A BIG week!

Sometimes, Mondays ROCK!  And yesterday was one of them.  Good Friend kicked off an exhilarating, exhausting week Monday morning with a summary of the findings of the research study conducted by two professors at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  We're reserving the best bits of news for the guests of our annual Member Appreciation Night this Friday!  But what we can say is that both our staff in-services and Peer Sensitivity Workshops make a measurable, positive difference in expanding autism awareness, acceptance, and empathy!  Denise and I are still trying to wrap our heads around the magnitude of Simone DeVore and Brooke Winchell's findings, which will be presented at the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders' annual conference in Chicago next month.

Dr. Brooke Winchell had her work cut out for her as she began to pour over the raw data from the surveys UW-W collected during Good Friend staff in-services and Peer Sensitivity Workshops in the 2012-'13 school year.

Zooming back to host the first of our two open casting calls for "We ALL Fit", our new elementary school peer autism awareness short film, we shifted from one excitement to another.  We met 23 hopefuls for the project, and are realizing we'll have some difficult decisions to make once we complete today's session.  We welcome you to audition!  We have some specific profiles we're looking for, and no acting experience is necessary.  Here's the list:

• girl with autism, age 6-10, who has some reliable spoken language
• boy with autism, age 7-11, who uses a type-to-speak device
• boy age 2-4, dark-haired
• girl age 2-4, blonde-haired, willing to have a tantrum for the camera
• extras: six 10-11 year-olds (mix of boys and girls), three adults (age 25-65), two 12-15 year-olds

Just show up at Citizens Bank of Mukwonago in Waukesha near Center Rd. and Hwy. 59 and go upstairs to the Training Center between noon and 3 p.m. TODAY for a quick on-camera audition.  Call Denise at 262-391-1369 with any questions.

We hope to introduce you to at least a few of our 30 newly-chosen cast members at Friday's Member Appreciation Night.  How many more reasons do you need to join us??  Awards, celebrations, new study findings, an Aaron Rodgers autographed football up for grabs ... PHEW!  Like I said, it's a BIG week!  If you plan to be at Steinhafels in the Community Room at 7 p.m. on Friday, please email Denise if she doesn't know already.

Keep On Moving!

We have MOMENTOUS things to celebrate now and in the coming weeks!

First, we successfully completed our $10,000 Kickstarter crowd-funding project for our new elementary school autism peer sensitivity film!  Yahooooo!!!  Special thanks to Rob Lindemann for his $500 donation.  Because of Rob and other people who believe in our Awareness-Acceptance-Empathy mission, we are able to move forward with our casting call August 5 & 6.  If you still want to donate to this project, we will gladly accept your donation via our website or by mail and will be happy to honor the rewards promised through the Kickstarter campaign at the $25, $100, and $1,000 levels.

Second, Denise and I are excited to be meeting with University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professors Simone DeVore and Brooke Winchell next month to discuss the findings of their research study on our elementary school interventions.  This was a HUGE undertaking, spanning almost three years and involving over 1,200 participants.  We hope to have some insights to share at our annual Member Appreciation Night on August 9th!

Finally, Good Friend, Inc., celebrates is 6th "birthday" on August 10th.  Our "party" is wrapped up as part of our annual Member Appreciation Night on August 9th, when we'll raise our cupcakes to last fiscal year's Top Fundraiser, Dani Rossa, and Good Friend in Education Award winner Miranda Probst.  Plan to join us that Friday evening from 7-8:30 p.m. at Steinhafels in Waukesha! 

This football, autographed by Aaron Rodgers, will be up for auction!  Let Denise know you're coming by August 2nd, please.  And feel free to bring guests!

We appreciate your continued support as we work together to create cultures of acceptance in our schools!  (And it's not too early to schedule fall services for staff and students, by the way.)