National Medal of Honor Day recognizes valor, heroism

It comes of untold heroism, against peril of warfare. Service members are not awarded this honor; they are bestowed it.

It is the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military honor given for valor to an individual serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The medal is generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States, in the name of Congress.

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Initiative encourages autism awareness; 1:88 educate, advocate, elevate

CAMP FOSTER, Japan – According to the TRICARE operations manual, Chapter 20, Section 10, “Among the more than 1.2 million children of active-duty military personnel, approximately 8,500 carry one of the ASD diagnoses.”

Within the military community, it is estimated that there are at least 13,243 children and young adults diagnosed with ASD, or an average of 1 in every 88 people. With numbers like that, it is likely you will meet a military family affected by autism at some point in your lifetime.

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Autism Speaks event salutes military families

To recognize the start of  Autism Awareness Month and Month of the Military Child, Autism Speaks is saluting military families March 31 in New York City.

The family-friendly event, held at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Complex, located at Pier 86, W. 46th Street and 12th Avenue, honors military families affected by autism.

The current schedule is registration and breakfast at 8:45 a.m., a short program at 9:30 a.m., and kids activities and museum tours beginning at 10 a.m. A resource fair featuring American Military Families Autism Support, ACT Today! for Military Families, Autism Speaks and others is 9:30-11 a.m.

The event is hosted by Bob Woodruff, a correspondent with ABC News.  Woodruff, who was injured by an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006, founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation, a national nonprofit that helps ensure our nation’s injured service members, veterans and their families return to a homefront ready to support them.

Scheduled to speak during the event are Bob and Suzanne Wright, founders of Autism Speaks; Susan Marenoff-Zausner, president of the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum; Karen Driscoll, Marine Corps spouse and mother of a child with autism; and former Astronaut Jeffrey Alan Hoffman, the first person to log 1,000 hours aboard the Space Shuttle.

Join other AMFAS families at the event and share your stories. Register for the event and receive further event updates by visiting the Autism Speaks page here. Seating is limited, so registration for families and larger groups is encouraged early to accommodate the party.

Directions to the Intrepid and parking information can be found here. If looking at lodging near the event, one military option is the Navy Lodge on Staten Island for $98 a night. You do have to take the ferry (that passes by the Statue of Liberty). Local hotels start at about $199 a night and up.

The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum is one of America’s leading historic, cultural and educational institutions. Opened in 1982, the Museum has welcomed more than 10 million visitors. The Museum is centered on the aircraft carrier Intrepid (CVS-11), one of the most successful ships in U.S. history, now a national historic landmark and one of the most unique attractions in New York City.

TRICARE Extends Autism Demonstration

By  Kristin Shives
TRICARE Management Activity
March 13, 2012

TRICARE Management Activity has extended the Enhanced Access to Autism Services Demonstration (ASD) through March 2014. This demonstration program allows eligible beneficiaries to receive applied behavioral analysis (ABA) intervention services from board certified behavior analysts and paraprofessionals under their supervision.

The demonstration is part of the Extended Care Health Option (ECHO), which provides approved non-medical services to active duty family members with qualifying conditions.

ABA is a method of behavioral conditioning to teach and reinforce desired behavior while eliminating undesired behaviors. This technique has been found to help teach children with autism spectrum disorders new skills, and improve their communication abilities.

In a 2010 TRICARE Health Program Analysis and Evaluation Division survey, parents with children participating in the demonstration expressed overall satisfaction with the quality of ABA services they received.

Learn more about ECHO at www.tricare.mil/ECHO and the TRICARE Autism Services Demonstration at www.tricare.mil/autismdemo.

Panel Aims to Boost Support to Special-needs Families

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2012 – Military families with special-needs members would benefit from better communication and education, members of an exceptional family member panel concluded yesterday.

“We’re working some great programs up at the [office of the secretary of defense] level,” Charles E. Milam, principal director for military community and family policy, said in an interview following the panel here. “I think the key is how do we take that information and deliver down to the very lowest level.”

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AMFAS Contest, Information Drive

American Military Families Autism Support is getting ready to again open up our website and wants you, our community, to have input.

One part of our site (in addition to news, community and support) is providing information on the spectrum of information our families need to be aware of, providing the best tactics, tips and procedures on how to get the care you need.

Unlike other autism support agencies that outsource their information and website, AMFAS relies 100-percent on our military family support community to get the job done. We are organic, grassroots support not interested in a static site, but a Web 2.0 living information source that helps our military community. You are part of that solution.

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AMFAS one of first to unveil new Facebook format

On the same day as the nation’s military services unveiled their new Facebook page layouts, American Military Families Autism Support followed suit.

AMFAS, the nation’s first grassroots support organization for military families dealing with autism spectrum disorder, was one of the first organizations to change on Feb. 29 to the new pages format that includes Facebook’s timeline. That format was unrolled recently for personal pages. All pages are scheduled to change to the new format by March 30.

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