"Planet 51"
Saturday, November 21st - 10:00am

AMC Entertainment® (AMC) and the Autism Society of America have teamed up to
bring families affected by autism and other disabilities a special opportunity
to enjoy their favorite films in a safe and accepting environment on a monthly
basis with the "Sensory Friendly Films" program.  In order to provide a more
accepting and comfortable setting for this unique audience, the movie
auditoriums will have their lights brought up and sound turned down, families
will be able to bring in their own gluten-free, casein-free snacks, and no
previews or advertisements will be shown before the movie.  Additionally,
audience members are welcome to get up and dance, walk, shout or sing - in other
words, AMC's "Silence is Golden" policy will not be enforced unless the safety
of the audience is questioned.

Three theaters in the Atlanta market have been selected to host "Sensory
Friendly Films":

AMC Discover Mills 18
5900 Sugarloaf Pkwy
L'ville, GA  30043
678-847-9265

AMC Phipps Plaza 14
3500 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA  30326
404-231-1492

AMC Southlake 24
7065 Mount Zion Circle
Morrow, GA  30260
770-473-0719

For tickets to this unique experience, please visit the theater's box office the
day of the event.

For information on upcoming events, please visit the ASA-Greater Georgia website
at www.asaga.com.

Please forward as appropriate.

Hi everyone,
This winter we're offering two consecutive 6-week sessions of improvisational
acting classes for high-functioning tweens, teens, and adults on the autistic
spectrum or having other PDDs with social cognition deficits. These classes are
a lot of fun (no experience needed) and, through acting games and
scene-building, provide practice in many of the key social skills that we use in
every day communication.

Each 6-week session is $235. You can hold a place with a $25 non-refundable
deposit per session, which will be applied to the class fee. The complete fee
and application form must be received a week before class begins to complete the
registration. If you would like credit card convenience, we can email an invoice
through PayPal (no account required) and will add the 3% service fee to the
invoice total.

Tuesday After School - 4:30-6:00 (Ages 10-17)
Located: Pierian Springs School in Sandy Springs (City Walk next to Meehan's)
Winter session I: Jan 5-Feb 9
Winter session II: Feb 23-Mar 30

Wednesday Evening Adults - 7:00-8:30 (Ages 17+)
Located: The Basement Theatre in Buckhead/Sandy Springs (175 W Wieuca Rd.)
Winter session I: Jan 6-Feb 10
Winter session II: Feb 24-Mar 31

Thursday After School - 4:30-6:00 (Aged 10-17)
Located: Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, East Cobb (Johnson Ferry Rd & Post Oak
Tritt Rd)
Winter session I: Jan 7-Feb 11
Winter session II: Feb 25-Apr 1

Saturdays - 12:30-2:00 (All ages)
Located: The Basement Theatre in Buckhead/Sandy Springs (175 W Wieuca Rd.)
Winter session I: Jan 9-Feb 13
Winter session II: Feb 27-Apr 3

We're working on an Alpharetta location to add to the mix, so if you're
interested, please give me a call (contact info below).

We'll also be posting some 1-day workshops for late December shortly.

For more info or to register, please contact:
Sandy Bruce
(770) 354-5770
shenanigans.info@...

Sensory Day at BounceU
Sunday, November 15th, 3:30-5:30
1630 Pleasant Hill Rd., #110, Duluth, GA
Only $5.00 per child
BounceU reached out to the Autism Society because they have seen a growing 
number of children with Autism visiting their facility and recognized how much
our kids seem to enjoy this sensory experience.  They have blocked time just for
children with autism and their families on Sunday, November 15th from 3:30-5:30.
The kids can run, jump, play and most of all just have FUN (adults are allowed
on the inflatables as well). So mark your calendar and bring your socks. It's
going to be a BLAST.

Hi folks,

There have been some interesting posts recently to the list.  Always glad to see
people seeking out help and others offering it.  Remember that people here are
parents and non-attorney professionals and not offering legal advice.  If you
need legal advice there are 4-6 attorneys in the Metro area that specialize in
special education law to whom you can turn for a legal consultation.

Just a few things, speaking as a consultant and behavior analyst:

Suspension - there are NO free suspension days.  No 10 days free, or anything of
the sort.  If a child has a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) and they are being
suspended - guess what - that's an indication that the BIP is inadequate.  So,
an FBA needs to be conducted (or extended) as soon as possible.  If a child does
not have a BIP then an FBA must be done at or after 10 days is reached but
should be done sooner.  And one really important point - if you don't ask
officially you can't get an official answer to your request.

Evaluations - schools do generally get first crack at evaluating.  However,
parents can ask for an independent one at public expense prior to the schools
having had their chance at it but their odds of getting one are slim under
normal circumstances.  They can also offer their own private ones in lieu of the
schools (but the school can ask for their own).

IEE - Independent Educational Evaluation and is done at parent request, usually
following an eval by the schools with which the parents disagree in some way, is
at public expense, and is conducted by a qualified professional who is
independent of both the parents and the school.  Schools can say no to a request
for an IEE but, I believe, they have to say why they said no.  This is something
that can be appealed.

None of what I have said is meant to be legal advice as I am not an attorney.  I
conduct IEEs on a fairly regular basis and am reasonably familiar with those
rules as well as the BIP and FBA rules because of being a behavior analyst. 
Only a Judge gets to decide what the law says - others can offer opinions but
they are just their opinions.

-Robert W. Montgomery, Ph.D.