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National advocate to share personal experiences raising autistic daughter
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| Emmy Zuckerman with her daughter Holly Klausner. Zuckerman will speak at Congregation Anshe Emeth on Joslen Boulevard in Greenport Friday about the challenges of and best tactics for raising a child with autism, a topic she has lived and researched. Contributed phot |
By Francesca Olsen
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
GREENPORT — Emmy Zuckerman, a national autism advocate, will speak about the challenges of raising an autistic child and answer questions from residents Friday at Congregation Anshe Emeth.
Zuckerman and her husband have recently become members of the congregation at the synagogue. They have a home in Valatie they ultimately plan to use as a permanent home after retirement.
“We were looking for a place where my daughter Holly could live as an adult and worked on a way where we could all be in the area,” said Zuckerman. “We really enjoy (the synagogue). We have a home in Princeton, New Jersey where my children were raised, and we currently split our time.”
Zuckerman’s daughter, Holly, is autistic; she was diagnosed at 22 months. Holly, now in her 20s, currently resides at Triform Camphill Community in Hudson. She has lived there since the fall of 2007. Triform is a farm-based community of disabled and non-disabled residents, and they share the work to keep the farm going.
“The residents live together as a family. They get up together and have breakfast, they go off to their jobs in the morning,” Zuckerman said. “It’s a lovely community. They make or grow most of what they eat.”
Since Holly has lived at Triform, Zuckerman said “her skin is clearer. Her gums are healthier. She used to be a normal, typical urban teenager. She drank a lot of soda, she watched a lot of TV.”
Now, Holly is learning how to cook, weave, garden and more in the Triform community. “Holly’s been cooking tortillas, beans, vegetables. She’s learned to eat a broader variety of foods. She’s much more flexible, but at the same time it’s a very structured environment. It’s a wonderful combination of giving her this flexibility.”
“Her language is more flexible. She is obviously very attached and very comfortable where she is,” Zuckerman said.
Since Holly was diagnosed with autism, Zuckerman has striven to give her the best education possible. She started at the Princeton Child Development Institute, and then at 16, transferred to the Eden Institute, also in Princeton, which is known to be a good area for high-quality programs for children with autism.
“We started early intervention immediately after her diagnosis. Like, the next week,” said Zuckerman. The first step, before any formal schooling, was a 40-hour schedule of therapy.
Constant education has resulted in a much better handle for Holly on living independently, which has been key in her acceptance to Triform as well as her success there.
Zuckerman attended Yale and then Harvard Law School. She was first a tax and benefits lawyer, then worked for the Colgate-Palmolive company, which she recently retired from. She is a member of the New York bar and has recently begun a focus on disability law.
“I never stopped working,” she said. “I never took time off. It was helpful to me to really have the full time job because it helped keep my mind off things most of the day. I was very blessed. I had a series of live-in nannies who loved Holly and I was able to train each one.”
Through raising an autistic child, Zuckerman naturally became an activist for autism, and because of the high profile schools Holly attended, she has been able to form relationships with other national autism activists over time, including the founders of Autism Speaks, which was started by two friends who had children at school with Holly and has grown into a national organization.
Zuckerman said she has known many parents for 20 years “that are like my sisters and brothers, truly.”
Zuckerman and her husband, who is Holly’s stepfather, have taught a course at Rider University in New Jersey for years, which they base on a PowerPoint presentation of photographs of Holly from birth to present.
“We talk about the diagnosis, how to handle it, how to look for an educational program, what to do as a child gets older...we’ve done this all from the eyes of being her parents.”
At the presentation at Anshe Emeth, Zuckerman will pare down the presentation and include handouts of approximately 30-40 photos. She will speak for about 15 minutes and then open up the presentation for questions.
Zuckerman also helps families whose children have been recently diagnosed with autism to find quality programs that fit their lifestyles. “It’s always important for me to help other people along the way,” she said.
“What’s important for me to say is how rich my life is because of being Holly’s mother. I think she’s an amazing young woman. I feel very blessed that she’s a very good-natured young lady. She’s very kind.
“Through being her mother I’ve met some wonderful people and gotten involved in some wonderful causes. It’s been part of our lives forever. The autism community will always be a part of who we are.”
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
Zuckerman and her husband have recently become members of the congregation at the synagogue. They have a home in Valatie they ultimately plan to use as a permanent home after retirement.
“We were looking for a place where my daughter Holly could live as an adult and worked on a way where we could all be in the area,” said Zuckerman. “We really enjoy (the synagogue). We have a home in Princeton, New Jersey where my children were raised, and we currently split our time.”
Zuckerman’s daughter, Holly, is autistic; she was diagnosed at 22 months. Holly, now in her 20s, currently resides at Triform Camphill Community in Hudson. She has lived there since the fall of 2007. Triform is a farm-based community of disabled and non-disabled residents, and they share the work to keep the farm going.
“The residents live together as a family. They get up together and have breakfast, they go off to their jobs in the morning,” Zuckerman said. “It’s a lovely community. They make or grow most of what they eat.”
Since Holly has lived at Triform, Zuckerman said “her skin is clearer. Her gums are healthier. She used to be a normal, typical urban teenager. She drank a lot of soda, she watched a lot of TV.”
Now, Holly is learning how to cook, weave, garden and more in the Triform community. “Holly’s been cooking tortillas, beans, vegetables. She’s learned to eat a broader variety of foods. She’s much more flexible, but at the same time it’s a very structured environment. It’s a wonderful combination of giving her this flexibility.”
“Her language is more flexible. She is obviously very attached and very comfortable where she is,” Zuckerman said.
Since Holly was diagnosed with autism, Zuckerman has striven to give her the best education possible. She started at the Princeton Child Development Institute, and then at 16, transferred to the Eden Institute, also in Princeton, which is known to be a good area for high-quality programs for children with autism.
“We started early intervention immediately after her diagnosis. Like, the next week,” said Zuckerman. The first step, before any formal schooling, was a 40-hour schedule of therapy.
Constant education has resulted in a much better handle for Holly on living independently, which has been key in her acceptance to Triform as well as her success there.
Zuckerman attended Yale and then Harvard Law School. She was first a tax and benefits lawyer, then worked for the Colgate-Palmolive company, which she recently retired from. She is a member of the New York bar and has recently begun a focus on disability law.
“I never stopped working,” she said. “I never took time off. It was helpful to me to really have the full time job because it helped keep my mind off things most of the day. I was very blessed. I had a series of live-in nannies who loved Holly and I was able to train each one.”
Through raising an autistic child, Zuckerman naturally became an activist for autism, and because of the high profile schools Holly attended, she has been able to form relationships with other national autism activists over time, including the founders of Autism Speaks, which was started by two friends who had children at school with Holly and has grown into a national organization.
Zuckerman said she has known many parents for 20 years “that are like my sisters and brothers, truly.”
Zuckerman and her husband, who is Holly’s stepfather, have taught a course at Rider University in New Jersey for years, which they base on a PowerPoint presentation of photographs of Holly from birth to present.
“We talk about the diagnosis, how to handle it, how to look for an educational program, what to do as a child gets older...we’ve done this all from the eyes of being her parents.”
At the presentation at Anshe Emeth, Zuckerman will pare down the presentation and include handouts of approximately 30-40 photos. She will speak for about 15 minutes and then open up the presentation for questions.
Zuckerman also helps families whose children have been recently diagnosed with autism to find quality programs that fit their lifestyles. “It’s always important for me to help other people along the way,” she said.
“What’s important for me to say is how rich my life is because of being Holly’s mother. I think she’s an amazing young woman. I feel very blessed that she’s a very good-natured young lady. She’s very kind.
“Through being her mother I’ve met some wonderful people and gotten involved in some wonderful causes. It’s been part of our lives forever. The autism community will always be a part of who we are.”
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
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