The 2011 Nebraska State Autism Conference

   April 7-8, 2011 was the NE State Autism Conference.  It was incredible.  I went to some really interesting panels, met some fantastic people, and even had my own table!  I handed out fliers about the Art Project in between sessions and told people what I was doing.  Hopefully I generated some interest.  :)

   The best panel (in my opinion) that I attended was the one on how music therapy can be used to help your child.  The 3 women speaking had videos of how music has helped some of the children they work with.  Some of the children were a lot more severe than Derek--in wheelchairs, completely non-responsive, etc.  When music played, they would stop rocking back and forth, their eyes would focus, and they would even click their tongues to get the music to continue.  By the end of the panel, I had tears rolling down my cheeks.  Derek LOVES music.  I truly believe that if he ever has a really, REALLY big breakthrough, it will be because of music.  I wish I knew how to use it...I want to start having him take piano lessons.  Oh, and by the way--the three women speaking?  They deserve medals.  Talk about having an INFINITE amount of patience.  The 3-minute videos we saw equalled 6 months-1 year of their work.