Horses and other Animals!

Many autistic people feel a special affinity for animals. Here’s autistic luminary Temple Grandin in her book, Animals in Translation: “I wasn’t any horse-whispering autistic savant, either. I just loved the horses. … I got through my teenage years thanks to my squeeze machine and my horses. … Animals saved me.”

At AASCEND‘s November 21 meeting we’ll watch clips about the autism-horse connection from the film Horse Boy (based on the New York times best-seller) and we’ll hear from Joell Dunlap, founder of the Square Peg Foundation, which brings autistic children and young adults together with horses. The foundation also employs people on the autism spectrum part-time. Let’s see whether work with horses and other animals might help some autistic adults!

Come with your own animal stories and your curiosity…

(Photo by O. Rufus Lovett and Justin Hennard)

When: Sat Nov 21, 10am – noon
Where: The Arc of SF 1500 Howard St. @ 11th St.    SF, CA 94103  map   

Parking is available in the garage at 255 12th Street, with a reasonable flat rate for Saturdays. There is also metered street parking for $2/hr.

Scams, Plans, and Living on a Shoestring

Have you ever been scammed? Did you fall for some trick online or elsewhere that ended up costing you money or grief?  At AASCEND‘s October 17 meeting we’ll be talking about ways to recognize trick deals so that you don’t fall for them. Bring your experiences to the meeting and we can all learn from each other. 

Next we’ll talk about “living on a shoestring”, how to eat and keep clothes on your back and a roof over your head for very little money — in one of the most expensive places to live in the US, the San Francisco Bay Area. How do you pay less for food and clothes? Do you have any tricks to keep your costs down? What about sources of financial aid? Most of us have a lot of experience with these problems, so let’s pass our helpful tips on to each other!

Hobo Dogs

Finally we’ll plan for upcoming meetings and our yearly Book Club reading!

When: Sat Oct 17, 10am – noon
Where: The Arc of SF 1500 Howard St. @ 11th St.    SF, CA 94103  map   

Parking is available in the garage at 255 12th Street, with a reasonable flat rate for Saturdays. There is also metered street parking for $2/hr.