I feel on top of the world right now. I just called my boyfriend and he had to remind me to breath because I was talking a million miles an hour about what a GREAT night I had.

In Northfield, the Girls' Group (composed of neuro-typical girls, girls with Autism, and loving, supportive parents) meets monthly to have fun! 2 months ago, I met these girls at Steps of Hope. I saw this group carrying signs and dressed it letter jackets and scarves that had school colors on them, so I asked them where they were from.  When they said Northfield, I got so excited and told them I was from Northfield to! We immediately took a group picture (in which Erin was chanting OLES! OLES! OLES! in my ear) and exchanged contact information).

Tonight, the girls met to scrapbook their experiences with the group. Steps of Hope gave them a $1000 grant to keep there program running, so tonight, they sought to document everything they had done. Each girl made their own personal page with their favorite colors and pictures of them at their favorite events. They even let me make a page! We used the picture we took from Steps of Hope and took a few  more (see below) from tonight and printed them off right away.

Later, we took pictures of each of them (girls, moms AND DADS included) during their "crowning moment." Now THIS was great. Some girls were more than willing to jump up and take a silly picture with me crowning them.  Some needed a little more prompting. The girls resorted to CHANTING peoples' names. "Kelly! Kelly! Kelly!" We even got Kelly and Maggie's dad Randy to take a picture. Afterward, they asked me about my involvement with Miss America and I told them nothing but wonderful things of course! I really hope some of them can make it to the pageant! I'm working on getting some of the girls to run for Miss MN's Outstanding Teen as well! (Girls, I know you're reading this! DO IT!)

I am thrilled to have been invited into this group. I will be doing as many events as I can with them including (hopefully, schedule permitting) the Arts a la Carte this Friday and a special manicure day. These girls are so inspiring. I WISH all kids with Autism (AND neuro-typical kids) had the chance to interact this way. There was no division between the girls. They were all FRIENDS, HANGING OUT, BEING TEENS. I have fallen head over heels in love with this group and I can't wait to get to know them more as the years go by! Thank you so much! You girls rock!

We had the most fun I think we've had all year at Awesome Club yesterday! It was a beautiful day so the "Easter Bunny" came and we all went on an egg hunt!  Each person was assigned a color, and there were six eggs of that color that they had to search for.  We all worked as a team to make sure everyone found all of their eggs.  The "Hot-Cold" game was helpful in this regard! ("You're getting warmer...getting warmer...Hot! Hot! Burning! You found it!").  In each egg was some candy or a note that gave them a choice to either (for example) a:  get more candy, or b: choose an activity the entire group can do together.  We ended up playing tag and a game of charades!  It was a blast!  T shirts are supposed to be in tomorrow so everyone will receive theirs next time we meet for Awesome Club (see my upcoming events on the home page).  Until next time!

Notes to come when I have a breather from college!  More pictures are coming to!

I've got to say, I am a kid at heart!  My FAVORITE events are the ones at which I get to play with kids the entire time.  And believe me, Bounce for Autism, was the place to be on Saturday!  The Autism Society of America (ASA) and the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) have paired up with Pump it Up to raise money for--what else?--Autism.  This event had a TREMENDOUS turn out!  Over $3,000 was raised, half of which went to ASA, the other half of which went to AuSM camps (I will be working the August session of Camp Hand in Hand this summer!).  As you'll see by my pictures, the kids and I had a great time.  There was face painting, balloon animals, jumping, sliding, basketball-playing---Fun fun fun!  And yes, I was all over the jumping equipment, crown and all!  The little boy (Ben) in one of the pictures below got his face painted like Spider Man.  Being three years old, he didn't know how to "web," so I taught him!  Below is a picture of him "webbing" me and me screaming in fear! haha And, small world, his parents are Ole alumni!  What more can I say?  This event was fantastic and I would love to go every year!

Today I spoke at the MN Senate Autism Task Force rally at the State Capitol.  A special thanks to Brad Trahan, the chairperson of the Task Force and cofounder of the RT Autism Awareness Foundation, for including me in this event as well as several other future events! I also helped Trahan set up a meeting with my uncle Senator Steve Dille to discuss some Autism issues.  It was great to have my uncle there!  And he didn't fail to mention all the of wonderful accomplishments my brother Trevor has made (for instance, last Memorial Day, Trevor stood next to Uncle Steve at the ceremony and presented the Gettysberg Address--which he had also performed on the Speech team the previous Spring).  I choked up! Oh, and P.S., my uncle's awesome-ness is exentuated by the COW name tag her wears at the Capitol!  Yes, you heard it right!  IUnfortunately, he didn't have it on in my pictures. :(

The following are brief summaries of some bills in the works.  To help, call your legislators and set up meetings with them to gain support! (Don't know who your legislators are?  Go to:  www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/Districtfinder.asp)

HF 622/SF 1128– Lifesaver Technology

Local law enforcement agency grant established to develop or expand lifesaver programs that locate lost or wandering persons who are mentally impaired.   HF 359/SF 312 Private Insurance Protection for Autism

Requires coverage for medically necessary care for autism.  HF 1811/SF 1551 Autism Task Force

One in 150 kids is diagnosed with autism and the rate is increasing annually by 14-17%. Minnesota needs a plan and this is the first step. 

HF 1621/SF 1630 Protect Kids from Seclusion and Restraint

            Every kid should be safe at school