Alternatives for Special Kids (ASK!) has a limited amount of scholarships
available for its upcoming conference in Irvine, California on May 8 - 11.
Alternatives for Special Kids Conference, Workshops, Exhibits, and Consults is
by far the largest conference of its kind. ASK! brings together world-wide
expertise in hands-on approaches to dealing with the tough challenges that our
children with special needs face. This is not a conference about reporting the
latest research, but instead, ASK! 2003 will help parents and professionals to
readily improve the lives of their children.

ASK! scholarships will allow families and professionals to both work and consult
with over 120 speakers who will present 220 presentations/demonstrations and 75
more concentrated workshops. The eight tracks of the conference range from
Healing Therapies, to Technologies, to the Best of the Resources. Presentations
span from healing acquired and traumatic brain injuries, to mobility and body
control, to g-tube nutrition, to learning, to unscrambling children with
multiple issues, to alternatives and resources for teens. Presentations are
geared for children ranging in age from infants to teens and focus on a broad
range of physical and cognitive challenges.

There are partial, full, and full-working scholarships (one parent/friends
volunteers in exchange for the other attending the conference) available. ASK's
goals are to:

1. Reduce the time it takes to piece together the right puzzle that can best
help our children.
2. Create meeting spaces where professionals, parents, children, and
manufactures can
collaborate to problem solve the hurdles that our children have to struggle
through.
3. Educate the public to alternatives that can improve the lives of children
with these tough
challenges and to bring to the public resources that can enrich the family.

ASK! also offers a very exciting Kids Care / Conference that runs at the same
time for both the children with special needs and for their siblings. The Kids
Conference includes many age and ability appropriate activities. There are also
workshops for teens that range from careers, to dealing with emotions, to ways
of helping in the dynamics of a family with a special needs child. In addition,
some of the main conference speakers in the arts, music, movement, and adaptive
sports will work with all of the children. The Kids Conference will provide
professional nursing care.

With three weeks to go, ASK! is also looking for assistance in getting the word
out. We have add cards, brochures, and other publications available. We also
have a shortened version of this post.

For additional information, view our Web site at www.4healthykids.org, e-mail
darien@..., or call 401.315.0590. The full list of topics will be
posted this weekend. Scholarship requests should be submitted as soon as
possible.

Darien C. Small
Alternatives for Special Kids
darien@...
Irvine, California
May 8-11, 2003
"Doing the best that we
can for our children."



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