By Tara Denton – Synapse | Tara Denton at LinkedIn
Day 1 at the MARTS conference in Chicago was jam packed. Technically, today was still pre-conference…but we’ll count it since both Scott Franklin and I are taking part in pre-conference and conference proceedings.
Today was a day of workshops and supporting a great cause. First, I’ll start with the workshop. Scott Franklin delivered a pre-conference workshop on Change Management. I was told by the coordinators that it was the highest attended session. The response from attendees was very positive (will share tomorrow if I can get my hands on testimonials). I asked Scott what his thoughts were about his workshop — Scott’s workshops are interactive and invite people to share their experiences. His comments: “There’s still a huge amount of untapped energy on change and improvement. A large number of people feel that their senior leadership is struggling with how to release that energy.”
Later, we attended a dinner with flamenco accompaniment for an important cause. The MARTS dinner sponsored a fundraiser for the Autism Society of Illinois, a cause devoted to providing help, support and information to families with autistic children. Bob Miller from IVC Technologies gave a brave, heartfelt and straightforward speech about the challenges and triumphs of raising an autistic child. The scary truth is that 1 in about 100 children are now diagnosed on the autistic spectrum (statistics provided at the dinner). Almost everyone in the room knew someone autistic.
With a strong statistic like 1 in 100, it was inspiring to hear Mr. Miller’s guidance and advice. A few things he offered rang true with me, not only for challenges with the autistic, but also for life in general. Thanks to Bob Miller, here are a few thoughts to leave you with:
- “There is no such thing as normal.”
- “Keep things simple. Keep trying things until they work. If they don’t work, move on. If it does work, go with it!”
- “Autism is not a black and white issue.”
- “The most important thing is to find ways to break the shell. Find different ways to communicate, whether it be art, music, computers, sign language..”
- “You need to be prepared to push. When you stop pushing, development stops.”
Thank you to the MARTS team for bringing this important cause into the forefront. For those that would like more information on autism and support available, please visit www.familieswithasd.org.