Minecraft: the 'ultimate educational tool'?

Thank you Sophie for this link:

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/03/could-minecraft-actually-be-the-ultimate-educational-tool/#share

Lab USB sticks/wristbands and entertainment books for sale

The Lab is currently selling USB keys and 'entertainment books' which offer a variety of big discounts on local products and services (more details of offers here: http://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/about/tell-me-more/melbourne).  The USB keys are $10 each (or our current special: 2 for $15) and the entertainment books are $65 for Melbourne and $55 for Geelong.

The USB keys come in two styles, a very handy 4GB wrist band (great for Secret Agents on a mission) and a nifty 8GB swivel key ring (see photos) – Forget chocolate this Easter, the kids would much prefer a USB key to store their music and favourite pics on!

 With the entertainment books, if you are interested we can post or e-mail you a purchase form.  Some Lab parents have bought an entertainment book before and have made money back immediately by booking greatly discounted Sydney accommodation.

Details of our Weerama Festival stall/BBQ

Hi everyone.

Here's a note from fundraising coordinator Karen about tomorrow's sausage sizzle:

Hi All,

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help out tomorrow, and thank you again to those families who donated items for sale.  Don’t worry if you missed out this time, I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities to join us!    

Please see the below map giving directions to Wyndham Park.  Just follow the signs for “Cars For Kids”.  There is no parking inside the park, but there should be some along Cottrell St and Greaves St, only a short walk away.  We are setting up just by the entry to the park, right next to the children’s playground, at the top of the hill.  Please drop by and say hello if you’re in the area.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Upcoming Sue Larkey talk about ASD

A parent has just alerted us to this forthcoming talk, in which some of us might be interested:

Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder: Making it a Success

http://www.suelarkey.com.au/media/Sue_Larkey_Workshop_MELBOURNE_t1_2013_Dean__Sue_Complete.pdf

It's in Melbourne (St Kilda) on Thursday May 23.

Some pics from our 2012 Xmas BBQ, ably coordinated by the Lab fundraising ninjas!

Nice article about the 826 Valencia project, which inspired us to set up The Lab

For those who have a goal in mind that involves change, she offers this advice: “You don’t have to go at it thinking, ‘How am I going to transform 16,000 school districts in the country?’ Instead, you can spend an hour working with one child. Even itty bitty steps can make a profound difference.”
http://www.good.is/posts/the-fact-that-changed-everything-ninive-calegari-and-826-valencia/#

Interesting article about the dropping of the Aspergers label

 

I'm a proud Aspie, but I accept the term 'Asperger's syndrome' has had its day

At first, I didn't like the idea of Asperger's being subsumed within 'autism spectrum disorder'. But it makes sense

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/04/aspergers-syndrome-autism-spectrum-disorder

Article in The Guardian

Here's an article on an organisation in the UK thinking along the same lines as The Lab:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/30/christmas-appeal-ambitious-about-autism

Fundraising, Radio National interview, two articles and specialist paid holiday sessions

It's been a while between posts...and lots has been going on at The Lab.

Here's a short summary.

Fundraising

Firstly, thank you to everyone who helped out with the Lab's Cup Day fundraising BBQ at two locations in Glenroy, our related chokky drive and the related organising of Lab USB sticks for sale. In particularly, we're so grateful for the tireless efforts of Karen and Anne-Maree in organising our fundraising efforts, for Carlo, Beverley and Werribee Rotary for the use of their BBQ trailer, and for everyone else for helping out. We made some good dosh and this is just the beginning of the fundraising activities planned by our parents.

More thank-yous and activities

A further lot of big thanks go to:

• Paul, Carlo and Bailey for speaking about The Lab to the Young and Well CRC's board meeting in October
• Dr Anne Harris from Monash University for organising for Dale and I to speak to her postgraduate education students in October
• the recent Games for Change conference for having us speak about The Lab
• the OzCHI conference for having Alberto and I presenting yesterday
• Alberto for doing so much of the research' heavy lifting' in regard to journal and conference papers
• Merinda Staubli for producing such a brilliant video about The Lab for her Swinburne film course
• Paul for his visionary work in research and helping us work out where want to go
• Our Sydney friends Bernice, Julia, Mark and James for their and Just Better Care's passion in starting and running the Sydney Lab, and the continuing dialogue that we're learning so much from
• all the parents and well-wishers in their support of the Lab

Latest media for The Lab

A couple of weeks ago I did a radio interview on The Lab with Marc Fennel from ABC Radio National. The interview is now available as a podcast and will be broadcast this Sunday and the following Thursday:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/downloadthisshow/dts46/4399680


A couple of relevant articles

Thorkil Sonne and Specialisterne (the company that trains and places young people with ASD in IT jobs) are moving to the US:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/magazine/the-autism-advantage.html

And, fyi, here's the famous article in Wired from a few years that asks: "Autism - and its milder cousin Asperger's syndrome - is surging among the children of Silicon Valley. Are math-and-tech genes to blame?"

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html

  
Paid game tech holiday program

Lastly, Dale and the mentors will be running a series of paid multiple-day holiday workshops in programming and design over the summer holidays. These activities are separate to The Lab (this stream of activity is called the Devlab). They will take place early to mid January at The Lab and will cover:

• Introduction to Gamemaker
• 3d Design
•  C# Programming & Unity3d Game Design

More details are here:

http://www.devlab.com.au/

These sessions are open to anyone and demand has been strong. Please tell anyone you know who might be interested!

Best,

Stefan and Dale

ABC News (US) report on Specialisterne - the Danish IT company specialising in workers with High Functioning Autism

http://www.aspergerssociety.org/articles/59v.htm