Year in Review

 Another year is over and a new one begins.  Here is my  2016   year in Review.

 January 2016

 My family and I  meet up with  my old babysitter






February  2016

I go to Cal-TASH.  I have a lot of fun and get business cards made.  My professor gives the keynote on Saturday and I win an Apple Watch.  We also had a leap year.  I also got to hang out at the mall with a kid with CP.

March  2016

  Have fun in the Speical Olympics basketball tournament where I meet a Harlem Globe Trotter.  I also see Wicked for the first time and love it.













April 2016

Start my last quarter of college undergrad.  I  talk to an illustrator about a children's book about Cerebral Palsy.  I meet a facebook friend at the Special Olympics track meet.  Her son also has Cerebral Palsy and we hit it off right away.    A fire truck comes to my college.  Posting a selfie with it for Fireman Max.

May2016


 I attend grad fest and take senior photos. I   get gold in both swimming and track and field.

 D, K, AZ and J 

June2016

 I  was on the school website and graduated from college.  I got a shout out from the president of my college. My sister finishes university as well.  We both have a graduation party and most of my mentors and friends come to my grad party.    LM also comes to my grad party.  I also get to go my first summer games.

July 2016
Pokemon goes and a fun fourth of July at a friend's house. Pokemon go reminded me of my childhood. I join the blue team.    I also start attending my local DS group as volunteers to encourage parents raising kids with DS.  In person.  Plans are made for a  trip to Sacramento in 2017 for the  NDSC annual convention.  Born this way has a second season.

August 2016

 I visit CAMP PALS SAN Fransico.  It is a wonderful camp for those with Down Syndrome Seeing people from around the country come together and get along with each other was definitely something great to see.   I filled out an application to be staff next summer. Applications for Camp Pals go out  January first. They have camps all around the US for those with Down Syndrome ages 12 to 30. See more here.I get silver in Special Olympics Golf.


 September 2016


 I co-star in a Gatepath promo that plays at Stanford.   I get to go on the field during halftime. I  turn 25 and get new golf clubs.  I attend a self-advocate conference. I also started working on a secret project.   It will be revealed hopefully this spring.

October 2016

The  World Cerebral Palsy day photo montage is the longest it has ever been. Complete with a green background. I do tip a cop at red robin and dress up as a minion for Halloween.

November

 My parents go on a trip to Hawaii.   While they are gone we get a dog.   I have a  great Thanksgiving with family.

December
 Celebrate Christmas. I get back into Pokemon Yellow on the 3ds.   I got a mountain of Christmas presents.

 Stuff I wrote in 2016

What Inclusion Looks like 

 Please Don't Pretend 

25 Lessons  I have learned 

The Life Lessons behind hide and seek 






 Happy  New Year everyone. I  hope  2017 is filled with love kindness and inclusion for everyone.  Sorry, I have not blogged. Things have been hard the past two months.  I will hopefully blog more in 2017.

Happy Halloween

 This marks the end of the 31 for 21 challenge.   You can use the  tag 31 for 21 2016  to see all the post from this month. I  hope you enjoy.  I will continue
to blog about Speechless on Thursdays.  So tune in.  I  dressed up as a minion this year.  ( picture coming soon.)

Sunday video

  I interviewed Sophia last  year. Click here to see the interview.

Saturday video

A Brave Heart

 Last night I got to meet an incredible person. Her name is  Lizzie  Velasquez, She was in town screening her documentary  A brave heart. You can watch the trailer below,

  Gatepath , a local nonprofit that  helps children and adults with developmental disabilities hosted the screening.  I am actually blogging about them. Here is my  first post. When I got there,  the director of communications invited me to meet her backstage. That was very cool.

 I highly recommend this documentary. Velasquez's courage and  determination is a lesson for everyone.  I know you will love the documentary as much as I do.  Once you are done watching it be sure to come back  and comment on this post about your favorite part. 

Why having a drunk teenager is a good thing. Speechless Episode five

  Image description JJ and Keneth at a house party.  There are lots of teenagers with red cups 

 On this episode of Speechless.  JJ and Keneth go to a high school house party where JJ gets drunk.  His parents seem mad at him , but in reality, they are happy for him.
  I am 25 years old   living with Cerebral Palsy and  I am on medication that makes it dangerous for me to drink .  I still live at home and  I think that if  I came home from a house party drunk. My parents would be very happy.
   Why might you ask?
  I am not saying that parents of disabled kids  are more prone to encourage their kids  to try drugs and alcohol. What I am saying is that often times  parents want their kids with disabilities  to  have a social life.
   When you have a disability, more often than not  life is lonely.   My high school career consisted  of  me going to one dance -- my Senior prom.  I was not guaranteed that I would go to that.  My mother insisted that I  only go if I were escorted  by a guy that didn't have a disability.  I  ended up going with someone  who graduated the year before and was a Freshman in college .  I did not have a group of close friends that  I hung out with in high school. I was different and even though I was fully included  for all academic subjects and graduated with my high school diploma,  high school friends were nonexistent.
  I am hoping that Speechless encourages able-bodied  high school students to include peers with disabilities in their  Halloween house parties.  

 

Recycle post. My grandfather passed away three years ago today

     This is a recycled post because  my grandfather passed away three years  ago today

 Today is a really  hard day for me to blog about.   For those  long time readers, you guys know that two  years ago  I lost my grandfather.   Here are a few things you should know about my  grandfather.

1  My grandfather loved old cars.  He kept an assortment of old cars. To this day  there are still  old cars   at my  grandparents home.  He loved to fix them up.  He gave my brother one of his cars  for his 16th  birthday.


2  My  grandfather loved  my  grandmother.    They were together for a long time,   The  raised  six  kids  together. They  may have gotten  in  fights but they always made up

3 My  grandfather  was an extremely hard  worker.   He  had to quit school to help his family when his father died  when he was a young boy.

4  My  grandfather  valued education.   Four out of his six kids  went to college.  One of my aunts   owned her own business.  My other aunt  works  for state farm,  My mother became the first   Black  vice chancellor  at UCSF. 

5  My grandfather  was in the Army  when it became integrated .  It  was a hard  time but he  had an excellent work ethic,

6  The day after my  Grandfather passed a peacock  came  to visit my grandparent's house.   Ever since  Peacocks have been very important to my  family.

7  I wish   he would have been here to watch me graduate college, move out and  have kids.

8  I wish I could be able to have my mom  talk to him  in heaven.

9  I  wish he could have been here to   hear about  my Princess  trip to Italy when she gets back  in December.

10   I  miss hearing his voice.


 Love you grandpa  

My first Summer Games

   So you guys know how I didn't post last  summer , so  I decided to post about  my first Summer Games.  My first games  were back in June.  I have been in Special Olympics for more than ten years and I have not had an opportunity to go to summer games until this year.  I actually got chosen for both swimming and track, but you can not do both so  I participated in my local track  delegation.  The games were held at UC Davis.    On Friday morning we took a bus to  UC Davis.  It left around noon.   There was a lot of traffic so we arrived in Davis around dinner time.  Once  we got off the bus, we were handed name badges and  wristbands. We dropped off our bags and went to dinner. The dining  hall food was amazing. There were so many good choices.  Below is a picture of my dinner  Friday night.

 After dinner, it was time for the Opening Ceremonies.  I got to hold the banner for my county.  Our coaches gave us matching  Blue shirts for the Opening Ceremonies. The opening ceremonies were lots of fun I just wished that they didn't use the word inspiring so much.

  Our dorm room was located on the top floor of the building.  There were two people in a room. My roommate was very clean, me  not so much.   I actually was kinda nervous  about sleeping because  this was the first time that I had slept away from home.   I thought I would melt down.   Turned out I was fine.  I just played iPad games and read the  book the  T and  D  gave me as my college graduation gift. I went to bed around one am which is my usual bedtime.


 My coached woke me up early on Saturday. I was very excited because  I had slept through the night without incident.   After getting ready and having breakfast  it was time to do  what I had come here for. I was going to run track.   My first race was the 100-meter dash. I  got bronze in that.  I did way better  in the shot putt.   I got gold  in that.

 Lunch was a bento box. The food  was really good.

 There was a dance  Saturday night. I  wore a dress and danced the night away.

 On Sunday. I threw  the turbo javelin for first place and had an  IRL  with    Beth, Patrick, and  Rene.  Later we had  the four by hundred relay. Our team got silver.

 Left  to right   Renee of Paraeducate,  Beth of National Catholic Board of Full Inclusion,  Patrick and  AZ 

I also got a temporary  tattoo.

 Me with my temporary Tatto a few days later. 

  I melded in all of my events.  Not bad for  my first Summer Games.

Fasion with Cerebral Palsy

    Hi guys so if you know me you will know that I like to dress more like a kid.  I like to wear t-shirts  and tennis shoes .   I even wore tennis shoes to my  college graduation.  Today I want to  tell you why I do not dress  like my age.



   Bras


    I have trouble wearing traditional bras. It is  nearly impossible for me to get one of them on  and the material feels weird aginst  my skin.    I problem solve this by wearing a sports bra.   This causes me to wear  T-shirts.


T-shirt


I do wear t-shirts a lot because they are the only way to hide my sports bra.


Dresses
 I always tend to be cold and uncomfortable wearing them.

Jeans
I can wear regular jeans and do the button:however, I like the ones that pull  on my mom found  online.
Tteneshoes 
 I like teneshoes  because they give me ankle support.


 So there is a method to my choices.

Sunday movie l

Click here

Inclusion is possible for kids with Down Syndrome

This looks good

 



Have a good weekend

Disability Discount

 Image  description   A group of white rubber tees.  

 Yesterday, I went to my local driving range.  This is the same place where I play for Special Olympics and  where I played in high school.  I needed a rubber tee, the one pictured above.  So I went to the pro shop. The guy gave me one for free
 Now  I felt awkward accepting this for free because I am able to pay. I feel like he gave me it because I am disabled.  After  I was doneI  went back and he insisted this I did not pay.I  wish that I could have paid because I do not want to be pitied I want to be considered  a regular person who is expected to pay.  For me  being seen as an adult is something that I am struggling with lately.

JOB HUNT

            Hi,guys  so in  June  I graduated from a local university with a BA in Liberal Studies.  So now I am looking for a job.  Job hunting is a difficult process for  everyone but I    think it's y hard when you are disabled.   AS of now  I have applied at  the following places


 Toys RUs

 My local community college

 Pals

 Target

  I asked to volunteer at the local Down Syndrome connection  but I  they didn't have any openings


 Yesterday I did go to the mall and look around . I went into a hand full of stores  gathering job applications.    I had DR. G  help me fill out  the one to Build a Bear and dropped it off  last night.

Workarounds that worked for me going through school

 So yesterday I talked about how a few weeks ago I got a nickname which is a workaround for my real name.  Going through school there were lots of workarounds that worked.  


 Slant board 

 Image description :A side view of a slant board  facing to the right 

  I used this in early elementary school to help me write.  I did not like  it because I wanted to be like everyone else.   This was an idea of my preschool teacher who helped tutor me.  It was helpful  once I agreed to use it  


  Fischer  Scissors.

  image description:blue scissors on a white background 

  Cutting things and doing art projects is a skill that is a staple in many kindergarten classrooms.  I have Cerebral Palsy and I had some fine motor difficulty which made cutting difficult for my tiny hands to use. My OT recommended   these special scissors that had bigger holes which make cutting easier.  My mom donated  multiple  scissors to my kindergarten class. This made cutting easier for everyone.




Adapted Seating 

 image description a blue classroom chair against a white background 

Due to my Cerebral Palsy,  I had  trouble sitting well. My trunk muscles were so weak that it was easier for me  to put my feet up near my chest which did not make for great learning posture.    I had an adapted chair from   second to fifth grade. It was  a blue chair with a block on the back with a velcro cushion . 



 Alpha Smart 

 Image Description  A blue keyboard with a tiny green screen.  says AlphaSmart 200 between the screen and keyboard. On a teal background  

When I was in second grade , I moved to the public school so there were more resources to help me access the general education curriculum.   One was an Alpha Smart.  I am sure that many  disabled students  remember these word processors .  I had one in second grade. This helped me type my spelling words and  write stories. Nowadays   Ipads and tablets can do far more cool things than my word processor ever could.  I did not like using these  things because I wanted  to be like the other kids.  In third  grade, I got access to the school computer  and by fourth grade  I wanted  to write  and my teacher agreed to let me write.   In middle school, my aide  and I took notes.  In high school I took my own notes.




 Pulse Pen 

 Image Description. A black pen pointed  on the record button on the paper.  Next to it has  pause and stop, Then it has  jump the other things are  harder to make out.

 In college I used a  Pulse pen to help me take notes. I highly recommend this for students who are auditory learners.  It is better than a tape recorder because  when you touch on a note it actually plays what was said while you are taking notes. I think this assisted me with doing well in college. I  graduated from Community College with honors.


  Sniffle Buddies 

  Image desciption  A blue wristband, On the front it says I'm blank 's buddy.  Then it has the Words Sniffle in green and buddies in blue along with their website  www.snifflebuddies.com

  A cool wristband that helps me manage my drooling.  




 Name Tags 

 A blue name tag that says on top " Hello my name is" and then  there is a place to write your name

  I love name tags because when I meet someone that can't understand my real name I  just showed them my name tag. It is easy and quick.    A few weeks ago someone  gave me the nickname  that I now use to introduce to people. I love my new nickname.




 Do you have any adaptation that you use? Want a more in-depth  description  of an adapted strategy?   Leave a comment below.




 Got images from

Slant board: http://www.sgwoodworksllc.com/Incline_Board.JPG
Fiscar scisssors https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/515%2BQfIJsqL._SL1000_.jpg
 Blue chair :http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/NationalBusinessFurniture/51239_0?hei=325
Alpha Smart http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAyWDEwMjQ=/z/yq8AAMXQ74JTUAWT/$_12.JPG?set_id=880000500F
Pulse Pen image https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41N8dbsDUHL._SY300_.jpg
Sniffle Buddies http://www.childrite.com/media/Sniffle_powderblue.jpg

The life lesson behind Hide and Seek

  Image description.  A young white girl covering her eyes. Three young kids run away.

 

So my two friends tandem blogged about the frustration they have when people  wait to ready as an excuse. They then invited  people to continue blogging.  

  Born Ready: National Catholic Board on Full inclusion, written by  Beth Foraker 

   TheFallacy of Being Ready:  Kids included together by  Torrie Dunlap 

 One of my favorite  old-school childhood games is hidden and seek.   Kids count than say  "Ready or not  here I come."  

Hawaii
Image  Described
  A young  mixed race
girl  with a purple Hercules
T- shirt, and a lei around her
neck.

  When I was four about to turn five. My parents  had their version of  " Ready or not here I come,"  except they were not joking about it because  it was  the most important decision of their lives and would impact me for the rest of my life.     It was time to pick a school for me  to go to for Pre-Kindergarten.  Up to this point, I had been educated with  kids who had speech impairments in a county program the next town over.  But now it was kindergarten, the big leagues.  They decided to have me  apply for  a private school.   This school welcomed me in with  open arms ,but let's say for a minute  that they  said.

 AZ isn't ready to be included because ...

* drools a lot , the other kids will think it's gross"

* has bad balance."

 

*does not know  how to pronounce her own name.

  An  Articulation disorder
 wasn't a barrier for me to
perform in
 the school operetta
Participated all three years on stage with
my classmates.
 Image description
 A young mixed race girl with a Purple leotard
and a  sparkly shirt.
 Standing aginst  a gray and blue wall.
 

 

If you are  reading this thinking that they can't justify  special education for that.  Your  right they can't because it's against the law, but I have heard too many stories from parents of kids with intellectual disabilities of school officials  saying that their kid isn't ready because of their disability.  Because if  these same people  used  this I would have never stepped foot in  a general education class. Because   at 25. I have a real hard time saying my name, I still drool,  I have bad balance, but when they were willing  to make accommodations for me I was able to learn.  

 Instead at the private school, I was able to be myself, and my peers got to learn that disability was not something to be ashamed about.  I was able to drool and not have kids mind because sometimes I  drooled.   My drool and I were invited  to birthday parties and kids from my school went to my birthday parties.

 In kindergarten, my    teacher was determined to  teach me how to jump rope.   When she was on yard duty she made it her personal mission to teach me how to jump rope.  By the end of the year, I was jumping rope.   That kid with  bad balance learned how to jump rope.  The kid with bad balance learned from her best friend how to do the monkey bars. 

 A few weeks ago, After that kid that could not pronounce her name, graduated with their BA. They had a work around. They  have a short name.  There are workarounds for a lot of things.  More on that  tomorrow.

   Adults need  not be ready to include students with significant disabilities . They just need a belief that all kids can learn alongside their peers.  Students with significant disabilities  do not need to be  reading, or potty trained or  speaking in full sentences.    They are  ready and are coming.   Luckily there is a lot  research   that supports resources that supports  full inclusion. So schools that feel "not ready" can get ready because  ready or not here  comes disabled kids.  What you'll find is worth the finding when done right . 

Important documentry

         Hard to watch but important to see. I want to live in a world where all disabled lives matter.  These test might change this.  Disabled people are not broken and our lives have value.   Click Here  to see this documentary from the UK.

Today's Video

 Great video by   Born this Way.  Here is the video.  Sorry  this video is late.

Really happy with this tool

 I have been using this tool for a week and am very happy with it.I recommend it for  everyone.  Have a good weekend.

Not that Inspiring: Speechless episode four

On this episode of Speechless, JJ and  Keneth get to spend the entire day together without mom or school,while the rest of the family gets to go to Paintballing and Ice Skating  two things that with JJ are hard to do.   Durin their day together JJ and Kenneth  become the objects of pity and get special perks, for example. they get to  get into a Dogger Game for free.  At first,JJ is into to this, but by the end,  he is not  happy.

 I have mild CP , so while I do not get inspiration a lot I still get it. When people call me inspiring, I do not like it. I mean I have not done anything  that great.  Yes I have a disability and have overcome  a ton and I think I am strong and think I am amazing, but I do not like  being called inspiring because it does one of two things.




 One   It shows me how limiting  you  think that disabilities are.

 So one time in college  I had something happen  to me that I have  called the  Seal incident.   In a Linguistics class at a private college. The teacher overly praised me for doing well on the first test of the quarter .   She came   to where I was sitting  and  wanted to shake my hand because I had gotten the second highest grade, she did not praise the highest student.  I felt like a seal. I hated this in fact it  discouraged me from doing well on future tests in that class. I  later learned that she  thought I was not going to do well.    This made me mad.  Let me tell you guys something.  Just because you  thought I  wouldn't do well doesn't mean it's a miracle when we do well it just means that you had  low expectations because  we have disabilities.  I am a disabled  honor   student and no that is not surprising.



 Two   It puts me on a pedestal

  Inspiration puts me on a pedestal.   Just because I have a  disability  does not mean  that I am  always good.  I have made lots of mistakes, just like everyone else.  I am just a human being trying to have  a good life according to my family values. 

Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area

  Last Sunday was the annual Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.  I went because for the last few months I have been helping the Down Syndrome connection of the Bay Area bring Services to the Peninsula. I love helping them  because they have really cute kids and I feel that having services to meet the needs  of those with  DS is a great thing.  Here is a poster that I made on my own for the walk. I got lots of help from my facebook friends. I think the poster turned out  well What do you think?

 To learn more about the organization click here 

Did you know

 Of women with Developmental Disabilities are raped.  We need  to teach men to respect women. This needs to end.   It is not acceptable.  We must do better.

Stranger Danger

 I have a story about a guy  treating me badly.  It happened in 2011, on a rainy day in March . I was  running to  try to catch the bus and  missed it. This   junky  four passenger car comes up.  Inside it was  a white man.  He offered me a ride.   Stranger Danger  kicked in and I said no and continued to walk and did not think anything of it. Until  about two minutes later  when he came back again.  He asked me again if I wanted a ride, I declined.  He then asked if I wanted money to have sex with him.  I told him to leave me alone.  That was really  scary and I am glad that   he did not  try to get out of his car because I do have a physical disability so  he would have been able to  do what he wanted with me.  It wasn't funny , and not something to joke about.  It was just plain wrong,  Men need to treat Women with respect. 

Today is theDS walk

Pictures coming tomorrow

Weekend Picture

On being left out -- Speechless episode three

 So today I am going to be talking about Speechless Episode three.  Something I want to relate to is JJ being left out.  In this episode, the students at JJ's high school have a homecoming bonfire at a place that in inaccessible which makes JJ feel left out . JJ's mom  talks to the principal and has it cancelled.


I do not agree with  Maya's decision because   it is not realistic.  For me in additon to Cerebral Palsy  I have NVLD which is similar to Asperger's making dances and social things in middle school and high school really hard  for me.  In seventh grade, I didn't have the social skills or friends to navigate the middle school dances;however,  my favorite general education teacher was  working at  the dances.  I went and hung out with her. While this was not socially appropriate    I at least got to experince a dance.  I think it would be more embarissing to cancel dances  because I did not know how to behave because that would bulid resentment towards me  and be counterproductive.  What could be done is  have a fun night. What that means is during the dance, or bonfire, or other special event, have something  fun that  the kid gets to pick.  Play a board game, have a movie night  or something enjoyable.

 Another option would be for schools to plan ahead for these social events with  staff and  parents.  Maybe that could mean having a quiet room during the dance with a movie playing which would be open to all students-- Bookgirl's  privite school  did this and I thought it was a great idea.  Schools should not promote activites for general education  students that are inaccesable for  disabled students.  It is not right.   This  can be easily avoided and its up to adults to  make sure that social  events are  held accessable   venues.

  For students that have problems making friends a good thing to have is a circle of friends.   Circle of friends is a program where students with disabilities have a circle of  able bodied peers that help them out. Their are plaining meetings that students parttake in to set the student up for social success.  I  really wish  I would have had something like this.  I wonder if it is to late to have one.