NEWSLETTER:

ASRC - ASD ADULT SUPPORT GROUP - SPRING 2008

Our group, now almost four years old, is continuing to grow. In addition to our monthly support meetings at ASRC in Wallingford, we have been meeting in Avon for more than a year.

In 2006 we started hiking regularly at Sleeping Giant. Our last hike of 2007 was on December 30th and our first hike this year was March 15th. We always choose the relatively easy, 3 mile round trip, Tower Trail. In addition to hikers from our group, we've had friends, family and a few dogs join us. The hikes are great, Spring, Summer and Fall.

In 2007 we started meeting regularly to watch DVDs at ASRC. We're fortunate enough to have a tremendous seven foot screen for the DVDs. We've seen everything from The Devil Wears Prada, to Beverly Hills Cop, to The Simpsons, to reruns of The Munsters, I Love Lucy, and Monty Python. We schedule DVDs on lots of Saturday evenings.

We've now been holding Board Games Nights at the Wallingford Recreation Center for more than two years. Since I was never a big fan of board games myself, Michael S. has agreed to lead the Games Night activities. Michael's doing a great job. We routinely get about ten people playing games and socializing. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.

We've also taken advantage of some unique opportunities. Last summer we went sailing and made a trip to a beach in Rhode Island. We've been to some Rock Cats games, mini golfing, bowling, hiked in West Hartford and Middlefield, and visited Lake Compounce and The Big E. We had a Halloween party with more than ten of us showing up in costume. We visited the Fantasy of Lights in New Haven. We also had a holiday party, a New Year's Eve party and a Superbowl party. In February, we visited the Peabody Museum.

We've got five different activities that we schedule quite regularly. We have support meetings in Wallingford and Avon. We have board games, hikes and DVDs. Between those five and our parties and infrequent outings, we are doing something every week and sometimes two or three things in the same week.

As busy as our group is, we still have plenty of room for anyone who'd like to join us. Just call or e-mail me and I'll start sending you notices as we schedule activities. Our group is intended for adults on the spectrum, but anyone who is a good fit with our group is welcome at many of our activities. We have teens as young as 15 who join us regularly. We also have spouses and siblings who join us. And, we've had young children on the spectrum join us along with their parents. The best way to determine if our group is for you is to join us for an activity. The odds are, we have an activity coming up in the next few days.

Dave Tipping
203 484-2937
NZ1J@JUNO.COM


PICTURES:

Wadsworth Falls and Halloween



Hiking and Japanese Anime Night on June 30th



Photos from our Sailing Trip in Mystic on June 3rd



Photos from our Weekly Hike at Sleeping Giant



These are pictures from our Adult Support Group meeting with special guest Jerry Newport.

Jerry Newport is an individual with Aspergers who has written a number of books on the subject, lectures widely, and is the author of Mozart & The Whale, a book out now, as well as a movie in DVD. Great film for those of you who haven't seen it. It stars Josh Hartnett as Jerry.