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.
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.
In honor of Father's Day 2013, we wanted to honor a very special autism father who is the co-author of the book Carly's Voice, which tells the inspirational story of his nonverbal daughter. Arthur Fleischmann is partner and president of john st advertising and lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife Tammy Starr and their children Matthew, Taryn, and Carly. His daughter, Carly Fleischmann, was the first Autism Light and the inspiration for the start of the Autism Light blog. Arthur Fleischmann is an Autism Light because of his dedication as an autism father, and his autism advocacy through speaking and writing about Carly's breakthrough in communication.
The following is a video where Arthur Fleischmann explains about Telling Carly's Story.
Carly's Voice: Arthur Fleishchmann co-authored the book Carly's Voice. Carly wrote the last chapter of the book and Arthur wrote the rest of the manuscript. It was published in April, 2012. Carly's Voice has been translated into 6 languages and may be ordered from Simon & Schuster and you can read excerpts at Carly's website at http://www.carlysvoice.com/.
Arthur Fleischmann said about his journey in the early years as an autism father: "If we had done what so many people told us to do years ago, we wouldn't have the child we have today. We would have written her off. We would have assumed the worst. We would have never seen how she could write these things —how articulate she is, how intelligent she is (Source)."
John st. advertising: Arthur Fleischmann is president and partner with the john st. advertising firm, a top advertising agency in Toronto, Canada. His staff page at john st. says:
His career included stints in sales (Xerox) and marketing (Kraft/General Foods), before deciding on a life in advertising. In starting john st. in 2001, his goal was to create a “creative collaborative” without the silos or bureaucracy or territorialism he’d seen in his previous lives. He believes creativity is a powerful business tool and has led his team to win more advertising effectiveness awards than any other agency in the last decade (Source).
Lavin Agency Speaker's Bureau: Arthur Fleischmann is a speaker through the Lavin Agency Speaker's Bureau. You can read his speaker's page at the Lavin Agency.
Autism Live: The following is a video where Arthur Fleischmann was featured on the "Let's Talk Autism" segment of Autism Live on June 20, 2012.
Social Media: You can follow Arthur Fleischmann on the following social media areas.
Special thanks to Arthur Fleischmann for being an autism light. His dedication to his daughter Carly and to telling her story is promoting autism awareness around the world. Happy Father's Day to all the autism fathers working hard to make the best possible life for their children. If you wish to read about other autism fathers featured over the years at Autism Light search with the label Fathers.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
The photo in this post is used with permission of Arthur Fleischmann.
Dr. Rebecca Mullican is a professor in Special Education, and a professional presenter and researcher on the subject of autism. Dr. Mullican resides in the greater Jackson, Mississippi area with her husband Bryce. In 2012 she founded the Jackson Autism Center in Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Rebecca Mullican is an Autism Light because of the impact her diverse autism work is having to improve the lives of those with autism and to inspire and teach those who will one day work with those with autism.
Education: Dr. Rebecca Mullican earned her PhD. in Special Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She wrote her dissertation on the subject of "Family Experiences and Children with Autism who use Speech Generating Devices."
Philosophy: Dr. Rebecca Mullican's approach to the education of those with autism is that "there is no one treatment or therapy method that works for all individuals on the autism spectrum. As a professional in the field of autism, it is important to be exposed to many therapies and treatments so that you can make an informed decision regarding each child or individual you work with. What works for one may not work for another (Source: Email from Rebecca Mulllican to Autism Light on 5/30/2013)."
Professor: Since the Fall of 2012, Rebecca Mullican has served as a Visiting Professor in Special Education at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Jackson Autism Center: Dr. Rebecca Mullican founded the Jackson Autism Center in 2012. It was a transition that brought her full circle from teaching to operating an intervention center. The Jackson Autism Center says, "Dr. Rebecca Mullican has a passion for providing intervention services to children with disabilities. Rebecca left the classroom and founded Jackson Autism Center to make a greater impact for kids with disabilities, families, and the community. She believes that each child needs a program built around how he or she learns; there is not a one-size-fits-all (Source)."
The following news story features Dr. Rebecca Mullican sharing about her work at the Jackson Autism Center on Autism Awareness Month.
Diverse Methods: Dr. Rebecca Mullican has been trained in diverse approaches to autism treatment. "Her trainings range from ABA and verbal behavior to SCERTS, social stories, augmentative and alternative communication, and LAMP. She also has years of experience with behavior challenges and positive behavior support (Source)."
Conference Speaker: Dr. Rebecca Mullican has been a presenter at several autism or disability related national conferences. The conferences she has spoken at includes the ATIA (Assistive Technology Industry Association), TASH, and Autism Society of America. Publications: An article by Dr. Rebecca Mullican called "Building Communication Skills Through Speech Generating Devices" appeared on pages 6-7 of the June/July, 2013 issue of The Autism Notebook - South Florida.
Hobbies: Dr. Rebecca Mullican enjoys movies, traveling, photography, scrapbooking, and spending time with family when she has time. She also has a dog named Samson and a cat named Toby (Source).
Social Media: You can follow the work of Dr. Rebecca Mullican at the Jackson Autism Center on the following social media areas.
Special thanks to Dr. Rebecca Mullican for making a difference for autism in both her national influence as well as her day to day work at the Jackson Autism Center in Mississippi. The autism community in Mississippi is fortunate that Dr. Rebecca Mullican is shining her light for autism. You may find out more about Dr. Rebecca Mullican by reading her online resume. This post will be linked today on the Mississippi Lights post at Autism Light. You can find out more in that post on all the Autism Lights from the state of Mississippi.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
The photo in this post was used with permission of Dr. Rebecca Mullican.
The following Autism Lights have their own Wikipedia pages that you can visit and interact with. Simply click through the link to get to their page on Wikipedia. It would great to have a Wikipedia like website for all people connected to the autism story. Click on this link for a post on that dream.
