Alex Cohen

Autism Light #406 is Alex Cohen.

Alex Cohen is an autism sister and is from Bayside, Wisconsin. Her older brother Aaron Cohen has autism. Alex Cohen played college basketball for four years at Northwestern University. Alex Cohen is an Autism Light for the work she did in the leadership of the Autism Speaks U chapter at Northwestern University from 2012-2015.

The following is a video done on Alex Cohen as one of the Faces of the Big Ten.

Northwestern University Basketball: While playing college basketball at Northwestern University, Alex Cohen played for Coach Joe McKeown, who was Autism Light #382. Alex scored 646 points in her career at Northwestern University and made almost 40% of her three point shots. Her statistics for her career are on her page on the NUSports webpage. She also earned All Big Ten Academic Honors in the Winter 2015.

Alex Cohen of @nuwbball earned 2015 Winter Academic-All B1G honors as well as 2015 WBCA Good Works Team Selection. pic.twitter.com/GMGg1mU4dx

— B1G Women's Hoops (@B1Gwbball) April 3, 2015

Autism Speaks U: Alex Cohen served as the President of Autism Speaks U at Northwestern University from 2012-2014. In her senior year (2014-2015) she transitioned to the Vice-President and created and led an initiative for autism awareness and fundraising called NU Goes Blue.

"Most of the events we've coordinated through Autism Speaks U have been geared specifically toward Northwestern students," said Cohen. "I really wanted to create something that the surrounding community could be involved in as well. When I thought of the idea for NU Goes Blue, one of my main goals was raise autism awareness beyond Northwestern's campus and into the Evanston and Chicagoland communities. We're bringing everyone together for a fun evening that supports a great cause (NU Sports.com, September 29, 2014)."

Alex Cohen's work for Autism Speaks U earned her a spot on the 2015 All State Good Works Team. Here is a video of her selection.

Future Plans: Alex Cohen graduated in 2015 with a degree from Northwestern University in Human Development and Psychological Services. Alex Cohen hopes to continue her basketball career in a professional international league. She plans to use her education to work with individuals with autism after she finishes her professional basketball career.

Special thanks to Alex Cohen for being an Autism Light. We wish her all the best in her professional basketball career and in her future work as an autism advocate. Alex is representative of the growing number of autism siblings who are poised to make a difference in the world for their relatives and for all those impacted by autism.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Wisconsin Lights

The State of Wisconsin is the home of 4 Autism Lights. The Wisconsin group includes an autism sister, a chiropractor and 2 animals.

 Wisconsin Autism Lights

1. Dr. Kellen Binder is a chiropractor from Green Bay, Wisconsin. 
2. Alex Cohen is an autism sister from Bayside, Wisconsin. 
3. Fonzie Mills is a autism therapy dog from Racine, Wisconsin. 
4. Autumn Moser is a Golden Retriever Dog from Ellsworth, Wisconsin. 

You may reach all these posts by searching the blog through the "Wisconsin" Label.

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The map of Wisconsin is attributed to By TUBS [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Kellen Binder

Autism Light #316 is Dr. Kellen Binder.

Dr. Kellen Binder is a Chiropractor with The Wellness Way and a Line Therapist at the Centerpiece Center for Autism in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Dr. Kellen Binder is an Autism Light for his utilization of chiropractic care to help people with autism.

Education: Dr. Kellen Bider graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.

The following is a video where Dr. Kellen Binder explains how he decided to become a Chirorpactor.


Here is a video of Dr. Kellen Binder explaining how Chiropractic care can help some people with autism. Part of his treatment includes sensory friendly chiropractic adjustment rooms.


In the above video Dr. Kellen Binder says:

For children with autism there is always that added stress on their nervous system to speak, interact, or even use parts of their body every single ay. Usually children that have ASD are either hypersensitive or hyposensistive to their environment, which means they are taking in way too much sensory information or hardly any at all. Seeing a chiropractor and getting adjusted helps children feel that balance between hypersensitive and hyposensistive. With balance comes less frustration because that child has more control on themselves and what they are sensitive to.

2013 Autism and Chiropractic Event: On April 25, 2013, Dr. Kellen Binder hosted an event with Dr. Amanda Pigeon for Autism Awareness Month on Autism and Chiropractic.

Social Media: You can follow Dr. Kellen Binder's work at the following social media areas:

• LinkedIn Account of Dr. Kellen Binder
• Twittter Account of Dr. Kellen Binder-@Dr_KellenBinder (Note: Dr. Binder has set up an account on Twitter but does not appear to use it at the time this article was written.)

Dr. Frank M. Painter has compiled research on autism and chiropractic care that is available online at this link. This research may be helpful to further understand the reasons that some chiropractors are making a difference with some patients with autism.
You can learn more about Dr. Kellen Binder at his staff page at The Wellness Way. Special thanks to Dr. Kellen Binder for using his skills in Chiropractic care to help children and people with autism in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area. To read about other Chiropractors featured on Autism Light use the Chiropractor label.    Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Autumn Moser

Autism Light #282 is Autumn Moser.

Autumn Moser is a 9 year old Golden Retriever from Ellsworth, Wisconsin. She is owned by Jason and Melissa Moser. In July, 2012, when Autumn was 8 years old, she was instrumental in finding a missing boy named Scotty (Scott) who has autism. Autumn Moser is an Autism Light because she was able to find a missing boy with autism even though she had no special search and rescue training. Autumn is the third Golden Retriever to be featured at Autism Light. Others included Jim and Nuala Gardner of Scotland who had a Golden Retriever named Henry and Sophie Perlzwig, a Golden Retriever in New York.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 3, 2012, a little boy named Scott Meyer went missing from his Pierce County, Minnesota home. Scott Meyer was 5 years old at that time and is nonverbal because of his autism. The community searched for 20 hours to find the boy and were concerned because of the hot weather at the time. Jason Moser had his Golden Retriever Autumn come with him as he searched for Scott. At about 8am on July 4, 2012, Autumn led his owner Jason to an area hidden under a tree near a small slope where they found Scott Meyer about a half a mile from his home but near a dangerous body of water (Source).

The following is a news story on the rescue of Scott Meyer by Autumn and her owner Jason Moser.

The Two Little Cavaliers blog praised Autumn's efforts in this way.

After 20 hours of the community searching for the lost little boy it was an 8 year old Golden Retriever with no special search and rescue or other service dog training that eventually helped to find the little boy. A dog that was almost left home because of the heat and no special training. Jason Moser who is Autumn the Golden Retriever’s owner said he decided to bring her in the end because she loves kids and loves giving them kisses (Source).  

Read more information on Autumn finding Scott Meyer at the following blogs and news websites.

• Two Little Cavaliers Blog
• The Daily Golden Blog
• The Star Tribune
• The Huffington Post

Special thanks to Autumn and all the talented and loving dogs who are making a difference around the world for autism. If you liked this post you may like to read about other Autism Lights with the label "Animal".

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Fonzie Mills

Autism Light #91 is Fonzie Mills. 

Fonzie is a dog from Racine, Wisconsin. He was trained by Vicki Pingel of Compassionate Paws to be a service dog for a boy named Ryan who has autism. Fonzie is an Autism Light because he is acting as a calming effect on seven year old Ryan Mills, who has autism.

Fonzie was injured in an attack in 2010 while undergoing training. Two of the other service dogs in training with Fonzie were killed in the attack and he was the only one to survive. Ryan's mother, Michelle Mills, says that if Fonzie was tough enough to be the only dog to survive the attacks then he is strong enough for her son. For more information on Compassionate Paws visit their website at www.compassionatepaws.org.
 

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Special Note: If you enjoyed this post you may like the other Autism Light posts with the label Animal.