Autism Resource Foundation

If you are like me...

2010-04-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Then having a little extra money every month is getting harder and harder. With the economy the way it is, homes being lost, families breaking up, i could go on and on but I need not to. We all know what we are facing and when you factor in an autistic or special needs child... My heart goes out to every family with a special needs child.

After some exhausting research, a few training/conference calls, I have found a way to help.

Data Network Affiliates.

They have a program that can assist you with some income options. Best part, ITS FREE TO JOIN! That's right, FREE. Here is how it works. You sign up and become an iRep (remember, it's FREE!), you enter in 20 license plates. WHOA! License plates? Yes, license plates.

I joined for one simple reason, Amber Alerts. When a state has an Amber Alert, many times they have the plate , or partial plate, number. The authorities can search our database as see where the plate has been "tagged" and this gives the authorities an idea where the vehicle might be. This cuts down the time to find the child, cuts costs, SAVES BABIES!

I have 5 children myself, 2 grandchildren and one on the way. This is just my way of assisting in locating those that might take a child. The fact that I can get paid as well... Lets just call that icing on the cake.

If you want to learn more, please CLICK HERE.

Rob W
CTO
Autism Resource Foundation

A History Lesson - Autism

2009-04-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

I was thinking this morning that maybe the best place to start is the history of Autism. We, the Autism Resource Foundation, have posted the Autism-Thimerosal Timeline dating from 1860 to current. It's a good read and very informative.

Did you know that Autism affects 1 in 150 children. Those are good odds if you are in Vegas, bad if you are a child or a parent.

Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, first coined the term autism back in 1911. He was referring to adult schizophrenia however.

Dr. Leo Kanner (Johns Hopkins University) was the first to describe autism. He based his finding on 11 children he observed between 1938 and 1943. These children had withdrawn from human contact as early as 1 years old.

From 1940 to the mid 1960's, doctors characterized autism with schizophrenia. This left many parents believing they were the cause of the disorder.

Luckily, in the late 1960s autism was established as a separate syndrome. It was distinguished from mental retardation and schizophrenia as well as other developmental disorders due to the benefits that can be achieved by involving parents in active programs of therapy.

If you live in Arizona and are looking for speech, physical, or occupational therapy providers, we hope you will use out Provider Program service.

RSS Feeds

2009-04-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

There is just SO much information out there, how do you keep track of it all???

I tell ya. I spent 2 days researching how to add RSS feeds to our site.

It all started when I was looking into a feed about NASCAR news. A light went off and I thought "What a neat tool to add to the resource site." Well, I am happy to report and share the completed page and results.

As always, I will continue to update all with the site and new information we find.

Stay tuned!!

/Rob

Therapy Providers

2009-04-17T15:54:00.001-07:00

One of the first things I worked on, beside the website it's self, was the Therapy Providers pages. I just knew there had to be an easier way to for families to find providers for their loved ones.

The site has been through many revisions and currently is about as nice as it has ever been.

The site is designed to allow the user to select the city, then the provider type they need. The types of providers we have include speech, occupational and physical.

We work very hard to keep the information updated and current but as I am sure many of you know, that is not always the case.

I am very excited about the prospect of adding California and Nevada providers by the end of 2009.

I'll keep you all in the loop!

The Autism Resource Foundation

2009-04-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

The Autism Resource Foundation (ARF) was founded by Anthony Hale here in Phoenix, AZ in 2007. The foundation's goal is to provide resources and information to families and friends who have loved ones afflicted with Autism.

My name is Rob Waibel. I am the Chief Technology Officer and a close friend of Anthony. Anthony asked me to join ARF when he first got started and have been with him ever since. We know that in the face of adversity, people are able to accomplish things they never thought would be possible. We are all in this together and only together can we overcome the hold that autism has on our loved ones.

We believe that it all begins with the parents. Parents are and must be the driving force of our communities. The risks are too great and the issues too sacred to leave in the hands of those with outside interests.

We also believe that Autism is a treatable ailment. There are thousands of children that have improved dramatically and there many, many stories of recovery.

We hold these truths:

Belief breeds Inspiration
Inspiration leads to Hope
Hope drives Motivation
Motivation creates a desire to seek Knowledge
When Knowledge is applied, Change occurs

Our Motto is clear:

“Always Believe, Never Lose Faith and Keep Moving Forward.”

One of the projects I worked on is the Therapy Providers Program. It is a website that allows users to select the city where they live and lists the providers (approved by the state of AZ) for speech, occupational and physical therapies. As the ARF grows, I plan on expanding this to include all of North America.

This blog is a way for me to help and provide in site and I find it. There will be posts about our home site, www.AutismResourceFoundation.org, information we find, our Radio Show (Autism Talks every Sunday 5-6PM on KNFX 1100AM radio), as well thoughts about what is happening in the field of Autism Research.