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This past Saturday September 30th, I had the honor and the privilege to present “Autism and Disney Characters” at my second retreat and conference hosted by Infinite Learning Academy. If you recall, back in June, I presented with them for the first time on Hutchinson Island, FL a series of presentations that also included several debuts.
This time around, I headed down to Charleston, South Carolina where this time, Infinite Learning Academy partnered with the special education program, Classeteria, for a one day learning retreat and conference catering to the special education families of Charleston and the surrounding areas.
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Now, before I go any further, this was a new place to visit for me as this was my first time in South Carolina and my first visit to either Carolina since 2007 right around the time I graduated from high school. I will say that South Carolina is a state with a lot of history and really good barbecue. In fact, my mom wants nothing more than come to Charleston for a bucket list item. In addition, South Carolina is home to the Gullah culture and for those of you who grew up in the 1990’s, you probably remember the show, “Gullah, Gullah Island,” (the one with the Muppet pollywig, Binga Binga).
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But getting back to the review, this conference was notable for several reasons. The first reason was that I actually met not one, but two women (a mother and a presenter) who are originally from my neck of the woods in East Providence and New Bedford, respectively. It’s great to see that even though they both live down here, I am getting the opportunity to connect with families and professionals with New England connections outside of New England.
Furthermore, I also interacted with a professional who is a member of the United States Air Force and we had a conversation regarding the military history of our families, given that all of my grandfathers served during World War II.
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Next, something I noticed greatly is that there is a demand for a variety of topics that needed to be covered and that greatly empowers me to do what I do as an advocate/public speaker. During the retreat, I explained to several attendees that I do presentations on School Safety and School Assemblies as well as currently working on one about Alternative Lunchroom Settings. The response was unanimous on account that schools need to be trained in better supporting neurodivergent and special education students during these situations.
Of course, part of the reason why I created these kinds of presentations was because I lived through them and can share my experiences with parents and teachers. It’s too bad I didn’t get a chance to present either one of these presentations, but there is always another chance just around the corner.
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Another factor is “Autism in Disney Characters” itself which underwent a kind of transformation during the course of the retreat. I did two showings and my intention was to do Part 1 in the morning and Part 2 in the afternoon. When I was told to just do Part 1 both times, I decided to merge the presentations together and instead of two seperate showings of Part 1, I instead created a version that groups the characters by the following:
Speaking Differences: Dopey
Lack of Awareness: Gus, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Pinocchio, Jane Porter
Prone to Wandering: Alice, Belle
Lack of Understanding Personal Boundaries: Tigger, Beast, Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter and March Hare
Overprotective Parents: Ariel, Nemo
Masking: Elsa
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By offering the combined option, my audience can have the option to gain a mutual connection with all the characters at once or they have the option to connect with these characters in two separate periods of time. This version debuted during the afternoon presentation of Autism in Disney Characters which was attended by two families.
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Lastly, I want to mention something that is a dying breed, which is a dirty shame given that malls do hold a lot of educational value that a lot of students can learn from. This weekend’s retreat took place in the Citadel Mall and what I saw was not a whole lot of people inside shopping like the old days.
It’s important to remember that malls are an ideal location for students and individuals to learn money skills, community interaction and job skills. If you are an organization or school looking to give your students/clients an exposure to important skills, I highly recommend you check out your nearest neighborhood mall.
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Catch you all later!!
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