Some photos to end 31 for 21

 Buddy  Walk 2011

Big Wave    pumpkin painting

 i won  this  along  with a mystery box and  tickets to Disneyland 

I am  proud i have blog every day this month  i will try to do it more often  in November    keep those comments coming  they help me blog 

  halloween  pics  coming soon

October is also Spina Bifida Awareness month

  I know3 people with Spina  Bifida.    All three  of them  are in college      Blog wise    Cassie  at  Beyond  Messures  has   been blogging about  featuring all  kinds of people , including some  cute kids with SB.   Her son  Caleb    is  a  cute  six year old  with SB

Having Cerebral Palsy is not the end of the world

         

Me at  the Bridge School concert 

      I  have lived  with  CP for  two decades  now.    It was  something I   was born  with.      When  I was diagnosed  as a toddler  with  it  my life did not end.      My  mom sometimes wonders   what  i be doing  if  I did not have  CP collage wise  and  I  told  her   I  might  have still  wound  up in  Community  collage  nothing wrong with that.     Someone apologized  to me   when  I  told her I have  CP. There is nothing to feel sorry  for  I am  not  broken  I  still have  feelings /fears. (No    I am not always  happy   )   Having  CP  does not make me less  of a person.     




  Does  CP  make it hard for me to talk  yes   Does it make   hard   for me  to play sports?  yes.  Does it make my handwriting  bad  yes .    Is it frustrating  at  times  yes.    Isn't  frustration apart of  life  yes.


 I think  having  CP has  made  me appreciate the little things in life. For example  if  I see a dragonfly  I  will watch  it for a while  I  took this pic last fall  of a inchworm.     This does not mean  I have a  intellectual disablity, I  did  get an  88 on  a statics test.  Things come a lot harder  for me   simply  means  that i get to  celebrate  things  more.  I am not a optimistic  person, yet  when it comes to  CP   I  do not feel  like it is the worst thing that has  happend to me ( in fact it is the easier then   OCD which  is  not lifelong)  My  view on life  may be different  then others peoples  but     all I know   is this  if  I had a chance to  be average I would do it for a day, yet I would want to go back to being me  Cp  and all.    










   A  penny for your thoughts 

CP or something else

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

  interesting stuff 

Today is my Cousin sixth b day

  happy b day  R  hope    all  is  well  give your mom and sis a hug for me 


  AZ 


  in honor  of  R  b day  here are six things that would make  my  life easier


 Free  Speech Therapy


 Friends and  Parties


  Being able to  handle  my OCD 


   Help   when   I need  it 
    More Comments on the  blog 
     Being  Able  to drive  


    Happy  b day   R 


  To see what    would make  special need  mom  happy  click here

Work first play later

  Today I had a math test   which i  take in the disabled  help center at  my college Then we had a  party.   An  open  house  of sorts it was  fun I  demonstrated the Smart Pen.     I   really   enjoyed myselef today  What did you do today 

A revist of church basketball

  For anyone  reading a long time  you  may  remeber  that  from  fifth  thew  eight   grade  I  played in   Church  basketball.  I really  liked   it.  I  was a die hard basketball  fan   so  putting me on an  inculsive   basketball team  seemed right.   I was the only  phiscaly disabled  kid on  the church  team.   The team taught  me good values  such  as  working hard   listening and minding and other things.    All three  years  I  was  on  the   B  team, and  yes  every year  I  tried to   make  the  A  team  at  tryouts.       I  am  reminded  of    chruch  basketball  because  a kid  with   unique  needs   has  a twin  that  will be  playing  on said  team   but  the kid well  was not  going to  try.      This  is a ashamed because  really  ought to try  because    as  you can see  from the photos   I wasn't a disabled  basketball  player   I  was  a  basktball  player   just like my  peers  plane and  simple.

Bridge School Benifit Concert

  Over the  weekend  my  parents and  i  went to the Bridge  School  Benefit Concert.   It was    quite the experience. 

  The Bridge  School  is a school  for  kids   pre preschoolers though  middle schoolers  with severe disabilities.  These   students  may be   vary  smart but   they need help   to  express themselves.  I am  friends with a mom  of  a son  with CP  who  goes  there.      I did not go to  Bridge  because I   have  mild CP.    I had  begged and begged my mom  to go  and we got the tickets on the  lawn. We  naively thought that would be ok.   

  It was not. When we  got there,  about an  hour into the show, we went to    the lawn; it was  packed.   There was no  room to sit on the grass  to watch  the music  we went so far up that we could not   see the stage and   I could not see the  projector.    I turned  to my mom  and   said we  could  go home.   My sensory  stuff was not  going  well and  I do not mean the noise.   It smelled horrible   from  smoke and other  drugs.

  My  mom  took  me back to the   bottom of the hill  where  there were all these booths  for food.    I wanted  to  get   a t shirt so  we  stood in line  for  one.     I have  a ATM card   so  I had to sign   my name.  The lady  helping  me says,

 " YOU HAVE THE NICEST HANDWRITING I  HAVE SEEN ALL NIGHT." 

   The  irony of that statement  is that I have CP and NLD aka   poor  find motor control. That gave my  mom  a chuckle.  I  took it as a compliment but I laughed to.

   We then proceed to the parent  booth where I met   the  twins  of the lady  who  i knew from face book. ( They really should start playing it's  a small world  now).   we then found some picnic tables and waited for my dad who   stayed up on the lawn.

   While we were  waiting  I got   a churro, and my dad brought back some garlic fries  while we listened  to Carlos Santana shortly  thereafter we left.

 My thoughts   I   really liked the cause it was  going  to  but disliked all the  drugs.    Next Year I  think  I will go to the dinner party  and   try to reserve seats   near the stage.  I  really like  watching  the news reports that the school  i  watch them  often enough that I can match  names and faces.  I hope  I can meet all the kids sometimes  or   whose knows maybe  I will work there down the line  only time will tell.

Learning to read part three My least favorite sound

   I was recently asked  what my  least favorite  letter/ sound  is  and after  much thought i  think it is C


 I  have been  working on C   for a long  time.     It  has been  hard   work  and  i have memories of trying to say  Car  cat cookie    instead of  Tar tat  tootie.  

 Do not be fooled by the Graphic "c" is  a hard soud

 I  remember in  K  my teacher  had this  phonics book  of  letters in the alphabet.  I was  in a mainstremed class    and   I  remember  her introducing the  C book and  explaining  the  sound and adding    you  should be able to  say it.  I remember asking her why  I could not  say  C and  being  told  I was different/ I know  i owe you  guys   my inclusion story  and  i  will get to it. In the mean time  tomorrow's post will b about the concert I  went to   so stick  around.


http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_481/12669910387XzCc7.jpg

Recycle post Forever Kids

   I posted this last october   tonight i am  going to a concert so stick around  for new  post  later

 I am  19 years old.  With me  being an American  i am  considered  an  adult? or am I?   

kid or adult  you decide

Now  if  I did not  have any disabilities   the  answer  would be  at   yes  I am an adult    no questions  asked.  But add a disability  in there and  the     word  changes  back to  kid.   As of now this does not bother  me as i  miss high school   and  do a lot of things  like a kid ie live at home   do not drive   mom and dad  give me chores  and the like.      I do not think the word adult will scare  me though and I think  I will  take more  offense  to the word kid  more and  more with wisdom and   time   after high school.

   now  lets  talk about other with  intellectual  disabilities  it  may  be  me  or is it  that people will often  refer to them  as  kids  not  meaning  any harm.   It is  so much  better than the R word   for sure.  But  to say  they  are  kids.  I am  not sure about this so  i will look up   Adults in the   dictionary  this  is from  Dictionary .com

–noun

4.

a person who is fully grown or developed or of age.

5.

a full-grown animal or plant.

6.

a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law.

 

me  in Las Vegas summer 2005   age 13

 There  is no  mentioning  of intellectual abilities  or  going  off  to  work  or completing  collage  or any of that  so why should  people with disabilities be called kids  is it hard and  some times  it seem like they are children  ?  Sometimes   there are  people  I know  with disabilities  who  fit  this .  But  they are adults   in age.  They   can  vote   ( provided there in  a Democratic society)  can  work   and  do leave high school.   Disabilities   should not  hinder   the word adult being   associated with them.   We  may need help  flinging  adult  roles and  living on our own.  But  the definition does not   state that does it?

  The  reason why I  bring  this up is   from my history  lessons  and family stories. You know like how white used to do it to blacks   back before the civil rights movement  when  white addressed  blacks  as  boy, or girl  and    blacks had  to address   white adults   as  sir  or  mam.   Just a  thought  most of  you  reading this  have disabled  youngsters  so you  probably do not have to  worry about this  yet What do  you think?

 

plans for tomarrow

    help   LM  with  something 

 hw 
  Concert   
 hope everyone has a   good  saturaday

Guess who i met

 Me on the way up  on Mount Tam  Summer 2010

         Late breking news   From  today  but first a pre story


  A  few months  ago
           Mom: AZ   do you  know who    S  W is 
               AZ: No
                 Mom:  He has  CP and the speaker  at  the  annual breakfast  for   Community Gatepath"


 Cool
     A couple weeks later  I saw this.













 and i  asked  "Mom  are we going to Gatepath  so i can  meet him.




  Mom:  no  i have to present  far away


  These past two  weeks


  AZ:  I  have to go to the breakfast  I  have  to  go  to  the breakfast


    Last night


  Dad:  AZ you  can go to the breakfast.   Your mom will   drop you off and I  will  pick you up.


 Today


  MOm  and  i got there late but i was able to get a ticket  and  a seat at  a table in the back and I heard  Steve Wampler  speak.  He is the first person  with CP  to  climb   El Captin in  Yosimitee.    This is not an esay task  for anyone  but   get this    he  only  has  use of  one  hand .    He was able to  grip on with both hands  and  pull up in a  chair.     It took him  six days  but  he made it.     Off the moutian  he  is a husband and  a father  to two  kids.    It  was soo nice for me to meet someone  else with CP  that I can look up to.  He has a new  movie  coming out  next year  and I  told him  he should  come back to the area to screen it.  I really  enjoyed   meeting him and hearing  his story.  I do not  know what my life will be like as I  get older  but    meeting   Steve shows me that    i may  end up  leading  an  adverage life( married , kids,  a career) and  a chance to inspire others    

I need to remind myself

 That   I am amazing.   You  know   somettimes   you get mad  or sad  or  scared    try thinking  that  your amazing.  I have yet to find    great friends and thats  gets me down   but  at the end of the day I  think   if i remember how   great    and things will be ok

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

  A  penny  for your thoughts

In cas you missed this

Princess is powerfull

   I thought I would give  u an update on   my youngest sister  princess.   Princess is   a senior at my  high school  this  year.  She is  playing  v ball and  is  really good.  She   won best in torment  earlier this  year.   She does not  want to  do college  v ball  even though  she is good enough to  She is  stressed  about College  apps  but she will be fine.        

   How  are your  other kids  doing?

Buddy Walk recap

  Happy  Monday everyone  


   On   Saturday  I  went to my  first ever  Buddy Walk.   I looked forward to it all week and    i am glad  I went.  I work up coughing   on Friday  morning and   the first thing  i thought was  i might miss the walk  I did not miss  it and am glad  I  did not    I went with a family that I had met  from my special olympics  young athletes  days.   The family  has one son  and two little girls,   the little boy  with DS I  sat  next to him  and  we sung songs on the way down.  He is  Sesame Streets  biggest  fan  so  when  I sung  the theme song and  paused after  " Can you tell me how to get. '  he  new  what to say it was  soo cute.  Once we arrived The  weather was  beautiful and there   were lots of cute kids there.  I met  a little  four year old who  has  battled cancer twice and  is a savior .   some people get  really into buddy walk.  There were people with signs and banners celebrating the abilities of their love  one  with  Down Syndrome.  The Family I went with  had a sign  that was  right  in front.    It was a fun  walk.


   The only bad  part was knowing that  this great celebration   was not  for me, so selfish  I know.  There is no walk for CP and  I wish  there was.  Camp  Pals  was there  and they are going to have a camp pals  in   CA  summer 2012 which sounds like  fun except wait  I  do not have down syndrome.  I  signed the mailing list    maybe  my sisters  , or me. would  like to be  a consular  and  have a good time at Camp Pals.


 I really liked the  Buddy Walk  and   I  like to ask this of  the  organizers.     Why not have  a  Buddy  Walk for all  disabilities   or   people with Cerebral Palsy  lets     get a walk together.   I think its something everyone who  has   a child with Down Syndrome   should go  to.     Everyone needs  a buddy no  matter how  meny chromosome they have.


 got image  from http://www.dsconnection.org/images/NewsEvents/buddy-walk-logo_big.gif


off to go watch   The Time Square Video

This should make for an interesting Monday

 I left my  cell phone at the Buddy Walk. (apparently the phone  wanted   a new  buddy :)). I also  lost  
   
   My  alarm clock 


  My  phone  so  i can call  people for a  ride  from my evening class.
  
My  Camera so     if i  mange to make it to stats  i can not take a pic of  my  buddy's   classwork  which is   allowed so  i do not have to  do  hw


 I will  let u all  know  how it  all goes  

Eventful saturday

Bay area buddy walk and dramma more detalis latter

Terrific Tripplets

   Check them  out

Learning to read part two My first independent book

     Growing up   my family had a lot of  kids book  lying around  our house.    Among with the Disney   we had  lots  of    step into  reading books .    Out of  all of them  the book  I  remember  reading for the first time  was Tiger is  a Scaredy Cat.  

  Looking back    I say it was a sad  irony that I  remember  this  book   as  I  deal with  fear.      But that was  my 'first independent book.     I also have memories   of  reading this book in  pre  K.  

    Do you remember your first book        What books are/were your    kids   favorite ,

Learining to Read part one : intro

 This hurts  my hard sounds  a  three  year old can say :(

      Let me  start out by saying that I love to read.    It should be no surprise.  These next few  post   will be about how  I learned to  read.  I   read   in a way dispute  never learning  phonics .    Well  not in the traditional way.  I  know what the letters  are supposed to sound like  but   producing those sounds is a different  story.  This  is  due to   Cerebral  Palsy.  Not all   people with CP   have speech  issues.    They  range  from   no problems to   using     speech  devices to  talk.     I  would  classify myself  as   somewhere in the middle.    I  do not need a speech device  but sometimes people do not understand me.  This  can get  frustrating.   I do  a lot  of substituting   which  means that    I  would  say cat   as  "tat"   or  dog as  dod.  I  also  do this  for L's and R  which  i  replace with a  W.   Let me  make this  really  clear the reason  for my lack of substituting sounds has nothing to  do with intelligence. I am  smart  just see  Monday's  post.  Now   I hear myself fine  and understand myself  100 percent of  the time.   Now this sounds contradictory but despite being able to  hear    all the sounds    so  I can sound out  words  I am a bad speller. Not sure why  this is    but  I  would like to be a better speller and I want to  take a spelling class in the  near future.    Anyway  this  might seem  that  I  would be  a uphill battle to  make me understand  reading  but  it really wasn't.( at least that's not what I remember) 

        I  hated  learning  phonics  for me   it was  a reminder to me that I was 'different' in fact  I  remember being told that by my teachers,     For parents of kids  with articulation  delays  do not stress  phonics.  It is helpful to know phonics  but  it is not required.   Model the  sounds  read to your kids   but  do not  stress   hearing the phonics  from them.    People  who  are non verbal can still read as well  as long as people    know how to teach them.

 Here is a school that    proves this








 got image  from

chart http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sound_dev_chart.jpg
bookwormhttp://www.sewterific.com/images/BacktoSchool/BTSBookwormLove.jpg

Soccer

  My  AYSO  picture  from  eighth grade Fall 2005

  Today    had soccer practice and we  did  goal keeping. I  was  pretty  good  on the ground.   Just  call me   steel wall.

  Also did u know the us Para Olympics     has a  soccer  team  for males  with Cerebral Palsy 

Got my Statistics mid tearm back today and I Got

  My  tag line is     not only am i  in Statistics  but I am  thriving in it. What a great way to start my week.

Great story

Thats my Homework

    Today  I spent  the day  doing homework  by myself.    I have been doing homework on my own since fourth grade.
    In  the fourth grade    I had a teacher   lets  call her   Ms. Abilities.     She was a teacher  that everyone wanted to have and today  she now teaches as a  advanced teacher for  fourth and fifth grade.      The  year  was  2001-2002 and  she  taught  fourth grade.     I was  in a class with a lot  smart   kids.    That was the  year   I tuned  ten which  meant that  in  Ms. Abilities  eyes    i  was  ready to do  homework. Oh   I  tried   getting out  of  this arrangement with her and my  parents  but  in the end  I did my English,  Science,  History  homework   on my  own, math and spelling words  were  the  area  I struggled the most so I  got help with that,  because   in  Ms. Abilities eyes I was  one  of  the "smart" kids  as well.   Since  fourth  grade  i have been doing my homework myself  since  fourth  grade and   now  I am in college.     Can you imagine  me  doing homework with my parents, they could in theory,  now  i do not  think so. Thanks  Ms. Abilities  for    making me do my own  homework  by myself. 

 

Grab This Button



















Got image  from http://www.clipartguide.com/_thumbs/0060-0608-3017-4047.jpg

in case you missed it

  First Friday  of   31 for 21 2011  Here is what you  missed   (or read  but did not comment on hint  hint hint )

    Monday:  Great Young  Man:  He   and   I are now  face book friends

   Tuesday:    Tale  of two  twins : part one     part  two comes  next week

 Wednesday :  Ways to  talk to other kids  about  a child with disabilities     This  is   what  I  am post proud of this  week.

  Thursday:     A  little home  video    

   please comment before you leave   either on this post or   the others

The post i did not want to write

   I had ment to write  the  15 ways to explain   disability  and   blog tomorrow.   It was all set i was going to   eat dinner and  do   start  homework .

  Then  I  cheaked Facebook
And found out that Steve Jobs is dead

      .       Steve the one who  engeered   a great learning tool   and  favoite thing in the whole wide  world  my  apple  laptop that   I am  writeing on right on.  I am  going to miss him and his work.  Then there was Aladdin where   I sat  near  him because his son  was in the play and at the same school  as  book  gal.    He is  my age  20   where he  needs his dad   to help him out like my dad helped My Big Bro.      Rest in  peace Steve  Jobs  you  will be missed

Ways to talk to other childeren about a child with disablites

     So today  I came home from school and  caught up with  the  Bravermen family   from the NBC show  Parenthood.  This is a really good  show  but  last  nights episode   raised some  questions.  In the  show    Max, a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, wants  his  cousin  Jabber to sit with him every day during lunch.  Jabber did not want to sit with him and tried to talk to his parents about it.  His dad  told   Jabber  some  well  intention  information about his cousin   Max but  it  went all wrong and  the two boys ended up getting into a fight.  That got me thinking.     With so many kids with disabilities being  include  in stuff like scouts and school  and  (insert  typical  kid activities here)   kids will have questions  and that is  great as long as  the adult has  a proper answer  Here is my guidelines  on explaining a child's disability to other  kids. For this  propose  I am going to  relate it  to group setting.

 1 Don't keep  your kids  disability  information   from them.  This  is not a good  idea  if you want other kids to know about  your child's   special need  then  it makes  sense that the  child in question knows  what his or her disability is.  The first time your child/ student here's about the disability should not be when the other kids   are also finding out.


2   Find a time, sooner rather than later, to   talk to the group.    Talk to  the necessary people to make this happened pick  a time and a date that works well for  both parties.  


3Get the child in question involved  with the preparation as much as possible.    Make a poster   have them  draw on it  or   have them  wear their  favorite  outfit.   make it  fun for them.




 4 Ask the child   if they want  to be present when the information is being present  let them  make the choice.


5   Find a way that is age  appointee.   Some  disabilities have  children's book geared  towards the  specific disability.


 6   Whatever  the way you chose on in step four  practice  it     If it is a book  practice reading it out loud  try to  anticipate any questions the kids might have so  you can   plan an answers


7   When talking with the kids  start out on a positive  note   continue it though  the talk    Avoid using words  like  'broken, damaged, problems, or anything that give a connotation that it needs to be fix.   Most disabilities can not be fixed nor is that a bad thing.


8  Read a book/ talk about the disabilities  Encourage  everyone  to  listen and try and  engage those who are not. Also if the kids start laughing at a unapproved point   ask them why disabilities are not   good  reasons to laugh at someone else.


9    Talk about all the things the child likes   or elements of themselves  that  pertain to being a child. What  is there favorite toy, color, food, etc


10  Stress that even though  disabilities make it harder for someone to do things    they are  imposable. They have gifts and talents  just like the others in the group.


11 Use   respectful language.  Depending on the kids   age  have them sign the  R word pledge. Do this  weather or not the child in question has a  Intellectual disability. Tell  little ones about that  bad word.   It will help  make a world   a  better place to be .


12 Have hands on activities.  Chubby Bunny  is a great  game  for speech impairments.    Have kids  try using a  wheelchair.  Kids, especially  young ones, like   interactive activities.


13  Leave  time for questions.   In general all  questions should be answer but  if some are to personal   say so.  Respect the child's  personality.




14 Wrap it up .  Have  the group of kids   repeat back to you some facts  they know.  In soccer we do  this  and it helps  us  remember what we were learning.


15  Note that the  role  of  advocating  should be for the child with the disability to  be able to  speak up for themselves. The older  the kid is  the more   of this they should do


  Anything I missed  please comment below




got image from
http://www.valdosta.edu/~agedward/reading-teacher-color.gif

A Tale of Twins : part one

 

Once upon a  time  there were twin  girls , Anna andAmanda.   There parents  wanted  both kids to learn to berespectful. So  once they were old enough to talk they learned theimportance of good  manners   sharing and not fighting. Thissevered them  well and they were  successful in school  went tocollage and got married.  

             Bothtwins  wanted  kids and there wish was granted.     Anna  had two kids, Billand Patrick,     Amanda  had    three kids  Jasper, Jed  and Jada.    Amanda  had wonderful kids just like hersister.  but something was  different about twin b   onlygirl  she  had  special needs.    Amanda and herhusband , Ben, were fine  with the fact that  there  girl was a little different  and  both of them became very involved in  the special needs community.  

              Amanda'sboy's  went to their neighborhood school they loved  it and got involvedin after school activates.    The parents  were veryhappy  with the school there kids attended   so as   their little  girl, lets call    turned  five they wanted her to go  to thesame school that her brothers went  to.    The school did not want her.   They  told   Amanda and herhusband that  Jada would have to goon a bus  to get to school on the other side of town.    Amanda, who had been taught not to fight, agreed and so  when fall rolledaround  Jada got on that  busand went to the other side of town.      Jade  hadsome commutation disabilities so  Amanda   sent some  commutation icons  to  theschool.      As Halloween approached    Amanda decide  to  volunteer in  Jada class for   the Halloween party.    What she saw  wasscary, and I do not mean the other  children's costumes. She saw walls with art work  without her child’s name  she saw  Jada   in the just sitting there. When    the womenasked where her daughter's artwork was the teacher told her that Jada couldnot  do  it  so she did not  have to.     Amanda asked  if  Jada  was learning how to read  and the teacher laughed in herface   and  told her that  Jada  would not be able toread  even though   in preschool Jada could   recognize the letters.

    To Be Continued 

 got image from http://www.best-of-web.com/_images/080507-094628-127007.jpg

Great young man

Watch the full episode. See more THIRTEEN Specials.

Stressful Sunday and imput on what u want to read

 Hay guys   today is stressful Sunday because i  have an essay due  and a mid term  I will talk about    more about school this month  but   I was   wondering what would u  like to read about 

That time again

Grab This Button
  Time  for   31 for 21    for down syndome/ disablity Awarness  month. This  month i will do my best to  post every day in october. I have lots of    post  about.  I hope to be going to a concert  for people with CP  and  other stuff..

 I  kicked off  the month by going to the   Big wave harvest festival.  Big Wave  is a housing project   that  is trying to  go up in half moon bay.     This  year both of my parents went  and we  won  big time.

  We  won  a  gift basket gift cards  a  cake   and   four  tickets to the happiest place on earth Disneyland!!!!! I was  soo  excited.   The tickets  were from a silent action which  I did not  know that my mom  bid on it. When  they called  us  as we were heading home  well  I was   very  happy.  Pictures coming shortly 
   here is  the   video about  The big  wave project  see if you can find me