Southwest Washington Autism Conference

Yesterday I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the 13th Annual Southwest Washington Autism Conference in Centralia, WA (about 90 miles north of Vancouver) presented by the Lewis County Autism Coalition.

It was a one-day conference packed with informative panels, terrific vendors, and an amazing keynote speaker (more on that below). I was there as both a board member of Autism Empowerment as well as the author of the Joel Suzuki series, of which we donated a full seven-book set as a raffle prize.

Even after so many years of being involved in the autism community, I still find it awesome that almost wherever you go, you can find groups like the Lewis County Autism Coalition who are working to help make the world a more inclusive and accepting place for people of all abilities.

Oh, and the keynote speaker? None other than Autism Empowerment's own Karen Krejcha.

Karen did a fantastic job with a speech that was emotional, heartfelt, passionate, inspiring, educational, and, yes, empowering.

Big thanks to Karen and her husband John for allowing me to opportunity to attend the conference, and to Nicole Miller and the Lewis County Autism Coalition for putting on an awesome event.

Next, this coming Saturday I will be once again participating in the annual Words & Pictures Festival at the Cascade Park Community Library! This year, I'll be presenting a mini-workshop for young people called "Song and Story Structure," with tips on how to craft catchy tunes and captivating novels using examples from popular culture (anime theme songs, anyone?) as well as my own stuff. My workshop runs from 2:00-2:45pm, but the festival itself is from 10am-4:30pm, with lots of other great panels and presentations by local authors. There's also a virtual track for those who want to participate remotely. Hope to see you there!