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Since the beginning, before we had a diagnosis, and just a suspicion, POAC has provided support for our family. A place to feel welcomed, and not shunned. A Place where there were other families going through the same thing, and a place to look for help to the future.
While there are still those parents in the world that feel that Autism is a disease their kids will catch from other kids, organizations like POAC do their best to dispel myths like these, as well as providing support and hope for those with, living with, and caring for those with autism.
POAC Autism Services is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides many services to the community including:
POAC has not only done all those wonderful things, but they have also funded the first statewide program for the early detection and intervention children with autism. They address, support and promote legislative issues that affect families and individuals with autism, and they sit on the NJ Governor’s Council on Autism.
One of the amazing events that POAC offers each year is their Autism Seaside Surfing Event which they hold with Sea of Change in Seaside Park, New Jersey. They do this with the funding of sponsors and vendors and just help families and individuals have a great time doing something they may not otherwise have easy access to. POAC pairs your child with a volunteer group and they spend time with your child in the water and on the beach. Hanging out with them, playing with them, and just plain having fun. This allows the parents to relax a little, have time to take pictures for once, and just plain enjoy the day. Instead of being 100% on-duty, they only have to be on-call.
The best part is, siblings and other family members are NOT left out. So you don’t have a “neurotypical” brother or sister wanting to surf, but they can’t because this is an autism only event. POAC provides services for the WHOLE FAMILY, not just those individuals with disabilities.
My son, our “NinjaBaby” as we call him, has Autism, and while he is very high functioning, sometimes he has outbursts or acts in a way that makes us timid to take him to standard events and happenings. Even in a state where autism is so prevalent, people are not always understanding. You get stares, snearing, snickers, and often even outright RUDE remarks.
“They need to learn to discipline their child”, “Look that kid is so spoiled”, “OMG I bet that kid has that autism disease”, are all things that can be heard often just by walking around Ocean County Mall, Freehold Raceway Mall, one of the various boardwalks in or just about anywhere that you might want to take an autistic child. That is to say, anywhere that you might want to take ANY child, because most autistic children don’t want to do anything different than other kids.
They like to play baseball, football or dance. They like to ride rides, go to movies, see shows, and read books. Some of them may focus on one element more, or even have a fascination in just ONE thing in total, but part of the job of a parent with an autistic child, is to expose them to new things and show them how big the world really is.
For more information about POAC please visit the POAC.Net website. For a list of their events and happenings follow this link to the POAC – Events Calendar.
If you would like to see more of our adventures with the NinjaBaby please visit RaisingNinjaBaby.Me
FACTS (not alternative ones):
SOURCE: CDC; CDC; POAC
P.S. I embedded the YouTube videos using the no-cookie privacy enhanced version of YouTube, so feel free to watch anonymously.
While there are still those parents in the world that feel that Autism is a disease their kids will catch from other kids, organizations like POAC do their best to dispel myths like these, as well as providing support and hope for those with, living with, and caring for those with autism.
POAC Autism Services is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides many services to the community including:
- Free training and education for parents and educators.
- Free recreational and support services to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families
- Free training for police and first responders which is saving the lives of children with autism throughout the state
POAC has not only done all those wonderful things, but they have also funded the first statewide program for the early detection and intervention children with autism. They address, support and promote legislative issues that affect families and individuals with autism, and they sit on the NJ Governor’s Council on Autism.
One of the amazing events that POAC offers each year is their Autism Seaside Surfing Event which they hold with Sea of Change in Seaside Park, New Jersey. They do this with the funding of sponsors and vendors and just help families and individuals have a great time doing something they may not otherwise have easy access to. POAC pairs your child with a volunteer group and they spend time with your child in the water and on the beach. Hanging out with them, playing with them, and just plain having fun. This allows the parents to relax a little, have time to take pictures for once, and just plain enjoy the day. Instead of being 100% on-duty, they only have to be on-call.
The best part is, siblings and other family members are NOT left out. So you don’t have a “neurotypical” brother or sister wanting to surf, but they can’t because this is an autism only event. POAC provides services for the WHOLE FAMILY, not just those individuals with disabilities.
My son, our “NinjaBaby” as we call him, has Autism, and while he is very high functioning, sometimes he has outbursts or acts in a way that makes us timid to take him to standard events and happenings. Even in a state where autism is so prevalent, people are not always understanding. You get stares, snearing, snickers, and often even outright RUDE remarks.
“They need to learn to discipline their child”, “Look that kid is so spoiled”, “OMG I bet that kid has that autism disease”, are all things that can be heard often just by walking around Ocean County Mall, Freehold Raceway Mall, one of the various boardwalks in or just about anywhere that you might want to take an autistic child. That is to say, anywhere that you might want to take ANY child, because most autistic children don’t want to do anything different than other kids.
They like to play baseball, football or dance. They like to ride rides, go to movies, see shows, and read books. Some of them may focus on one element more, or even have a fascination in just ONE thing in total, but part of the job of a parent with an autistic child, is to expose them to new things and show them how big the world really is.
For more information about POAC please visit the POAC.Net website. For a list of their events and happenings follow this link to the POAC – Events Calendar.
If you would like to see more of our adventures with the NinjaBaby please visit RaisingNinjaBaby.Me
FACTS (not alternative ones):
- About 1 in 6 children in the United States had a developmental disability in 2006-2008, ranging from mild disabilities such as speech and language impairments to serious developmental disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and autism
- About 1 in 59 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
- About 1 in 34 children in the state of NJ has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
- ASD is reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
- ASD is about 4 times more common among boys than among girls.
- 5% of all 8 year old boys in the state of NJ have been diagnosed with ASD.
SOURCE: CDC; CDC; POAC
P.S. I embedded the YouTube videos using the no-cookie privacy enhanced version of YouTube, so feel free to watch anonymously.
Comments
Understanding Autism spectrum for "Normals".
There is instruction for those on the Spectrum, and for Parents of those on the Spectrum. I would like to see some instruction for those who lie outside those groups. I've got my own developmental issues and just go it alone.
Gwen
People with Autism are all around us
A Supermarket near me has an Autism hour once a week. No 'will Sheena please go to Checkout no 4' or 'Price needed at Checkout 3' announcements. The trouble is, that hour is 09:00-10:00 on a Saturday Morning. Right when familes with unruly but normal kids go shopping. The noise level on Saturday Mornings is terrible at the best of times. While it is nice to see that they have given some thought to people with Autism but to have it at that hour on a Saturday morning which along with Friday Evenings are their buisiest times is to me a 'Doh!' moment.
Anyway, I hope that making more people aware of Autism will reduce the stigma attached to it.
Samantha
My son-in-law's nephew
My son-in-law's nephew is in the High Functioning end of the Spectrum. Every time I've been to a family event, where he's been present, he's shown himself to well behaved, intelligent, articulate (beyond his years) and able to maintain a mature attitude, to spite being in a crowded situation interacting with both adults and other boisterous non-spectrum children.
Much of his success in dealing with his autism, I'm sure, is the fact that his mother is a teacher and has gone out of her way to access resources and get the training necessary to facilitate raising their child. I'd say that any organization that promotes dissemination of information and the resources available is a worthwhile one.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt