October 18th

Last Meeting
October 18, 2006
Reporter – Herb Harrison

President Molly called our meeting to order, the invocation was given by Barry Johns. Sergeant-at-arms, Harvey Hoots introduced our guests to include Congressman Joe Wilson along with his assistant, Micah Edmond. Lyman Whitehead provided a little Health and Happiness splattered with a little wisdom.

President Molly announced the Interact Club will be heading up The Dictionary Project next Wednesday. Any members wishing to assist are welcome. Also, the Board will be meeting at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 19th. Molly also stated that we will continue to meet at The Cotton House through the end of the year.

Herb Harrison announced the Fall Social will be held at Inglewood Manor November 1st at 6:00 p.m. Oysters, chicken bogg, libations and fellowship will be served. Although Herb did not seem to know how to get there, a map will be provided on the website.

Judy Johnson introduced our speaker, Craig Stoxen from SC Autism Society. Craig provided many enlightening facts about autism, its effects and prevalence in society. Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears in the first three years of life affecting 1 in 166 Americans, with 6,000 in South Carolina. This number is consistent with the other states. There is no known cause or cure. This disability interferes with the development of the brain in reasoning, social interaction and communication skills. Autism is considered a spectrum disorder meaning that the symptoms and characteristics of autism can present themselves in a wide variety of combinations, from mild to severe. Those affected by autism can be very "rule" oriented, stopping in the middle of the street when a walk sign turns to don't walk. Time perception is also a common trait; individuals may speak of something that happened years ago as if it happened yesterday. Some individuals do not speak, or speech is usually impaired.

Autism is treatable through behavior management. This type of treatment is provided one-on-one with therapists and is very expensive. Autism is increasing in society. Parents are also affected; upon diagnosis parents will usually go through a mourning process. The SC Autism Society offers assistance in finding treatment and support. Education is a huge issue; with phone calls to the society from parents averaging an hour. The Society helps by providing parent mentors. A fee based Service Coordination Program provides help applying for services and coordinating care. The cornerstone of the Society is to provide advocacy.

The SC Autism Society is an independent non-profit organization. The annual budget ten years ago was $60,000, it is has grown to $1,000,000. Funds are generated with contracts from the Department of Education, donations, fund raisers and fee for service programs.

The meeting was concluded with Happy Dollars and adjournment by President Molly.