The air was crisp and clear as Las Trampas friends and family, both old and new, gathered at the campus the morning of September 23 for the 8th Annual Walk n’ Roll. Shouted greetings and show tunes echoed through the trees as walkers and rollers finished their lap on the trail and enjoyed face painting, temporary tattoos, Noah’s Bagels, muffins, fruit, and Three Twins ice cream! Thanks to everyone who joined us as a participant, a sponsor, or a donor. With your help we raised $15,000 for Las Trampas programs and had a great time doing it!

Our new Board President Charles Henry is not your everyday, ordinary guy. A graduate of the University of Southern California and University of California Hastings Law School, Chuck served for 32 years in the Public Defender’s Office of San Joaquin County as a Senior Trial Attorney and Chief Deputy Attorney.

But don’t be fooled by his impressive resume and professional exterior. Chuck has quite the adventurous past, having served as military intelligence in Korea. I served for 13 months during 1970 into 1971, briefing the General Staff. Some were very famous and served in important, historical operations, including the D-Day invasion in France on June 6, 1944. During a portion of his tour, he also briefed the US Ambassador to Korea and the Deputy Ambassador. It was certainly an exciting and learning experience.

He has also served on the boards of many legal organizations, including Inns of Court Executive Committee, San Joaquin County Board of Governors, and chair of the San Joaquin County Judicial Liaison Committee.

I joined the Board of Directors (at Las Trampas) in late 2012, said Chuck. During his reign on our board, he has been a major contributor to our Infrastructure Committee, overseeing planning for our upcoming campus renovation.

I learned about Las Trampas by attending two or three “What’s in Our Hat” events at the Lafayette Park Hotel and Spa. We were guests of Eric Rudney, said Henry.

What gratifies me the most about our work is that we are providing an avenue and opportunity for our clients to lead fuller lives in their homes, at work and in the community, he said. Also gratifying is witnessing so much united and conscientious effort by staff, volunteers, Las Trampas leadership and our Board in undertaking the remodel of our Main Campus.

I am committed (as well as the rest of the Board) to completing our new Campus and expanding our programs.

Meet Johnathan!
Johnathan is a total care client who has used a wheelchair for his entire life. He is nonverbal, has poor vision, and needs assistance to change clothes and a tube to be fed. It has always been assumed that he is unable to comprehend or communicate. That is, until Speech Language Therapist Pam Chapman devised a plan to determine if he can express more than we realize.

She gave him the simple instruction to arch his head back to the left if he wants to say no and to the right if he wants to say yes. Can you do that she asked him. He arched right. Was that real Johnathan did you just understand that and again, he nodded to the right, all the while sporting a huge grin because, for the first time in his life, he was heard.

Johnathan’s parents have always had the inclination to explore possible vehicles of communication for their son, who has always exhibited signs of emotional and intellectual capacity beyond his ability to convey. However, they did not have the tools and resources to begin. This is why Las Trampas offers communication classes as part of its Adult Day Program: to bring families closer together by bridging the gap of communication that exists between them and their non-verbal loved ones.

Chapman and the rest of the Las Trampas staff continue to work with Johnathan, and have been enjoying the vibrant personality and sense of humor that is finally beginning to surface. Johnathan loves to make jokes and he laughs often and always. He loves Mango Tango smoothies from Jamba Juice and absolutely adores his mother, who he lives with.

We are thrilled at the progress that Johnathan has already made in our communication program and we are so grateful for the chance to continue helping him discover his capabilities in order to lead a full life at home and in his community.

I am a young guy who lives in the East Bay. During most of my adult life I have faced the challenges of noise sensitivity and social anxiety. According to a doctor in San Ramon, the root of some of my problems is largely a vertebral disc in my neck that pinches a nerve to the degree that my body is in the fight or flight mode at times. I am taking medication and emphasizing relaxation techniques to overcome this issue, which I believe is improving quickly.

Noise sensitivity has always been a struggle for me.

I experience sudden responses to unexpected sounds and lose in focus on activities or objectives. I could be walking on a sidewalk toward a grocery store, or just making my way over to my car in a parking lot when I hear an engine revving, leading me to stop, look at the source of the noise, and shift my body in the direction most comfortable for the situation. Generally, a noisy social situation is likely to move me away from the area because I do not want to interfere in a conversation and have the police called on me (it’s happened), or be remembered as an odd member of the community.

Despite the fact that such responses seem ordinary to me, I’ve noticed that no one else reacts similarly to excessive noise. I am continuing to work on being calm while walking in public.

Social anxiety has been my main obstacle since young adulthood. I have a history of obsessive-compulsive-repetitive-movement habits. On occasion, while walking toward a destination I step on uneven walking ground and back up to start over. When strolling through a busy area, I perceive myself to be overwhelmed by all the activity around me and become unsure how to make a turn towards something I want without being influenced by someone nearby. As a result, after turning, I turn back to try again, which makes me look indecisive and peculiar.

During my late teens to early twenties I maintained a medication routine that led to complications. I had the dosages lowered, and I eventually stopped taking both. My sensitivities went back up.

I figured I would rather live with them than depend on any other pharmaceutical.

I am in the process of learning how to manage my learning disability, or Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis, and my body’s high sensitivity to a variety of stimuli. Importantly, I have learned the social significance and common sense of public activities closest to home. My experiences define a young adult aiming to improve a psychological disability, manage a physical condition, and relate with others in the communities where he works and lives.

Thank you for spending your time reading about a young adult striving to fix his sensitivities for the sake of himself and others. My hope is that people everywhere will begin to understand that this alert bodily state exists, and that a community member with nervous system sensitivities can function in the community. My hope is that as awareness spreads so will tolerance, understanding and acceptance.