NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Shelley Viles at 603.283.2145 or Jan Fiderio 603.283.2107 Jan Fiderio at 603.283.2107

February 7, 2011 for Immediate Release

All are welcome at Fourth Annual Autism and Asperger’s Exposition and Conference

AUNE center hosts expo on February 26

Keene, NH – The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders Training at Antioch University New England (AUNE) will host its fourth annual exposition on Saturday, February 26. The expo will be held in the lobby of AUNE at 40 Avon Street, Keene, New Hampshire. It is free and open to the public.

Exhibitors will display materials from noon to 2 p.m. and informational presentations will run from noon to 3 p.m.

The exposition is an opportunity for family members, individuals, professionals and providers in the region to connect with the greater autism and Asperger’s community.

Co-sponsors of the event are the Asperger’s Association of New England, the New Hampshire Autism Society, the Department of Psychology at Keene State College, NH Connections and Monadnock Developmental Services.

The expo presentation schedule is:

Noon – 1:00 p.m. How Theater Saved My Life: Using theater in assisting individuals with an autism spectrum disorder, by Carol Ann Edscorn. Edscom is a writer and presenter who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 1995. She is an educator with the Freedom Writers Foundation and has an entry in the book Teaching Hope. She earned a BFA in theater arts and has worked in community and professional theater. Edscorn also earned an MS in urban affairs management and a graduate certificate in autism spectrum disorders from AUNE.

1:20 p.m. Presentation of the President’s Award to Elsa Abele, CCC- SLP, in appreciation for her outstanding contributions to the field and to autism education.

Abele, a leader in the field of speech language pathology, has done pioneering work on pragmatic language with individuals with autism spectrum disorders. She is a founding faculty member of AUNE’s Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate Program and serves on the executive advisory board of the Asperger Association of New England, of which she is a founding member. Abele is in private practice in Newton, Massachusetts, training professionals to work with persons who need to learn social communications skills in an explicit manner from a language perspective. She worked as a speech language pathologist in public schools before joining the faculty of the Communications Sciences and Disorders Program in Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, from which she is retired.

1:15 – 2:25 p.m. Showing What You Know: Strategies for Side-stepping the Cognitive and Academic Inefficiencies of Asperger’s Syndrome, with Teresa Bolick, licensed psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst with a special interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and Asperger’s.

2:40 - 3:50 p.m. Screening of Lost in Laconia. This documentary, developed through a project of the NH Leadership Program at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability, traces the history of the Laconia State School from its beginnings as the New Hampshire School for the Feebleminded in the early 1900s until it was closed in 1991. The film uses archival footage, documents and current interviews with former residents of the institution, their families and employees. It examines twentieth century social values and cultural ideals about those who were labeled feebleminded, deficient or disabled in New Hampshire.

Noon – 2:30 p.m. Exhibits

Professional groups and businesses that will display information and offer materials to expo attendees include: the Asperger’s Association of New England, the Autism Society of New Hampshire, Community Bridges, Monadnock Developmental Services, Amity Publications, Ellen Korin Consultation and Coaching, Farmsteads of New England, Buttons and More, the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Hospital, the Disabilities Rights Center, Tutor Doctor, Forward Motion Coaching, MAPS Counseling Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, the Department of Psychology at Keene State College and more.

For more information, please contact Shelley Viles at sviles@antiochne.edu. or 603.283.2145.
Read more about AUNE’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Find directions to AUNE here.
Find more information about the film here.

About Antioch University New England (AUNE)
This is Antioch University New England's forty-seventh year as an institution of higher education. Located in Keene, New Hampshire, AUNE offers rigorous, practice-oriented, values- based master's, doctoral and certificate programs to more than one thousand students. Degrees in education, leadership and management, environmental studies and psychology reflect a dedication to activism, social justice, community service and sustainability. Antioch University New England is the oldest and largest of Antioch University's graduate campuses. For more information about Antioch University New England, visit our web site at: www.antiochne.edu.

About Antioch University
Antioch University is a five-campus university located in four states. Each campus has its own distinct academic programs, community life and regional or national identity. Antioch University is founded on principles of rigorous liberal arts education, innovative experiential learning and socially engaged citizenship. The multiple campuses of the University nurture in their students the knowledge, skills and habits of reflection to excel as lifelong learners, democratic leaders and global citizens who live lives of meaning and purpose. For more information about Antioch University's campuses, its university-wide PhD program, or the Antioch Education Abroad program, visit www.antioch.edu

Last Updated: 2/27/11