On The Gulf

Temple Grandin Speaking In Fort Myers

Family Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children and young adults on the spectrum and their families, is continuing its Redefining Autism speaker series with a presentation by renowned autism activist Dr. Temple Grandin on Saturday, January 7 at Christ Community Church in Fort Myers. Registration is not required.

As part of the Redefining Autism series, Grandin will discuss how the world needs to take a closer look at our autism community. Grandin says, “At the heart of that message is this: Rigid academic and social expectations could wind up stifling a mind that, while it might struggle to conjugate a verb, could one day take us to distant stars. The skills that people with autism bring to the table should be nurtured for their benefit and society’s.”

Grandin is an author of several books and published works, has a biographical movie created about her life and is an international speaker working to change the world’s perception on what it means to live on the autism spectrum.

Grandin, 75, grew up with autism in the 1950s, and became a professor of animal science at Colorado State University as well as a world-renowned autism advocate.

Family Initiative’s team of clinicians serves children from a compassionate, personalized approach through Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Occupational Therapy (OT) services, and offers Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) play groups, teen meetings, parent education, community conversations and more. In addition, the organization provides child welfare caregiver training and support through its Family Impact Program.

The presentation begins at 1pm at Christ Community Church, located at 4050 Colonial Blvd. in Fort Myers. For information, call 910-0712.

BIG ARTS at Berne Davis Gardens

BIG ARTS, with over four decades of arts, education and enrichment programs on Sanibel Island, is using this time post Hurricane Ian to reach out to a broader audience in Lee County. Long part of its strategic planning ambitions, BIG ARTS has wanted to do programs across the causeway and has named the initiative, ‘BIG ARTS on the Road’.

While BIG ARTS did not sustain the damage to property that others in the area have suffered, due in great part to the integrity of the new building constructed in 2019, they are glad to be able to offer the space as a location for all Sanibel City meetings, and their parking lots were used as a staging area for the hundreds of workers restoring power and electricity and clearing debris.

BIG ARTS initial foray into this outreach program will be a series of plein air workshops under the direction of Aimee Harrison, BIG ARTS Workshop Manager, to be held at the Berne Davis Botanical Gardens. These workshops feature some of southwest Florida’s most popular instructors, including visiting artists Douglas Davis, Jane Slivka and others.

BIG ARTS will also host a free, open house on January 15, 4-6pm, on the BIG ARTS campus where a variety of artists will be conducting demonstrations in the education classrooms. There will be free food and beverages and live music.

While BIG ARTS’ Dunham Family Gallery is temporarily closed and slated for opening in late January, the Mezzanine Gallery, with access via elevator, is open to the public. Additionally, the BIG ARTS Gift Shop, featuring southwest Florida artists’ ceramics, paintings, jewelry, wearable art and more, is open Monday -Friday, 9am-3pm.

Berne Davis Botanical Gardens is located at 2166 Virginia Ave. in Fort Myers. The Gardens offers free guided tours Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am-1pm.

For information about BIG ARTS workshops, events and gallery reopening, call 395-0900. For information about the Berne Davis Botanical Gardens, call 332-4942.