UCLA CAN REACH leadership with local preschool teachers at the 2018 CAN REACH Summer Teacher Workshop for preschool special educators. Photo: Wha “James” Yang
When Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who joined other legendary rock artists to take the stage at a private event in 2016, they were literally playing it forward. Proceeds from the WHO Cares about the Next Generation fundraiser, hosted by Jordan Kaplan and Rebecca Rothstein, have been used to support the UCLA CAN REACH Training Program. This innovative program, directed by Dr. Amanda Gulsrud (PhD ’07), and co-founded by Drs. Stephanny Freeman (PhD ’97, FEL ’00) and Tanya Paparella (PhD ’00, FEL ’01), provides community professionals and parents with leading-edge best-practice information and training regarding treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Thanks to the generosity of Kaplan and Rothstein, all seminars are free for attendees.
“I know the commitment UCLA has to helping people with autism, and Jordan and I want to be sure everyone has access to these advanced treatments and information,” Rothstein said.
More than 150 educators, 100 parents and 375 allied professionals have attended CAN REACH clinical training workshops, teacher trainings and educational lectures for parents since the program’s inception in 2017. Summer workshops have been attended by more than 80 preschool educators across 10 districts in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Participants said that they loved the passion of the professionals involved in CAN REACH and gained an enormous amount of valuable information.
The WHO Cares about the Next Generation fundraiser also funded the UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program, which was the first hospital program established in the United States by Teen Cancer America, a nonprofit founded by Daltrey and Townshend.
For more information, contact Jillian Flannery at: 310-267-5573
