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Local Events
ABA Training Class: Part 1
March 6th
AZA United (Phoenix)
Annual Meeting for AZA Families
April 10th AZA United (Phoenix)
Wine Tasting Event for AZA
April 24th Wine Styles (Peoria)
Parent Night Q&A: Integrating Hab with Speech Therapy
February 24th
AZA United (Phoenix)
Sensory Issues for Teens and Adults Seminar
February 17th
AZ Autism Coalition
(Phoenix)
February 20th
Autism Society of America
(Scottsdale)
March 26th & 27th
Autism Society of America(Phoenix)
Disability & Human Services Summit
February 20th
City of Surprise
Sexuality Education for ASD
February 12th
SARRC (Phoenix)
Treatement for Feeding Issues
March 18th
SARRC (Phoenix)
IEP Workshops
February 20th & March 4th
Raising Special Kids (Peoria)
Contact us for more information on any of these events! |
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Link of the Month
Listen to a live interview on NPR with Temple Grandin.
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Join the AZA Staff Party  Calling all employees!
We are hosting a staff party and you are invited! There will be door prizes, free lunch or dinner on the rooftop, and a variety of fun and games for us all to get to know each other and share stories from the work you do for AZA United's families (while protecting strict confidentiality rules, of course).
We will also be providing information about important updates and new opportunities for you, as well as some professional development activities. By attending this event, you will fulfill your professional development requirements for your next raise!
We have two dates for you to choose from, so let us know which works best for you. The first party will be on Thursday, February 18th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. The second party will be the following Tuesday, February 23rd, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. Both events take place at AZA United. To RSVP, give us a call or email Party@AZAunited.org. Hope to see you there!
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Connecting Speech & Hab - Join us for PIE  On the evening of Wednesday, February 24th, AZA United will host another evening of PIE - Parent Information and Education. This month we are pleased to share with you our guest speaker Nicolette Judge, licensed speech therapist and owner of Arizona Pediatric Autism Consultants (APAC). Nicolette has been working with children on the autism spectrum for nearly 10 years and has extensive experience as a habilitator, playgroup facilitator, ABA provider and trainer, and speech therapist. She knows how to make the best of both worlds, and for one night only she's all yours! Come join other parents to ask questions, share experiences, and learn techniques that can help you help your child. Also joining us will be the newest member of the AZA Programs Team, Jenna Ramsey. Jenna also has years of experience with ABA and currently works as a speech-language technician for Mesa Public Schools. She is pursuing her graduate degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences and has had many successes combining techniques to help children increase their language and communication skills.
PIE nights are a combination of expert presentations and parent information sharing, so we invite you to attend whether you are new to the process or an experienced parent with wisdom to share. As always, there will be food and pie! We'll get started around 5:30 and continue to about 8:00. To RSVP, give us a call or email PIE@azaunited.org. This event is free and for parents only. Hope to see you there!
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Announcing the $10,000 Parent Initiative Contributed by Aaron Blocher-Rubin, Executive Director
If you were in charge of $10,000 to help families of children with autism in our community, what would you do with it?
Just 4 years ago, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to help build an organization from the ground up for children with autism and their families. As a brother of a teenager on the autism spectrum, I knew how important this project would be for both now and the future. I had never heard of anything like a Human Service Co-op before, and it took some time to really understand how it works and what it can offer. Since then, we have grown from two families and one employee to more than 200 of each. We have built lasting relationships with families, employees, community organizations and supporters, and we've developed a strong infrastructure that allows us to grow and provide increasingly more resources to our community.
I have always felt that the best part of a co-op model is that it gives families a way to identify gaps in the system and have the resources to do something about it. Many of you have expressed to me how much you like the idea of a co-op, knowing that all programs and policies are ultimately approved by a board of other parents elected by you. At the same time, you have not yet had a way to directly experience what the co-op model can offer, to see tangible results based on your ideas. It is time for that to happen.
On that note, we are announcing AZA United's $10,000 Parent Initiative. Our parent-led board has approved an allocation of these funds specifically for this project, which will be decided by you, the member families of AZA United. We want to hear your ideas! We will share your suggestions with all of the AZA families so you can discuss, brainstorm, fine-tune and vote on the best ones. More information is coming soon, but you can get a head start by emailing your ideas now to Parents@AZAunited.org. No idea is off limits! Our mission is to help children and their families, so this project could be directed toward parent wellness activities or sibling involvement as well. We look forward to hearing from ALL of you! |
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Call the New Program Helpline  Attention parents and employees!
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing more program resources for families and employees, we have established a new Program Helpline. Just call (602) 773-5772 anytime you need assistance for your child's habilitation program. The AZA United Program Team is here to offer a range of resources. These include new ideas and activities, teaching strategies, behavior plans, therapy materials, online trainings and resources, or hands-on training and demonstration sessions. We can visit with you either in the child's home, in a community setting, or at our center and observable clinic. Whatever the need, big or small, give us a call and see what we can do to help. If you forget the direct number, just call our main office and ask for the Program Helpline. We look forward to helping you soon!
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Payroll Updates for Employees A payroll schedule for 2010 has been posted online in the Downloads section. A copy has also been mailed with the most recent paychecks. It includes all timesheet due dates and paydates for the year. Please remember that timesheets are due at 5:00 pm on the due date, and if the normal date falls on a weekend, they are due the Friday before. Click here to see the 2010 schedule. For general information about payroll and service policies, please review the Service Conditions, which are also available on our website in the Downloads section. Remember that AZA United offers you a raise after every 250 hours of habilitation (up to $14/hr), as long as you have submitted proof of 4 hours of professional development. Click the link on the sidebar of this newsletter to view different PD opportunities that AZA United offers. In addition to in-person events, we have a range of online classes available for you. Simply let us know which one you are interested in! This offer is open to our families as well. Click here for more information and a list of available classes.
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Attend a Wine Tasting Event and Support AZA  On Saturday, April 24th, Wine Styles in Peoria will host an afternoon wine tasting event, with all proceeds benefiting AZA United to support the new Helping Hands program. Tickets are just $7 per person, or a group of five for $25. Each guest will get 6 tickets to sample their favorite wines. There will also be a raffle, silent auction, door prizes, food, massages and more! Don't miss out on this fun event. Visit the event homepage for more details and to get your tickets.
If you're really feeling motivated, there are other ways you can help. We'll need some volunteers to help run the event smoothly, and we are also soliciting donations for the silent auction. Do you or a business you know have something to contribute? All donations are tax-deductible! If you would like to join our event committee, led by AZA parent Lori Rodriguez, give us a call or email Events@AZAunited.org.
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Thanks for all you do, and don't forget to tell us what else we can do...for you! |
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