Anthony first came to the Heartspring School in November 2006.  He had been attending high school in his home state with little success.  Many factors contributed to Anthony’s enrollment at Heartspring including anxiety and low self-esteem.  He had difficulties with daily living skills and would avoid going out, not wanting to leave his home. Read more about Anthony.

"Calvin is the smartest person I know," said a boy in his class. "He’s even smarter then my grandpa." For a four-year-old to be smarter than anyone’s grandpa must mean they are
S-M-A-R-T, smart.  Calvin is known for his unique ability to make robots, airplanes and transformers out of play dough and blocks.  Calvin is four and has autism. Read more about Calvin.

The phone rang, it was four o’clock in the morning, and on the other end of the line was the mother of a child I had been working with for over 4 years.  Through her sobs, she told me that their beautiful little boy had just passed away.  Brian, who had autism, had suffered a seizure earlier in the evening in his sleep, and never woke up.  To say his parents were devastated just doesn’t quite do justice to the deep pain and loss they felt.  Although that was 15 years ago, I think about Brian often because it was on that day that I learned a valuable lesson about the true “ability” of each and every one of us. Read the full post written by Connie Coulter, director of the Heartspring CARE Program.

At Heartspring, we understand many of you are paying close attention to your wallets. In today's economy, many people may not be able to make a financial contribution to support our mission, but did you know that you can make a donation by shopping online, searching the web or using your credit card? With a few simple changes to your daily routine, you can help earn money to fund services provided by Heartspring. Read more about how you can help.
 
If you live in the Wichita area, you can also volunteer your time!  Volunteer hours were valued at over $18/ hour last year.  There are a variety of volunteer opportunities available at Heartspring.

The 2nd Annual Autism CARE Walk at Heartspring will be held Saturday, April 4, 2009. This year’s walk brings more activities for families, fantastic raffle prizes and information on autism resources in the Wichita area. Most importantly, the Autism CARE Walk raises awareness about autism spectrum disorders in our community and across the nation. This year’s 1.5-mile walk starts and finishes on the Heartspring campus.

Registration for the 2009 Autism CARE Walk is free! Register online and create your very own personalized fundraising page. Everyone who registers as a walker and raises $25 in donations will receive an Autism CARE Walk t-shirt and a walker bag.

The Heartspring Conference Series has been busy over the past year bringing experts from various fields within special education to speak at Heartspring.  We are currently planning upcoming conferences and are pleased to announce that we have made a few changes to the web-streaming platform for the coming year. While the conferences will still be broadcast live, as well as made available following the conference for purchase through video-on-demand, our new services will allow some added benefits. Learn more about changes to the Heartspring Conference Series.

Heartspring was once again honored to be the recipient of books donated at Barnes and Noble Eastgate’s Holiday Book Drive. This is the second year that the store has chosen Heartspring to receive the donated books. The store collected and donated 500 books for Heartspring, an amazing total that will benefit the children we serve throughout the year. The books are being put to good use in classrooms, group homes and therapy programs throughout the organization. Books are always high on the list of things that our therapists and teachers need and we are very grateful to everyone in our community who purchased books to be donated throughout this year’s Holiday Book Drive.

After working in a public school classroom helping children with mental retardation for six years, Dana Trombley was looking for a career where she could continue to help children with special needs that accommodated her job as a mom of teenage children. In June 2001, she found just the position at Heartspring as a paraeducator, working weekends in one of the six group homes on campus.

“I applied at Heartspring because I enjoy working with children with special needs,” said Dana. Read more about Dana.