Laughter With Friends at ASAP

Who wouldn’t want to win $1,000? ASAP certainly would! So we’ve entered the Peet’s Coffee “Do A Good Thing” Photo Contest. We’ve submitted the photo above from our Sacramento Chapter to illustrate how laughter with friends isn’t a given for people with Asperger’s and High Functioning Autism, but they can experience that good feeling at ASAP.

Now all we need is for our members and supporters to vote for our photo and vote often! Yes, you can vote more than once, but only once a day until Thursday May 10. Peet’s will then choose TWO photos: one based on votes and one based on their contest panel’s personal choice. So the more votes we have, the more Peet’s is likely to see our photo!

How to find our photo in the collage: Once you go to this link: Vote for ASAP in Peet’s Contest click on View Entries. From there you’ll see tabs above the collage. If the Vote by Date tab is highlighted, our photo is currently Number 14 in the collage. If the Vote by Name tab is highlighted, our photo is currently Number 3.

What will we do with the money? For one we’ll use it to cover some administrative expenses such as business cards, phone service and website maintenance. We’ll also use it to jazz up some our meetings with holiday decorations — our Sacramento Chapter does this often! — or to buy ice cream for the Ventura Chapter’s September Ice Cream Social.  In general we’ll find ways to continue our goal of enriching the lives of people with HFA and Asperger’s and provide them with fulfilling social experiences.

So please vote!

A: “My name is Alexis  Jordan Viola, and I am 20 years old.”

E: “ And how did you find out about ASAP?”

A: “ Well, My mom had figured out on the internet about where I could have my ASAP meeting with the Asperger’s, and that was the one with Troy.”

E:  “And, what do you like about ASAP?”

A: “What I like about ASAP meetings is meeting new friends, spending some time together with them, and planning some fun special events!”

E: “Now, I would like to talk to you about your beads. How did you get interested in beading?”

A: “Well, Ever since I graduated from high school, I’ve decided to think about another way to raise the money, and that is, I want to do arts and crafts and beading. I started with acrylic beads first, and then after that I got used to it with the glass beads, and the crystals and the pearls, and I practiced, and I practiced—almost about a year. And after that, I’m getting better and better and better each day!”

E: “That’s Great! Now what kind of jewelry do you make?”

A: I make, like, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings!”

E: “What do you like about it?”

A: “What I like about is that jewelries can make you feel special, and it’s more like a fashion event for me.”

E: “And what is your favorite kind of bead?”

A: “ My favorite kind of bead is pearls! Because pearls are very special and they come from oysters. Oysters make very special pearls from the ocean.”

E: “That’s really neat! And you sell your jewelry too?”

A: “Mmmhmm. I’m trying to sell them on Etsy, on the internet, by Tristan, and, i’m trying to sell them—I’m trying to find some arts and crafts shows to sell my stuff.”

E: “Do you have any other hobbies or interests?”

A: “Well, I do beading, and I play on my laptop, and…let me see. Oh! I do singing!”

E: “Oh! What kind of singing do you do?”

A: “I like rock n roll singing, and I sing, like a lullaby.”

E: “Oh, that’s great! I know you recently got a job at Foster’s Freeze. How is that going?”

A: “It’s doing great! All my friends are liking me so much, and I’m starting new things each day, and I’m getting better and better. And sometimes I make little mistakes, but it’s okay, I’m just learning.”

E: “What do you like about it?”

A: “What I like about it is that, how important it is to keep the restaurant clean and organized, and keep the company going. That way it does not go out of business.”

E: “Anything else you would like to say about anything?”

A: “Well, I have a very special family, and they care about me very much, and I live on the Pacific Coast Highway, by the beach. And then one day you should come over by the Pacific Coast Highway, and we should all plan very special, fun events for all my ASAP friends.”

E: “That would be great. Thank you Alexis.”

A: “Thank you.”

*This is the first in a new series spotlighting ASAP members. You may be interviewed next!

The Kids Swap Meet will be held rain or shine, and lucky for us, we’ve got an indoor space. So come on in!

ASAP founder Troy Corley will be there with Thousand Oaks teens/young adults group coordinator Faith Colt and a couple of ASAP members. Learn about our social support organization for teens and adults of all ages with Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism. Or just come on by and say hi. Remember to check out our stuffed animals, video games and more for sale!

If you want to see what ASAP is all about there are also two other ASAP events that day. The awesome and free martial arts bag class with social skills happens at Tom Bloom Karate, 2844 East Thousand Oaks Blvd., 11:30AM to 12:15pm.

More upcoming ASAP dates:

Friday, Nov. 12 -- ASAP Ventura teens and young adults group meets at the Ventura City Corps facility, 77 California St., in downtown Ventura, 7:30 to 10PM.
Tuesday, Nov. 15 – ASAP Thousand Oaks Older Adults Group for ages 25+ meets at the Barnes & Noble Cafe from 7 – 9PM.
Saturday, Nov. 19 — ASAP has Thanksgiving together at a private room at Carrows, 2401 Harbor Blvd., Ventura from 2pm to 4pm. Afterwards we’ll take a quick walk down Seaward to the beach and back.

Saturday, Nov. 19,  our regular teens and young adults group meets for fun, friendship and board games 3 to 5PM at the Old Meadows Center, 1600 Marview Dr., Thousand Oaks.

Sunday, Nov. 20 — Hike with ASAP! 12:30 pm in the Santa Monica National Recreation Area. When we are finished hikers can also visit the Satwiwa Native American Cultural Center. We will be sending an email along with detailed directions.

It’s hard to believe, but ASAP held its first gathering at a Camarillo Starbucks 5 years ago this month! And on Friday, Sept. 30, we’ll be celebrating our 5th anniversary at the place that’s been our get-together spot for most of those 5 years — the Proverbs Coffee House! Celebration time is 7 to 9:15PM at 71 Loma Dr, Camarillo, next to the Peace Lutheran Church.

The church and our sponsors for the uber cool meeting place deserve a special shout out: Thank You Scott & Annette McComas for bringing Clayton to one of the first ASAP meetings in the fall of 2006 and suggesting the coffee house as a place to meet! Your continued support with opening the coffee house, making the coffee, delivering cookies, cleaning the space afterwards and closing it up has been key to ASAP’s initial success!

From a handful of Aspies at the first couple of meetings in Camarillo, we now offer social opportunities to about 200 teens, young adults and older adults with Asperger’s, High-Functioning Autism, PDD or NLD. ASAP has several groups for teens and young adults in Ventura County, two groups in the Sacramento area and a new group forming in Santa Clarita/Valencia. Plus we have two groups for older adults ages 25 – 30+ in Ventura County that are just starting to get members.

So what are we doing to celebrate this success? A lot! It’s a pizza party night and we’re asking everyone to bring their favorite pizza if they can. Can’t bring one? Be sure to come to the party anyway, as ASAP will bring extra! Bring your favorite drink to share, too.

We’ll also have not one, but three cakes made by ASAP members, Adam, Cody and Emelia. They are passionate bakers so the treats should be fabulous!

Speaking of treats, we’ll have at least one game — the Left Center Right (LCR) game — where participants can win big bars of chocolate or movie box size candy! We offered this game before some time back, and everyone who played it, loved it. Don’t know the rules? They’re fairly easy and we’ll explain it at game time but you can also read about them ahead of time HERE.

But wait, there’s more! Every ASAP member (that’s anyone with Asperger’s, High-Functioning Autism, PDD, NLD or anything close to it!) gets a goodie bag to take home. Just a little something to say thanks for being a part of ASAP!

Happy 5th Anniversary Everyone!

Master Alschuler approached Master Tom Bloom, of Tom Bloom Karate World Martial Arts in Thousand Oaks, with the idea of offering a bag, movement and social class to teens and young adults with Asperger’s or High-Functioning Autism or PDD. And lucky for ASAP, Master Bloom agreed!

Hit, Punch and Kick a training bag. Meet others with similar interests, talk and just plain have a good time … moving and training. Click HERE for a MAP.

Interested? Please immediately contact Natt at NDAMartialArts@gmail.com to let him know you plan to be at this first class. Additional classes will be announced, so if you can’t make this class, please email Natt to let him know of your interest. Each class is limited in membership and duration.

For more information about the class, Master Alschuler and Master Bloom, you can download this flyer. or simply view the flyer. It will tell you more about their extensive martial arts experience. What it won’t tell you is that Natt Alschuler’s son Austin has been attending the Thousand Oaks ASAP meetings. So kudos to him for pulling this together!

I can’t be at every meeting — we now have seven monthly meetings plus outside activities — so I’ve found ASAP supporters who are willing to be go-to coordinators. (And I’ll be looking for more!)

The coordinators need to have the basic supplies needed to have a successful get-together, so I’ve devised a plan: give each ASAP coordinator a tote bag, stamped with the ASAP logo and filled with supplies including clipboards, pens, sign-in sheets, ASAP literature, a board game such as SCRABBLE or chess, UNO and a pack of regular playing cards.

To fund this, I found an online platform that helps social causes — Cauzoom.com. And you don’t have to be an official non-profit to participate. But we could use as much promotion as we can get, so posting on Facebook, emailing to friends, would be fabulous!

Please visit our online fundraising project http://cauzoom.com/project/asap-basics-bag and donate if you can. We’re trying to raise $500 for 10 bags with supplies, or $50 per bag.

Click on the “Let’s Do It!” button. From there you can contribute via PayPal a minimum of $10 using a Visa, Mastercard (debit or credit), Discover or Amex.

OR you can buy one of the gift cards listed on the ASAP project page. When you buy a gift card, you get the full amount of the gift card and the company promises to donate a set amount of money to our project.

WholeFoods: Buy $100 gift card and Whole Foods will invest $25 in ASAP
Panera Bread: Buy a $50 Panera Bread card and Panera Bread will invest $15 in ASAP
Best Buy: Buy $100 gift card and Best Buy will invest $25 in ASAP
Bed Bath & Beyond: Buy a $100 gift card and BBB will invest $25 in ASAP
CVS: Buy a $30 gift card and CVS will invest $10 in ASAP

Thank you for all of your support,

Troy

Thanks to everyone who agreed to talk to the reporter and to all of you who continue to show such wonderful support for our organization. Now it’s time to take ASAP to the next level and finish working on it becoming an official non-profit group!

To help in this growth, I’ve pulled together a package to support our chapter/group go-to leaders. A special ASAP canvas bag, with clip board, pens, sign-in sheets, ASAP information sheets, a deck of UNO cards, a deck of regular playing cards, and possibly more. To pay for these  I will be creating a funding project on Cauzoom.com. Look for an email soon about the project.

In the upcoming weeks, look for more content on this Website and for the PayPal donation button we’ll be adding. I’ve opened up a small checking account for ASAP to help fund some things as we move forward.

For those of you new to ASAP, please be sure to read our information sheet on this site or go to the VC Star article above. You can reach us at info@vcasap.org. If you call our toll-free phone number, 866.492.3810, it will likely have a message about my publishing business, but it’s still the ASAP phone number. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you, well, asap!

Alexis and Jonell will be displaying their vibrantly colored jewelery pieces opening day only, Saturday, 1 to 4pm. Come meet them and the other Touching the Arts artists! Yes, all of the art is touchable and all of it is for sale.

Alexis, an ASAP member, works with high-end glass beads. Alexis will be displaying earrings, a bracelet (pictured above) and four necklaces. Jonell, an ASAP parent, uses high-quality stones including hematite, tiger’s eye and red coral. Jonell will be showing six different necklaces (pictured below).

ASAP, a social support group for Asperger’s and High-Functioning Autism, holds its Camarillo meeting for teens and young adults at the Proverbs Coffee House, every last Friday, 7 to 9:15pm.

Spencer Griffin, currently an American River College student who loves music, was a regular at the ASAP meetings in the L.A.-Ventura area, but that changed when he moved to Antelope. He missed his Asperger’s peers so much, that he and Mom, Sharon, decided they needed an ASAP chapter there.

The first get-together for young adults with Asperger’s, High-Functioning Autism or PDD-NOS, is Friday, May 20, 6pm to 9pm in a condo community room. Hang out, make new friends, play board games. Start making plans for outside activities such as going to the movies, restaurants and plays!

Did we mention that the first meeting will have FREE pizza?! The gathering itself is free, too. There is no charge and no membership fees. But because the meeting is at a gated condo community, 8020 Walerga Rd., you’ll need to email Sharon@ASAPaspergers.org for directions and gate code details.

Join the fun for free at ASAP! Share the news for free with this flyer!

Starting this summer, perhaps even earlier, we’ll be starting a social support group for people with Asperger’s ages 30+. Meet your peers on the Spectrum for talking, networking and socializing.

Not quite age 30 but feel you’d rather hang out with an older crowd rather than the teens and young adults? No problem! You’re welcome to join in!

Do you suspect you have Asperger’s or Asperger’s traits, but you’re not officially diagnosed? That’s okay, too. Perhaps the camaraderie of peers with similar traits will help you deal with your social issues.

Where is the ASAP 30+ group going to meet? We haven’t pinned that down yet, but most likely we’ll start with get-togethers in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Helping to set up the group is local writer, Joe Minton. Got questions? Email him at AspieJoe@gmail.com

Got general questions about ASAP? Email us at info@vcasap.org