Palm Bay Youth Wins The Many Faces of Autism Art Contest

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Eleven-year-old St. Joseph School student Aidan Leary of Palm Bay won the Florida Tech School of Psychology’s “The Many Faces of Autism” art contest with a brightly colored painting. Leary’s work has been reproduced on the cover of the university’s 2008 Autism Conference brochure and on the conference Web site: http://research.fit.edu/autismconference.

The contest, held during April, Autism Awareness Month, encouraged children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) under age 18 to participate.

The Oct. 3 conference and Oct. 4 workshops are hosted by the School of Psychology. The conference will feature noted autism experts speaking on a variety of related topics. They will offer comprehensive information to assist educators, health care and social service providers, and families in developing effective educational and therapeutic care.

Invited to attend are family members, physicians, speech-language therapists, administrators, higher education faculty, general and special education professionals, early intervention staff, related service personnel, behavioral analysts, behavioral health professionals and anyone interested in autism spectrum disorders. The conference qualifies for professional education hours for teachers and continuing education credit for psychologists and behavior analysts. 

Registrations are being accepted between through Sept. 24. Registration fees are $50 for parent or student preregistration and $125 for a professional to preregister; the fees are $75 for a parent or student registering on-site and $150 for a professional who registers on-site.

For more information, contact Cynthia Smith at (321) 674-6076 or csmith01@fit.edu or Theresa Travis at (321) 674-8104 or ttravis@fit.edu.