Joanne Lara, author and founder of Autism Works Now, joins moderator Gary Jesch, to talk about how the election of Donald Trump may affect the autism community. Lara is producer of some special TV projects involving Temple Grandin and Los Angeles celebrities and was an autism advisor on "Touch," starring Kiefer Sutherland. Hosted by Gary Jesch of Autism Animated, an autism advocacy community, this webcast program will include an in-person conversation with Joanne Lara, with questions from the audience welcomed.

Joanne's mission is to educate autism advocates and others about the power of movement & music as an evidence-based intervention for autism. She also works to provide pre-employment skills for those with autism for meaningful job placements.

What does Joanne Lara expect for autism advocacy under Donald Trump?

From her Facebook post of Nov. 11, 2016 - "More sad news from the Trumpster! Which we saw coming because this country just voted in a president who had NO POLICY ! What were you people thinking????"

"Assuming Trump intends to pursue a similar block-grant proposal to the one advanced by House Republicans this past year, block-granting would slash federal Medicaid funding by as much as $1 trillion between 2017 and 2026. By the 10-year mark, federal funding would stand at only two-thirds of its current level, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Not only would this effectively doom the chances of the hundreds of thousands of disabled adults now on waiting lists for in-home supports, but it would likely result in considerable service cutbacks to those now receiving care."

What others have to say -

"I'm invited to a Autism Movement Therapy (AMT) workshop that combines parents and young adults on the autism spectrum in one room. I’m skeptical that Kevin, my 18-year old autistic son,and the other young participants will sit still through a Powerpoint about the benefits of dance and music conducted by Autism Movement Therapy  founder, Joanne Lara. She has had a twenty-year career as a dance teacher, then went back to school to receive her Special Education Master’s Degree. Joanne, a radiant woman, finds much satisfaction in spreading the word about dance, movement, music, art and autism.

(From The Art of Autism, by Debra Musikar - 6/11/2013)

ABOUT JOANNE LARA

Joanne Lara, professional dancer turned classroom education specialist turned university professor, has dedicated her life’s work to improving the lives of individuals with autism through movement and music. Her advocacy has led to founding the nonprofit organization Autism Movement Therapy®, the recipient of three Autism Speaks grants, home based in Los Angeles, California. Autism Movement Therapy lectures, certifies, trains, and licenses dancers, educators, parents, and professional service providers across the United States, Canada, India, Malaysia, South America, UK, Italy, Wales, China and Kuwait in the beneficial role that movement and music can play in the speech and language, behavioral, and cognitive domains of individuals on the autism spectrum.

Joanne is a core adjunct professor at National University in LA, California, and helped design the Autism Certificate. Lara earned her master’s in special education, Moderate/Severe and Multiple Disabilities, from California State University, Northridge, and a BA in Dance from the University of South Florida. She holds a CCTC California Moderate/Severe Education Specialist K–12 teaching credential and taught in the LAUSD for over ten years, where she worked exclusively with students with autism.

Ms. Lara teaches weekly Autism Movement Therapy classes in Van Nuys, CA and Lara produced the documentary to air on PBS fall of 2016 Generation A: Portraits of Autism and the ARTS with Temple Grandin, Stephen Shore, Ed Asner, Elaine Hall, Susan Sheller, Anshu Batra MD, Wyatt Isaacs, Dani Bowman, Kevin Hosseini, Noah Schneider, Abbey Lutes, Julian Arsi, Tyler Wedeen, and more. Lara’s nonprofit Autism Movement Therapy, Inc produced Temple Grandin & Friends: Autism Works Now.

Joanne is a columnist for Autism Asperger’s Digest and wrote the recently published methods book Autism Movement Therapy® Method: Waking up the Brain! for Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. Currently co-authoring Autism Works Now! Method Teaching Secondary School Students Pre-Employment Skills for JKP due out June 2017.

Website: www.autismmovementtherapy.org
www.autismworksnow.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/autismmovementtherapy
https://www.facebook.com/joanne.lara
https://www.facebook.com/AutismWorksUS
Twitter: @autismmovement
@autismworksnow

ABOUT GARY JESCH

Gary Jesch, President of Invirtua and founder of Autism Animated, lives in Carson City, NV. He grew up with a close first-cousin on the autism spectrum in the Reno/Tahoe area. He’s a pioneer in live animation technology, which helps businesses with getting more attention at trade shows and corporate meeting events. In 2014, he introduced the “3D Digital Puppeteer” and formed a company called Invirtua to help children with autism have better and more productive therapy sessions. “Autism Animated” is the community website he started, to help his clients, parents and caregivers find support and resources for the autistic.

His company's website is Invirtua - http://invirtua.com