Its been a while

   Hay  guys  so   I  know  I have not been around    recently.    Its because   I have been dealing with  mental health issues/ depression in addition  to another loss in the family ,  My mom's dad    pasted away  the last saturday of  october.  So its been  hard.   Hope to blog more soon.

Dear Public Schools,

   Dear  Public Schools,


  You  know when  you have school wide events,  and  the school  website  .  All  the kids  need to be represented.   That   means   every type of  learner  needs to be represented  at the school.   If you have  school  wide   pajama  party  or a  Science fair  or  walk a jog .  All kids  need to be represented.  Including those  kids in those  classrooms.  You  know the ones  who  for no fault of your own have special  needs.   Let me tell you a secret.

  Those    kids have names

 Those  kids   enjoy  having fun.

 Az, a student who has special needs goes down a bouncy slide  on her  Senior Activity Day.     

 Those kids want to belong to the school community

 So  next time  u have an event   Please make sure they know.   please  make sure they are invited.  If you  happend to take pictures of  said  event   please make sure you capture their smilies to  post on the website.   They    have  the same rights  as the  average students.

 Sincerely

 AZ
 ( a  student who   is friends  with  students in the Special Education  classes. and has  disabilities)

 AZ graduated  community college with honors and a  degree in Social Sciences 

Got  pic from http://prek-8.com/holiday/backtoschool/images/backtoschool_nametag1.jpg

World CP Day 2013

  Hay  guys  so today  is  World CP Day  and this year its  special because I am a champion for  CP day.     Today is the day to  wear  green and  talk about the abilities of people who live with CP.  The  video  this  year is  a very  unique one because it shows the great  abilities that  people with Cerebral Palsy  have.  I want to thank everyone for sharing their photos with me.    It was so fun to be able to see all  of the people with CP and learn about their abilities. Thankyou.

  I also want to thank  Kate  for letting me   honor  her son Gavin.   For those of you who do not  know the story.  Gavin    passed  away this past  April at five and a half years old .  His  family   called him  their super hero.   For more information please visit Kate's  blog  to learn more about Gavin and his amazing family.


   Hope  you enjoy the video



 Rest in  peace  Gavin

 Have a great day everyone and remember to wear  green.


 Ps.   Sorry if there are spelling mistakes.

University Update

            For those  who read the blog and  or  know   me  offline,   You  know that  last semester  I graduated   Jr. College and  started University  near by  my  house.  Well  what  you  probably are wondering is  How is the transition  going.

               I have  changed my clases  a ton  so now  I am  going  part time with nine units and  the department   dean has already met with me and my  parents and advisor,  who originally said that  I  could stop on by  whenever I want   however  I   was  going too much,   So as of  now  I have  nine units 



   Math for Elementary School  Teachers

   Linguistics

  American  history

  Lets  take a look at how  I am doing  in all three in those classes 


 Math 

  Never too old for  a first day of  school pic  8-28-13

          I  hate to admit it but this class is hard.    We are doing fractions and  the homework has  been difficult   We went over the  chapter review, we have a test on Friday, which I  understood  so   maybe  the test will be doable. 

   Linguistics


                I  got an  A  on the first test despite not having  extended time because the professor did not put  the test  in the   DSPS place.    I wish  that was  my only complete about this   professor but  I have not  liked them  since the day they  said  that "  All  children learn language without ever being taught." When I   confronted her about it she  said  Well  all NORMAL  children do. I  went to  her office  hour and  tried to expalin   the mistake to her but  she  said it was interesting   how a word changes.  (  ok  so  she was  taking about the R  word)  and she  used  crippled   in her handout then  defended it.    If that isn't  Ableist then  I do not know  what is.   When  we were learning about  developmental stages she  said    " AZ knows that your  tongue  has to do  gymnastics   to make  the sounds."   = Sure bring up that up I am all ready finding some part of the topic that applies to me.

                  We are  doing  phonics  now which is  going alright except that some  students are laughing  at things  and sounds  which  I do not find funny because  well  I do know It might have something to do with the fact that I  been in speech  for a long time  and still  t alk like Sh**.   Oh  the  professor thinks  sounds are interesting and  K i s such a  cool  sound.  The professor also  said  jokingly to another student,  Well J  its ok if you cant   make a clicking  sound  but     I  think you can make the  L  sound.       J finds it  funny I  find  it  offensive  but again  I  can not do anything about it.   I  sit in the back of  the class its  a good   place to  doodle  and   zone  out.



 History


 Well I  have this right  after  Linguistics and it    gives me something to look forward to  those days.  The  guy is  British  and extremely funny.    I am  interested in hearing his  take on the American  Revolution.  I  enjoy his lectures.


 We had  a test Tuesday  and I think i did alright considering that    i had to take the test where people  get tutoring.  I am used to  total quiet when doing  test  in  fact that is why I take the test  outside of class.    I  do not think  the campus is disability friendly.  There is  one  bright  spot  I have  a friend that wants to be a special education teacher and  has   worked in the field so he   'gets'  it.  Now to  educate more people .  
:(

Endless Treadmill to Adulthood

                 Over the weekend, apart from turning 22 , I saw this and was very happy by the end of the clip.   it starts at 51 seconds.

   Ok so there   is a couple of guys drinking beer... hay isn't one of them  disabled...... is that  allowed.......




   My answer  is  why not as long and he's legal age  why can't a  man  go to the bar and  drink amongst his friends.



  Well not all people  think  like that.  On  Wednesday night I had a meeting for Big Wave.  Big wave is a  idea for a local housing  community for people with developmental disabilities.  We are in the process of making a list  of entry requirement and one of them was  the question of Alcohol  One  parent spoke up and said that Who are we to   take their  rights away.  They are adults.

 I  spoke up and said the same thing; however  some other parents  jumped in saying it was not a good idea for their  disabled  kids to drink.


      Before I  go on  I want  to say  I see your point. You want your adult children  to be safe and sometimes meds and alcohol do not mix.  I see that  and   I do not drink a lot for this reason  however,   everyone should have  choice. Freedom of coice  is one of the perks of  turning   18.    Average  young people  have that choice  when they go away to college.  Why should  those with disabilities be any different.   Parents should  talk to their  kids about the dangers of drugs  especially if they are on meds , but to band  certain  things  is not fair because  the people living here are adults.  If you are trying to give your   sons and daughters independence  then  you  have to give  them a choice of what to  put into their body.  Its  that  simple.


 There is  no Neverland . Their are  no Peter Pans  who  stay  a child forever.   Arm your kids with information and  hope for the best because  that is all you can do,

 Now back on the endless treadmill to adulthood

Once upon a time

Hay guys this is a good post , but spelling may b bad as I typed on my iPhone, internet is down at my place school starts tomorrow . I still need photo for the CP montage.

Once upon a time in the fall of1997 a little black and hispanch girl started kindergarten.Not only was this girl a  minority  she also had CerebralPalsy    She hated phonics because she did not havethe ability    to make the sounds, yet she loved words and was reading by the end of the year.

By first grade this girl had really bad behavior she was diagnosed with  nld . But that spring she participated in field day and got awards 

  

In second grade she attended a new school  they were able to help her and she got an   Award   for a nature project.  

 

Throughout her elementary school career she won 

 

 Life skills  awards 

 Bike rider award in third grade for particpating in sunday bike rides  with her teacher, dad, and siblings. 

a science fair ribbon in 5th  grade 

Along with trophiesand awards    for neighborhood kids sports one year she won a good  award from her local ayso 

In middle school the student still had behavior problems but still managed to get on honor  role.

 She joined special olympics and began to win lots of medals over the l next  eight years .

In high school she got awards as well but also developed OCD  she did not want to leave high school and acted out so bad that many people did not  not want her to visit she accepts full responsibility for this by the way.

 She missed a lot of class her first semester of college but when she   Started going to school she improved her behavior and  picked up a medal that said that she graduated with honors. Out of all the awards she has received this one means the most to her.

Finding a balance: Friendships among abilities

             Friendship  is a   long word- a  wooping ten letters. For some  friendships come easy.  Two  kids   meet t
hey  like  Angry  Birds and   Mario and  Legos and  bam they  become  friends its that easy. For others  it is  really hard they  might  be shy  interverted or a little  nerdy,




  Enter a child with a pretty sigficant disabilities




           I should propise by saying that  I do have special needs and sigficant social issues and  do not have a lot  of friends, nor have I  ever had solid firendships.  I have tried   befriending those with special needs and adverage  people with some success, not much but some aquences and some  firendships past.  In  lainmans terms, I may not be the best person to  give advice here  but this is  just  my  own   oppion,  which.


     I think kids with special needs need to have a mixture of firneds.     They should have  peers  that also have disabilities  if possable  with the same dignoses.  I have seen the  special  connection that others have made   with those with disabilties. For example,   I have witnessed   two  young people with  the same disabilities as  "brothers"  even though they are not related, good luck convinceing them  though.  I have witnessed a group of young kids rally  together to support another  kid  when they  had a  meltdown and  all three kids  shared the same  disability. As for me  I do  feel a special connection to others with CP. Which is why  I  love doing the World  CP montage,  and online  I  read stuff by fellow  CPers and  I  think,  "Man  I could have   written that."   But  I do not have a close  friend   with CP   but I  think  I  would enjoy that.  In the meantime I have friends with  disablties   over the past 21 years of my life.

      I also believe  that kids with special needs need to have  average  (ie  people without disabilities ).   I  am not going to lie  I had a lot of help  from my mom and book gal  on this subject

  I  think  my mom put it best in that    interacting with different types of people allows you to  break down stereotypes of that person and  allows  people to see  that when the day is done   we are all just people.  Book gal  agrees ,her best friend is different  from her but  what makes them  best friends  is knowing that they  have each others back.  

   Another reason that  interacting among abilities is  that  those with special needs will need to interact with the general population  for the rest of their lives.  99 percent of the time   I need to  interact with the people   at the store in  restaurants and  college.    Most of these people  do not have disabilties therefore  those with disabilities need to learn how to   behave  with average people.  The social skills  I do  have I had to learn  in the world. I could not have learned them in  amongst my peers with disabilities because  some of them   are trying to learn  them  themselves.  In  first grade I had  to learn about personal space  because  when  I  got too close to my classmates  they did not like  it.

 It a nut shell  those with  special needs  need a balance of  friendships.   It is nice to be amongst people that understand what you are going through, yet   by isolating one self   people with special needs  do not get a chance to  bridge the gap  and gain the social skills needed for  success.  What are your thoughts.


  If you  know  someone with Cerebral Palsy  click here to learn more about a photo montage  that
AZ is hosting for World CP Day.








Got image from http://theadaptables.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Children-with-disabilities.jpg

   

Invasion of the Super heroes: A call for pictures for World CP Day to honor Gavin

                       So  remember how I said last year that  the World CP  day   montage will be something  I will do   next year Well

 Its  back and  this year its bigger then ever.  Now self advocates, parents  will be able to join in the fun for World  CP  day which  is  on October 2  this year.  Its  going to be twice as fun because now  people  can submit two photos  and they will both be in the montage. but  before I tell you  the details  its  time for a story,


       Meet  Gavin 

 He was a five and half  little boy who  had CP and a unknown  genetic condition. I  say was because  last April, on his  mother's birthday, Gavin  left the earth.   His family misses him very much.

Gavin's family with their supper G  t shirts on the fire truck that was named after him,
 Proof that Gavin is  a supper hero

 Gavin loved the water and charmed everyone he met.  He was  a supper hero  to his mom  dad and little brother  Brain.

 Gavin was supper happy in water 

 So  a few weeks ago I was thinking about  having a world CP  video that would  honor Gavin   I talked to his mom  Kate  via  Facebook and  she  thought that  having a supper hero photo would be good.   So that is exactly  how  you can  enter  two photos,
  One   can be of anything  like  last year while  another  is a   photo  that has words on it  that say 


 Supper   (       )

 or  

 ( Name) is a  supper  blank.   

  EX :                                    Do not put a copy wright symbol  on your photograph

  You  do not need  a copyright symbol  

      If you have  fb   Pic monkey  is  an easy app for this.   Let me know if you need help with this and I will try to  walk  you through it; however  I  will not have time to  put words on the pictures so you need  to do it 

 Once you have  done this  email me  at azchapman1991@gmail.com  and  check back  October second for the  video montage featueing   Supper amazing  people  with Cerebral Palsy 




     Updated  August first 

   I have only  gotten two pics  so   I am  going to make it easy on you  guys  Here are your instructions

1 Send me  two different pics 


2Tell me what the text should say   and what picture it goes with 
3Make  sure the text is spelled correctly

23 years ago

23 years ago America was getting ready for me. The ADA was passed which gave me and my fellow disabled people civil rights there is still a ton of work to do to ensure that those with disables have a full life but ADA was definitely a step in the right direction happy ADA day,



















 Sorry  guys  I have been  MIA , Its been a rough summer for me,  Hope to be back  blogging   soon.

Today is my dad birthday

 My  Dad's new bike   summer 2013

  


         So  I  do not mean to make anyone jealous but I  relly  believe that  I hit the jackpot when it comes to Parents they are awesome   They  don't  baby  me and they are  still  together after   having me  and believe  me I am not the easiest person to deal with  here are some reason my DAd rocks  because today is  his birthday,



1.  He knows everything.    He is the walking encyclopedia.   He  has  a deep depth of knowledge from   United States  History to  Biology.  He   does not have   just a math or just a reading brain  he  knows   everything.  People  used to call  him the wizard.   

2  He   is  present in my  life   both physically and emotionally.   He  picks me up from school   talks to me if i have a problem and  goes  to consoling appointments with me to help me
.  My favorite memory of  him from my childhood is  him  reading  stories to  me and my sisters.

3  He  loves me.

 Happy Birthday dad  I love  u 

Mi abuelo se murió My Grandpa died.

 Hay guys. So  this Father's Day was really hard because my  Dad's father  passed away a few weeks ago. This is the first grandparent that I have lossed and its hard.    I  ment to publish this  a while ago,yet  I did not have a picture tonight  I  found a picture of     me and my grandad. So  I will share the poem with you guys. 

 The words underneath the Spanish words are the  English translation, Hope you enjoy.

 AZ and Grandpa    

Mi abuelo se murió

 My  grandfather died 

 I feel so sad 

 that he is no longer here 

 My  grandpa was born in mexico

 in the year 1934

 He  came to The United States 

 to make  a better life for himself

Mi abuelo trabajó duro

My grandpa  worked hard 

 My grandpa  had  six kids 

  Six beautiful children 

  he has meny grandchildren 

 He wanted his kids  to have a good life 

Una rica vida

A rich life 

  Abuelo

 Abuelo  how I love you 

 I  wish I could have  gotten to know you better 

 I   know  you are watching from heaven

 My dad and siblings  went to Mexico 

  paying respects

 Know that   although I  am not their

 I  love you and miss you

 Thanks for being there  for my dad 

Te extraño abuelo 

I miss you   Grandpa 

 Rest in  peace

Able to go to College - Episode Nine : Gummy Sweat Shirts

      This week  my team got sweatshirts.   There is only one other team with sweat shirts in the whole  league.      I  have spent  years  watching my sisters playing sports for their  schools  and  I wanted a turn  so a few weeks ago I  had  ask  Coach  J about  the sweat shirts  and we  got them.    I remember coming home  from school Tuesday night and  finding it there on the banister.         I  was so  excited.  Seeing something that I dreamed of come  to life is  priceless.       Dreams can come true. This week  I also chewed  gum  for the first time while doing the bee lab  report. Gum  chewing  is really hard because of CP. So that was  huge.

A tough Birthday

          So  today is my mom's  b day.     However my dad  is not home because last night he had to go to mexico  because  his dad my  Grandpa  died early tuesday  morning. Book gal and the man  leave  for Mexico   in a few  hours.  I am staying here with my mom.   In true AZ  form I  am going to write a tribute poem to honor my Grandpa soon.  

The best choice my parents ever made for me : An inclusion success story

   So   I  have been hearing multiple times about  the fight parents   need to have  to give their child an inclusive education.  Every time  I hear about this my heart breaks because I know  what the benefits are to being include  and I feel so powerless because I can not anything to fix the system  but hopefully  it will be different in three years  since I am becoming a  special education teacher for now his is all  I do I hope everyone enjoys the video.  Feel Free to share  just leave a comment first. 

. 

AZ Fiction Reading List

    From the time  I was young,  I  have loved to read and  as  I have gotten  older I  have had  to discover books about  characters with disabilities , cuz  lets  face it   reading about  average  people   is  boring when u have a disability  because  you  do not have anything  to relate to,    Here are some books that I have found and loved   that have  characters that live with disabilities   I have just  finished American  Lit  so  keeping with the  theme  all of these  books   are  written by Americans.


   

  ACCIDENTS OF NATURE  

     I   first learned of this book through   other youth leaders at I am  Norm.    This is about  a  girl  with CP who  has  been mainstreamed her whole life but goes to summer camp for those with disabilities.  Very  good  but  it is set in  1970  so the  R  word will rear  its ugly  head.   Talks about  the average
 community vs  the special  needs  community in an accessible way.

OUT OF  MY MIND 

  If you have a child friend student   who has  a speech impairment you need to read this book. This is the story of a little girl with  prety significant  CP.   She can not walk or talk  but  knows exactly whats  going on.  This  needs to be turned into a movie.   It is viral that parents read this book 

 The Story of Beautiful  Girl 


1968  A women with developmental disabilities  gives birth to a baby  girl  only problem is  she lives in an institution She  runs away with her deaf boyfriend and  she comes to the home of a retired school  teacher.     Unfortunately  the women and her  boy friend  are caught  but the girl  is not found  by the officials   Read  how their lives unfold.  R  word is in  the book.  The book  captures the  disability rights movement.  

  Nobody's  Perfect 

 Great book written about a deaf  girl  who is bothered by the fact that a new girl does not like her.  Turns out that  the new girl has a secret
    One of the Authors  is  Marlee Matlin   the deaf actress who is best known for Children of a Lesser  god. 
 She also has written two other books , yet I like  this  one the best. 

 Wonder 


   A  kid who looks different starts the fifth grade for the first time. Very  good read  talks about bullying.

 Still  reading this  one.  This is about  three kids  who have recently moved  into   a SF   home   that   was  once owned by a author.     The  youngest of the three kids has dyslexia.  They  go on a adventure  to save their mom and dad.   Fairly  new book

 Memory keepers daughter 


  A doctor delivers his own   twins .  A boy and a girl with down syndrome.     He sends the  nurse  on call  to take the baby to a group home;however, she refuses. Things are complicated because the Doctor's  wife  thinks that the child has died.



   Part one of the list. Do you guys have more Fiction books.  Next up is memoirs 




   

I graduated but

 before I share  photos  of graduation I   will  finish  up Able to go to college web series  if y ou are new and do not know about the series  here is some thing to fill you  up to speed


  During the 2012 Spring semester  I took   videos  once a week  talkin g about college life with disabilities. Now its  time to  finish  up the series.

Spring Games

  Spring has sprung

 So  Saturday was the spring games. I had  fun. I  participated in track and field.  I ran the 100  and  4 by 100  and    the turbo   jave, a plastic javelin.   I was really nervous about running  my first race(  the 100 meter dash)  because I fell the year before but I did not  fall and got sliver.  In the four by 100   I  was able to pass up another  runner as  anchor for  second place. In  jav,  I got first because no one was in my division. Now  we just have to see if I  get to go to summer games.  It would be  a nice  thing to do in the summer.  If I do not get to go as an athlete this year I might go to watch since   I have never been to summer games.

No one would have predicted : three years later

  I had  the worst start to college.  I  felt that I did not belong there.  I  was severely depressed. My  first semester  I missed  two to three weeks of school. I wanted nothing to do with college I wanted to go back to high school.  I was afraid of the world, which  sounds   bad, but its true.  I did not want to go up  I thought I would not be able to succeed.

   I  do not blame myself because I  had  been brainwashed into thinking I was not college material. I knew  I was smart  and could comprehend, yet my teachers in high school  did not see potential in me  and I had no  friends who could relate to going to college with significant disabilities.  All  the kids my age with with disabilities were  in the Adult transition program.  I did not qualify for the program, yet junior year  the schools workability  school representative   told my mom that I  should find a job at Safeway.  I was hurt.  So you see  how scared I was  to leave  high school.

 Too make matters worse  due to my terrible monstrous behavior,  most teachers in high school did not allow me to contact them. I  have tried to befriend so many  of my former teachers who have befriended other students , yet most ignore me  including my special education teacher.  I think they did not want to hear  my tdradigies that were going to happend or so they thought,


    I  finally got the college thing down and I made the dean's list. I  developed close bonds with professors and staff.  My behavior improved a ton to the point where  teachers LIKE me.  I have asked them if they are sure that they are not confusing me with Princess,  yeah  I know  she is not at the same school. 


 Just today this  conversation took place between  Professor D and  me,

 AZ: Thanks for tolerating me this semester

 ProfD: No  problem its been my pleasure,

AZ: What? 

 a student: Its been his pleasure.


ProfD:  Keep in touch I  will fallow your blog.


 For ProfD: Thanks for  being supper nice to me and helping me out. I hope  we keep in touch if you  do not mind. I may be visiting  in the fall.  Your words mean a lot to me and show me how far I have come. Thanks for  leading  me to believe that I am a decent person. I love  comments on the blog btw

  


 Now  do not get me wrong I  still have hard  behaviors  at home and in DSPS, yet I  am
  

learning  how to  deal with them in a mature mannor.   Part of it is habit. I have  to retrain my reactions which is not easy but  I am  going to be graduating  JC and Transferring  to University. Right now my Major is Liberal Studies but I am thinking of  switching it to English  with my end goal being a Special Education teacher. I am not  going  to a day program, I am not going  to a shelter workshop. I  am going to University.

  Too be honest I have been afraid  yet  I  feel like this time thing will be different. I  will stay  in contact with many professors at  the  JC and support Staff  at DSPS.  I hope  to  take  some more classes their if time permits   I  have grown and I am  ready.  Transition will be hard,yet their are two major thing that will be different. I have a ton of people who support me now and most importantly, I  believe in myself now. 

How a mom's decision to work influenced her child with disabilities

   When  I was younger I had a friend  who was also disabled we  grew up in Elementary school  as included students in the main stream classes.


   Her mom was  a stay at home mom during the week. My mom worked a ton.  More than my dad.


 Growing up I hated this  I  wanted a mom t hat would pick me up from school  take me to therapies  drs appointments  and everything else that is involved for as a child with special needs .  Lucky  I had a great nanny who helped  raise my sisters and me  

I  always  said   " I wish you could be  a stay at home mom like   { the classmates mom}



 Now  on the eve on my graduation from JC   I am  glad that she worked.   She was able to make a difference in the lives of others, first as doctor then  as  vice chancellor, her curent physician

 My mom and me basketball tournament 2013

 More importantly I learned how be independent   I learned how to do my homework myself. I learned how to be assertive in the doctors offices.


 Once my baby sitter left  three years ago. I learned how  to

  Set my alarm

Get to the bus on time

 I learned how to make things to eat  like my dinner Saturday night  a can of beans

    On Saturday I  walked to  track practice  because my mom was  working

 I learned how to go to the bank  and get money out.

 Do I know all the skills  I need to know to live independently? Nope  but I  will and  my mom will be there  I leaned these things  because  my mom worked so it was up to me to learn how to advocate for myself   I  did not have to look far for an inspiration because  as a black women  leader my mom is an advocate.    As  I grow into  a advocate  her stories of  courage and wisdom will guide me and for that I am grateful.
  I  love you mom happy belated  Mother's Day 

Yesterday

  I Finally submitted my college applications inclusion does work


 Sorry  guys  I  have been  missing in action  a lot of exciting things are coming up   i  promise including the rest of Able to go to College  school has  been  crazy  busy  but  I  have not forgotten about  you guys  so  hang in their and I will  blog more soon.