Adrian, the Aspiring Actor

Can always count on Facebook for ideas for blog posts. Hope you enjoy Adrian's story as much as I did.

I have been remiss!

But, remiss with good reason... I have been taking a graduate course (Disability in Higher Education) at Syracuse University and just began Partners in Policymaking New York with an online and in person component. So, I've been busy... but good busy. I'll be back when the dust settles a bit.

Welcome ways to look at disability

I can't wait to see this documentary...

www.embraceablemovie.com

The movie begins with a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Pied Beauty
Glory be to God for dappled things
For skies as couple-coloured as a brindle cow
For rose moles all in stipple upon trout that swim
Fresh fire-coal, chestnut falls, finches wings,
Landscape plotted and pieced
Fold, fallow, and plow
And all trades
Their gear, and tackle, and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange
Whatever is fickle, freckled, who knows how?
With swift, slow, sweet, sour, adazzle, dim,
He fathers forth Whose beauty is past change.
Praise Him.

Who ever said we were all supposed to be the same?

Hidden contributions of people with disabilities

Beverly and Wayne Black have been married for 35 years. Both of them have developmental disabilities and left state institutions to get married and live in the community. They have worked in their communities, volunteered, and now are caring for Beverly's mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. And they are in danger of losing the modest state funding that enables them to live independently.

By living on their own and managing their own affairs, as well as providing care for an aging parent, Wayne and Beverly are actually saving the state of Texas money. By using only a few service hours a month, they are saving Medicaid the thousands of dollars it would cost to move them all into an assisted living facility or nursing home. All three get to live with dignity, are allowed to make choices, and continue to improve their lives and the lives of those in their community.

In addition, Wayne and Beverly are working on continuing education goals; he is trying to improve his academic skills and she is working on her speech so she can continue to speak at self-advocacy conventions. I wish the people in charge of supportive funding in Texas also believed in continuing education... their math skills need some work.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.star-telegram.com%2F2011%2F01%2F26%2F2800538%2Ffort-worth-couple-with-disabilities.html%23ixzz1CFGXNKtV&h=7a504

An amazing event - Making the Invisible Visible

The Sprout Film Festival will celebrate its 9th year this spring at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I had the pleasure of attending last year's festival with a good friend. The unifying theme of the films is developmental disabilities - a mix of documentaries, narratives, music videos, etc., starring or written by people with disabilities.

The year before (2009), I attended a traveling film festival in Geneva, N.Y., featuring several films. One of the films entitled "The King of Camp" had been written by and starred a cast of actors with developmental disabilities. The villain of the piece was a counselor who was condescending and micromanaging; every time he was thwarted, the audience roared its approval. At the New York showing, a frazzled and impatient staff person is outsmarted by his client with Down Syndrome. Again, the same reaction from the audience!

What a moment of revelation - clearly, this is a commonly understood complaint in this community (like wives complaining about husbands refusing to ask for directions)- but not one that I (a non-disabled person) was ever aware of! The festival is an amazing opportunity to learn, to appreciate, and to think in new ways. Check it out if you can!

A wonderful idea to enhance communities

I heard of the concept of Time Banking at an inclusion conference in the Adirondacks this summer. The basic idea is this: you perform a service for a fellow member and, for each hour you serve, you bank an hour towards a service you need.

Say you are good at home repairs, but a lousy bookkeeper. You come in to a member's house to fix leaks, build bookshelves, etc. You can use your earned time dollar to have another member help you file your income taxes. You can work for or collect services from any member of the bank.

My conference group could immediately see the possibilities for our allies with disabilities. People with disabilities have many services they can offer and could benefit from many services offered by a time bank. A core belief of time banks is that everyone's time has equal value.

Check it out at:

http://www.timebanks.org

A great story, worth re-posting

He's not heavy; he's my friend

A great story of a win-win-win situation. A little boy named Sam, who has cerebral palsy, lives with his family in a two-story house. His father used to carry him upstairs to bed every night, until his dad had heart surgery. The family reached out to a local high school for help, and a co-captain of the football team, Rudy Favard, comes to Sam's house several nights a week to carry him upstairs.
Sam and his family have help, Rudy has the appreciation and affection of Sam's family, and both young men have a new friend. Cost? Priceless.
Photo by the Boston Globe. Also check out the video on http://www.abcnews.com/