"Over the past 8 years, I have worked almost every day to help my daughter with issues related to her having autism. I am truly grateful because she has improved greatly since being diagnosed at the age of 2. Along the way, a variety of autism therapies have been tried. Three of the most effective have been RDI (Relationship Development Intervention), Autism Movement Therapy and horse riding therapy. I am going to write another blog post soon about a meeting between the leaders of RDI and Autism Movement Therapy. For now, I want to focus on Autism Movement Therapy. Simply put, my daughter loves this program. I do too."

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-Laura James ( http://www.mlm-home-business.net/ )

"The aut-erobics DVD is taking off like a jet here, we are making it available to our families and they are fascinated. I thank you on behalf of all the Jamaicans. You are helping, in fact doing more than our own government. Love always and I am working on raising the funds for you to come to Jamaica to do the seminar workshop and town hall gathering that we have been talking about."
             
  - Maia Chung, Founder Autism & Disabilities Foundation,
Kingston, Jamaica

"Joanne can take the whole and break it down into parts so that parents and professionals can use her invaluable work in the 'real world' of disabilities. Joanne is a no-nonsense woman with intuition, expertise, and credentials that are above par... She knows her craft, and can share opportunities to grow cognition, language, sensory integration, self-esteem, and social cognition. Bravo to Joanne! I highly recommend her DVD aut-erobics, and moreover, recommend Joanne for her simple compassion."
 - Keri Bowers, Director "Normal People Scare Me"

"Joanne is an awesome, intuitive interventionist and teacher....Your dance brought tears to many a mother (& father's eyes). It was so beautifully done. Your connection with your kids is always so blessed to see."
-Keri Bowers, Normal Films

“I have been working with Joanne Lara for about three years. She has been instrumental in the further enrichment of my skills and knowledge, especially in developing our Autism Certificate at National University. She is a total treat. I enjoy her energies and our teacher candidates give her classes high marks. We have also done presentations and the audience learns a lot from her enthusiastic presentation. Thus the exploration of Autism only benefits from Joanne and her work”
-Kay Dee Caywood, Ph.D., Lead Faculty, Special Education, National University

"Joanne Lara, creator of Autism Movement Therapy, is doing an outstanding job in engaging our children and adolescents challenged with autism in the community to be involved in life!!! I love the professionalism and enthusiasm she brings to her dance and movement therapy and our children love it!"
-Pat Grayson-DeJong, M.Ed, Autism Education Consultants

"Your contribution was invaluable. Your assistance in the planning of the JPALA workshops and format was significant to the success of the program and we are so grateful to have had you on the SNN team. Volunteering is the most significant ways that we can all give back to our communities. We are indeed grateful to you for giving of your time, your talent and treasure. Special Needs Network can only do the critical work that it does for so many because of the generosity of professionals like you. Again, thank you so much for making this year's conference an overwhelming success and we look forward to working with you and Autism Movement Therapy again for Tools for Transformation Conference 2010!! "
-Areva D. Martin, Esq.
Pres Special Needs Network Inc

Dani has more bounce in her step than ever before! Upon completion of just one session of Autism Movement Therapy a friend commented that she had never heard Dani speak more clearly and so completely. …After 19 years of therapies and endless searching for a way to “tap in” to my daughters trapped thoughts so that she can organize and verbally express her learned and creative abilities, Joanne Lara has given us renewed hope. Joanne’s forty-five minute class is fun for young children, teens, and young adults. The constant movement requiring the sequencing of the right and the left hemisphere of the brain is accompanied by a variety of music selections and Joanne’s energetic spirit. Dani looks forward to every “dance class” and enjoys following Joanne’s video at home. Dani’s expressive vocabulary seems to be easier to access and a little more sophisticated each week. As Dani’s mother, I now have
a little more bounce in my step…thank you Joanne!

Kathy Levenson,  Agoura Ca.

“This program provides a wonderful opportunity for special-needs students to enjoy music and dance while interacting with their families.  I found that I wanted to join in the festive activities myself.  It was difficult to sit on the sidelines and just watch.”

 -Brad Lapin -  Jay Nolan Community Services - Community Living Coordinator

Hi, Joanne.  We have just now started level 3.  My son caught on to level one pretty quickly but level two took a little while to master.  We are seeing progress in his speech and language, ability to follow more directions and more complex directions and his resistance behavior.  Anyway, I want to thank you again for creating this Autism Movement Therapy and for understanding that individuals with autism are capable of doing many things.  In addition, I read your article on how environmental factors contribute to autism.  We have been giving our son weekly detoxifying clay baths and doing the Autism Movement Therapy on a regular basis. 

- Jennifer - Tennessee

I don't know where to begin when describing Joanne Lara.  She is such an amazing individual and has such a gift for working with children on the autistic spectrum.  She has helped our family enormously with her innovative ideas and great sense of humor.  My children love her and they think she is coming to our house to have fun because she has made learning fun for them.It is rare to find someone who really understands children with special needs and who can keep them motivated to learn. This quality has been found in Joanne Lara.

- Heather Green, parent child with autism

Joanne;  My daughter Rachel has worked through level one several times.  We have yet to reach the second level, as she is still mastering the first.  I am amazed however, at how quickly she is picking up the movements.  Even after years of adaptive P.E. and a special needs dance class, I can see that she still needs more movement practice.  The free dance section, where she has to "do her own thing" throws her for a loop.  It is great that she has to show imagination in movement to work through that section.  In so many ways we have worked hard to make Rachel less rigid, but I have never thought that body movement was an area in which she could improve.  I think it will enable her to move innately, without having to plan every action out ahead of time.   
This DVD has been too long in coming.  I have been looking for videos along these lines since she was about 6, and she is now 15!  I am excited to see how well she progresses as the weeks go by.  Thank you again for letting us give this a try. 

Sincerely,
Kitty J. Finn, parent of 14 year old child with autism 

I think that Joanne's tape clearly encourages movement on both sides of the body, alone and together, which is a brain exercise in mainstreaming the two hemispheres. This type of exercise, done at the child's own pace in their natural and undistracting environment, will allow them to optimize the benefits of movement therapy. The particular process of AMT is interesting and certainly deserves its place in the home learning environment for individuals  with ASD. 

-Sharon Hensel – Cohen  M.S., C.C.C.  (Licensed Speech/ Language Pathologist) 

This is a highly motivating DVD that will make any individual with autism and their parents want to get up and move. What a
fantastic way of applying the research to practice.  This is a DVD that has been too long in coming.  Parents and children alike will enjoy engaging in the activities together.  What a great way to
integrate the hemispheres of the brain.  Joanne Lara is an inspiration to individuals with autism, parents, and educators alike.  Way to go!

-Cathy Carpenter, M.A.  IECP (Inclusive Education & Community Partnership) Director, Community Services 

Joanne is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience to help children with special needs. Now with her video, she can make a positive impact on children everywhere!

-Jamie Friedland, Case Manager Regional Center 

I feel that movements contributing to organization of the brain are an important key to helping those with autism become more
flexible in their thinking. I certainly think that Autism Movement Therapy should definitely be an important part of any teacher education program that works with students that fall within the autism Spectrum.

-Dr Kay Dee Caywood, National University; Lead Faculty Special
Education