treatment of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Saturday, November 2 was a glorious, crisp fall day and friends and families gathered at the beautifully-decorated Garden City Country Club for NSSA’s 21st Annual Wine Tasting.
This event is a favorite with its casual atmosphere, wide array of wines to sample, delicious passed hors d’oeuvres and lavish buffet, many opportunities to win wonderful prizes and a chance to catch up with good friends.
The delicious wines were generously donated by Fidele Miranda and Empire Merchants. Thank you Fidele and Empire for supporting our event for 21 years!
The event is such a success thanks in great part to Champagne Event Sponsors, Mary Beth and Pat Miranda, who do so much for NSSA year after year.
We are especially grateful to guests whose generous donations raised the money for us to purchase a new agency-wide communication system, which will help keep students and clients safe throughout our buildings and in the community.
Bracelets hand-made by NSSA’s Adult Clients, for sale at the money booth, were the hit of the evening! Framed photographs taken by NSSA’s Camera Club were offered in the Silent Auction and are now gracing the walls of some of our guests’ homes.
Thanks to Rob and Laurie Rogers of Tobay Printing for their ongoing support of NSSA and for printing our beautiful event journal.
We have so much gratitude for everyone who attended, donated, volunteered and worked so hard to make this year’s Wine Tasting a success.
Special thanks go to our generous sponsors:
Thank you, everyone!
Halloween 2019 was a blustery day, but inside NSSA it was bright and cheery with laughter and fun! The day began with the annual staff Halloween costume contest – all the costumes were clever and everyone looked great!
The school Halloween party started mid-morning in the gym, with Classroom 4’s older students manning the activity stations and helping the younger students make crafts and play games.
Seeing the students in their Halloween costumes is a joy that we all look forward to every year.
Hope you had a fun Halloween!
At the end of every summer session, NSSA holds a special day for families and friends to spend an afternoon with students, Adult Program participants and staff. Siblings have a chance to enjoy some time with their own brothers and sisters, and to meet up with other siblings and family members like themselves.
The 8th Annual Family Day was held on Thursday, August 15, 2019. The high temperatures didn’t deter anyone and our playground was full and busy all day. The favorite activity had to be the giant waterfall slide, but the pool was a close second!
The NSSA Parent Association treated students and clients to a delicious lunch from the Eat Me, Drink Me food truck, while staff enjoyed a hero and accompanying sides. Friends and families ate at picnic tables in the shade and watched all the kids and adults having a good time around them.
It was a wonderful way to end the Summer of 2019. See you all in the fall!!!
The Art League of Long Island recently held their annual “Perspective” Exhibition Fundraiser for Young Artists with Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
One of NSSA’s own students, 17 year old Logan, submitted some of his original artwork to the exhibit. Since he was about 9 years old, Logan has been creating alphabets out of magnets, K’nex, PlayDoh and other toys. He creates them independently, spending time and concentration on each letter. He tries various combinations of shapes before deciding on just the right one and makes refinements along the way as the alphabet grows.
Logan’s mother takes pictures of them quickly before he takes them apart as he rarely leaves them lying around. She says, “When you witness the process, the artistry of what he does is more apparent than just viewing the final art.”
The exhibit shared three photographs of his original alphabet creations. The executive director of the Art League was very impressed with his work. His mother thinks he was happy to see his artwork displayed in a gallery setting alongside artwork by his peers.
We’re so proud of Logan for creating this original artwork and hope to see more soon!
What better way to break up the dog days of summer than with a party? NSSA did just that with a new event: Pizza & Pints. Held on a muggy Thursday evening at the Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore, families, friends and staff were delighted to be in a spacious air conditioned room, sipping “pints” and sharing pizza and salad prepared by NSSA’s Salad Shoppe.
Guests chatted over beer barrel tables or relaxed on cushy sofas.
They took their chances at winning raffle prizes or spinning the prize wheel. And this was no ordinary prize wheel. In order to win, guests had to perform feats of knowledge, balance or tongue twistery. This made for much entertainment and laughter in the wheel corner. The grand raffle was a much-coveted brew-crew cycle tour in Riverhead for up to 14 guests.
Others played giant chess or Jenga, or practiced their prowess at cornhole or the foosball table.
Thank you to all who attended, donated and volunteered. Thank you to Rob Donahue of Great South Bay Brewery for making the event possible. And we’re especially grateful for the initiative, creativity and hard work of Jen O’Malley and Tori Ardito for creating this new fun summer event!
In the summer of 2018, NSSA started a Lifelong Learning Program as part of its Adult Program. The program is comprised of three main categories: Health & Wellness, Lifelong Learning and Paid or Volunteer Work.
The Lifelong Learning topics have ranged from Basic Communication and Safety Skills to Money Management, Leisure Skills, Agriculture, Independent Living, Employment/Workplace Behavior and more.
These lessons have been taught by Adult Program staff, but this spring they broadened the range of topics and introduced some new classes taught by other NSSA staff members. Among these are:
Fire Safety and Shopping and Paying for Items by Stacey Agosta
Interacting Safely with Infants by Nicole Weidenbaum
Developing Leisure Skills by Jayne Eaton-Bove
ID Cards & Personal Safety by Jason Watson
Photography by Bettye Rainwater (these photos were all taken by adult program participants)
Making Apple Donuts by Jeanette Vera
Lavender Vanilla Salt Scrub by Donna Lebovitch
Many individuals with autism have extremely limited areas of interest and have to be taught how to pursue leisure interests on their own or be exposed to new activities that they may enjoy. The Adult Program participants enjoyed these hands-on lessons, from holding practice babies and playing card games to taking pictures or snacking on treats they’d made themselves!
Maybe Autism is My Super Power Ben Blanchet is a 13-year-old boy with autism. When he was three years old, he was tested for having perfect pitch. His mother says he has supersonic ears. He calls it his autism superpower.
Ben has written a book called, “Maybe Autism is My Superpower.” In the book he describes the unique ways he hears, sees and thinks about the world around him.
On his Facebook page he encourages other kids to post about their “superpowers,” whether it’s drawing, musical ability, memory, etc. It’s a place for them to share their stories and pictures or videos of their special talents.
On June 9, at the Carle Place, NY Barnes & Noble store, Ben did a book signing and reading from his book. A fun event was planned around his appearance, with activities for children and families.
Ben did a great job reading aloud from his book and finished up with this, “Everybody has superpowers. Even kids without autism have superpowers.”
Ben and Barnes & Noble generously selected NSSA to benefit from a portion of sales of eligible in-store purchases at the Carle Place store on June 9 and online sales through June 13. Ben’s book can be purchased here. We’re so pleased to have met Ben and his Mom and to have been part of such a fun day!
The 2019 New York Bike to the Beach Ride for Autism and disABILITIES lucked out once again with a picture perfect day for cycling. June 8 dawned with blue sky, no humidity and light breezes, making for a pleasant ride for the almost 400 riders. Most started in Manhattan at 5:00 am, heading east to Westhampton Beach. This year there were also 50- and 25-mile ride options starting in Wantagh and Blue Point, all headed to the same finish line.
NSSA had four riders on TEAM NSSA: Thomas Cardone, Richard Kobel, Kristian Nielsen and Danielle Spinnato. Between them they have raised almost $4,000 so far! We’re so appreciative and proud of our NSSA Team for doing this ride and raising money for NSSA.
Two NSSA staff members manned Rest Stop #6 in Blue Point, some 75 miles into the ride. As the ride is growing in size, it’s also picking up in speed. The first rider rolled into the Blue Point rest stop at 10:08 am! He was closely followed by a steady flow of cyclists all throughout the day. They got Dunkin Munchkins from NSSA (#NationalDonutDay), as well as water, power bars, sunscreen, band-aids, bananas and even pulled pork sliders from Texas Roadhouse!
Riders took a little break in the shade, comparing notes with fellow cyclists and resting ride-weary legs. But soon they were on their way to finish the ride and enjoy the finish-line festivities there.
We’re so grateful to organizations like Bike to the Beach for promoting awareness and for raising funds that make a positive impact on the autism community. We thank Bike to the Beach for letting us be part of this wonderful event once again.
You can still make donations by going here, typing NSSA into the search box, and selecting TEAM NSSA.
Friday, June 14, was the perfect day for a party: sunny, breezy and dry. And Empire Merchants took that opportunity to treat their staff to a fun day of food trucks and carnival games as a way to show their appreciation for all the hard work their employees do on a daily basis.
NSSA was graciously invited to participate in Team Appreciation Day by Fidele Miranda, Vice President, Sales, United Division, who happens to be Jack’s (of Jack’s Run) proud uncle. We set up a table with lemonade, brochures and giveaways, and offered free raffle tickets for a $100 Amazon gift card. People stopped by the table throughout the day to get raffle tickets and make a donation while they were there.
Everyone appeared to enjoy the day, talking and laughing while enjoying sausage & pepper heroes, wood-fire pizza and cannoli. From the NSSA table we had a front row seat to the strongman game, watching people test their strength in trying to ring the bell. That drew quite an audience over the afternoon!
In all, it was a wonderful day. Generous people donated over $1,300 in just a few hours!
NSSA is so grateful for friends like Fidele Miranda and Empire Merchants, not only for inviting NSSA to be part of their Team Appreciation Day but also for donating all the wine to NSSA’s Annual Wine Tasting every year for the past 12 years. Their generosity has helped us to fund much-needed programs and services to families touched by autism.
June 17th was Graduation Day at NSSA and we are very proud of our newest graduates – Annie and Kevin.
A graduation ceremony was held in the NSSA conference center for families, teachers, students and school district personnel. Unfortunately, Kevin was unable to attend but Annie and her family were able to join in the celebration. Annie’s classmates attended the ceremony as well as students from other classrooms.
Annie entered the room with her teacher Christine to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance, wearing her blue gown and white graduation cap.
She sat with her parents and sister while Principal Deb Kennedy welcomed our guests. Teacher Becky Chi put together a slideshow of both the graduates from their time at NSSA.
Teacher Christine Holmes paid a touching tribute to both students. She expressed, on behalf of her fellow Classroom Four teachers, her pride and affection for both Annie and Kevin.
Annie was presented with a certificate of completion from The Martin C. Barell School.
Mary Catherine Culella-Sun, Director of Pupil Personnel Services from Annie’s home school district, presented her with a Skills & Achievement Commencement Credential.
Congratulations were given, photos were taken and guests enjoyed socializing and refreshments after the ceremony.
Best wishes on your transition to NSSA’s Adult Services Program, Annie and Kevin! We’re so very proud of all of your accomplishments.
