Many of you know that I teach children with special needs. Several of my students have been identified as being on the autism spectrum. For those of you who do not know what autism is or how it affects children, let me tell you that it is a biomedical and neurological condition that manifests itself in a variety of ways. It is not a psychological phenomenon although it can affect children and their families psychologically. It can have a developmental component, a communications component, and/or a physical component. Autism is a spectrum disorder meaning that everyone who is identified as being on it can literally have different things going on than someone else. Asperger’s Syndrome is a “cousin” to autism. There are countless articles out there about autism with better, more precise, and more complicated definitions than I have provided here. But this is a blog about our 2nd Annual Autism Awareness Weekend at Zane Trace Inn & the Craft Farm, not specifically about autism, so please read on.

I belong to a group called the National Autism Association, South East Ohio Chapter. We educate parents and concerned people about autism and provide support to families in the southeast Ohio area who are affected by autism. The group helps families with costs that are not covered by insurance (which is a travesty in & of itself) such as special biomedical treatments, therapies, and home improvements that help families keep their children safe. In order to do that, we must raise money somehow. There is a golf outing on June 6 in Zanesville called “Tee It Up Fore Autism.” You can sponsor a team, sponsor a tee sign, or sign up as an individual player. It’s at the Zanesville Country Club. We also have raffle tickets available for $20 each or 4 for $50 or 10 for $100. The grand prizes include $1000 cash, $1000 Coconis Furniture gift certificate, a 50″ flat screen HDTV, a $500 VISA gift card or a set of 4 tires ($500 value). These are seriously great prizes!!!! You can email me for more info.

Zane Trace Inn & Craft Farm have 2 ways you can help with this project. First, for every $5 donation sent to us, we will enter your name into a drawing for a FREE Diva Delight Weekend Retreat. Get 6 tickets for every $25. Get 15 tickets for every $50. Make your checks payable to NAASEO and send them to us at ZTI, PO Box 164, Somerset, OH 43783. We will do the drawing on June 15!

Second, we will donate $20 for each Diva Delight registration made for the weekend of Sept 30 – Oct 2. The price is $260 per person for Fri – Sun, no discounts or specials apply unfortunately but it’s for a great cause! You will get a special gift in addition to all the pampering we will treat you to.

Please contact me by phone at 740-743-9230 or by emailing me at zanetraceinn@yahoo.com for information related to these events. Thank you for supporting the NAASEO. Thank you for supporting Zane Trace Inn & Craft Farm! Thank you for supporting my efforts of being a better teacher for my students!