Father and Son Find Comon Bond in Golf

ELMSFORD, N.Y. — The frenetic conversation stopped mid-sentence each time Michael Mancino spotted the range cart heading out to pick up the golf balls carpeting the plastic turf. In a matter of seconds, the calculating 8-year-old was set up and locked on.
It was a game of cat and mouse.
Before each mighty swing, the little professor in soft spikes quickly reset the angle of attack without looking up to locate the source of his sudden inspiration. The third-grader at Central School in Mamaroneck has a knack with numbers.
"He was playing Monopoly at 5 years old and counting the money," Sal Mancino said of his son. "When you rolled the dice, he already knew where you were going to land. He never counted the spaces. He just kind of visualized the board."
It was therapeutic.

Emotions Run High Over Center's Closing

VINELAND, N.J. -- Karen Lee Colletti has severe autism, speaks only a few words and needs a diaper. When she was 27 and her parents felt they couldn't care for her at home any longer, they moved her to the Vineland Developmental Center, which cares for women with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
That was 29 years ago. Now, her 80-year-old father, Vito Colletti, fears the state's plans to close the center by 2013 will happen, pushing his daughter out of a place that he thought she could live for the rest of her life. It's discomforting for a man who's come to rely on the care she gets at the state institution. After a hard time difficult adjustment from a move last month from one part of Vineland's campus to another, he fears a longer move to one of the state's remaining institutions would "drive her bananas."

A Rare Pair Thrives

Brothers Stefan and Tyler Delp have spent every second of their lives together. They go to the same schools, play the violin in tandem, and recently sang a duet, "Put Your Arms Around Someone," at their school's spring hop. But the boys have never seen each other's faces except for some sleight of hand with mirrors or computers.
The boys, born at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital 19 years ago, are a rare set of identical twins, joined at the head so one faces forward while the other is turned backward. When they walk down the hall at the public high school where they take morning classes, one moves ahead; the other steps in reverse.

An Autism Dad on Feelings and Manhood

From Lisa Jo Rudy's blog on about.com.
First, full disclosure: I do know Dr. Robert Naseef, author of this guest blog. I met him first at a support group for families with special needs children to which I was invited by a friend. While I didn't continue with the group, I did continue to hear about Dr. Naseef's work at Alternative Choices, where he and his wife Cindy Ariel offer support and resources to families coping with the stress of a serious disability. Over the years, Rob has contributed both to this site and to the autism community, through articles and books. Rob is the father of a son with profound autism, and his ability to turn his bitter experience into a vocation is inspirational.

Film Director Charles Jones was speechless with excitement when he held his son for the first time. He put his feelings into words in his YouTube video "Autistic Like Me."
"When he arrived I had a son, a miniature version of me. I had someone to whom I could impart my values. For a father, a son is a mirror in which he sees himself, and I couldn't wait to watch him grow. I would teach him everything I know in order that one day he would be a better version of me." As I related to Charles, I reflected how I also wanted to be a better version of my father when I held my son Tariq for the first time 31 years ago.
Two and a half years later, the mirror broke for Charles when Malik Jones was diagnosed with autism. "It was like a rebirth, only this time I was devastated...I felt guilt, shame, hurt, and most of all cheated. Why me? Why Malik?"

Father Finds His Calling

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Talk to any father today and most would agree -- raising children can be challenging.
Paul Pauca is well-aware of these challenges. His six-year old son Victor suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes breathing problems and poor motor control, and as a result, has been hospitalized several times over these years.
Yet despite these struggles, Pauca, a computer science professor at Wake Forest University, has focused on "the better" by providing his son with the best care possible. And thanks to these efforts, his son has flourished.
"He now loves to play outside, swinging, sliding, climbing his play structure," says Pauca. "He attends a wonderful school for disabled children in Winston-Salem, NC, where he receives physical, occupational and speech therapy."

Seeking a Chance to Live Independently

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- How will my child fare when he leaves home? And what will happen to him when I'm gone?
These are questions most parents worry about. But they weigh especially heavily on the parents of children with autism, Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.
"Parents say this all the time: 'When I'm no longer here, I want to know they're still going to have a place to live and somebody is going to make sure they're OK,'" said Jim Whittaker, executive director of The Arc Jacksonville. "That's the biggest fear the majority of families have."

NYC May Be Paying for Special-Education Kindergartners' Tuition to Private Schools

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Department of Education missed a June 15 deadline to find spots for thousands of kindergartners with disabilities - and now the city could be liable for their tuition in private schools, officials acknowledged.
The holdup is also causing panic for families who are still waiting to hear where their kids are going to kindergarten next year.
"We're still in limbo," said Maria Farano of Staten Island, who still doesn't know where her daughter, who has autism, will attend kindergarten in the fall.