2007-SEASON
LAUNCH
This year is promising to be our
busiest ever. It is only March and many
of our regions aren’t even warm enough yet to begin sailing. However, Executive Director George Saidah
hasn’t been in dry-docks during the winter!
He has been traveling and growing Heart of Sailing and is happy to
announce 2 new regions for 2007: Heart
of Sailing-Canada and Heart of Sailing-Boston.
We will be introducing additional information about the new regions in
upcoming little heart issues and on our website. In February, HoS returned to Southern California to launch the
2007 season with the opening Daysail in Dana Point, California. Since its debut
in October 2006, the Southern California region continues to grow with participation
of families from Santa Barbara to San Diego! Read more about the developing
regions and Southern California events below!
For more information about our exciting news, see http://www.heartofsailing.org/newsletter.asp
MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
Heart of Sailing has launched a radio program on
Autism One Radio!
Autism One is a 501(3)(c)
nonprofit charity organization started by a small group of parents of children
with autism. Maintaining a simple message that children with autism get better
with proper treatment and therapies, the programs feature a variety of topics
grouped in four areas ranging from biomedical treatments to legal
advocacy. Hosts include knowledgeable
autism experts across a variety of fields. Many are also parents of children
with autism, a great number recovered or on the road to recovery. Their
combination of education, experience, passion, and insight puts theory into
practice helping turn difficult questions into real-life answers.
Heart of
Sailing’s monthly 30 minute broadcast features interviews of participants and
volunteers and provides more detailed information about therapeutic aspects
including socialization, communication, teamwork, motor skills, and confidence
building. The broadcast also serves as a travelogue by providing brief
summaries of interesting cultural, social, and historical facts of the various
Daysail regions, with different regions.
Ultimately, the program will be offered in 4 different languages.
For more
information about Autism One, or to tune into Heart of Sailing’s monthly
broadcasts, please visit: http://autismone.org/radio/
A Conversation of Hope with Betsy Hicks
Executive Director George
Saidah and Program Director Amber Burton Small were recently featured guests on
A Conversation of Hope, hosted by
Betsy Hicks. Noted for her lectures on
biomedical treatments, holistic options and implementing restrictive diets,
Betsy and her husband, Dr. John Hicks, run Pathways Medical Advocates in
Southern Wisconsin, with 6 offices nationwide. Betsy, the mother of a son with
autism, is also author of Cooking Healthy Gluten and Casein-Free Food for
Children, and anchor of The GFCF Diet Comprehensive Video.
Betsy offers interviews and
insights highlighting the progress in areas related to autism spectrum
disorders such as: biomedical research and treatment; communication,
education, and behavioral modalities; adult services; sociological and
philosophical issues; and legislative, advocacy, and insurance
concerns. “A Conversation of Hope” first broadcasts each Tuesday at
9am Pacific (Noon Eastern) on the VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness
Channel (www.health.voiceamerica.com),
then on Autism One Radio the
following Wednesday.
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
Checking out the view topsides in
San Diego
Heart of Sailing introduced its Daysail
program to San Diego on March 3&4 at Silver Gate Yacht Club on Shelter
Island. Shelter Island, actually a
man-made peninsula formed from a sand bar, was developed in the 1950’s and is now a 1.2 mile stretch of marinas, hotels, and parks. Silver Gate Yacht Club, formed in 1952, is committed
to community service and has hosted an annual Wheelchair Regatta since
1960. The weekend could not have been a
success without the club’s assistance.
Special thanks to all at SGYC,
Commodore Dave Lancaster, the Officers and Board, and Port Captain Tony
DiLeva.
HoS completed 4 Daysails with more than 20
participants and family sailing San Diego Bay, encountering seals lazing about
on the channel buoys, watching the
military helicopters, and even seeing a submarine. Participants also enjoyed a picnic lunch
aboard the boat. HoS also had a special
guest, Board Member Christian Chahine, visiting from Europe. However, the star of the weekend was Ivy, our
adventurous cat who lives aboard. Her
outgoing personality and fondness for sailing delighted the participants.
HoS returns to Dana Point for Daysails on
March 17&18, and then continues the Southern California Ambassador Program with events in Oxnard,
Ventura, Santa Barbara and Marina del Rey.
To sail with us please visit the link “Sail with Us” at our
website: www.heartofsailing.org.
DONORS
Special thanks to families of participants who have recently donated
to HoS. For 2007, we have a new fundraising campaign, entitled SOS HOS (Support Our Sailing
at Heart of Sailing) to target funding for Daysails
in our established and growing regions.
Contributions enable children with developmental disabilities to enjoy our
unique recreational therapy program. For more
information about donations and other items needed please check our website, http://heartofsailing.org/whatisneeded.asp
Current Course
A recurring feature highlighting news and research regarding pervasive developmental
disabilities
Research now indicates that signs of
autism spectrum disorders can be detected in children as early as 18 months.
Autism is typically
diagnosed around the ages of 3 and 4. However,
critical signs apparent in younger children are making it possible - and
important - to identify autism earlier, said Hannah Schertz, an assistant
professor at the University of Northern Colorado, who conducted research while
a doctoral student at Indiana University. Researchers are beginning to find
ways to intervene more effectively with children who have been identified with
an autism spectrum disorder before age 3. Schertz found that a
relationship-based approach that builds on the parent-child relationship is
effective in promoting joint attention in toddlers. Joint attention is a
milestone that is evident when a child shares attention about an object or
event. It is a precursor to verbal language, a core difficulty for children
with ASD.
Schertz's
"joint attention mediated learning" model builds competency through a
sequence of focusing on facing, turn-taking, responding to and initiating joint
attention Characteristics of joint attention:
- The child may respond to a parent showing an
object by exchanging looks between the object and the parent or by
visually following a parent's point.
- The child may initiate a joint attention encounter
by holding out, or pointing to, an object while shifting gaze between the
object and the parent.
- Studies have found that verbal language follows
very quickly on the heels of joint attention in typical development.
- Toddlers with ASD have less difficulty communicating
non-verbally about an object for the purpose of requesting than for purely
social reasons. They are relatively able to make their wants and needs
known even without the benefit of verbal language. However, they have
difficulty with socially-oriented nonverbal communication that is for the
purpose of sharing enjoyment or excitement about objects or events.
One
difference at about age 1 is that children with a later diagnosis of autism did
not spend as much time looking at others' faces. An even more reliable sign is
seen in toddlers who do not show signs of joint attention by age 18
months.
This article is excerpted from the feature in Active for Life, produced by Indiana
University Media Relations. For
more information, visit: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/
VOLUNTEERS
We continue to recruit new volunteers to assist us
with operations, event planning and fundraising. As we continue to grow, the work of our volunteers is even more
crucial. As part of our Operations
Manual, all volunteers working directly with children in our program must pass
background screening. We will be
featuring bios and info regarding our dedicated volunteers in upcoming little heart issues!
Community Partners Programs
Heart of Sailing is pleased to announce
it has received approval as an authorized recipient for the Community Contributions Program with
Ralph’s as well as Albertson’s Community
Partners. The retailers, with
locations in California, only provide funds to 501(c)(3) charities that pass
eligibility tests and complete an application process.
This participation is an easy way for
families to support Heart of Sailing by choosing HoS to receive contributions
from their grocery purchases. Both
retailers will donate percentages of qualifying purchases to the charity chosen
by the shoppers who enroll their cards.
Simply by scanning the shopper’s card, a percentage of the groceries purchased is donated to HoS by the
supporting store.
To learn how you can enroll, please
visit the link on our website. HoS is
pursuing approval for similar programs at retailers in our other regions. Please contact us with the stores in your
area.
UPCOMING EVENTS
DAYSAILS:
Dana
Point, CA - March 17-18
Oxnard,
CA - March 24-25
Santa
Barbara, CA - March 31-April 1
Ventura,
CA - April 7-8
Marina
del Rey, CA – April 14-15
Dana
Point, CA April 21-22
LEXUS Newport
to Ensenada Race
April
27-29, 2007
Summer
Sailstice Sail-a-thon
June
23-24, 2007
little heart newsletter is a publication of Heart of Sailing, a non-profit foundation
dedicated to sharing the joy and therapeutic benefits of sailing with children
with developmental disabilities.
Contents herein are for information purposes and are the property of HoS
unless otherwise identified. For
questions, comments, advertising opportunities or other information contact us
at news@heartofsailing.org.
