Upcoming Meetings
Evening "Zoom Room" Meeting for Parents of Teens & Young Adults
Support group meeting for parents of young adults (18+), facilitated by Certified Parent Coach, Sarah MacKay Lynch. Third Tuesday of the month.
Next Zoom Meetings:
May 17 at 7:00 pm
June 21 at 7:00 pm
SIGN UP HERE
For More Information,
Please Contact: Lisa@familysanity.org.
Willows in the Wind On-line Parent Support Groups
Three Meetings Monthly.
For information and registration for upcoming meetings, please go to:
https://www.willowsinthewind.com/support-groups
SF Parent Support Virtual Support Group
- More info on groups at namisf.org.
- To sign up for a support group, go to: https://www.namisf.org/familysupport
- For a link to meetings, as well as to join their online parent community forum, please contact: lisaeltinge@aol.com.
From Our Founder
Autism On My Mind
It started this Sunday when I was driving around listening to a recent edition of “City Arts and Lectures” featuring my ASD heroine Temple Grandin. Most of us are familiar with Temple, the professor of Animal Science who has authored many books and was the subject of a documentary a few years back where she was played by the very talented actress Claire Danes. In Grandin’s October 2021 interview she talked about how schools can better help and teach students on the spectrum; how school testing can be improved; and how the workplace can offer better work situations for adults on the spectrum. I urge you to listen to the conversation at: https://www.cityarts.net/event/temple-gradin-2/
Then, while reading Berkeley Parents Network for Parents of Teens (www.berkeleyparentsnetwork.org), I saw that Star Academy in Marin has started a new program where they help high school graduates segway to College of Marin. After admission, the college continues to offer support for these students through its Student Accessibility Services (SAS). Many of the students at Star are on the spectrum. For more info, contact Lisa Keene (lisa.keene@staracademy.org) at Star Academy.
And last night, while cooking dinner, I was searching for something better to watch than more depressing news when I stumbled upon a new original amazon series which I found fascinating called, “As We See It”. It features three young adult actors who are on the spectrum in a show about trying to get started in the work world and become independent adults. The three live in a group home with a full-time therapist. It seems so realistic. My daughter lived in a young adult transition program for a few years with a lot of people on the spectrum and she would tell me about so many similar situations. I told her about the series and her response was exactly like mine. She was so glad to see mainstream media offering insight to ASD. It will help to make us all understand one another so much better.
Lisa Scimens
DOES YOUR CHILD NEED HELP?
Emergency?
Stay Connected with Online Support Meetings
Parents of teens and young adults who are dealing with mental health issues may be having a more difficult time than others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Family Sanity, along with Willows in the Wind and SF NAMI Parent Support, have joined together to offer six monthly parent support meetings, live online via zoom.com.
The groups originate in the Bay Area, but thanks to this online technology we have parents coming from all over the U.S. The groups are conducted by the organizations’ leaders or trained facilitators, as well as our certified parent coach, Sarah MacKay Lynch.
Information about how to join the groups here
Questions? Feel free to email Lisa@familysanity.org, or call
415-309-1001.
Article by Lisa Scimens, Family Sanity founder and director:
Sending Your Troubled Child Away:
It’s Never Easy,
But It May Be the Right Thing
This week I read a NYT book review of TROUBLED: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs by Kenneth R. Rosen. A journalist who once himself attended a program, he discusses in the book four people who had negative and sometimes abusive experiences at three different programs, all of which are now closed.
As a parent of a young adult who attended two out-of-state programs to help her with her depression and anxiety, and as the subsequent founder of Family Sanity, I feel I need to speak out and say there are many good programs out there that do change lives.
It is our job as parents to seriously vet them ourselves and not leave the final decisions up to others whenever possible. Here, I offer some tips to make that decision wisely.
Resources for Families Coping with Anxiety During Covid
Below you can access some excellent internet resources for parents and teenagers and young adults to cope with the added anxiety of living during this pandemic.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/coronavirus-anxiety.htm
CRISIS TEXTLINE FOR TEENS/YOUNG ADULTS
Click Here to View More Resources
