Tag Archives: autism awareness

We Gave Away iPad Minis?!?

AutismRibbon

Monday Morning

We had 17 members at the beginning of Monday’s meeting but that number grew to 18 after we inducted our newest member, Dr. Caron Daugherty.  Dr. Daugherty was sponsored by Bonnie Baerwald and is the Dean of General & International Education at Moraine Park Technical.  Caron hails from the Ozarks region of Missouri but seems to have adapted well to Fond du Lac and Wisconsin.  We also had our guest speaker, Shannon Schultz from the Fond du Lac School District at Monday’s meeting.  Gary Miller is organizing an InterClub to the Evening Club for Wednesday night, December 17th to support our Club member Steve Millin, who will be the program that night.  Check your calendars and let Gary know if you can attend.  Happy Bucks were offered by Pete Vercouteren who is glad to be back and hopeful that Barb’s hospital encounters are over, Gary Miller for his helping out at the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, Bonnie Baerwald for getting her outside Christmas decorations up on Sunday before the rains came, Sharon Kollman for being thankful she’s back from the warm beaches of Florida and finally Vickie Goldapske for fun deer camo with her family this past weekend.  Chris Serres was the 50/50 Raffle winner and she drew the Three of Clubs, another non-winner.  Next week’s pot will be $31 with 49 cards left in the deck and nine pay cards.

Shannon Schultz, Fond du Lac School District

Shannon Schultz joined us on Monday morning to talk about the benefits of the iPad Minis that our Club has donated to a number of students in our community.  Shannon is the Autism Program Support Teacher for the Fond du Lac School District and is in her fourth year in this role for the school district.  Shannon has been an educator for 18 years, 15 of those in the Fond du Lac District.  Shannon works with children and young adults in grades kindergarten through age 21that are on the autism spectrum.

Our Club has donated a number of iPad Minis to autistic students in both the Fond du Lac and North Fond du Lac School Districts over the past several years as part of the Past Governor Messer’s Project.

Shannon used two of her students as examples of how the iPad Minis are used by these students to function in everyday life, from a communication device to a scheduler that helps a high school student get ready for school and get to his job helping to serve breakfast at school, without someone helping him every step of the way.   The specialized apps that are available for the iPad Minis provide these students with a new whole world.  With the rate of autism now at 1 in 65, there is plenty of need for these kinds of instructional aids.

Autism Project Pitched to AM Kiwanis

Autism Awareness Logo
Monday Morning
We had 16 members and our guest speaker, Immediate Past Lt. Governor Tonya Alling, at our flooded Monday meeting. Due to an unexpected flood in our meeting room at Main Street Lounge & Café, we had to meet in the restaurant section. Hopefully things will be back to normal by next Monday morning. Gary Miller had four for an InterClub to the Kewaskum Club on Monday evening, but he was also looking for an insurance member or two in case someone needed to cancel. “Happy Bucks” were offered by our speaker Tonya Alling for a potential new member for our Club, Todd Elliot, who is a personal friend of Tonya’s and who is looking to get involved in a FDL Kiwanis Club. Gary Miller also had a “Happy Buck” in anticipation of a successful InterClub to Kewaskum. Gary Ring noted that Danny Loomans is holding a press conference on Friday at FDL High School to kick off the Food for Freedom Drive that he’s embarking on. Governor Walker and/or the Wisconsin First Lady are expected to be attending. Ron Seidl was the 50/50 Raffle winner and he drew the Ace of Clubs. Not a winner so the pot continues to grow. Next Monday’s game will have 37 cards, eight pay cards and a pot of at least $193.

Tonya Alling, Kiwanis Autism Project
WI-UM Kiwanis District Governor Lynn and First Lady Merita Messer are passionate about helping children on the Autism Spectrum learn and communicate. Their granddaughter, Kelsey, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, so the Messers have firsthand experience with the unique challenges for children on the spectrum. It has been proven that autistic children benefit from the use of software Apps available for the Apple® iPad. An iPad with a protective case and one app will cost approximately $500. Governor Messer’s goal is to raise over $500,000 during his term, which will be used to furnish iPads, Autism software Apps, and protective cases for at least 1,000 children on the Autism Spectrum in the WI-UM Kiwanis District.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a life-long disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to other Those affected typically display major impairments in three areas: social interaction, communication and behavior. According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 88 children in the United States have autism in some form. Teachers are using iPads as a tool to reach out to children with ASD and the results are remarkable. Autistic children are showing tremendous improvement after playing fun-filled exercises on the iPad which is less stressful and more fun for the teachers and students, and mutually beneficial for parents, siblings and other caregivers.
Tonya talked about the strategy her Ripon Kiwanis Club has taken to jump start this fund-raising effort as well as the use of the “FirstGiving” webpage to also help raise funds for this project.