March 13, 2025 • 30 mins
3rd Freeport Autism Conference
- * April 5th - 8:30-2:45
- * Location: Buffalo Elementary School, 500 Sarver Road, Sarver PA, in the Freeport Area School District
- * Flyer and information to register can be found on the Freeport Area School District's website.
- * FREE and OPEN to everyone - not just residents of the Freeport Area School District
- * Great experience for teachers, parents/caregivers, para-professionals, administrators or anyone that just wants to learn more about autism.
- * Band Together Pittsburgh - performing during the lunch break.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh area. Good morning, My name is Johnny Hartwell.
A couple of guests in studio. First of all, let's
say hello to Donald Dell, special Services coordinator of Freeport
Area School District. Good morning, sir, How are you morning?
John doing well? An old friend, John Vento, local businessman
(00:25):
who has done so a lot of fine work here
in around town. And of course he is the co
founder of a band together and even with a surgically
surgically repaired knee, still could run circles around all of us.
That's so true. Local musician needs hotel band John, Good
to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hi Johnny, doing great, buddy, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
How's the knee? Is it good?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's you know, we're making good progress.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Like I said, even with a bumnee, you can I'll
be a six.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Million dollar man. I need another new knee, a new wrist.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Now we're here talking about the third annual a Freeport
Autism Conference, and Band Together is going to be associated. Yeah,
that's why you're in here. But don tell us everything
we need to know. About the conference, Well, we're taking
We're having our third conference. It will be April of
the fifth.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
We hold it at a Buffalo elementary one of our elementary
schools in our district, a Freeport School district. It is
completely free to everybody, and you don't have to live
in Freeport to attend. We attended the national conference about
four years ago in State College and it's a three
or four day event. It's during the week and it's
a great conference. People from all over the country come
(01:35):
to it. And I was there and I said, we
have to bring this back to Western Pa. And we
have to bring it on a Saturday when people can go,
some parents can be there, so teachers and educational assistants
can be there. So that's how this all began three
years ago. We have people from Patent and our IU
twenty eight that participate sixteens per People aren't.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Familiar with those two, tell us what PATTEN is a
Training and Technical Assistance Network. It's a government state agency
run through Pennsylvania and they do outstanding work to help
you know, schools throughout the whole state. Our i U
twenty eight is our intermediate union. They also help local
schools in our area and they provide speakers and presenters
(02:20):
for this conference and we're excited to have anyone that
wants to be there to learn about autism, learn how
to help our kids, and everyone is welcome. So what
is the goal? What is the goal and what are
people going to get out of the conference. Well, we
have a wide variety of topics. So we have sessions
that are focused on parents, guardians, how to help their
(02:44):
students at home, how to help in partnerships of schools.
We have sessions for teachers how to work with students
with autism that are in their classroom, sessions for educational assistance.
So it's a wide gamut. No one will be an
expert after leaving that day, but we just to trigger
something in their brain that they want to seek more
knowledge so that they help our help our kids with autism.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
We just love them so.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Much, all right. So this is the third it is
it is a third Yes, So what did what? What
are some of the topics you've you covered in the
previous years. Well, in one of our highlights, we have
some actual parents that have held sessions and they talked
about their life as a family. Uh, this year we
have another parents that are actually bringing their high school
(03:28):
student and he doesn't have autism, but one of their
children does, and so the whole family is going to
be presenting. We've had.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
People presenting on specific reading and math topics, how to
help students with autism in their reading skills and their
math skills. We've had a toileting session how to have
families that have a student that hasn't learned how to
toilet yet, and so the whole gamut. We just try
to help the whole student, the whole individual, help families,
help schools, and it's been prettyuccessful and we're proud of it.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, I had a child that had autism and the
challenges of going to school, and he was high funded
and so, you know, he could read on a collegiate level,
but he wrote, he had very difficult time writing and
things like that. I mean, the brain is just a
fascinating shot, just amazing how it works and understanding, you know,
(04:21):
having a child with you know, certain disability is difficult,
but managing the bureaucracy of a school district can be
even more. Childnged.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Absolutely, Yeah, we have some sessions on that partnership, how
to go through the paperwork, the legalities and speaking you know,
in line with what your your son dealt with. Will
have a session on a siste of technology, so we
help schools and parents learn what's out there now with
technology that can help their child write, read, speak.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So in addition to all the things that you have
your guest speakers, and you have a free lunch at
a taco bar, a free lunch taco bar, I'm there,
that's right, door prizes, and of course you have Band
Together performing during the lunch break, and that's why I
brought John in.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
That's great. Yeah, they've been a blessing. Patrick lay that
he was there the first year and he performed by
himself and he's a member of Band Together Pittsburgh. And
last year we had a team that came and they
performed during lunch. We had about four different groups or
individuals that sang for ten or fifteen minutes each during
their lunch break and everyone ate and just loved them.
(05:26):
They were the hit of the conference. Thankfully, they're going
to be back again with us this year.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Now. To understand the connection, John who's one of the
co founders of Band Together, tell us what the organization
is all about.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well, band Together Pittsburgh creates music programs for people on
the autism spectrum. But the music is just a part
of it, Johnny, as you know, because you know us
very very well. It's more about the social interaction, creating friendships,
getting parents that get to support each other. And that's
the magic of the whole thing. And it's just growing
(05:59):
like crazy. It's just, you know, it's just been wonderful.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Give us the history.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Well, this started about nine years ago at Moondog's Right,
a local music venue with Ronnie Moondog Gesser and I
had a gig there with my band, the Needs Hotel Band,
And prior to the gig, I had met three young
musicians that were autistic through friends. And so in the
(06:23):
middle of our show, we bring these three young people
up to perform with our band, and a drummer, a
keyboard player, and a guitar player. My three guys sit down,
you know, like you would any guest musicians, and we
played a few blues tunes and it was great. And
at the end of the night, Moondog came up to
me and he said, what the heck was that all about?
Who were those kids? And I told him they were
(06:45):
children of friends, you know, teenagers at that time they were,
and I said, here's another little secret. All three of
them were autistic. He was just blown away and he said, well,
my son James is on the spectrum. We need to
do this more often. I'm like, okay, cool, what.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Do we do?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
He said, how about open mic? Let's just like have
an autism friendly open mic And that was the birth
of the whole thing. And then today you know, as
you know, we have these events that we can't even
keep up with, and including this wonderful event of Freeport.
We have a branch in Eerie, PA, a branch in Columbus, Ohio.
(07:25):
We have people in Central PA kind of bugging us
to launch something there, and it's just.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Been a great The movement is growing, and with question
because you know, having a son with autism and you know,
both of you are associated with individuals on the spectrum.
It's not about their disability, it's more about their ability.
And and we've seen it in our our you know,
our little Christmas contents. You know, the band together plays
(07:52):
and it's always a highlight. And what's what's the feedback
of the individuals who play.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, It's so funny that you say this because Sunday
was my first open mic since my surgery, which is,
you know, two and a half months. So I brought
in a film crew to do like short discussions with
our kids. Now I'm sixty three, so if you're below
sixty year a kid, because our age ranges go from
you know, five years old to forty five years old. Anyhow,
(08:24):
it was really interesting that so many of them didn't
even talk about the music. They talked about the friends
they made and I can come here and feel safe
and I appreciated and loved and supported and no judgment.
And of course the music is the con do it,
but that's all that is. It's the bigger picture is
(08:47):
the socialization, self confidence, awareness, courage, and that's what we're
seeing that this is the real goal of being Together Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
All right, we're going to get more into band together.
But we're talking with John Vento, a band together and
Don Dell, special services coordinator a Freeport area school district.
What do you do for the what is your nine
to five? What do you normally do well?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Most of my role is made up of overseeing the
special education department of Freeport, but I wear lots of hats.
We're a small district, so all the administrators wear lots
of hats, and I oversee the homelessness and foster care
students that are in our district nursing, so wherever I'm needed,
that's my role. That's why special service, any service that
(09:33):
revolves around the students, I'm involved in it usually. So
when you decided to have this conference, well, first of all,
for people who are just tuning in, kind of explain
what the conference is, when is it, where is it
and what and if somebody wants to get involved, what
do they have to shore. It's April fifth, it starts
at eight thirty. We hold it at a Buffalo elementary
that's where we have three of our AUTISTICI Sport classrooms.
(09:56):
And it's completely free to the public. You don't have
to live in Freeport. Anyone is welcome to come. The
easiest way to register is just to go to the
Freeport Area School District web page informations there and they
can log on and register. And like I said, it's free,
free lunch, s, door prizes, and we're just looking for
a great day and I'm sure it will be. One
thing I want to note there are no Freeport people presenting.
(10:19):
We are not the experts, so you don't have Freeport
teachers or administrators presenting. We get experts from the outside
and try to learn with everybody. All right, So tell
us about some of the presenters. Yeah, Doctor Higgins is
our Kenot speaker this year. She's a professor at the
University of pitt We're glad to have her. As they said,
a number of our speakers work through either our local
(10:39):
intermediate unit or the Pennsylvania Training Technical Assistance Program. We
have Andrew Anderson, Tom Miller from Paton, Ryan Delaney. There's
a whole list of wonderful presenters, some new, some that
have done it last year. But we always try to
cycle some new folks in and all learn together. What
(11:03):
are you hoping to learn? Well, we're hoping to learn.
I think a lot of it goes with what we
just heard that students with autism are not to be
put in the corner, not to be put in a
separate room. But how can we include them in our
life of schools? How can we make their life as
successful and as blessed as it should be by giving
(11:26):
them every opportunity we can. So if we can do
that by learning how to teach them better in math,
better in English, how to make their partnership with home better,
how to do better teaching them how to speak so
that they can ask the questions that they need to
ask and share their emotions. A lot of time students
with autism have trouble sharing their emotions. They don't know
(11:47):
how to speak, they don't how to get it out.
So if we can do a better job of that
in schools and with families, we can help see these
kids shine. We're going to have to meet the author
session at lunch. The author is young man with autism
and he's written like three children's books. So he's going
to have his books there, sign them, sell them. And
that's a highlight because there you have a student that
(12:08):
has gone through the schools. He's now in mid twenties
and he's successful and he's doing he's living his life,
and so we just want to be able to help
our young people do that.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
You know, when my son was in school and being
on the spectrum, it was difficult for us to understand
him as an individual, let alone his relationship with the school,
his teachers, his classmates, and it was a tough time
acclimating all that. Have things gotten better what they have,
(12:41):
I would say they're still room to grow. Obviously, in
our district, we have expanded our programs so that we
have three classrooms at the elementary level and we now
have a middle school and a high school autistic support
classroom and the high school room we just added this
past year. And again it's not that those kids will
go to that room and live there, but it's a
(13:03):
teacher that is specialized in that area and it can
help those kids while they're at lunch, while they're transitioning
in the gymnasium in a TV studio classroom, which a
lot of the kids take part in, and so we're
getting the kids out and acclimated to you know, the.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Rest of the kids. We've created pure buddy groups, which
have been a waterful blessing. What is that kids that
don't have autism, they volunteer to be buddies. Oh, and
so they come in and they partner. At the younger classrooms,
they'll just play games, they'll play candy land, they'll learn
how to socialize, take turns, and at the older levels
(13:44):
they'll go on trips with them. We do a lot
of community based trips and we get our kids with
autism out into the community and ordering foods at restaurants
and learning how to work jobs, and these peer buddies
will be right there with them.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
And you know, when my son was in school, and
this was, you know, twenty years ago, you know, there
were some older teachers that really didn't understand children on
the spectrum. And the big difference in my son's experience
was the friends that he made and he is those
those have become lifelong friends, right and it really has
(14:17):
made a huge difference. So the conference, once again, if
somebody wants more information or if they want to sign
up with what do they have?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
The easiest way to go to the Freeport Area School
District web page and you'll find information on the web
page about the conference and you can register right there.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
All right, April fifth, we still have more questions for you, dog,
don't leave me the Freeport Autism Conference. We're also talking
to John Vento, who is one of the co creators
of Band Together Pittsburgh, and we talked about a lot
of individuals on the spectrum who participate. And we're saying
individuals because you and I both you know, sometimes they kids.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
They got to stop saying that.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
But we get the you're accepting these these kids, these
individuals in and all right, so the first time that
you you had the band together, you formed a band?
What was that like? What was the process?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Well, we actually had multiple bands. Okay, that's been a
recent development. But the very first event that open mic
that I spoke of nine years ago, when Moondog and
I were standing there about to open the doors, like,
what's going to happen? Is anybody going to show up?
And it was just instant that families and individuals started
(15:33):
pouring in.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I got goosebumps and they just started pouring in.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And I remember looking at him like, because you know,
we've all been to open mics, right, everybody's gone to
a bar and there's all those good and so that's
the only reference that we had.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, so we set up.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Some instruments, a keyboard, mics, a little pa and away
we went. And primarily most of the individuals participants, say kids,
they sing karaoke, And in the scale of one hundred percent,
there's maybe five percent that are extraordinarily experienced, like you
(16:09):
mentioned Patrick Law, but the vast majority just have fun.
You know, they're not out there to get a record deal,
and we're not out there to push them to a
record deal. Then we have a percentage of participants who
just hang out. They don't do anything. They don't sing,
they don't bang on the drums. They're just part of
the event, the atmosphere, and they just feel welcome. And
(16:34):
one of my concerns with our organization, and we're working
to change this, is when people see band together like
Ian's or Christmas, these extraordinarily talented young people, right, and
then I'll get these phone calls throughout the week, Well
my son's really not you know, his voice is not correct.
(16:55):
And my first thing is I say, guess what your
son is the vast majority of our participants okay, And
the only thing I can tell you is come to
an event, have fun. You're gonna feel love, support, non judgment,
and it just happens. And may I also comment on
Freeport School District as a father who has had three
(17:18):
children graduate from Freeport School District. There's none better. There's
none better. It was just all three of my children
graduated from Freeport and it is a small school district,
and that's what makes it extra special. In my opinion,
everybody knows each other.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, yeah, so and then with the participants, not the kids,
participants do you have? What do they do? They learn
how to use their instruments?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Oh yeah, So we have multiple programs, Johnny, the open
mic is what we've been discussing so far. We have
a scholarship program where we receive receive funding primarily for
families that may not have the resources to buy an
instrument and pay for lessons, so we'll do both. And
then we monitor the student with music teachers that are
experienced with working with people on the spectrum and we
(18:09):
monitor their progress, which is amazing. Right now, we have
fifteen students ranging from trumpet to guitar, to drums to
keyboards to vocals, all over the map. And every other
month we get a report from the teacher. And the
deal is this, if the student completes one year of lessons, No,
we don't stop them at one year. They own the instrument.
(18:34):
So let's say two years ago we bought a drum
kit for a young boy and he stuck with it
for a year. That drum kit is his and his
families because with autism so many it's primarily single moms. Okay,
you mentioned your son multiple times. I hate to tell
(18:55):
you this. You're in the minority meaning dads that are
engaged in their child's life, and Don's nodding his head.
It is significantly more single moms, which puts not only
the caregiving pressure, but the financial pressure. So all of
our events are free, including food, drink, everything, And then
(19:16):
we have this scholarship program for families that may not
have the resources. And then recently we have every other
week we have what we call the Band Together Band.
It's just a jam session, but they are people that
can play instruments, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And what goes on during that the.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Band Together band jam, Yeah, what happens? Okay, it's just
like my band that needs a tell band. You know.
We have different drummers, guitar players, singers, keyboard players. I
think there's like ten or eleven. I'm gonna have to
say kids. I'm sorry, Yeah, ten eleven kids come in
and they rehearse the Moondogs on a Thursday night, and
we have two wonderful music teachers who direct it. Now,
(19:55):
granted we may have I think we have three drummers.
They're not going to play at the same time, so
we take and they work on songs and they may
or may not perform live.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Okay, they could.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Do you have any other local musicians helping out from Oh?
We sure do, like like.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Well, the biggest is Dave Grenadi from the Grenadi Brothers.
We have four of our kids in Dave Grenatti's youth
academy and you should see how much they've grown. Here's
a wonderful story that's gonna make you cry, because it
makes me cry. We have a drummer who's nonverbal.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
David called me last Sunday in tears. He said, George
sang a song. Okay, yeah, I said George too, He said, George.
He's screaming to me, George, you're George, he said, He
sang us and Dave was balling his eyes hot. I
don't know how it happens. It's the power of the music.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Don what's your response to that.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, that's hard not to have tears come to your
eyes because you know, we see it, and we see
it all the time. A kid would do something that
they've never done before, and it can be such a
small thing if they're in kindergarten or first grade or
something like you said, George, you know, actually singing a song.
And there's no limit to what these kids can do,
and the only limits that they have are sometimes what
(21:10):
we place on them as adults. And so it's just
if we can break those walls and give these kids opportunities,
they can amaze us.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And John mentioned you know, caregivers and how important they
are for the development of individuals on the spectrum right
especially you know, and you're you're going to you know,
be dealing with these individuals for the span of their
high school career or you know, the their their schooling
right career. So what is that What kind of pressure
(21:41):
does that put on the caregiver and what are some
of the things that the adversities that they face.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
It's so hard and that's why, you know, the last
couple of years we've tried to have at least one
session where a parent. Carolyn van Kott, Patrick Law's mom
presented her first. She presented the first year, and then
we've had you know, a parent each year and to
hear what they experience twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week. You know, we see it at school
(22:08):
for you know, seven hours or what seven and a
half hours, but what they see and have to the
struggles they have. It kind of sometimes puts us in
our place that some of the things we think are
major issues we should just let go because it's not
that important, you know. But you know, like like you said,
that's the one reason we want to keep this conference free.
We've never charged. It's been free every year and we
(22:31):
will always keep it free because we don't want to
We don't want to hinder a caregiver or a parent
from not being able to calm that day. So I
will say, if you do come, bring a dollar or
two extra because our kids do have a coffee shop
that they run during the day.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
They'd seale coffee and stuff to teachers.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
They will have that running that day and they do charge,
so and it's an awesome experience.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
You'll probably have tiers.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yes, well, may I bring up that, as you know,
we have a DJ program to band together pits and
our performers. Like the performers it will be with you.
We pay them because we want them to be treated
like professionals. You know. This program's phenomenal that Don has
and there's other school districts that focus on this. The
big issue is what happens after high school when they
(23:17):
quote age out. That's a dilemma for so many parents
and caregivers that we need to start to focus on.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
We will, believe me, I know, yeah, we will. At
our conference, we have an we call it an exhibit hall.
We'll have at least fourteen the last two years we
have had about fourteen different tables exhibits set up and
a lot of those tables will be for programs for
what comes next. Lifesteps will be there. OvR Office of
Vacation Realbilitation will have a table PA Connecting Communities, county organizations,
(23:50):
so they'll be there to answer questions for parents, give
them flyers information because that is a big issue. Well,
don you mentioned a number of institutions that help people
on the spectrum, and as a parent, it's almost overwhelming.
You get so many of those. You know, well you
should try OvR. What is OvR? Oh, what about PA connections?
(24:15):
What is that?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
What do we have to do? And sometimes you need
a conference like this to kind of see and kind
of realize what that organization will do for my child
or as opposed to you know, maybe that's that's not
something that they need exactly and that takes too much
time to research.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
And these parents are so busy they're taking care of
their kids, they don't have time to research. So if
we can make it easy and get the information for
the parents, I think it helps them in the long run.
All right, So tell us again the laundry list of
things that are going to happen, Where it is, all right,
what time it is, How they can sign up. Freeport
Autism Conference free, open to everyone, not just Freeport residents.
(24:56):
It's April fifth, eight thirty to two forty five. Or
take place a buffer elementary one of our elementary schools
in our district. The easiest way to get information is
just go to our school web page Freeport Area School
District web page information about the conferences. There, you can
register completely free. Lunch is included. There'd be great door prizes.
(25:16):
There'll be at least sixteen different sessions that you can
pick from and band again together Pittsburgh will perform their lunchs.
So how many individuals are you hoping to attract?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
The last two years.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
We've averaged two hundred, which for a school type of
hosting is amazing. This year I just checked, actually yesterday
we had about one hundred and ten. I think it
was one hundred and ten that registered so far early
yea and so early. So we're hoping to hit that
two hundred mark again.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
That's kind of our goal, all right, John, you kind
of set up with everything that the Band Together does.
But if somebody wants to maybe go to an open night,
micro light, or you get more information on the organization, just.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Go to band together pgh dot org. Also, my phone
number is on the website. I get four or five
phone calls a week. That's my preference to talk to
a mom or a dad or a caregiver. So just yeah,
band together pgh dot org and come just come to
an event.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
And what about do you have any angels people who
are helping out the organization?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
We sure do. We have an angel that just made
a significant donation for this what we call our scholarship
program of lessons and instruments, and we wanted to name
the program after this woman. And no, that's okay, I
just want to help out.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
She's so she remains and we've been blessed.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You know, we started this thing with no money and
we probably still don't. We have no paid staff. Man,
I mention that to you. Sure, we're all volunteers. So
it you know, we hope to get to the day
where we do have paid staff and where we do
have an administrative operation. But at this point, it's all
about the dedication in your heart and the love that
(26:49):
you have and they come out of the woodwork.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
How many individuals have you worked with over the last
nine years?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Oh, my goodness, you mean what we call the participants? Yes, okay,
Oh well, Sunday was an open mic, the first one
I've been to in a few months because of my surgery,
and I probably saw twenty new faces, right, So there
was probably at that event there was probably eighty ninety people,
twenty five thirty participants performers. We're going to be at
(27:20):
Pine Richland School District in April. We were at Mars
on Monday night. We were at the Warhol Theater last
month or Warhol Museum. They love having us hundreds hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds, i'd say regular folks that we
see or in the neighborhood of eighty ninety, you know,
not an ongoing basis.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
And you've expanded north to Eririe in Central.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
And Columbus, Ohio and all based with families. So our
leader in Erie is an autistic mom and our leaders
in Columbus is a mom and dad whose son plays
electric guitar leading that so for us, it's not about
big agencies, is about grassroots And.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So how did you connect with Freeport?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
I think that through Carolyn is my guess.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I knew Carolyn and Patrick were involved, and Patrick, like
I said, performed the first year. And I thought, well,
you know what, people are bored when they're eating lunch.
We need to have something to our lunch. So last
year I went to their website and got a number
and called and they're like, yep, Wolf send peoples Lisa.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I assume yes, I think, yeah, who is our event?
She's twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
That's fabulous. All right, we only have about a minute left,
So let's kind of recap everything that people need to
know about the conference. All right.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Freeport Autism Conference April fifth, starts at eight thirty in
the morning. If you go to Freeport Area School District
web page, you can get information, registrations, free, lunch is free,
door prizes, exhibits, Band Together Pittsburgh will be there. It'll
be a great day just to learn and celebrate and
help our students. With autism and John. If somebody wants more.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Fan together, pgh dot org and check it all out.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's awesome. Yeah, John, good to see you again. To
see you brother and Don. It was very nice you
for having me goodly for the conference. Thank you as always.
If you have any comments, concerns, or an idea for
a future program, please email us from this radio station's website.
I'm Johnny heart Well, thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Hitsburgh Divas are gathering to make sweet music in the
beautiful hills near Swickly to fight cancer.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm Bonnie Diver inviting you to join me for the
Songs for Live concert to benefit hair Piece Charities.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Five of the most soulful, jazzy rock and sol divas
will entertain in a beautiful outdoor setting your sweekly on Saturday,
May thirty. First bring your lawn chairs and picnic basket
or order one of our catered box dinners.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Get tickets at Hairpeace dot org. That's hair peac ee
And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh area. Good morning, My name is Johnny Hartwell.
A couple of guests in studio. First of all, let's
say hello to Donald Dell, special Services coordinator of Freeport
Area School District. Good morning, sir, How are you morning?
John doing well? An old friend, John Vento, local businessman
(00:25):
who has done so a lot of fine work here
in around town. And of course he is the co
founder of a band together and even with a surgically
surgically repaired knee, still could run circles around all of us.
That's so true. Local musician needs hotel band John, Good
to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hi Johnny, doing great, buddy, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
How's the knee? Is it good?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's you know, we're making good progress.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Like I said, even with a bumnee, you can I'll
be a six.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Million dollar man. I need another new knee, a new wrist.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Now we're here talking about the third annual a Freeport
Autism Conference, and Band Together is going to be associated. Yeah,
that's why you're in here. But don tell us everything
we need to know. About the conference, Well, we're taking
We're having our third conference. It will be April of
the fifth.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
We hold it at a Buffalo elementary one of our elementary
schools in our district, a Freeport School district. It is
completely free to everybody, and you don't have to live
in Freeport to attend. We attended the national conference about
four years ago in State College and it's a three
or four day event. It's during the week and it's
a great conference. People from all over the country come
(01:35):
to it. And I was there and I said, we
have to bring this back to Western Pa. And we
have to bring it on a Saturday when people can go,
some parents can be there, so teachers and educational assistants
can be there. So that's how this all began three
years ago. We have people from Patent and our IU
twenty eight that participate sixteens per People aren't.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Familiar with those two, tell us what PATTEN is a
Training and Technical Assistance Network. It's a government state agency
run through Pennsylvania and they do outstanding work to help
you know, schools throughout the whole state. Our i U
twenty eight is our intermediate union. They also help local
schools in our area and they provide speakers and presenters
(02:20):
for this conference and we're excited to have anyone that
wants to be there to learn about autism, learn how
to help our kids, and everyone is welcome. So what
is the goal? What is the goal and what are
people going to get out of the conference. Well, we
have a wide variety of topics. So we have sessions
that are focused on parents, guardians, how to help their
(02:44):
students at home, how to help in partnerships of schools.
We have sessions for teachers how to work with students
with autism that are in their classroom, sessions for educational assistance.
So it's a wide gamut. No one will be an
expert after leaving that day, but we just to trigger
something in their brain that they want to seek more
knowledge so that they help our help our kids with autism.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
We just love them so.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Much, all right. So this is the third it is
it is a third Yes, So what did what? What
are some of the topics you've you covered in the
previous years. Well, in one of our highlights, we have
some actual parents that have held sessions and they talked
about their life as a family. Uh, this year we
have another parents that are actually bringing their high school
(03:28):
student and he doesn't have autism, but one of their
children does, and so the whole family is going to
be presenting. We've had.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
People presenting on specific reading and math topics, how to
help students with autism in their reading skills and their
math skills. We've had a toileting session how to have
families that have a student that hasn't learned how to
toilet yet, and so the whole gamut. We just try
to help the whole student, the whole individual, help families,
help schools, and it's been prettyuccessful and we're proud of it.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, I had a child that had autism and the
challenges of going to school, and he was high funded
and so, you know, he could read on a collegiate level,
but he wrote, he had very difficult time writing and
things like that. I mean, the brain is just a
fascinating shot, just amazing how it works and understanding, you know,
(04:21):
having a child with you know, certain disability is difficult,
but managing the bureaucracy of a school district can be
even more. Childnged.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Absolutely, Yeah, we have some sessions on that partnership, how
to go through the paperwork, the legalities and speaking you know,
in line with what your your son dealt with. Will
have a session on a siste of technology, so we
help schools and parents learn what's out there now with
technology that can help their child write, read, speak.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So in addition to all the things that you have
your guest speakers, and you have a free lunch at
a taco bar, a free lunch taco bar, I'm there,
that's right, door prizes, and of course you have Band
Together performing during the lunch break, and that's why I
brought John in.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
That's great. Yeah, they've been a blessing. Patrick lay that
he was there the first year and he performed by
himself and he's a member of Band Together Pittsburgh. And
last year we had a team that came and they
performed during lunch. We had about four different groups or
individuals that sang for ten or fifteen minutes each during
their lunch break and everyone ate and just loved them.
(05:26):
They were the hit of the conference. Thankfully, they're going
to be back again with us this year.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Now. To understand the connection, John who's one of the
co founders of Band Together, tell us what the organization
is all about.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well, band Together Pittsburgh creates music programs for people on
the autism spectrum. But the music is just a part
of it, Johnny, as you know, because you know us
very very well. It's more about the social interaction, creating friendships,
getting parents that get to support each other. And that's
the magic of the whole thing. And it's just growing
(05:59):
like crazy. It's just, you know, it's just been wonderful.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Give us the history.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Well, this started about nine years ago at Moondog's Right,
a local music venue with Ronnie Moondog Gesser and I
had a gig there with my band, the Needs Hotel Band,
And prior to the gig, I had met three young
musicians that were autistic through friends. And so in the
(06:23):
middle of our show, we bring these three young people
up to perform with our band, and a drummer, a
keyboard player, and a guitar player. My three guys sit down,
you know, like you would any guest musicians, and we
played a few blues tunes and it was great. And
at the end of the night, Moondog came up to
me and he said, what the heck was that all about?
Who were those kids? And I told him they were
(06:45):
children of friends, you know, teenagers at that time they were,
and I said, here's another little secret. All three of
them were autistic. He was just blown away and he said, well,
my son James is on the spectrum. We need to
do this more often. I'm like, okay, cool, what.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Do we do?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
He said, how about open mic? Let's just like have
an autism friendly open mic And that was the birth
of the whole thing. And then today you know, as
you know, we have these events that we can't even
keep up with, and including this wonderful event of Freeport.
We have a branch in Eerie, PA, a branch in Columbus, Ohio.
(07:25):
We have people in Central PA kind of bugging us
to launch something there, and it's just.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Been a great The movement is growing, and with question
because you know, having a son with autism and you know,
both of you are associated with individuals on the spectrum.
It's not about their disability, it's more about their ability.
And and we've seen it in our our you know,
our little Christmas contents. You know, the band together plays
(07:52):
and it's always a highlight. And what's what's the feedback
of the individuals who play.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, It's so funny that you say this because Sunday
was my first open mic since my surgery, which is,
you know, two and a half months. So I brought
in a film crew to do like short discussions with
our kids. Now I'm sixty three, so if you're below
sixty year a kid, because our age ranges go from
you know, five years old to forty five years old. Anyhow,
(08:24):
it was really interesting that so many of them didn't
even talk about the music. They talked about the friends
they made and I can come here and feel safe
and I appreciated and loved and supported and no judgment.
And of course the music is the con do it,
but that's all that is. It's the bigger picture is
(08:47):
the socialization, self confidence, awareness, courage, and that's what we're
seeing that this is the real goal of being Together Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
All right, we're going to get more into band together.
But we're talking with John Vento, a band together and
Don Dell, special services coordinator a Freeport area school district.
What do you do for the what is your nine
to five? What do you normally do well?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Most of my role is made up of overseeing the
special education department of Freeport, but I wear lots of hats.
We're a small district, so all the administrators wear lots
of hats, and I oversee the homelessness and foster care
students that are in our district nursing, so wherever I'm needed,
that's my role. That's why special service, any service that
(09:33):
revolves around the students, I'm involved in it usually. So
when you decided to have this conference, well, first of all,
for people who are just tuning in, kind of explain
what the conference is, when is it, where is it
and what and if somebody wants to get involved, what
do they have to shore. It's April fifth, it starts
at eight thirty. We hold it at a Buffalo elementary
that's where we have three of our AUTISTICI Sport classrooms.
(09:56):
And it's completely free to the public. You don't have
to live in Freeport. Anyone is welcome to come. The
easiest way to register is just to go to the
Freeport Area School District web page informations there and they
can log on and register. And like I said, it's free,
free lunch, s, door prizes, and we're just looking for
a great day and I'm sure it will be. One
thing I want to note there are no Freeport people presenting.
(10:19):
We are not the experts, so you don't have Freeport
teachers or administrators presenting. We get experts from the outside
and try to learn with everybody. All right, So tell
us about some of the presenters. Yeah, Doctor Higgins is
our Kenot speaker this year. She's a professor at the
University of pitt We're glad to have her. As they said,
a number of our speakers work through either our local
(10:39):
intermediate unit or the Pennsylvania Training Technical Assistance Program. We
have Andrew Anderson, Tom Miller from Paton, Ryan Delaney. There's
a whole list of wonderful presenters, some new, some that
have done it last year. But we always try to
cycle some new folks in and all learn together. What
(11:03):
are you hoping to learn? Well, we're hoping to learn.
I think a lot of it goes with what we
just heard that students with autism are not to be
put in the corner, not to be put in a
separate room. But how can we include them in our
life of schools? How can we make their life as
successful and as blessed as it should be by giving
(11:26):
them every opportunity we can. So if we can do
that by learning how to teach them better in math,
better in English, how to make their partnership with home better,
how to do better teaching them how to speak so
that they can ask the questions that they need to
ask and share their emotions. A lot of time students
with autism have trouble sharing their emotions. They don't know
(11:47):
how to speak, they don't how to get it out.
So if we can do a better job of that
in schools and with families, we can help see these
kids shine. We're going to have to meet the author
session at lunch. The author is young man with autism
and he's written like three children's books. So he's going
to have his books there, sign them, sell them. And
that's a highlight because there you have a student that
(12:08):
has gone through the schools. He's now in mid twenties
and he's successful and he's doing he's living his life,
and so we just want to be able to help
our young people do that.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
You know, when my son was in school and being
on the spectrum, it was difficult for us to understand
him as an individual, let alone his relationship with the school,
his teachers, his classmates, and it was a tough time
acclimating all that. Have things gotten better what they have,
(12:41):
I would say they're still room to grow. Obviously, in
our district, we have expanded our programs so that we
have three classrooms at the elementary level and we now
have a middle school and a high school autistic support
classroom and the high school room we just added this
past year. And again it's not that those kids will
go to that room and live there, but it's a
(13:03):
teacher that is specialized in that area and it can
help those kids while they're at lunch, while they're transitioning
in the gymnasium in a TV studio classroom, which a
lot of the kids take part in, and so we're
getting the kids out and acclimated to you know, the.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Rest of the kids. We've created pure buddy groups, which
have been a waterful blessing. What is that kids that
don't have autism, they volunteer to be buddies. Oh, and
so they come in and they partner. At the younger classrooms,
they'll just play games, they'll play candy land, they'll learn
how to socialize, take turns, and at the older levels
(13:44):
they'll go on trips with them. We do a lot
of community based trips and we get our kids with
autism out into the community and ordering foods at restaurants
and learning how to work jobs, and these peer buddies
will be right there with them.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
And you know, when my son was in school, and
this was, you know, twenty years ago, you know, there
were some older teachers that really didn't understand children on
the spectrum. And the big difference in my son's experience
was the friends that he made and he is those
those have become lifelong friends, right and it really has
(14:17):
made a huge difference. So the conference, once again, if
somebody wants more information or if they want to sign
up with what do they have?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
The easiest way to go to the Freeport Area School
District web page and you'll find information on the web
page about the conference and you can register right there.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
All right, April fifth, we still have more questions for you, dog,
don't leave me the Freeport Autism Conference. We're also talking
to John Vento, who is one of the co creators
of Band Together Pittsburgh, and we talked about a lot
of individuals on the spectrum who participate. And we're saying
individuals because you and I both you know, sometimes they kids.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
They got to stop saying that.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
But we get the you're accepting these these kids, these
individuals in and all right, so the first time that
you you had the band together, you formed a band?
What was that like? What was the process?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Well, we actually had multiple bands. Okay, that's been a
recent development. But the very first event that open mic
that I spoke of nine years ago, when Moondog and
I were standing there about to open the doors, like,
what's going to happen? Is anybody going to show up?
And it was just instant that families and individuals started
(15:33):
pouring in.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I got goosebumps and they just started pouring in.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And I remember looking at him like, because you know,
we've all been to open mics, right, everybody's gone to
a bar and there's all those good and so that's
the only reference that we had.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, so we set up.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Some instruments, a keyboard, mics, a little pa and away
we went. And primarily most of the individuals participants, say kids,
they sing karaoke, And in the scale of one hundred percent,
there's maybe five percent that are extraordinarily experienced, like you
(16:09):
mentioned Patrick Law, but the vast majority just have fun.
You know, they're not out there to get a record deal,
and we're not out there to push them to a
record deal. Then we have a percentage of participants who
just hang out. They don't do anything. They don't sing,
they don't bang on the drums. They're just part of
the event, the atmosphere, and they just feel welcome. And
(16:34):
one of my concerns with our organization, and we're working
to change this, is when people see band together like
Ian's or Christmas, these extraordinarily talented young people, right, and
then I'll get these phone calls throughout the week, Well
my son's really not you know, his voice is not correct.
(16:55):
And my first thing is I say, guess what your
son is the vast majority of our participants okay, And
the only thing I can tell you is come to
an event, have fun. You're gonna feel love, support, non judgment,
and it just happens. And may I also comment on
Freeport School District as a father who has had three
(17:18):
children graduate from Freeport School District. There's none better. There's
none better. It was just all three of my children
graduated from Freeport and it is a small school district,
and that's what makes it extra special. In my opinion,
everybody knows each other.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, yeah, so and then with the participants, not the kids,
participants do you have? What do they do? They learn
how to use their instruments?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Oh yeah, So we have multiple programs, Johnny, the open
mic is what we've been discussing so far. We have
a scholarship program where we receive receive funding primarily for
families that may not have the resources to buy an
instrument and pay for lessons, so we'll do both. And
then we monitor the student with music teachers that are
experienced with working with people on the spectrum and we
(18:09):
monitor their progress, which is amazing. Right now, we have
fifteen students ranging from trumpet to guitar, to drums to
keyboards to vocals, all over the map. And every other
month we get a report from the teacher. And the
deal is this, if the student completes one year of lessons, No,
we don't stop them at one year. They own the instrument.
(18:34):
So let's say two years ago we bought a drum
kit for a young boy and he stuck with it
for a year. That drum kit is his and his
families because with autism so many it's primarily single moms. Okay,
you mentioned your son multiple times. I hate to tell
(18:55):
you this. You're in the minority meaning dads that are
engaged in their child's life, and Don's nodding his head.
It is significantly more single moms, which puts not only
the caregiving pressure, but the financial pressure. So all of
our events are free, including food, drink, everything, And then
(19:16):
we have this scholarship program for families that may not
have the resources. And then recently we have every other
week we have what we call the Band Together Band.
It's just a jam session, but they are people that
can play instruments, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And what goes on during that the.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Band Together band jam, Yeah, what happens? Okay, it's just
like my band that needs a tell band. You know.
We have different drummers, guitar players, singers, keyboard players. I
think there's like ten or eleven. I'm gonna have to
say kids. I'm sorry, Yeah, ten eleven kids come in
and they rehearse the Moondogs on a Thursday night, and
we have two wonderful music teachers who direct it. Now,
(19:55):
granted we may have I think we have three drummers.
They're not going to play at the same time, so
we take and they work on songs and they may
or may not perform live.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Okay, they could.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Do you have any other local musicians helping out from Oh?
We sure do, like like.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Well, the biggest is Dave Grenadi from the Grenadi Brothers.
We have four of our kids in Dave Grenatti's youth
academy and you should see how much they've grown. Here's
a wonderful story that's gonna make you cry, because it
makes me cry. We have a drummer who's nonverbal.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
David called me last Sunday in tears. He said, George
sang a song. Okay, yeah, I said George too, He said, George.
He's screaming to me, George, you're George, he said, He
sang us and Dave was balling his eyes hot. I
don't know how it happens. It's the power of the music.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Don what's your response to that.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, that's hard not to have tears come to your
eyes because you know, we see it, and we see
it all the time. A kid would do something that
they've never done before, and it can be such a
small thing if they're in kindergarten or first grade or
something like you said, George, you know, actually singing a song.
And there's no limit to what these kids can do,
and the only limits that they have are sometimes what
(21:10):
we place on them as adults. And so it's just
if we can break those walls and give these kids opportunities,
they can amaze us.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And John mentioned you know, caregivers and how important they
are for the development of individuals on the spectrum right
especially you know, and you're you're going to you know,
be dealing with these individuals for the span of their
high school career or you know, the their their schooling
right career. So what is that What kind of pressure
(21:41):
does that put on the caregiver and what are some
of the things that the adversities that they face.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
It's so hard and that's why, you know, the last
couple of years we've tried to have at least one
session where a parent. Carolyn van Kott, Patrick Law's mom
presented her first. She presented the first year, and then
we've had you know, a parent each year and to
hear what they experience twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week. You know, we see it at school
(22:08):
for you know, seven hours or what seven and a
half hours, but what they see and have to the
struggles they have. It kind of sometimes puts us in
our place that some of the things we think are
major issues we should just let go because it's not
that important, you know. But you know, like like you said,
that's the one reason we want to keep this conference free.
We've never charged. It's been free every year and we
(22:31):
will always keep it free because we don't want to
We don't want to hinder a caregiver or a parent
from not being able to calm that day. So I
will say, if you do come, bring a dollar or
two extra because our kids do have a coffee shop
that they run during the day.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
They'd seale coffee and stuff to teachers.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
They will have that running that day and they do charge,
so and it's an awesome experience.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
You'll probably have tiers.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yes, well, may I bring up that, as you know,
we have a DJ program to band together pits and
our performers. Like the performers it will be with you.
We pay them because we want them to be treated
like professionals. You know. This program's phenomenal that Don has
and there's other school districts that focus on this. The
big issue is what happens after high school when they
(23:17):
quote age out. That's a dilemma for so many parents
and caregivers that we need to start to focus on.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
We will, believe me, I know, yeah, we will. At
our conference, we have an we call it an exhibit hall.
We'll have at least fourteen the last two years we
have had about fourteen different tables exhibits set up and
a lot of those tables will be for programs for
what comes next. Lifesteps will be there. OvR Office of
Vacation Realbilitation will have a table PA Connecting Communities, county organizations,
(23:50):
so they'll be there to answer questions for parents, give
them flyers information because that is a big issue. Well,
don you mentioned a number of institutions that help people
on the spectrum, and as a parent, it's almost overwhelming.
You get so many of those. You know, well you
should try OvR. What is OvR? Oh, what about PA connections?
(24:15):
What is that?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
What do we have to do? And sometimes you need
a conference like this to kind of see and kind
of realize what that organization will do for my child
or as opposed to you know, maybe that's that's not
something that they need exactly and that takes too much
time to research.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
And these parents are so busy they're taking care of
their kids, they don't have time to research. So if
we can make it easy and get the information for
the parents, I think it helps them in the long run.
All right, So tell us again the laundry list of
things that are going to happen, Where it is, all right,
what time it is, How they can sign up. Freeport
Autism Conference free, open to everyone, not just Freeport residents.
(24:56):
It's April fifth, eight thirty to two forty five. Or
take place a buffer elementary one of our elementary schools
in our district. The easiest way to get information is
just go to our school web page Freeport Area School
District web page information about the conferences. There, you can
register completely free. Lunch is included. There'd be great door prizes.
(25:16):
There'll be at least sixteen different sessions that you can
pick from and band again together Pittsburgh will perform their lunchs.
So how many individuals are you hoping to attract?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
The last two years.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
We've averaged two hundred, which for a school type of
hosting is amazing. This year I just checked, actually yesterday
we had about one hundred and ten. I think it
was one hundred and ten that registered so far early
yea and so early. So we're hoping to hit that
two hundred mark again.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
That's kind of our goal, all right, John, you kind
of set up with everything that the Band Together does.
But if somebody wants to maybe go to an open night,
micro light, or you get more information on the organization, just.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Go to band together pgh dot org. Also, my phone
number is on the website. I get four or five
phone calls a week. That's my preference to talk to
a mom or a dad or a caregiver. So just yeah,
band together pgh dot org and come just come to
an event.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
And what about do you have any angels people who
are helping out the organization?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
We sure do. We have an angel that just made
a significant donation for this what we call our scholarship
program of lessons and instruments, and we wanted to name
the program after this woman. And no, that's okay, I
just want to help out.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
She's so she remains and we've been blessed.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You know, we started this thing with no money and
we probably still don't. We have no paid staff. Man,
I mention that to you. Sure, we're all volunteers. So
it you know, we hope to get to the day
where we do have paid staff and where we do
have an administrative operation. But at this point, it's all
about the dedication in your heart and the love that
(26:49):
you have and they come out of the woodwork.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
How many individuals have you worked with over the last
nine years?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Oh, my goodness, you mean what we call the participants? Yes, okay,
Oh well, Sunday was an open mic, the first one
I've been to in a few months because of my surgery,
and I probably saw twenty new faces, right, So there
was probably at that event there was probably eighty ninety people,
twenty five thirty participants performers. We're going to be at
(27:20):
Pine Richland School District in April. We were at Mars
on Monday night. We were at the Warhol Theater last
month or Warhol Museum. They love having us hundreds hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds, i'd say regular folks that we
see or in the neighborhood of eighty ninety, you know,
not an ongoing basis.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
And you've expanded north to Eririe in Central.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
And Columbus, Ohio and all based with families. So our
leader in Erie is an autistic mom and our leaders
in Columbus is a mom and dad whose son plays
electric guitar leading that so for us, it's not about
big agencies, is about grassroots And.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So how did you connect with Freeport?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
I think that through Carolyn is my guess.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I knew Carolyn and Patrick were involved, and Patrick, like
I said, performed the first year. And I thought, well,
you know what, people are bored when they're eating lunch.
We need to have something to our lunch. So last
year I went to their website and got a number
and called and they're like, yep, Wolf send peoples Lisa.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I assume yes, I think, yeah, who is our event?
She's twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
That's fabulous. All right, we only have about a minute left,
So let's kind of recap everything that people need to
know about the conference. All right.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Freeport Autism Conference April fifth, starts at eight thirty in
the morning. If you go to Freeport Area School District
web page, you can get information, registrations, free, lunch is free,
door prizes, exhibits, Band Together Pittsburgh will be there. It'll
be a great day just to learn and celebrate and
help our students. With autism and John. If somebody wants more.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Fan together, pgh dot org and check it all out.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's awesome. Yeah, John, good to see you again. To
see you brother and Don. It was very nice you
for having me goodly for the conference. Thank you as always.
If you have any comments, concerns, or an idea for
a future program, please email us from this radio station's website.
I'm Johnny heart Well, thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Hitsburgh Divas are gathering to make sweet music in the
beautiful hills near Swickly to fight cancer.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm Bonnie Diver inviting you to join me for the
Songs for Live concert to benefit hair Piece Charities.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Five of the most soulful, jazzy rock and sol divas
will entertain in a beautiful outdoor setting your sweekly on Saturday,
May thirty. First bring your lawn chairs and picnic basket
or order one of our catered box dinners.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Get tickets at Hairpeace dot org. That's hair peac ee
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