Monday, July 25, 2011

The Cornish Family: My first interview


  The  Cornish Family
  

   I  am  very happy to  have   Meredith Cornish  who  blogs  at   Cornish  Adoption Journey  to   share  a l little  about her  family.

 AZ :   How old are your kids?   What are there disabilities?   and how did they  join your  family?
 Aleksa (8)  
Meredith: Our oldest two are both 8 right now. Aleksa was adopted 6 months ago from Ukraine and will be 9 in October. Emma was adopted at 5, also from Ukraine, and will be 9 in February.Both the oldest girls have Down syndrome.Emma also has Autism and Cerebral Palsy. Next is Kristopher, our biological 7 year old. He's "typical" and we call him our "biggest" even tho he's no longer our oldest.Wesley is 6 and has spastic quadriplegic CP. He was adopted 6 months ago. Wesley is also visually impaired and is considered legally blind.Brianna is 5, our biological daughter with Down syndrome.James will be 5 in August and was adopted from foster care. He joined our home in May 2010, a year ago, but his adoption wasn't finalized until September 2010. 
 James (4)
Micah will be 5 in September and was also adopted from Ukraine 3 years ago at 18 months old. He has Down syndrome too.








 Lynae(22 months)
And last is Lynae, our typical biological daughter that will be 2 in September, her birthday is 09.09.09.


AZ:Wow that is cool because I turn 20 September 6th.
Meredith:Oh fun :)
AZ: Why did you want to adopt?
 Briana (5).
 Meredith: I have two siblings that my parents adopted from foster care when I was a teen and the second when I was off and married, but adoption has always been a part of my life. Both of my grandmothers spent time in children's homes as well, which is what prompted my parents' decision to adopt.My husband and I were married when my parents adopted the second time, and we've always discussed adoption, so it was a natural course of action for us both the first time, and very much "God prompted" the second two times.When we had Brianna, we got God's "yes" that we could "handle" special needs... since we weren't really sure that we would be able to do it until then.

 Wesley (6)
AZ:Cool.  What resources have you found most useful to helping   you learn  about Cerebral Palsy.?
 Meredith:I used to babysit for a family whose 2 yr old  had CP. She is now 12, and we have continued to be friends (her parents and I). We also find Yahoo groups to be VERY useful, and parents have been the best source of information I've found. The second source would be our blog, when we are able to post our specific issues and find out pretty quick answers, which is priceless

AZ:  Are there any support groups are things similar to the Buddy walk in your area for kids with CP
Emma (8)
Meredith:No support groups that I know of, but I have met another mom of a 12 yr old w/ CP as well that's local and we'e gotten together once now.












Kristopher (7)
 AZ: How aware is Kristaphor about his siblings special needs?
 Meredith:Kristopher knows that the kids have disabilities (except Lynae). To him, it's no big deal. Brianna was born when he was not quite 2 years old, and she's his "always" :) Though the other kids are "more disabled" than Brianna, it isn't a big deal around here :)


AZ:I am a big advocate for inculsion I am on I am norm that fosters inculsion so my next question is what does inculsion look like for each one of your kids.
Meredith: Let's start with the oldest.. Aleksa is only attending school 2-3 days /week this first semester of school, so we have not pushed for inclusion hours for her. Not yet anyway. I'm hoping to add in several morning hours of inclusion for Aleksa nxt semester.Emma is not in any inclusion classes. She doesn't care about other kids, and she is at a very basic learning part now, so she's in a self contained classroom full time.Wesley same as Aleksa. Both of them don't understand much English yet, so the contained classroom isn't bad. The three of them will all be in the same class.Brianna is next, and she is very social and close to grade-level. We really pushed for full inclusion for her, but we weren't able to have the school agree that it would be appropriate. They felt that she was small, shy, and would be run over in a regular classroom. At the end of a 4 1/2 hour IEP, we eventually agreed to have her in the regular kindergarten class for most of the day, with pull out to the class my older kids are in for Math and Reading time each day. James and Micah are both in PreK still. They are in an 90/10 Prek class, which has about 10 kids in it with 1 or 2 "typical" kids along with the rest that have IEPs.Both of them are "aimed for" the self contained classroom because of their behaviors (which really is what keeps Aleksa there as well), but we'll see how this year goes. Micah is really making gains in the behavior area, so we'll see.
Mich (4)

 AZ: Thank you Meredith  For the  interview. this  is the first interview on    my blog.
Meredith:  you're very welcome :) Thanks for choosing me, I'm honored!


 To  read more  about  Meredith  and her  family    visit her  blog    










Sunday, July 24, 2011

Happy Birthday Laid Back Althlete a new nick name

 My Big  Bro  
             Today is my brother's  birthday.      I  will take the time to give you guys an  update  on what he  is doing.  

  After  many  years   of  playing baseball   Laid Back  Athlete now  has a new  job   at  a Enterprise in a big  city.  He lives in  said city now  with  a  roommate.   Since  he  no longer  is playing baseball  it is   time  once again  to  change his  Name on the  blog      Laid Back Athlete  will no  be known  as  My Big Brother   I  hope he like it  happy b day   to my big bro

Sunday, July 17, 2011

What I hope to be doing in four years (A post inspired by the Women's World Cup

                   For the  past two Sundays  my family has  spent   the   early afternoon in front of the  TV  watching the Us women soccer team    in t he women  world  cup.  It has  been  great. Soccer has  been a part of  my life  since  I was  5.  i started so young  because  of  my father.  he  played on the Notre Dame soccer team his  freshman year in collage.  From the tender age of  five  I  was  in AYSO on the  inclusive soccer teams.  I that was a great childhood thing  I  partook  in,

    The next  woman  World cup will be  in Canada  in 2015.  I will be  23 years  old.  So hear are  some things  i hope to be doing then

Finish Collage

 Write  a book/ film  a documentary

Be done with   OCD (this will be done  soon)

 Do  more advocacy work

 Have at least one  CP  Awareness  walk in March

  What   are  your goals  for the next four  years?  For  your kids?






 My first ever soccer team  pic



Monday, June 27, 2011

In America ?

  Pledge  of   Allegiance


 I  pledge  allegiance to the flag  of  the  United  States  of  America
   And to  the republic   for which it stands
 One Nation under God
 With  Liberty  and  Justice   for ALL

    All  means   everyone     even those  with disabilities.   What  happens when people forget 


                 Let me tell you a story.   Lets say  that you are  13 years  old  but instead of hanging  out  at the mall and    middle school  drama   you spend  your days  in a facility  because  you are hard to handle.     One  day on a field   trip  someone  with authority sits on you until you die.      You are in a van  but the driver  does not  get medical care  for  you.

 Seems  like   the victim  was kidnapped   right

   wait   you are in a care facially    why



As a person with behavior  issues  and  disabilities  my heart   really breaks  for this little  boy.    I  hope  there  are   not other  people  in   America  like John  but  the  sad  fact  is that there are most likely others.    I love    being  a American    there are lots of  benefits   from living here  but   I am not happy  with  the story.    Does  anyone have  any  ideas  how we  can  fix the problem?

   For  more info on  John  Carey  click  here 

 and    here is something   that  Tim Shiver    wrote in  regards to   John


 got  image  from http://dclips.fundraw.com/400dir/excl_ed_comoglio_marbatch_Image-5.gif

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Fathers day





  Something I like about my dad is that he   seems to know everything  He is  soo smart and  cool    My dad loves  sailboats  and  baseball  Sorry  he is    taken   Happy  Fathers day Dad

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Just want to have fun

           this post is  a vent u  have been  warned


  Even  though  I am 19 years old   and the eldest  sister. I feel  like  I am  nine and have two older sisters. The worst  part is that   I am done with high school  but never went to a house party   or a school dance.

   Things are different  for  my two  sisters.  Book gal and   Princess  are   known to be out of the house a lot. They have lots of friends that they hang out with   and  I am stuck at home.  I am  soo bored  and the Wii  and internet  only helps  to a extent.  I am soo lonely .   I do not know why this should bother me  because  I have  been  lonely for a while  now  however it does.

 me at a friends  house making cookie December 2010
 What can  parents of  typical  teenagers   do  to help  people like me out  is  to encourage  that   they  call up    others with disabilities  there same  age to hang out with.   I know  i am  difficult to hang out with but  if  I  lack  practice  of being around  peers  I  will never  learn.     Just because I am disabled  does not mean that I  do not have the same diseres   as other teenagers  do. i want to go out of the house without  my parents and have a  good  time.  I want  to have a  fun summer  getaway.  I want something to do.  Will all the  things  typical  teenagers  do  be  right for me   no  but allot of them will.   For example  I  can not  go to   to a 18 and under  club  but  I   would  like to go bowling   or  go to the theaters  to see    Harry Potter at midnight.  I  may not   want to go  to a horror   film   but  i  would  enjoy horseback  riding  or     a amusement park.      What  I would love    is  if  someone  invited  me to do something  and  even  if  it was not  something  I wanted to do     It would  be a step in the right  direction.      People  with disabilities   just want to have fun








Monday, June 6, 2011

Happenings at home

 hay  guys  so   I  have not been   blogging  for a while so here is whats up 

1  My   sister ,  book gal,   is  graduating from high school and will be moving to Boston.  The  ceremony is  tomorrow  and    we have a house party    on Saturday.
 2 Princess is a senior .  She   took the SAT's  on Saturday.  I  felt kinda bad for her because her  first week of summer break  was spent  taking a  SAT prep course.  The same one  I  took    but never  used   i   now  to go  CC  sigh 

3 I  got a job at  a basketball camp.  Note   it is  not a special needs  basketball  camp,  A  regular basketball  camp.  My mom  tried  to  get me connected to a job coach for adults with disabilities  but  I  wanted  to  get the job on my terms. I  was a camper  at this camp  in middle school and loved it.  Their philosophy is  to teach  campers  how to be  better  people  using sport as a vehicle. ( sounds  familiar   right think Special Olympics ) One of my memories of camp is   having  to  ask to go to snack  using magic words  and lots of high fives ( again special Olympics)     I am supper excited.  I will be blogging about it as   I  get more info on it ,

4 My mom  had a birthday yesterday  Happy b day mom

5 My dad's mom is here for the  graduation  tomorrow  this  is really cool as she is in Texas and we do not see her that often.   Yesterday  My parents grandma and I went to see X Men  great movie  more info about that soon

Friday, May 27, 2011

Happy B day Book Gal

 she is 18  an adult   

 will write more soon   have a good  weekend 
 image
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOdv9wz4BwQrXmiF_M1HfZkQXbSq8A4vPGM1Ob5G5sd1HW4ThECIjpJTOmaekBJttEdH6tQOKe87e8vttIDioGnpZvKZzDbtPGFOJebsm423rFYyNP_DS1ZEQpuNmecU-lsM6Ftn1CYI/s1600/007.JPG

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

oh hi old blog

   Hay guys  so the     resson  for the  lack of  post is that   i have a had  a bad month   with finals  and sports    it was not    the best so  sorry    I  have had lack of post will  make up for it soon    just leave a comment   and   know that    I will be getting  back in the swing of things     late  this  week or  early next  week

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Blogging Against Disabilties Day My name is AZ not az

   First off  I want to  say  hi to anyone who  is new to the blog. Thanks  for joining me   for  Blogging Against Disablities  day.  A  little about  me  I am  19 year old  collage  student with CP and other disabilities   i have an  articulation  disorder  as a result of CP I  reside  in  Northern California witch is in the united states .

Blogging Against Disablism Day, May 1st 2011

ok  now  for the post

  I am in collage  like  I mentioned before. it is a community collage    and i am going until I  can transfer to  a  four year, i do not have a intellectual disability people but  apparently not everyone thinks that.

 I want to say first off that the students in my classes  have been great   they treat me as an equal and help me  not  friendship  outside of class , but there has been small talk outside of  class,  which is fine by me as i want to graduate   asap to move to four year.



  there is  a girl  though who gets  on my naves and  the irony of it  I  met her when donating to  some fundraiser to Japan.  She  talked  to me as  I was a baby and  I did not think of anything of it at first.   But then  I  left  my iphone at the booth  and that is when it all started.    They called my Dad   to them that it would be in student  rec room and  my dad of course  told me.

Seeing me  at a table , the girl, who i would say  is  not to much older than me, says in this high pitched  voice  that is  normally used on infants  "oh honey you left your phone in building __ OK  you know where that is ?" Come on  I   am standing near the  building and  I am not a baby.

The  only thing that maybe celebrates  me  from this  girl  is  the fact   that  I  had  a stroke  before  i  was born.   I am  a 19 year old women  after all.  I am  in collage   not kindergarten  why do people assume that disabled  people are automatically kids.  I am not a  baby  I  can hold a baby I was a baby but  that  was  in 1991.   I am a high school  graduate and  one  of the best writers in my class  of students  who  do not have disabilities   so  all  i ask  is for respect  thanks




  my high school graduation picture  taken  late summer 2009

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Book Gal is comeing

  book gal is  going to   U Mass  Boston  this  fall.    She will be playing  volleyball  at the school. the school  has  a good  coach   I am  so excited for her   thought  i would  share with you guys




 got image  from http://digitalartscorps.org/sites/digitalartscorps.org/themes/nostalgiacorps/images/umassLogo.png

Monday, April 18, 2011

Surpise the writer is disabled

  English  class

    professor aka  P
  P:  AZ  i  got   good news 
 AZ : What
  P: will tell u later
  Az thinks about  what the surpise  could be
AZ: I  can't figure it out
 P:  My  daughter, a writer,  read  your essay and said    that  she writes  well

AZ:   Did  u tell her  I was  disabled 
P:  No

AZ:  you should  because she will be  blown away

 aside morel 
  never  underestimate   what  a person  with  a disability can do


 got image  from http://www.academyoftraining.com.au/images/surprised%20look353.jpg

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Menlo Games 2011

     please commentt before u leave



 favorite  event  of the year

  I will be  uploading    more  pics soon

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Getting better

  please  comment before u leave


 In  high school  I was the student  that  was the teachers  hardest to teach
   in collage   two professor   have said that is not the case.  So   either   they have taught worse  students or   I am  improveing 

Monday, April 4, 2011

stareing

 please  comment before you leave   
For the longest time I did not see other  stares.  I think this is do to my  nld but my sisters  and parents  notice staring  and if  it  caused  on my offense, such as an outburst which I still have  on occasion, they are  quick to  tell me. last week;however, I noticed staring  two times.

   It started  when an  autistic man  was   acting out at my special Olympics   track practice. There were a group of kids  just  gawking at him and  I told  the  girls that it is not  polite to stare  i do not think  they  understood  me (no  ST  for me yet) but the  coaches  of the soccer team  focused them  back up again and i had to get back to practice.
 Then on Friday  when  I was having a sandwich at this  place near my house.   A  kid was  just  staring at me.  I would  have to guess he  was about ten  years old.    I gave him  a look that told him to leave me be and he did  but then  I wonder  did  I do the right thing? Should  I have told him about Cerebral Palsy and answer  some of his  questions?  I think  I was  taken aback because   up until this  point   I had not recognize staring.  What would you  have done ?


got image  from

http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/adamson/adamson1102/adamson110200018.jpg

Friday, March 25, 2011

today is CP Awainess day

     no it was not  the last post but it is today  March 25 2011.

  What  is it CP?   A disability that impacts movement   it is kinda like a stroke.   got any other questions  post them  here and  i will answer them    next week thanks  guys  happy  CP  Day,






  Me  C (in red ) and R February 2011
 


  mini me  2001 in Mexico
 ps  if  u could  keep  me in your thoughts tomorrow because i have surgery  (dental work   for cavistes  thanks   in advance will update u  tomorrow with hopefully good news :)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Cerebral Palsy Awairness month part one

 ok  happy  saint  Patricks day. 

  now that  thats  taken care of  i  want to talk about something else   that is  important to me.  I have  Cerebral  palsy and  march  is  CP  awareness  month.     My  CP is  mild   i am  blessed in the fact that I can walk and  talk  somewhat clearly.

But what if   i  couldn't  would i be  considered  smart?   I will never know but  I  want to tell u about a  movie  that  might  shed light on the subject  it is called Certain Proof here is the trailer.


Monday, March 14, 2011

Comeing full circle

I am feeling great today. So many things have come together today and i feel really happy. If you were to tell me a year ago that i would have this feeling of joy after high school i would have believe it, So that is a gift and it make the feeling that much more special

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

My Kidnergaten boyfriend

 Please comment before you leave  
  Today is  e 's birthday. e  is the boy  I  told u about here  but  I told you  briefly about  our friendship  here is  the  Inside   Story


 KA with my mom  in scrubs   e  is around here somewhere my image  loader  for blogger is acting up will try to post  pics at a later date 



    
When I was  five  almost six, my birthday is September sixth, it was time  for me to start  Kindergarten. My parents  wanted me to  go  to a private  school which was  not  too bad for us  as   both of them were doctors at the  time.  Th school did not cater to  those with disabilities  but they took me anyway and there  i went.


 phonics without speaking= great   reading game 


 I was  in KA  and so  was e.  We  were somewhat different.  E  knew phonics  and could  pronounce the names of the letters, me  not so much.  E  was  in a high gymnastics  level. Me  I was not.    To  put it bluntly  he was  not  disabled and  I was but  i do not  think e cared that much. e  and  I were  pals.   While other kids would be mean to me, and make me  the monkey in the middle for basketball, e  would  help me do the monkey bars, and   play in the sand  with me  at recess and lunch.   In  our   class  we would have  play time inside the classroom  and  e  was my companion.  We would  play read write and type and   jumping dinosaurs. Which was like chess.    e and I were equals.  he did not  treat me differently and that is one of the beautiful things about our friendship.   He did not see   a disabled six year old who could not  talk right  and sometimes drooled.  He saw a  six  year old with  black hair and loved  to have peanut butter and jelly sandwich.




  The last time I saw e   was  my eighth birthday.  I went to public school  after first grade  while  he stayed  in the private school system till high school.  Last  January i was able to befriend him via facebook and although we do not facebook chat that often and  have yet to be reunited  in  real life. I have the memories  and there  my kindergarten boy firend  will always be.


Happy  b day e!!!!



   got images  from



Read write a type image
http://www.schoolhouseexpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/TalkFingerRWT400.gif

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sunday Grains of Gratiude

 Another  week  has   come and  gone so  now  is the time for grains of   Graditude.

1    That i had a mini vacation from school as my  teacher  was  sick  and in collage there is no  such thing as a subsitute  teacher.
2   that  i had a good  dentist appoment.  I have a new favorite person  who  cleans my teeth  who has  the same birthday as  me. I have to go in for surgery though so that is  not   good. (note  it is not surgery  but I have to go  to sleep  so  to me it is surgery)
3  My cousins  came  down  the  last weekend in febuary.  C and  R    I  have  not seen them for a while    C  is a gymnast   now at  seven and   R  is   five  year old  who will go to kindergaten   in the  summer(serously they  start school in  July   man that is  early).









4    I  enjoyed  reading    a book for  English  class.  It was  A gathering of  old men it  was a perfect book to  read  because it  is  about African American men  and  we read it during February,

5 For  Film  class  I like  the  teacher and  I get to learn more than   Mr T  taught me.  I get to handle the  camera.   Yes they have  let  me rent the  thing from the  collage.    I am  working on shot projects  and  I   am almost done with shooting.

6 Princess and  book  gal   did great in the v ball tournament so they are now in  Bronze insted of colors

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

R word Myth





It is  OK  to use the word  if   no disabled person, or someone who loves them,  is a  around  




  Negative




 Just as  I was thought in elementary school  integrity  means  that  u act the same  in the dark  as  u do  in the  light
 for  more  info on this    click  here

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Why the R word hurts: a friends perspective


 signing the pledge last year 3-3-2010
     Back in high school I  spear headed   a new  club  called  Dons Disability Awareness  Club. One  of the  events  we did was a  Spread the word to end the word .  It was a great  event and many people signed the  pledge  and  I still have  numerous  wristbands  lying around the house.

   People  might ask  me  why I care so much  about the use of the  the  word   retarded.  I  mean I  do not  have   a intellectual disability.  I have  a physical disability   and a speech  disability but  not a intellectual disability so the  word is  just a word to me  right  wrong

     When I was ten  years  old my parents  signed me up  for judo at the local rec center, The  class  met  Tuesdays and  Thursdays  in the  gym  for an hour.  I  signed  up in February and  before long   my  friend ,she  is no longer my friend,joined shortly after   lets call her  B. She  was deaf and had  NVLD, like me, but she  was  in inclusive education  at the local elementary school which  was connected  to the  rec.  As  faith would have it her  new neighbors  would  move  in and they had  kids around   our age.  A fifth  grader,  a  year ahead of us, a third  grader and  a  four year old who was the only girl in the bunch.  The  third  grader  who we will call LM  happened to have Down Syndrome.   I met them  when  LM came to  join a judo class after  my friends mom  told  her new neighbor about the class  and  shortly there after   LM and I became friends.

   A  few years later LM was  at our same school  in middle school and the three of us always hung out together,. At the  time LM was  into  basketball so every lunch hour   LM and I would gobble down our lunches and  race to  the blacktop to play  in pickup games on one such  occasion we were  playing  with  a  other kids  in my grade, so  older then LM ,  and  LM was doing the best he could.  He  did not have  dribbling down,  needed  reminders of what basket to shoot  at, and  got too close  to the defender.   Most of the  other kids were vary nice to him and  gave him  the ball and  not block him and let him shoot but  on one  occasion a kid  who was  dribbling the ball  and  LM was  trying to steal it from  her she  said.

"GET AWAY YOU RETARD ."

LM  sat down  on the side of the  court  and  I fallowed  him.  I was  stunned.  B's mom had told me not to say that word to  LM and  now i knew  why. LM    was a charming fellow. He loved basketball and Disney movies and did  judo.  He was  full of life   but   the person who called him the R word had  taken all that away from him as if  she  had  popped a balloon that was LM's spirit.    
.
To this day the memory of that  day  is  vivid and  runs deep.  He  is the  reason why  I  started   Spread the word to end the word  at my high school last year. He is the reason why  Spread the word to end the word   will be there  this year  even though I  no longer   attend.   LM  was the first person I  really got to know   with a intellectual disability but he was not the last. B encourage  me  to become a special Olympics  athlete and  I now  know many people  in my area wit intellectual disabilities. People with  Intellectual disabilities are  people   who have  different personalities.    These people can be cliquish while others can be vary sweet and accept everyone.   But when   people  use the R word  they lump them all  together  in to a group that is beneath  the speak.  


 Having CP  which results in unclear s speech I  sometimes  get  treated as  though I have  a intellectual disability  due to my speech.  I know  the feeling  and it is not a good one. i  see  the  mindset  of thinking that  they are above me  and it does not feel right. I am  intelligent  but  even if i wasn't  I still would want to be treated with respect:Learning is  not everything   everyone needs to  realize  that a person is a person   who has  feelings  we  all   cry the  same tears. We all  feel sadness.  It is  what makes  us  human  so  think about that the  next time  before  use the  R word,


  Words DO Hurt

 Spread the word to end the word









 please comment before u leave




 got images  from

 judo- http://www2.nijmegen.nl/mmbase/images/964763/judo.jpg
 basketball-http://web.ocknights.org/images/basketball_cartoon.jpg
 spread the word  date for 2011-http://media.specialolympics.org/soi/files/spread-the-word/STW-Dated-Dark.jpg
 tear drop-http://wwwcdn.net/ev/assets/images/vectors/afbig/water-drop-clip-art.jpg
 Be a fan -http://nyso.org/STW2010.jpg

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

what would you do

 This show comes on  abc  Tuesday and Friday nights
   I gotta hand it to What would  you do    for  useing  TV to  teach  people how to be good citizens  which includes   how to treat people with different ablities.   Last night's show  was no exception, on that episode it   showed two  people with disablties ( a little person and a lady in the wheelchair) and  people 's  reactions to them in the suppermakert.     Both of those clips are worth the watch;however, I want to take a look at  the one of the person in a wheelchair

    


  People with disabilities are  not  hopeless  and do not need help all the time.  As I said  earlier people with Disabilities  do  become  adults  and   the public  has to be reminded  of that.  Recently  one of the basketball players  mom(  I play  on the special olympics team)   handled  my money for me  even though I  am able to  handle  my own money.  In that case I did not mind   because  I knew the lady and  i know she meant  no  harm   i  told  her after the fact.   That is why you need to ask people with disablties for help  before you help because  they might  be able to do it themsleves

  please comment before you leave

Thursday, February 17, 2011

If you could walk in my shoes

 From the  TV movie  to kill a mockingbird also a good movie
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus Finch to daughter Scout, Chapter 3

 I loved  reading  To Kill a mockingbird   if u  have not had a chance to  read it  Now to move   mediums from books to   Television









 I am soo happy that this is finally out  I am  thrilled  I got bullied in elementry and middle school, What happened in middle school is below


 
I remember when I was little and my dad told me that "Sticks and Stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you. Well I don't think it is true... Wait let me rephrase that it is . Princess and book gal have a easy cry baby that would me. My dad says that I am too sensitive and tells me to ignore it. That is the bad advice that you can give a victim of bullying disabled or not .Still don't believe me okay here comes a story



In sixth grade my mom and dad through that I should have one class in special education called RSP. it basically is a study hall with a special needs teacher who helps you do the work. Well in Sixth grade I had a guy in my class who always said I was a loner and no one played with me. I told the teacher and she said to ignore it because he was from a bad family and needed attention. Well I never could ignore it and I spent the remainder of my first middle school year yelling at him back and froth.


The school thorough I had behavior problems so in seventh grade I was put into a RSP room with a strict teacher and mean kids. Man did I hate that class. There were three other kids in the class who teased me and like the guy in 6th grade all of them came from middle class families trying to make ends meet. What made it worse was that there was a nice RSP room with good kids who teacher was nice. I also was the only one with my teachers on my RSP teacher case load The nice one had the others.


On Wednesdays were the hardest day of the week. The teacher had meetings that day and we were under supervision of a sub. One peculiar Wednesday a girl said that the entire 7th grade hated me. She was training for a peer helper and the class was talking about me and how much they hated me. My aid talked to me and sat by me during my next class and we talked to the head teacher(Who is a great guy that i had for math the next year) who told me that they had been talking about how to treat someone with a disability and my name came up. Someone did not learn their lesson.

Words do hurt and schools need to be aware of this and help those getting teased and don't tell them to ignore it . Think about it this way if your son/ daughter fell and scarped his/her knee you wipe it up right. Well bullying is like that only the cut is invisible It's a cut to the child self esteem





me and Lauren potter from Glee  she is spearheading the campaign I  am trying to get involved with this campaign

Monday, February 14, 2011

The Sick Valintine

  please comment before you leave
    you guessed  it I am  the  sick valentine today.  I have been around a lot of sick people  the past week  including both  Princess and book gal  who are  mending but still feel bad.   I thought  I would come out of this complety fine ( as I have a good immune system)  but on Saturday night my nose began to clog and  the coughing began. Sunday I slept all day   and am   taking the morning  off  from classes  but will go to the  night class (  which is tonight    it is my film class   and  important lectures will happened and   I need to be there)






 I hope  everyone   is  not  sick like  me 





Sunday, February 6, 2011

Sunday Grains of Gratiude

   please  comment  before u leave


  anyway grains of  graditude 

  1.  My flim class is going  well and so is english  and history of my country
  2.    My basketball game went  well yesterday I got a buzzer shot  and another shot. I am not sure if the videos will get up here anytime soon   If any one is friends  with me on fb  the  link is up on my wall.
  3.    The wheather  has been nice  this week  it makes  walking to school   much easier  and   although it is  winter  ( no snow ever falls here  much to my dismay.
  4.    For  plants vs  zommbies
  5.   My sisters  did well in volleyball
  6.   that the   packers won the Superbowl.  I actually watched  more of the game then usal  and was glad that the packers won because my brother is a huge packers fan

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

I hate keys

  Hello guys  I want to say first off  Happy  February   (my favorite month of the year)  the ressson for not posting  is  the fact that the comments are not rolling  so   before u leave  could  u help me  out  my commenting. 


   I hate  keys  I mean the  word itself was hard  for me to say for the  first 12 years of my life .  I have a t for K substitution so I  said the  word  Tey and   I would  get a minus  from the ST  not fun times.Now that I am older  I can say  key  but  I have to slow down and really  focus on the   K  sound but that  is just the beginning  of  my   key troubles.

   last  Wednesday  when I got home from school i went to use the key to open the house up.     I  can get the  key in and  turn it but  the key  gets stuck in the keyhole making it hard to get out.     Last Wednesday I manage to  get the key  to the garage out   but then  the Garage   door that leads into the house was locked.  I  then  call my dad and he says to try the sliding glass door   I do  but then the key  gets stuck into the door  and  i can not  get it out nor can I open the door.    I  proceed to the sun room in my backyard  and my  dog comes  and stares at me. This is funny cuz my dog spends a lot of time in the sun room    when we are away.    Now  she looks at me   from inside the house at me in the sun room   where I stayed until my sisters  came home.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Chris Medina Audition HQ - American Idol 10



 more post coming next week but  this  will do  have a great weekend everyone

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Return of Sunday Grains of Gradtitude

   So Sunday  grains of  Gratitude  is  back.  I have not done this for  a while,but I  read them   recently  and I  really liked  reading about the little things that happened   week to week  I  like   re reading them.

  1.   I survived  Winter break .  It was  two weeks between  my sister return to mine . These  two weeks  have  been  home alone  for most of the day  without a routine  so  it  gets  boring. I   did well but  am looking  forward to going back to school  on Tuesday.
  2.   I helped take  down the Christmas   stuff and did a great  job  by myself now all the boxes  are down.
  3.  I went  to a soccer game at my high school.  The team tied  when they should have  won  and  thus  Mr C  did not want  to  talk to me that much. That was discouraging but then  I am disabled   teen and  he had  a  newborn baby  and  his wife   but    at least I talked to Mr,MCG ( AP us history teacher)   Mr C wanted to  talk to one of  the older soccer player which  made   me feel invisible  but    i am disabled so it is ok.
  4.  I  got to see LM.  I went to his house  after the soccer game ( much too my dad not so best wishes) and on  Sat  I  got a ride  with him and his friend who also has DS.  We had a fun time even though they were messing  with me   (  our high schools are ,or in my case former high schools,) rivals.
  5.  I went to 2 basketball practice. On sat it  was rrc special Olympics and  today was the hmb  pre practice. I  think we will have a great season  .  At today's  pre practice I helped  one  a kid who is  my age with CP  sooo cool. This Saturday is  the first practice so  I will  take pics then. If anyone  who is reading this  and  lives in the area   hmb  is far but it is worth it.    
  6. I am doing  grains of Gratitude again
  7.  I went out to lunch with my mom Saturday afternoon.
  8.  For MLK  he  made  my life so much better .  As an American American  disabled  female  his work  impacts me soo much,  I watch  the Imitation of life  and it was  interesting  to  see  the hate between a child  and her mother due  to  skin tone.  I hated the girl by the  way   I was   that into the movie
 Happy Sunday

Monday, January 10, 2011

Deedah: the movie review

        How I got the movie 
to find out more about the movie  please visit http://www.deedahandme.com/

       In the fall  of 2010   I came across a  trailer for a movie made by  a sister about  her brother with down syndrome .  (This was  of course Deedah)    I watched it  over and over again   and wished I could have it  but I doubted that my parents would pay for it ( I have wanted the Child King for a while now but have not  yet seen it). I then found out about the blog and facebook group and I quickly  signed up for  both of them.  On the blog  in October -which is Down Syndrome and  Disability Awareness  month - the  blog  was giving away  a free copy of the DVD. I left a lot of comments   and  even though I did not win I still got a DVD for free due to my  "persistence and passion".    It was put in the mail  and  I waited  and waited  for the  DVD to show up. I would come home every day from collage and look in the mailbox  - which resulted in me taking the  mail in but after it came  the mail  was  not  that interesting  anymore - and  when it finally came I was  thrilled and excited  to see it.  Now a couple of months latter i have had the time to  review this movie.


    Review

 the  two kids from the film they are soo cute
  Like I said before Deedah  is a seven year old perspective about her brother with Down Syndrome.   The  two kids are -in the movie which was made  in 2009 so  they are a bit older now-  seven and five years old. Seven and five are  two cute  ages  and  these kids are no exception both kids are soo cute and fun to watch. The  sister is  the older one in the family with   her brother years behind him.   There names are John and Charlotte The name of the film comes from  the way john first said  his sister's name. John  was born with Down Syndrome  but the film  really shows how normal  his life really is.  John can   go down water slides, play mini-golf, and    goes to school in a inclusive program with  other   kindergartners.  The music  is  really  good , I found myself singing the songs in the film,  and  it  adds to the overall  positive tone of the documentary.  The documentary is extremely positive  from  Charlotte  perspective on her brothers disability. She  tells the audience   that everyone  has different  finger prints and  that her brother is   great just the way  he is.   John may have a speech delay but he able to articulate  his  disability as being UP Syndrome  instead of Down Syndome extremely loud and clear .

 The film also takes a brief  view on bulling.  This is where I think any kid   can  take something away from the movie. The film talks about  how bullying  hurts  even  if the Victor is disabled. It  gives kids   ideas  on how to deal with bullying and  how important it is to help  kids develop strategies  to stand up to those  mean kids.

  In conclusion I think Deedah  is a great movie. I wish it could have been longer.It  is 30 minutes  without bonus features) The songs are great and the kids are even better.  I think this type of video should be shown  in elementary schools   to help kids understand  Down Syndrome.   I would love to see more movies like Deedah  showing other  disabilities.  I think  movies like this have the potential  on how other kids  will view a child  with Down Syndrome.  After you see the movie there is  still the blog that  keeps you up to date about life after the documentary. I hope more movies  like Deedah  will be  made to show that all people with all types of disabilities  have more abilities then disabilities.











Monday, January 3, 2011

Wrapping presnts with CP and NVLD ( aka without good fine motor control)

As u know if u have been reading I bought presents for the first time this year for all my siblings and parents. so that means wrapping. Wrapping presents with cp means that the perfect wrap job will not be archived but it is the gift the counts.