Location
Olney Hall 109
Start Date
6-5-2016 9:15 AM
End Date
6-5-2016 10:30 AM
Brief Biography
Jim Scanlon has been an adapted physical education/aquatics teacher for the past 24 years at the Widener Memorial School, a school dedicated to students with special needs adjacent to La Salle University. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Temple University and La Salle University. Jim has worked hands-on with special needs children and adults for the past 40 years. Along with these educational experiences, his greatest challenge has been raising his daughter Jessica, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Jim’s other daughter, Erica, has always been familiar with Autism and its implications due to her experience growing up with Jessica. Erica has performed on local Philadelphia stages with her amazing talents in singing and acting. She has even performed internationally under two contracts with Disney. In addition to her successes, her other passion in life is to share her story of being a sister to Jessica whom she loves and admires so much. She took this passion to the Miss America stage, winning the Miss New Jersey crown in 2004. Her life-long goal is to continue to spread awareness about Autism and help as many families as possible deal with the daily challenges of caring for their child.
Description
The goal of the workshop is to share with other parents and professionals the everyday challenges a family will go through in raising a child diagnosed with Autism, especially those families with a child exhibiting particularly challenging behaviors. A brief history of our special child’s development as well as the many therapies and educational difficulties will be shared. A large portion of the presentation will be from a sibling’s perspective, illustrating how Erica has taken what she has learned from growing up with a challenging sister on the spectrum, and has sought to improve family experiences for others affected by ASD.
Everything I Need to Know in Life, I Learned from Autism!
Olney Hall 109
The goal of the workshop is to share with other parents and professionals the everyday challenges a family will go through in raising a child diagnosed with Autism, especially those families with a child exhibiting particularly challenging behaviors. A brief history of our special child’s development as well as the many therapies and educational difficulties will be shared. A large portion of the presentation will be from a sibling’s perspective, illustrating how Erica has taken what she has learned from growing up with a challenging sister on the spectrum, and has sought to improve family experiences for others affected by ASD.