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| Autism & Related Disabilities Gym Program, Inc |
| P.O. Box 770306 |
| Winter Garden, FL 34777 |
Autism Gym in the News
The Orlando Sentinel
SMOOCH
The Autism and Related Disabilities Gym Program, a nonprofit organization that serves families with disabilities and operates in the Jim Beech Recreation Center in Ocoee, is having its first SMOOCH Day (Special Moms of Outstanding Children with Handicaps) on Sunday.
It will be a day of relaxation and pampering for the 10 selected moms who face the challenges of caring for children with autism and related disabilities daily. Activities include a one-hour massage, manicure, pedicure and facial, followed by dinner at Luma on Park Avenue. These moms will be transported to their destinations in a limo donated by Mears. They also will receive handmade goody baskets and personalized SMOOCH polo shirts.
For information about the organization, go to autismgym.org
From the Ellen Degeneris Show!
Jo-Anne is the Voice of Autism!
Walt Disney Monorail Coordinator, mother, wife, friend, President of a non profit organization. My mother is all of these things. My name is Jennifer Houwers, my mother-Jo-Anne Houwers. Several years ago she founded The Autism and Related Disabilites Gym Program in Ocoee, Florida.
My brother (Joey) is Autistic. At age 3 Joey was diagnosed with Autism, meaning my brother would never have a normal life. All of my brother's life, my parents have given him everything they had. When Joey graduated high school my parents were faced with a difficult decision: how could my brother still continue to grow and interact with kids his own age? That is when my mother founded our non-profit. Once a week, children with Autism and other disabilites meet at a recreational center and play with toys, a jump house, a pool, etc. This gives the children a chance to be normal and play and interact, while growing. It also gives the parents a chance to bond with one another. My mother is constantly adding more and more parents and children to this organization and she works tirelessly to make it more and more successful. We have an annual golf tournament, annual appreciation dinners, car washes, fundraisers-all designed to raise more money so that we can take these children (and their families) to Walt Disney World, Sea World, to the beach, the Zoo, to buy more toys and equipment, music, instruction.
In Feb. 2008, we will have our first ever SMOOCH ( Special mothers of outstanding children with handicaps ). This is one special day where the children of our mothers will have a day of pampering-facials, manicures, massages, dinner, and a show. My mother has taken a small town and broadened it's horizons and opened thousands of eyes to the world of Autism. Educatiing people and their children. Letting them know that there IS a place for them to bring their children to play and be normal, a place where parents can talk and express their worries, concerns, joy.
This mother's 'big dreams' just may come true
Published April 13, 2005 in the Orlando Sentinel
Jo-Anne Houwers has just worked a 10-hour day, but hearing her talk you get the sense she can work another 10 without a hitch. She rattles off a list of exciting possibilities as giggling children run around an Ocoee gym.
More mats and equipment. Music instruments. Field trips to amusement parks. A swim with the dolphins. A theater room. A music therapist. Oh, and a horseback-riding camp.
"I have big dreams," Houwers tells me as several dozen families stream into the gym for their special kids' weekly hour of fun.
If it's Tuesday, it must be the Jim Beech Recreation Center in Ocoee, where Houwers started a volunteer program five years ago for children with autism and other related disabilities. She hopes to expand the program, which runs most every Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m., to young adults.
It all started thanks to Joey, now 20. Houwers was looking for a place where children and teens like Joey could "go where they don't have to feel different." A place where parents could share their experiences. The Ocoee center gave the nod, and through word of mouth and a Web site (www.autismgym.org) whole families started showing up.
Joey has an obsessive-compulsive disorder, a common symptom of autism. He has difficulty speaking. He can retain information, his mother says, but "he can't always let it out."
On this particular Tuesday, Joey is tossing a ball with parents of younger children. A 3-year-old boy with Down syndrome giggles as one of the center's counselors lifts him up to touch the basketball rim. Even the loud music that's playing can't muffle occasional screeches from delighted kids and hollers of "Be careful!" from vigilant parents.
It's all part of what Houwers sees as a nurturing community to help families cope with a disability that now affects one in 500 American children. Some studies have suggested high levels of mercury in certain older versions of vaccines as a possible cause, though others dispute those findings. One thing's clear: The number of cases has grown exponentially for this neurological disability.
Alan Moss says the Ocoee program gives his soon-to-be 9-year-old son, Joseph, the chance to make friends, have fun "and not break anything." He's helping Houwers recruit 144 golfers for a May 7 tournament at Walt Disney World's Palm Golf Course at the Shades of Green Resort in Lake Buena Vista.
I don't usually write about fund-raisers, but I'm making an exception because there are so few taxpayer-supported recreational activities specifically for those with developmental disabilities. State-financed basic care programs to help those with autism, cerebral palsy and other disabilities have long waiting lists. Last year, almost 14,000 were waiting.
The state has designed flexible programs that train family members to provide care. Joey gets some of that assistance. His parents work different shifts so that he's always supervised. What's lacking are organized activities. Houwers' program, which sometimes includes volunteer therapists, is an ingenious way to help families help themselves.
If you would like to play golf May 7 or help in some way, call Houwers at 407-234-7456 or Moss at 321-303-7672. Or drop by the Ocoee center. Joey will be waiting. If you're lucky, he'll smile and toss a ball your way.
Myriam Marquez can be reached at mmarquez@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5399.
Interesting Articles
Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Explain Her Behavior and Feelings
Carly Fleischmann has severe autism and is unable to speak a word. But thanks to years of expensive and intensive therapy, this 13-year-old has made a remarkable breakthrough.
Two years ago, working with pictures and symbols on a computer keyboard, she started typing and spelling out words. The computer became her voice.
"All of a sudden these words started to pour out of her, and it was an exciting moment because we didn't realize she had all these words," said speech pathologist Barbara Nash. "It was one of those moments in my career that I'll never forget."
Then Carly began opening up, describing what it was like to have autism and why she makes odd noises or why she hits herself.
"It feels like my legs are on first and a million ants are crawling up my arms," Carly said through the computer.
Carly writes about her frustrations with her siblings, how she understands their jokes and asks when can she go on a date.
"We were stunned," Carly's father Arthur Fleischmann said. "We realized inside was an articulate, intelligent, emotive person that we had never met. This was unbelievable because it opened up a whole new way of looking at her." This is what Carly wants people to know about autism.
"It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can't talk or I act differently than them. I think people get scared with things that look or seem different than them." "Laypeople would have assumed she was mentally retarded or cognitively impaired. Even professionals labelled her as moderately to severely cognitively impaired. In the old days you would say mentally retarded, which means low IQ and low promise and low potential," Arthur Fleischman said.
Therapists say the key lesson from Carly's story is for families to never give up and to be ever creative in helping children with autism find their voice.
"If we had done what so many people told us to do years ago, we wouldn't have the child we have today. We would have written her off. We would have assumed the worst. We would have never seen how she could write these things how articulate she is, how intelligent she is," the grateful father added.
"I asked Carly to come to my work to talk to speech pathologists and other therapists about autism," said Nash. "What would you like to tell them? She wrote, 'I would tell them never to give up on the children that they work with.' That kind of summed it up."
Carly had another message for people who don't understand autism.
"Autism is hard because you want to act one way, but you can't always do that. It's sad that sometimes people don't know that sometimes I can't stop myself and they get mad at me. If I could tell people one thing about autism it would be that I don't want to be this way. But I am, so don't be mad. Be understanding."
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