Friday, January 25, 2013

Good News Friday!

Today I wanted to share a story (and video) about two young men who receive services through Imagine!’s Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Program. This unique program offers families who live in Boulder County and who have child on the autism spectrum, but do not otherwise qualify for services from the State of Colorado, an annual allocation of funds for three years. Each family directs the funds for their family member to the treatment of specific areas of need. This is probably one of the best examples of self-directed services in the State of Colorado.

In this case, the families of Cole and Ryan (seen in the video below) used some of their ASD Program funding for neurologic music therapy (NMT) to help the children work towards their social and communication goals. With their parents’ permission, Amanda Bryant, a Board Certified Neurologic Music Therapist, recorded a performance of Cole and Ryan playing the drums and entered it in an arts competition at their school, Lafayette Elementary. Check out their performance below.



Can’t see the video? Click here.

The arts completion was part of the PTA Reflections program, designed to encourage students to explore their talents and express themselves by giving them positive recognition for their artistic efforts.

Cole and Ryan won first place for musical composition! Amanda told us, “They are really proud and it helped boost self esteem. Just another way the ASD grants help with these kinds of opportunities!”

Congratulations Cole, Ryan, Amanda, and Imagine!’s ASD team for making this happen. Thanks to Cole and Ryan’s parents for letting us share their story.

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