Running for CAN (Canucks Autism Network)

For those of you who don't know me, before I became a full-time mom I have been working with kids with autism for almost 10 years. When I started my very first semester at SFU, I thought I wanted to be a teacher or a child psychologist since I had volunteered lots at day camps and knew I loved working with children. One of my friends asked if I would be interested in working with a child who was autistic. It was the first time I'd ever heard of the word and I thought she had said "artistic" and wondered why artistic children needed special help.....well I've learned a lot more about what autism since then. I finished my BA in Psychology and went on to get my Master in Special Education specializing in Autism and Developmental Disorders. I've worked with at least 50 or more kids on the autism spectrum and I love, love, love my job. I am a behavioral consultant at Family Centred Practices Group and I meet families right after they get the ASD diagnosis when their child is usually 2 or 3 years old. Then I work really hard to help them learn  communication, social, academic and/or self-help skills.

I'm doing the half-marathon for the Canucks Autism Network (CAN). They are an awesome non-profit group that helps enhance the quality of life for families with kids with autism. One of the kids CAN has helped is a little sweetheart I work with. His name is Lewis and when I first met him, he was a shy 3-year-old with just a few words. In the past 3 years of working with him, he has been significant gains. He is now a super chatty, adorable and well-liked student in his kindergarten class. When I saw him yesterday, he ran to the door said, "Hi Vanessa! How are you?" and gave me a big hug. That just melts my heart because our team worked so hard for him to learn greeting skills. If you don't know much about autism, one of the areas that many children with ASD struggle with is social skills. Lewis is one of those kids. For example, when he was at the playground, I saw a girl his age nearby so I whispered, "say hi to the girl." He took this very literally (as many kids with autism do), turned to her and says, "Hi girl" and then walked away. So you can see that social skills is an area that we've focused on for Lewis. The Canucks Autism Network offers many social programs and one is the I CAN Play series. These programs are specifically designed to promote the physical and social development of children with autism by providing an environment and pace of instruction that is modified to meet their needs. CAN also provides a place to learn sports skills and socialize with their peers without the fear of acceptance or the worry of competition. It is a chance for them to build new friendships and most importantly participate in sports any typical child would. Lewis has been going to the I CAN soccer series for the past several months, it is so wonderful to see him so excited to go to soccer every Satruday morning and talk about the friends he has made. During the summer, his older brother will be able to go soccer camp with him. CAN provides such a great opportunity for families to have experiences that many of us with typically developing children take for granted. If you don't know anything about CAN, take a minute and watch the video, it also doesn't hurt that Manny Malhotra of the Vancouver Canucks is CAN's official spokesperson =)

And if you want to help CAN continue the awesome work it is doing, click on the fundraising link below. All the kids I work with say THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1366342&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=direct%2fnone