Autism Awareness Festival
April 19, 2008 at the BCC Pavilion.

Autism Awareness month is coming in April and Melbourne’s Space Coast Early Intervention Center (SCEIC) has gotten an early jump on events leading up to the Festival.  Throughout March and April SCEIC is offering support, resources, training, education and fun for families with children with disabilities.  SCEIC is offering extended support for families and friends of children with Autism at the Autism Awareness Festival in April.  Mark your calendar for the Annual Autism Awareness Festival sponsored by SCEIC being held on April 19th at Wickham Park in the main pavilion from 10:00 to 2:00, the event is free and open to the public.  The festival will offer options for families to spend time together.  They can enjoy games, face painting, therapy dogs, fire department demonstrations, Police K9, musical groups, arts and crafts, guest speakers, and food booths.  One of the greatest things about the Autism Awareness Festival is that it is a place where people can gather and get information from more than 40 organizations and area businesses that will be there to help, answer questions and share their knowledge.  Publix Charities has generously funded this open to the public event.
SCEIC wants to assure people that they are not alone in their quest for support and information regarding Autism. Recent research suggests that the numbers of families affected by Autism is on the rise and to date there is no known cure. “There is hope for families through early intervention and effective, definite treatment and educational methods,” states Dr. Sally Shinn, Executive Director of SCEIC.  “We have learned to use specific strategies with children who have Autism and these strategies also help children with other types of learning challenges.” SCEIC is a non-profit therapeutic preschool for children with and without special needs; they are celebrating their 21st year of service in our community.  Annually, SCEIC reaches more than 4000 people in Brevard County through programs, events, services and the Boundless Playground.  SCEIC believes that children with and without developmental delays learning side-by-side allows all children to develop friendships, become leaders, role models, and learn acceptance and diversity.

Another thing SCEIC is doing is hosting several Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD) trainings presented by Kim Spence-Cochran, Ph.D. of CARD.  The following trainings will be held at SCEIC on Dairy Road in Melbourne, the trainings begin at 6:00 p.m.  Childcare is provided. All trainings are free but reservations are required.

TRAINING SCHEDULE

• March 13, - 6 pm  Behavior Basics I This presentation will cover the art of increasing behaviors you want to increase, such as following directions, self-help and independence skills,
  using principles of ABA.  The concepts of shaping, differential
  reinforcement, stimulus control and rein forcer assessment will be covered.
• March 20 - 6 pm Behavior Basics II This presentation will cover what to do when you have a problem behavior and how to look at problem behaviors from a functional, behavioral perspective
  using principles of ABA.  The concepts of functional assessment and
  strategies for reducing and replacing behavior will be discussed.
• March 27 – 6 pm Social Skills Training
• April 10 – 6pm Potty Training

April 19th Autism Awareness Festival, Wickham Park 10:00 –2:00

Call SCEIC to make a reservation or to get more information about programs and services at (321) 729-6858.