent
tools and resources. Buffy discussed compassion fatigue
stages of grief and the benefit of appropriate referrals.
Nora offered resource handouts and discussed access to community
services including our new Project Safe targeting children
0-5. The audience had many questions and appeared very engaged
in the in-service.
9th Annual West Hollywood Art & Design Walk
on June 3 Benefits The Help Group
From left, Gary Cole; Dr. Barbara Firestone, The Help Group President and CEO; Richard Herb, Chair, Avenues of Art & Design Board of Directors; Gary H. Carmona, The Help Group Chairman; and Alexander Stettinski, Executive Director, Avenues of Art & Design.
Nearly 10,000 style-philes took to the trendiest streets of West Hollywood on Saturday, June 3, for the 9th Annual Art & Design Walk on the Avenues of Art & Design in West Hollywood to benefit The Help Group.
The Art & Design Walk is an evening of fashion, design and philanthropy that has become the West Coast's premier event for connoisseurs of high-end fashion, interior design and fine art. Chic Melrose Avenue, Robertson and Beverly Boulevards became a design showcase nearly a mile long with more than 200 fashion boutiques, design showrooms, fine art and antique galleries participating in the evening.
"We are delighted that The Help Group was chosen as the beneficiary of one of our community's most prestigious events," said Dr. Barbara Firestone, The Help Group President and CEO. "The arts are such an important part of our education programs at The Help Group, which makes this event even more special."
The event featured special receptions, seminars, and food and entertainment hosted by individual showrooms throughout the Avenues of Art & Design area, as well as cuisine from the area's popular eateries. Entertainment highlights included performances by The Help Group Children’s Choir and jazz vocalist Judith Wexler.
Proceeds from a silent auction of luxury items donated by Avenues merchants and a "Tables of Ten" gourmet fundraising dinner also benefited The Help Group. Tables of Ten was a new, dynamic culinary experience that teamed world-renowned designers, showrooms and chefs to create a stunning exhibit of dining spaces set among the outdoor plaza of the dramatic Pacific Design Center. The display became the setting for the private dinner at which guests enjoyed gourmet dinners prepared by some of California’s most talented chefs, including David Myers of Sona Restaurant, Tanino Drago of Tanino Ristorante, David LeFevre of Water Grill, Matt Bencivenga and Sherry Yard from Wolfgang Puck, Matt Carpenter from the newly opened Bin 8945, Javier Plascencia of Romesco in San Diego, and Damie Poonoosamy of Grand Affair Inc.
“For the second year, the Avenues
of Art & Design’s business community has chosen
The Help Group to be the beneficiary because of the incredible
impact this organization has in our community,” said
Alexander Stettinski, Executive Director, Avenues of Art
& Design. “We are extremely happy to be able to
support an organization that makes a difference in the lives
of thousands of children with special needs and their families.”
Actor Gary Cole was a guest speaker
at the event on behalf of The Help Group.
The Help Group Children’s Choir, led by Sarah Taylor, performed
at the 9th Annual West Hollywood Art & Design Walk.
From left, Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, Dr. Barbara Firestone, president and St. John's Well Child and Family Center CEO Jim Mangia.
Members of The Help Group Children's Choir,
which performed at the breakfast.
The Help Group and St. John’s Well Child & Family Center Announce Inner City Program to Increase Autism Awareness and Early Identification
The Help Group and St. Johns’ Well Child and Family Center held their 1st Annual Inner City Autism Awareness Breakfast in April and announced a new pilot program to increase autism awareness and early detection of autism and other developmental disorders affecting children 18 months to 5 years of age in Los Angeles’ inner city.
Keynote speaker Assembly member Mark Ridley-Thomas, 48th District, who has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the underserved populations of Los Angeles, praised the two organizations joining together to address a pressing community need. “It’s an important agenda to move quickly forward with and we salute them,” he told community leaders and local clinic practitioners who attended the breakfast, which was held in observance of National Autism Awareness Month.
“The goal of The Help Group/St. John’s program is to promote community awareness and to detect the early warning signs of autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities as soon as possible for this underserved population of young children,” said The Help Group President and CEO Dr. Barbara Firestone. “Early detection and early intervention can result in significant positive outcomes giving the children the opportunity to maximize their potential.”
“This is an important opportunity to screen children in clinical settings and throughout the community,” said St. John’s Well Child and Family Center CEO Jim Mangia. “We look forward to our ongoing collaboration with The Help Group to bring these critically needed services to our inner city communities. Far too many children have slipped between the cracks for far too long.”
The new program will train primary health care providers at St. John’s six clinics and St. John’s community health care educators, called promotores, to use a standardized screening test that identifies possible developmental delays in children from birth to age five.
The Help Group has already provided St. John’s with bilingual educational materials for professionals and parents, including early warning signs of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and learning disabilities. In the past year, St. John’s distributed The Help Group’s early warning signs of ASD to their health care professionals, who found this tool to be very useful in recognizing the warning signs and, as a result, more children were referred for evaluation. In addition, The Help Group’s PSAs in Spanish, featuring Edward James Olmos, will be made available to community clinics and other interested agencies.
Pic: Burton Morris, Dr. Barbara Firestone,
Ron Valdez
Hamilton-Selway Art Show
Featuring Burton Morris Benefits The Help Group
The Hamilton-Selway Fine Art gallery in West
Hollywood held its “California Dreaming” exhibition
from October 21 to November 1 featuring the distinctive work
of renowned artist Burton Morris. The gallery donated 10 percent
of the sales of the entire exhibition to The Help Group.
Several
hundred guests, including actor and comedian Tim Allen and
Marvel comic character creator Stan Lee, enjoyed a VIP reception
hosted by Hamilton-Selway to launch the show. During
the evening of great art, great camaraderie and ambience,
The Help Group’s Dr. Barbara Firestone, President and
CEO, presented original canvases painted by Help Group children
to the Hamilton-Selway gallery and Burton Morris, who first
gained national attention in the mid-90s when his artwork
was chosen to hang on the set of the NBC hit television series
“Friends.”
The Help Group is grateful to Burton Morris
for selecting The Help Group as the beneficiary of this event.
Special thanks go to Hamilton-Selway’s Ron Valdez, Smirnoff,
and Marks Restaurant for making “California Dreaming”
such a fabulous success for the benefit of the children.
Bringing About Public Policy Change: Conference Begins Dialogue to Ensure that Children with Autism Have the Benefit of Early Intervention Services
The Brookings Institution and The Help Group convened their “Autism & Hope” conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, December 16, 2005. The meeting brought together nationally recognized experts for three panel discussions: The Nature of the Autism Spectrum Problem, The Promise of Modern Treatment Methods and What’s Wrong with Current National Policy And How To Fix It.
More than one in 200 young children in the United States may now be affected by autism spectrum disorders. Although early intervention regimens have become much more effective, even for children who are more severely challenged, the availability of intensive early intervention is highly limited due to accessibility and funding issues that vary throughout the U.S. The meeting was co-chaired by Michael O’Hanlon, Brookings Senior Fellow and parent of a child with autism spectrum disorder, and The Help Group President and CEO Dr. Barbara Firestone.
“Today we begin the first of an ongoing series of autism and hope dialogues — discussions to stimulate positive and potent change that is long overdue for the children affected by autism spectrum disorders and the growing numbers who will be identified with each ensuing year,” Dr. Firestone told the conference in her opening remarks. “We must continue our efforts to accelerate awareness, early identification and diagnosis. But as importantly, we must also ensure that these services are available to all children regardless of family income and ability to pay. We can delay no longer. There is a generation of children who need our help now. Let us work to fill the gaps so that we may provide a seamless system of early intervention for all children.”
Co-sponsored by Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now, with the further support of the Karmazin Foundation and Michael Fux, the conference marked an important and collaborative beginning in a series of meetings to stimulate discussion on approaches and policies to improve the lives of children affected by autism spectrum disorders and their families. Planning has already begun for a spring, 2006, “Autism & Hope II” meeting to continue the dialogue.
Top Row Left: Dr. Rafael Castro, Dr. David Mandell, Dr.
Louis Vismara, Dr. Catherine Lord, Dr. Eileen Costello
Bottom Row Left: Stuart Spielman, Dr. Michael O'Hanlon,
Dr. Barbara Firestone, Dr. Thomas R. Insel, Dr. Laurie Stephens
Co-Chairs Dr. Michael O'Hanlon,
Dr. Barbara Firestone
The
Help Group's Press Conference At The State Capitol in Sacramento
The Help Group, California Senate President
Pro Tem Don Perata
And Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez Push Forward
Autism Agenda
At State Capitol Press Conference
Group names left to right - Joanne Palmer, Ed Asner, Cindy Asner,
Dr. Barbara Firestone, President & CEO, The Help Group, Speaker
of the Assembly, Fabian Nuñez, Jon G. Parro, UC Davis,
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, State Senator Liz Figueroa
Don Perata
Senate President Pro Tem Dr. Barbara Firestone
President & CEO, The Help Group
Culver
City 
Valley
Glen 
This program is designed to provide a wide range of services
to high risk pregnant women and families with children age
five and younger. The Help Group's program known as Project
SAFE (Support and Advocacy for Family Empowerment), is committed
to building partnerships within the San Fernando Valley to
help strengthen families and enhance the community¹s
capacity to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children.
The
Help Group National Autism Foundation
