Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome is an intelligent, warm story of a mother who struggled in a very realistic way with a child born with Down syndrome. Jennifer Graf Groneberg tells what followed the birth of her twins, step-by-step with the aftershocks and emotions of misunderstanding his diagnosis and what his future would hold. She continues on as a strong woman advocating for Avery, her son with Down syndrome. Jennifer touches people everywhere she goes, and Avery has a real hand in helping her. I am proud of him. I feel as if he is my brother because of our extra chromosome. When my son was born, I didn’t know how to be a parent and was scared. However, when he opened his eyes, I knew just then that my life had changed for the better. My son was not the one with the diagnosis… It was me! I have Mosaic Down Syndrome (MDS). I relate to others who travel that unknown road and draw blue prints to map with them. As I read Road Map to Holland, I wanted so much to reach through the words on each page -- just to hug her and say, “Jennifer, it’s going to be okay!” I loaned my book to my father. He loved it just as much as I did -- as a full cycle of parent to child to parent. The words inside this book are a genuine piece of majesty. They are a continuation of Emily Pearl Kingsley’s world-renowned poem, “Welcome to Holland!” I know about Holland; I live there. Reviewed by Casey Morton, IMDSA’s Self Advocate & Spokesperson Learn more about MDS at the International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association at http://www.imdsa.org/.

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September 26, 2009

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Visit http://www.prayingwithLior.co/clergy.html for reviews of this DVD about an inclusive community and the religious coming of age of a young man with Down's syndrome. Ilana Tractman, producer and director

BT Digest is an online magazine for youths and families facing disabilities. The digest serves as another tool to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the disabled. BT Digest is a publication of Break Through Inc., a non-profit corporation dedicated to raising awareness of the disabled among the able-bodied and interpreting the issues of concern to the disabled. Break Through works with church, educational, business and social groups providing speakers, workshops and resource material. Open to different topics on a quarterly basis. Submissions, comments and suggestions for topics are welcomed. Go to the website at www.bendanderson.com

Strengthen and Make Whole the Body of Christ by Empowering Children With Disabilities Can the church from the beginning of life be that place where justice is practiced, surrounding children with disabilities with the breadth and strength of such a network of support that it is simply empowering for life? I am convinced the answer is "yes." Lorie Peters has a gifted mind, an engaging personality and excellent instincts. She lives on her own near Baltimore; manages her own affairs; enjoys her cat Nicky; hosted a Christmas party for over eighty friends: lobbied in Maryland and West Virginia, talking with legislators about how she made changes happen in her life. Now in her mid-thirties, Lorie has been challenged all her life with severe physical disabilities. She has no legs, very small hands and a generally small body. She navigates by wheelchair or crawling. For years, medical labels imposed by her disabilities kept her from living as she does now. October 31, 1991 was the first night Lorie lived on her own in her apartment. She had grown up in Children's Hospital in Baltimore, living there twenty years. Then she was transferred to a nursing home. Lorie wanted to live on her own. Only her social worker seemed to be listening. Listening? Too many service providers failed to listen, including the staff at the nursing home. She burned the stump of her leg with hot tea. She told the staff to check her leg. They did not. When a friend came to visit, Lorie asked her to check her leg. Lorie had to be hospitalized, and more of her leg had to be amputated. Lorie concluded that the staff did not listen to her. I met Lorie shortly after this incident while she stayed at a friend's house. Lorie had made many friends as a child growing up at Children's Hospital. She would sit in the lobby to greet and chat with people, including Helga, in whose home she was staying. Another person she met as a child in the lobby at Children's Hospital was Rev. Brian, an associate pastor at a large church. Brian found another temporary place for Lorie to live, and then the permanent location into which she moved. The church in mission became an instrument of justice. The church was able to cut through a lifetime of perspective that Lorie needed to be "cared for" in an institution and capitalize on Lorie's own childhood connections. The church in a loving and caring way was able to offer the breadth and strength of its vast network of support. Then, the course of Lorie's life changed dramatically to an empowering way of life. Can the church from the beginning of life be that place where justice is practiced, surrounding children with disabilities with the breadth and strength of such a network of support that it is simply empowering for life? I am convinced the answer is "yes." The following story about an early English settlement can serve as a model of how the church can respond as an agent of justice. Historian Nora Groce studied the history of a small community of people who immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Martha's Vineyard in 1690. In this small, relatively isolated community, about 10 percent of the people were born unable to hear. They communicated with a unique sign language brought to them from England. Everyone in the community knew this language. Nora Groce found no significant differences between those who could hear and those who could not in the rates of graduating from high school, marrying, bearing a similar number of children, finding jobs and income levels. In a parallel study on the mainland where services were considered to be the best, non-hearing individuals graduated 25 percent less than hearing persons, married 40 percent less, and had children 40 percent less. They earned about one third as much as the general population and their range of occupations was more limited.' What happened? In one place where there were no services, the result for children growing up was that there were no differences; they spoke a unique language that everyone understood. Today in the church, separated from government regulation, we speak our own language, a gospel language that says "Come all," and we are empowered to do what it takes for any individual to participate in and contribute to the life of the church. The best hope for children with disabilities is for the church to adapt, much like the family adapts when a child with a disability is born. Harold Wilke was born into such, family and church. Many within the UCC know Harold, a gifted minister who was looking over the shoulder of President Bush in 1990 at the Rose Garden signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Harold finds great meaning in the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," particularly since he has no arms himself. Having roomed with Harold on many occasions, I am inspired simply by seeing how able he is in put on his clothes. Harold reports: "I remember once, when I was two or three years old, sitting on the floor of my bedroom trying to get a shirt on over my head and around my shoulders. I was having an extraordinarily difficult time. While I grunted and sweated, my mother stood watching. Her arms must have been held rigidly at her side; every instinct in her wanted to reach out and put my shirt on for me. Finally, a neighbor who was visiting asked in exasperation why my mother wasn't helping. My mother responded through gritted teeth, 'I am helping!'" Harold's parents intervened lovingly and with care in specific ways offered Harold formative guideposts that shaped and empowered the church to become a positive formative network. At the service of confirmation, his ministry offered an individual prayer for confirmand. His pastor's prayer for him at age fourteen was child go to theological to become a minister of the church." Harold already had a deep desire to enter ministry even after being discouraged by a previous pastor. His church surrounded Harold as a child and later as a youth with affirmation, asking him to teach Sunday school in his late high school years. He was active in the youth fellowship, and was asked to preach a sermon. As I reflect upon sharing a room with Harold, I understand that in the way he learned to get dressed, his mother made a difference. With Harold the teenager, his own pastor was nurturing and empowering. Family and church were extraordinary instruments of justice in his life. Most often this simple kind of godly justice does not mean starting a new church program. Rather, it is the individual church member or committee that acts on what it takes to bring in or keep a young person involved in and contributing to the life of the church. Sunday school is a major agent of justice in the life of our churches. Ginny Curringa, Associate Pastor of Pioneer UCC in Sacramento, California, tells of what happened one Sunday when her mother picked her up from Sunday school after church services ended. "The Sunday School teacher told her that she could not bring me back unless she was willing to teach!" Ginny loved Sunday school, and was challenged by the gospel stories. She thought that Superman was better than Jesus. Why not? Superman could fly; Jesus only walked on water. And Ginny got the support of the class on this issue. Next Sunday, there was a new teacher. The new teacher became an agent of justice for Ginny. In that time, Ginny would have been considered "hyperactive." Today, Ginny knows she has dyslexia. She developed an attitude of making her own rules. Why? Because the school rules did not work for her. They made her feel dumb, placed her in low level reading and math groups even after testing revealed how bright she was. The local and wider church noticed Ginny's gifts. She was appointed a youth leader on a task force of women who wrote a resolution on inclusive language. Ginny says, "It was so wonderful to be empowered by the church!" "Very reluctantly," Ginny went to seminary. After all, academia had not been her favorite place in life. Her education was spread over six years, not being able to carry a full load. Childhood memories of church brought a feeling of home, and it was her church work during seminary that nurtured her self-esteem and affirmed her call to ministry. Because of Ginny's presence, many churches have improved their accessibility, both architecturally and attitudinally. Now fifteen years later, after serving several churches as associate pastor, Ginny has discovered the assets of her life's journey as a person with a disability. She finds her sensitivity heightened to people's ability to view situations from perspectives, and a sense of comfort and gifts for facing conflict and change. While she still struggles with feeling inadequate, Ginny found empowerment through the church and is now offering that gift back to others. In each of these stories, the people of the church were agents of justice when they empowered children for a lifetime. Like the people of Martha's Vineyard, church members discerned the suitable actions necessary and did them. In a society that tends to pass on such situations to a specialized service delivery system, the church can be that haven where community is primary, and where that community of faith constantly adjusts to be whole by including each individual. What if the church that offered the benefit of its network to Lorie had said "No"? What if Harold's and Ginny's family and church had not discovered their gifts, and encouraged them to enter Christian service? Praise God for the ways things did happen! We grieve that there have been times that our churches have failed to respond justly, and lives have not been empowered. Don't rush to set up a special program. Rather, survey your church, your Sunday school membership, and the extended life of your church (scouts, senior citizens, community groups). Find individuals whose needs are not being met. Discover a child with Down's Syndrome or with an emotional disability. Ask someone (maybe you!) to advocate for them and encourage them. Help others see that a child's behavior or needs might be a plea to be understood and to be viewed as they really are. Encourage the church to be flexible and to adjust. Tell fellow members the Martha's Vineyard story, and say "Our church can be that kind of community." Our church's just response to children with disabilities will empower them for a lifetime. It did for Lorie, Harold, and Ginny! Notes 1. The Martha's Vineyard Story is from John McKnight, "The Professional Service Business and Why Servanthood is Bad," reprint (Washington, DC: Cathedral College of the Laity, n.d.), pp. 1-2. (Also found in The Other Side January/February 1989).) Written by David E. Denham. Published in New Conversations (Issue Title: "A Church Responsive to God's Call – Building a World Fit for Children. Pp. 69-71 Written by David E. Denham and used with his permission. From

New Conversations

(Issue Title: "A Church Responsive to God's Call – Building a World Fit for Children. Pp. 69-71

"On a typical Monday morning at an atypical high school, teenage boys yanked open the glass doors to the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga. Half-awake, iPod wires curling from their ears, their backpacks unbuckled and their jeans baggy, the guys headed for the elevator. Arriving at Morning Meeting in the third-floor conference room, Stephen, his face hidden under long black bangs, dropped into a chair, sprawled across the table and went back to sleep. The Community School, or T.C.S., is a small private school for teenage boys with autism or related disorders. Sleep disturbances are common in this student body of 10, so a boy’s staggering need for sleep is respected. Nick Boswell, a tall fellow with thick sideburns, arrived and began his usual pacing along the windows that overlook the church parking lot and baseball diamond. Edwick, with spiky brown hair and a few black whiskers, tumbled backward with a splat into a beanbag chair on the floor." Read the full article by Melissa Fay Greene at www.nytimes.com, it is necessary to register (free) on www.nytimes.com. Search Melissa Fay Greene or Reaching an Autistic Teenager Publication date October 17, 2008

"New Developments: New Angles on Developmental Delays" is a newsletter published by Developmental Delay Resources, a resource network integrating conventional and holistic approaches. Volume 14, Number 1, Fall, 2008 Newsletter Contents Wisconsin Integrative Hyperbarics Center .......Page 1 Executive Director’s Column................................Page 2 Today’s Warriors: Dan Millman and Jenny McCarthy News and Comments.............................................Page 3 Education..................................................................Page 4 The Power of Silence in the Classroom Diet............................................................................Page 5 Twinkie, Deconstructed Motor........................................................................Page 6 Spelling, Movement, and Vision Nutrition...................................................................Page 7 The Mighty Mitochondria Revisited Upcoming Events....................................................Page 8 Visit www.devdelay.org

By John Miers When confronted by an illness in one of their children, parents have a wide range of responses, from cautious and concerned to profound fear. Nothing upsets parents more than learning that one of their children has a health-related problem. Parents are nurturing, protective, and want nothing but the best for their children. When confronted by an illness in one of their children, parents have a wide range of responses, from cautious and concerned to profound fear. This is even more likely if the problem is due to something that they don’t really understand, such as epilepsy. Parents can become overprotective when their child with epilepsy wants to try a new activity, like swimming or riding a bicycle, if the parent believes that there could be a real danger involved in the activity. Having a seizure can change a child’s life in dramatic ways, and set a child apart from friends and siblings. A child with epilepsy can become confused when he or she doesn’t understand about his/her own condition. Even when they are having seizures regularly, some children with epilepsy have never actually seen a person having a seizure. Or, they don’t understand what happens when they themselves have one. It can be even more confusing when the only consistent parental message seems to be that he or she isn’t “allowed” to do many things that friends and siblings can do. Sometimes, a child with epilepsy may be teased or believe that this will be the case. In addition, having epilepsy usually means multiple medical tests, many doctor visits, and possibly medications. I’ve been there, too. When I was a baby, I had several seizures. The doctor reassured my parents that I would be fine. But, when I was twelve, I had another seizure. My mother, being a nurse, took me to a pediatric neurologist, who again reassured us that I would be all right—“if it didn’t happen again.” It did happen again. My seizures became gradually more frequent. First every six months, then every three months, and, by the time I was in college, I was having seizures monthly. My epilepsy became harder to live with, but I got used to it—sort of. While I had the good fortune of never being teased, I still did not feel not quite whole. My seizures are still not controlled, but I have an understanding and helpful family. What advice can I give about to say to your child about epilepsy? First and foremost, parents and children may be reassured by the old saying that God doesn’t make junk. Every single person is a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses. It is also important for everyone involved, both children and parents, to take “ownership” of the disorder. This means being aware and concerned in order to be on top of the situation. Be frank and honest about just what is going on, what needs to be done, and what should not be done. Doing this can be a difficult and perplexing because parents want to urge their children to do as much as they can, while being aware of specific activities that may pose a threat. Parents and children need to be cautious, but not overwhelmed with fear. Often the physician or health practitioner working with your child can help in setting appropriate limits. Parents want their child to be healed. Children want to be healed, too. In fact, for many people their seizures are controlled through medication, surgery, special diets, or just over time. While some people do seem to grow out of their seizures, others seem to grow into them. For children and parents, as well as for physicians, the uncertainty of possible outcomes is challenging. I remember when I was a camp counselor for children with seizures. It was our first night in the cabin. There were about a dozen boys, ages six, seven, and eight, and three counselors. After dinner, we were having “Circle Time,” talking about the events of the day and our plans for tomorrow. I then brought up some specific questions: “What is a seizure?”; “What does a seizure look like?”; “What should you do when someone has a seizure?”. Nobody knew the answers. Most of the younger boys had never seen anyone having a seizure. Suddenly, almost on cue, one boy had a seizure. I held him and protected him, and sent the assistant counselor for the nurse. The nurse arrived promptly and took him to her office. We then talked about the seizure in the group: what it was, what to do, and what not to do. They learned a lot that night. One child explained how upset he was about his parents wanting him to have a Medic Alert bracelet. When I showed him mine, he felt better. As parents, what can we do in order to help others live with their seizures? What can we tell our children, their friends, their siblings, their teachers, and other adults? What about the parents of their friends? Most of all, we need to tell them that it is O.K. for our children to play together. We can explain that a child may have a seizure some time, and show them how to handle a child with a seizure. With such information, there will be far less fear. To educate ourselves, our children, and children and adults in the community, we need to know the latest information from nonprofit organizations like the Epilepsy Foundation of America ( www.efa.org ), government agencies like the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, (www.ninds.nih.gov), and our child’s physician. There are also support groups, for both individuals with epilepsy and parents, that can help us learn. We also need to ensure that our children also know about their epilepsy, including what they can and cannot do, both now and in the future. It is important to be optimistic; it helps to see the glass as half filled, not half empty. It is important to look to the future and to be hopeful. The challenges that we face will change through time, requiring both parents and children to keep abreast of the emerging issues in epilepsy diagnosis and treatment. Knowledge and perseverance are essential, as well as a positive, optimistic attitude. Good luck! bio Currently, I am employed by a federal agency as the Director of its Office of Diversity and Employee Advocacy Programs. I have worked in the federal government since I completed my masters’ degree. I am active in the disability community, serving as an officer in the agency’s disability organization, and I serve as a Commissioner in the County Commission for People with Disabilities. I have been a counselor for eight years at a local camp for children with epilepsy, and am on the Epilepsy Interest Group at our agency. I am active in the Episcopal Church, at the local, Diocese, and National levels, and have been trained as a congregational consultant. I enjoy being a member of both the singing and bell choirs in our church. I am been the Chair of the Board for a local half-way house for persons recovering from mental illness, and was the runner up for the Washington Redskins Annual Quarterback Award for Community Service. I have also represented our county re-building a burned church in South Carolina, and currently work with the chaplain of a local hospital, visiting Episcopal patients. I am married, with three grown daughters and one 10 year old grandson, and I enjoy gardening. Note: John is now retired. However, he is still active. He and his wife took a number of trips to New Orleans last year to provide support for those still recovering from Katrina. JOhn G. Miers, M.B.A.,

Carolyn Thompson, UCC DM board member and representative to UCC Wider Church Ministries, comments: "Good reading for anyone working with children in our churches and schools and society." Written by Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor of The Independent, this article reports from a study of 500 children that children with cerebral palsy veiw their life experiences much as other children do rather than in terms of their struggle, as able-bodied adults might view them. To read the entire article, go to http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2723237.ece First published June 30 2007. Posted in SDS (The Society for Disability Studies) on http://www.uic.edu/orgs/sds/

Reflections from a Different Journey Edited by Stanley D. Klein, Ph.D. and John D. Kemp Reviewed by Linda Jean H. Larson, M. A. T. Coordinator, Committee on Disabilities, National Council of Churches USA What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew, Reflections from a Different Journey is a must read for anyone disabled or non. It is excellent for anyone who is exploring disability for the first time as well as those well versed in the area of disability. Its greatest asset is the openness that comes across by all the writers. In the introduction to the book, the essayists are introduced to the reader as “...ordinary, accomplished individuals-they are not superstars” (pg. xvi) on a different journey. This frames the conversation that takes place within the book. One gift that What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew, Reflections from a Different Journey offers is an openness that touches one with humor, anger, reflection, sadness, pain, and “aha” moments where I learned something new or where I felt connected for the first time because the writer spoke of my own experience. Although it touched upon spirituality, I was left wanting more in this area. A second gift is the approach that the editors took in focusing on the voices of adults with disabilities as they pass on their life experience. This is truly a remarkable perspective because, “our disability culture is transmitted from one of us to another, peer to peer” (pg. 197). No other culture is passed on this way. This is what gives the book its integrity and uniqueness. There is a diversity of disability (i.e. visible disabilities, sensory loss, physical disabilities and invisible disabilities such as autoimmune conditions, mental illness, autism) as well as a diversity of occupation, age, education, male and female voices throughout the book. This is well thought out except for the diversity of culture, which may have been included but not specifically stated. The complexity of living life with a disability is well brought out by introducing such topics as institutionalization, labeling, special education-good and bad, human reaction of oppression and fear, from personal stories. There are five sections in What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew, Reflections from a Different Journey, each with a series of short essays around a specific topic. They are, “Love and Accept Me as I Am“, “Parental Expectations”, “Sexuality”, “Education About Disability”, and “Afterword: Disability Culture”. This is an excellent way to edit the book. The reader can read straight through or pick and choose essays for perusal. This is very inviting.

“Love and Accept Me as I Am”

There is an essay by Gregor Wolbring, “Parents Without Prejudice“, that speaks to a timely and sensitive topic and that is a “disability rights approach within the field of bioethics” (pg. 20). Rather than basing life and death decisions in the field of bioethics on a medical role model of disability which views disability as something that needs to be fixed and an individual concern, individuals within the disability community are calling for a paradigm that honestly speaks to the negative values society has about disability and the institutionalization of those values. I smile at the comment made by Mark Enston in his essay, “Take Me as I am (pg. 29), “People expect people with disabilities to be humble, conservative, thankful, and, worst of all, mega do-gooders. How boring!”

“Parental Expectations”

This section I find to be very reflective. In “The Rules of the “Game“”, Jeff Moyer writes, “Acceptance is a requirement for happiness, ...a deep, openhanded and openhearted acceptance” (pg. 47). In “Giving our Children Roots and Wings“, Barbara Ranmaraine speaks of her learned experience both as a child with a disability and a parent of a child with a disability, “Love sets us free; pity imprisons us” (pg. 123). She also cautions, “Hopes for the future are an important part of growing up and a life without dreams is impoverished” (pg. 124).

“Sexuality”

Few books offer the opportunity for persons with disabilities to be seen as sexual beings. In, “Relational Realism“, Jennifer Malatesta speaks to the heart of the issue, “If people with disabilities are led to believe that they cannot expect loving relationships, they may become willing to accept emotional, verbal, or physical abuse as a twisted legacy” (pg. 133). Persons with disabilities are twice as likely to be abused as the non-disabled. Yet is clear that “Each and every person is worthy of love, and no physical, emotional, or mental disability should preclude it”( pg. 135).

“Education About Disability”

Although this section is about educating oneself about disability, I found two articles that I feel are MUST read for all educators, most especially for those in the regular classroom. They are, “Twice Exceptional“, by Kassiane A. Sibley, a must read for educators and, a very moving essay, and “Learning Was Always Hard for Me“, by Damaris A. Mills, which offers practical advice for an inclusive classroom.

“Afterword: Disability Culture” By John D. Kemp

So, what is disability culture? John Kemp states this succinctly; “we are connected as a culture because of shared indignities inflicted upon us by poor architectural planning and design and by others’ stereotypically negative assumptions about us. We are also connected by the frustration and anger that well up once in a while when we tire of dealing with prostheses, scooters, and sores-and that makes us search for understanding by someone who has been where we find ourselves” (pg. 197). Many discount that there truly is a disability culture. By definition, shared experience, that which binds us together, is culture. This concept is where the book leaves us to reflect. This is how is should and needs to be. Kemp also leaves us with one inspiring thought by Carol Gill, Department of Disability and Human Development, College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois. People with disabilities have a heightened acceptance of human differences...People with disabilities consider interdependence an essential aspect of our lives. People with disabilities use humor-the ability to find something absurdly hilarious in almost anything, however dire-without it becoming self-deprecatory. People with disabilities have an ability, acquired over time living with our disabilities, to read others’ attitudes and conflicts in order to sort out, fill in the gaps, and grasp the latent meaning in contradictory social messages. Enjoy, peruse, and reflect. We are all on different journeys. What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew, Reflections from a Different Journey poignantly and aptly describes mine, along with 54 million others in this country. I urge you to read this engaging book. -------------------------- Order this book from www.disabilitiesbooks.com Reposted from NCC Home Page

copyright by Bruce Ritchie 1997 Don't ask my child to fly, for he has not wings. Don't ask my child to see the glint on the eagle's beak, for his vision has been diminished. Don't ask my child to remain calm amid the din, for her ability to screen out the noises has been taken away. Don't ask my child to be careful with "strangers", for he is affectionate with everyone and prey for the unscrupulous. Don't ask my child to "settle down", for the clock which works for you and me, does not exist for her. Don't ask my child to not play with the toys of others, for he has no concept of property. Don't ask my child to remember you tomorrow, although you met today. Don't ask my child to heal your wounds, for her hands cannot hold a scalpel or sutures. Don't ask my child to meet the challenges set by society, for you have denied her the tools. Don't ask my child to forgive you for standing idly by, while he was in trouble in his mother's womb, for he will, but He may not. http://www.acbr.com/fas/dontask.htm 9/12/03 Posted here without prior permission.

Donated Dog For Autistic Child Meets Opposition By Steve Stoler, WFAA-TV, Dallas - Ft. Worth, TX. http://tinyurl.com/ynjurw WYLIE - A mother's fight to make life easier for her four-year-old autistic son got a helping hand while also meeting up with a barrier. Lori Ruscitti's friends and neighbors came together and raised enough money to buy the family a service dog. But there's one big problem, his school district won't allow dogs to attend class. Every day is a constant struggle for Colton Ruscitti, who is autistic. Last year, the boy wandered away from his home and fell out of a two-story window. "We can't watch him 24-hours-a-day," Mrs. Ruscitti said. "It's impossible. We need help." Help came in the form of a dog named "Charlie," who is a specially trained service dog the family hopes will keep Colton safe and secure. The Wylie and Murphy communities helped raise $14,000 to give the family the dog, which will happen in May. "That dog provides security for them," Ruscitti said of the easing effect dogs have on autistic children. "It helps calm them down. It reduces meltdowns." Mrs. Ruscitti met with Wylie Independent School District officials who listened, but announced that Charlie will not be allowed into the classrooms. "[I feel] disappointment because autism is so rampant," Mrs. Ruscitti said. "It's not going anywhere. This is just another tool to help these children." WISD Superintendent John Fuller gave a statement Wednesday that said the district doesn't allow pets in classrooms, including dogs. The only exception is the use of service dogs that are trained to provide assistance to students with special needs such as blindness, physical disability or lack of mobility. There was no mention about autism. "Wylie just needs to step out of their box," Mrs. Ruscitti said. "There's not really a downside to allowing this dog in school." A final decision on Charlie could be made by a special needs committee before the start of the next school year. [Ed.: Permission was not requested to reprint this story. It was sent in by a parent of a child with autism.]

Sometimes it takes awhile for the hyphen to disappear. Two words expressing a unit idea first accept a hyphen then release it to form a compound word. Basket and ball were once separate words that became basket-ball, then basketball. At a wedding dinner, the curiosity of a young boy prompted him to pull up a chair. He was full of wanting to hear about my dog guide, I thought. After some dog talk, he paused. "Then, you're not afraid of the dark," he said with the relieved voice of one who might be. "I'm not afraid of the dark with Leader Dog Treasure," I said, Both of us knew we had gotten rid of the hyphen, and he went off with a friend. Later, wanting to confirm my gate number at an airport, I heard a man at the gate opposite mine and crossed the hall. Learning that my gate was #4 rather than #6, I started the short backtrack. Ordinarily when someone offers to assist me, my independence rules. For some reason, I let the man accompany me. He said, "My daughter is visually impaired." Then he left. Minutes later, he returned with his daughter. We had a hyphen, the beginning of a bond. The third grader was curious about Treasure. However, when the dad said an inoperable benign tumor pressing on her optic nerve will steal her sight, general dog talk turned to tool-specific. I began telling her that after becoming skilled at mobility cane travel, she will be ready for a dog guide. Her father interrupted again. Cane travel lessons, scheduled to begin soon, had been postponed after her doctor saw slight improvement in one eye. Prompted to tell why her sight had improved, she said she asked God to make her eyes better. I remembered her prognosis. I remembered my angry childhood struggle when similar prayers proved futile. How could I best tell this third grader that she and God need to be on friendly terms for the journey? Despite her hesitant celebration, she heard. "If some day your eyes cannot improve, it does not mean God is mad or does not like you," I said. "It just happened, that's all." Something changed in the child's voice. The hyphen that also separates one person from another at the level of soul had disappeared. "Then," I continued, "you just change your prayer. You ask God to help you find another way of doing what you want to do." We have the opportunity, especially in our churches, to form hyphenated, embryonic relationships with others who are different from us. Sometimes, when we dare to connect at the level of soul, we find that kinship has emerged. Having dropped the attitudinal hyphen, we understand why we were brought together in the first place. Reading the Signs is a can-do forum about accessibility for the whole church family edited by the Rev. Dee Brauninger, First Congregational UCC, Burwell, Nebraska

Children's Book written by Daryl Green This engaging story opens up the difficult theme of being different in ways that are easily related to by both children and adults - a great vehicle to open up sharing about a topic that is often avoided, and needs to be discussed with sensitivity. Loretta Gula, Reviewer Densmore Reid Publications 67 South 24th Street, Richmond, IN 47374, 2003 Contact the UCC pastor at ddgreenes@hotmail.com or 765-939-2984. This engaging story opens up the difficult theme of being different in ways that are easily related to by both children and adults - a great vehicle to open up sharing about a topic that is often avoided, and needs to be discussed with sensitivity. Loretta Gula, Reviewer The web site also has the text of this book.

Written by Gina and Mercer Mayer Racine, Wisconsin: Golden Books Publishing Co., Inc., 1992 One of a serieis of books about disabilities attitudes

Written by Lorraine Aseltine and others Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Co., 1986 A frustrated deaf boy who feels alone, afraid, mad, and sad until Brian, 17 and wearing hearing aids, visits his classroom. - Vera Losh, Reviewer

Tricia Brown, text, and Fran Ortiz, photography New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1982 If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this book tells volumes about special children. - Vera Losh, Reviewer

Paul has adjusted to artificial limbs. Written by Bernard Wolf Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1974 Spanish edition: No sientan lástima por Paul, trans. Ximena Lois (Philadelphia: Libros Lippincott en Espanõl, 1977).

Janet Rieck is a vision consultant from Albion, Nebraska Youngsters with vision impairment are simply youngsters whose perspective is a little different. To a child blind from birth, color has no meaning. Knowing that salt is heavier than pepper may be far more critical. In a world friendlier to persons with good vision, my students work harder and longer than any other child on a school project to get results comparable with their classmates'. Even ordinary tasks of daily living take longer when performed without vision. My students develop persistence. It takes courage to compete with others who have advantages unavailable to oneself; to attempt what no one seems to believe one can do. In a group that strives for conformity, to be the only one that cannot see well is lonely and calls for daily, sometimes hourly, demonstrations of courage. Perspective, persistence, courage . . . . Are these not qualities we can all benefit from practicing? Among my students are the strongest and best people I know, perhaps because they began honing their character earlier than most, out of necessity. From UCC DM Newsletter Archive

Serious Brain Disorders - Family In Souls Are Made of Endurance, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994,) Stewart D. Govig describes the journey of a family. Three sections include "Finding Out," "Holding On," and "Letting Go." Open and frank while maintaining an analytical approach, Professor Govig explores caring for a Schizophrenic son/brother and the relationship of faith to those dealing with mental disability. I appreciate the graphics illustrating interactions of the afflicted, family, and professional healthcare workers. Govig's search for faith is tight, logical, and biblical as well as a personal testament. This said, the broader mechanics of clinical reality and insight into family caring are universal. Govig addresses family issues with respect and generous sincerity. As one who lives with a chronic mental disability, I value Govig's candor and look forward to reading his other works: Strong at the Broken Places (1989) and In the Shadow of Our Steeples (1999). Bruce W. Jamieson, reviewer From UCC DM Newsletter Archive

A Handbook for Family, Friends, and Caregivers Written by Rebecca Woolis New York: J. P. Tarcher/Perigree 1992 Available from Putnam Publishing Group 200 Madison Ave New York NY 10016

Compiled by Enid Peschel and others San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992

A Manual for Families, Consumers, and Providers Written by Torrey, E. Fuller, M.D. 3rd Ed. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Available from the Special Markets Department; HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.; 10 East 53rd St; New York NY.

A Ministry for Families of the Mentally Ill Written by Pastor Steven Waterhouse Westcliff Bible Church P.O. Box 1521 Amarillo TX 79105 806-359-6362 Written by the Pastor of Westcliff Bible Church in Amarillo, Texas, this book is a study guide addressing the needs of Christian families of those with severe mental illness. Topics discussed include the response of churches to mental illness, the medical basis of schizophrenia, handling emotional responses in families with persons with mental illness, theology relating to suffering, and the intrinsic human worth of all persons, including those with mental illness. A list of organizations and a fifteen-page bibliography complete the book. Paper - 136 pp. No charge.

Meditations for Families Experiencing Mental Illness By Project Religious Outreach of the Alliance for the Mentally III of Ohio 979 South High Street Columbus OH 43206 (614) 444-2646.
This is a book of writings and drawings by persons with mental illness and family members of persons with mental illness. Sample titles of written pieces are

• "Hope," by the mother of a son who has bi-polar disorder;
• "Acceptance and Serenity," by the mother of a son who has schizo-affective and bi-polar disorders;
• "Patience " by a daughter of a woman with bi-polar disorder; and
• "Acceptance," by a person with schizophrenia.

Paper- 124 pp. From UCC DM Newsletter Archive, Book Beat

Written by Rosalynn Carter & Susan Golant Times Books.
This book is useful for clergy, families, social workers, doctors, and consumers. The book covers descriptions of different mental illnesses and gives step-by-step suggestions on what to do after a diagnosis: seeking the best treatment, evaluating health care providers, managing the workplace, financial and legal matters, and more. Additionally, how to cope with the impact on the family, as web as connecting with the right support are discussed. Included is an excellent 20 page list of references. Cloth-348 pp. From UCC DM Newsletter Archive, Book Beat

4H Therapeutic Riding Program of Carroll County, Maryland

Have you ever ridden a horse? Have you felt the powerful muscles beneath you, the gentle swaying of the horse's rhythmic walk, the freedom of movement as the horse carries you forward? You realize you are smiling and your smile is contagious to all those around you. In hopes of allowing persons with disabilities to feel the joy of horseback riding and of sharing their smiles, our family, the Fishers, has been volunteering with the 4H Therapeutic Riding Program of Carroll County (Maryland) for the past eight years. We smile when we talk about the program and are always encouraging others-riders and volunteers-to become part of the fun. "Safety first" is our main priority. Each rider must have trained assistants who accommodate his/her specific needs. The assistant may be one of the two "side walkers" who provide physical support, if needed, at the rider's heel or thigh. As side walkers, we encourage the rider to control and guide the horse to the best of his/her ability, repeat directions from the riding instructor, lead beginning exercises, and praise accomplishments. An additional assistant also serves as the "head walker" whose sole responsibility is safe horse handling, providing emergency steering and braking, and keeping the horse safe horses. So that all riders will have personal attention from the riding instructor, the number of riders in the one hour/weekly group lesson is small and includes riders who have achieved similar riding abilities. Colored reins, with the primary colors changing every few inches, help to remind riders to "hold the reins on the blue", for example. Blind riders may not need both side walkers in close proximity, but may need a trained horse to follow the head walker around the arena without the use of a lead rope. Someone who is a "little person" can compensate for his/her shorter leg length by using a bat (a small whip) to give the horse instructions. One of the riders in the program is a person who does not have hands but is a very accomplished rider and uses a special set of reins crafted with loops that she can hold. Having fun is the second priority! We look forward to the riders coming back week after week, session after session. Group games, such as Follow the Leader, moving the horse around the arena, and balancing in the saddle while moving arms overhead or feet out of the stirrup help to teach riding basics. Another game, Red Light/Green Light, teaches the riders to coax the horse to a halt or walk on command. A trail ride is a great way to spend time together on a beautiful day and learn different body positions for walking a horse downhill and uphill. Halloween is always a big hit with lots of laughter and colorful costumes, including horses dressed as circus ponies, Indian ponies, bumblebees, hobos, and racehorses. Riding games include balancing a bat on the rider's helmet and a pumpkin on a spoon. We have assisted youth and adults as they prepare for the Maryland Special Olympics and other horse shows. These riders work as hard to overcome their personal obstacles and ride their best as did the athletes heading to Sydney this past September. They also are seeking Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. A few from our program have even attended the Special Olympic International Games. The smiles continue as riders, parents, and volunteers share in their accomplishments. Horseback riding is great physical therapy. It helps to improve balance and to strengthen muscle control and condition. We assist every rider with opening exercises to stretch and increase range of motion. Physical and/or occupational therapists and riding instructors provide individual exercise plans. There are many testimonials from parents to the benefits they observe, including some reports from older riders of sore muscles from working muscle groups that otherwise had limited activity. The total program is a team effort. In addition to our family, there are other families and many individuals volunteering. Most of us are also involved in feeding, brushing, tacking, transporting, and cleaning up after the horses, as well as maintaining the property and coordinating lessons, events, and shows. Even the horses are volunteers. Our favorite is Tiger, a 26-year-old Chestnut Quarter Horse. He has a Superior Quarter Horse rating and is now in his second career as a Therapeutic Riding Horse. Tiger has undergone special training to be comfortable around wheelchairs, the hydraulic lift (that brings a rider from his/her wheelchair onto the saddle from above), canes, side walkers crowding close, riding double, and sudden movements and sounds. We welcome Tiger to our farm in the off season for a well-deserved rest. Our family is happy to be a small part of the team empowering persons with disabilities to have the opportunity to ride a horse and smile.

Recommendations for Therapeutic Riding Books

1. Colt by Nancy Springer, Athenaeum- Macmillan Publishing Company; about a young boy with spina bifida who learns to ride. 2. Aspects and Answers - A Manual for Therapeutic Horseback Riding Programs by Joswick, Kittredge, McCowan, McParland, and Woods; available through CHEFF Center at CheftTRC@aol.com. 3. Therapeutic Riding I: Strategies for Instruction, Barbara Engel, editor, with 72 contributors; ISBN: 0 - 9633065-5-3; THERAPEUTIC RIDING II: STRATEGIES FOR REHABILITATION, Barbara Engel, Editor, with 64 contributors; ISBN: 0-9633065-6-1. 4. The Horse: The Handicapped, and the Riding Team in a Therapeutic Riding Program by Engel, Galloway, and Bull; a training manual for volunteers; ISBN. - 0-9633065-1-0. 5. Rehabilitation with the Aid of a Horse. A Collection of 20 Studies, ISBN: 0-9633065-2-9; available also from: engelbj@compuserve.com. Editor's note: The Fisher Family of Bill, Louise, John, and Laura can be contacted at Fisher's Poplar Lick Farm, 2024 Manchester Road, Westminster, MD 21157. All are active members of St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Westminster, MD.

From UCC DM Newsletter Archive