Summer 2011

     Hay  guys  so   just a  quick note to tell  you that  tomarrow   i go back to collage.   I   will be  around however    I am  going to try to concentrate on  my studies (you know   not leaving homework til midnight)   so   my blog and FB  may be negeted  we will just have to see.

  The  summer camp   job  did not  work  out this summer  but     as  you  will  see  below   I still had a fantastic summer.






  I will  try  and  do my best  to  post   around here and  read   blogs.     If  I   get  comments   that  will motivate me to post  hint  hint  hint  :)


   Princess  started senior year  but I did not get  anything out  of her as  far as teachers  go.   I  am  not  giving up   I hope to  document   her senior year on this  blog as  the year goes  on  

A little different but it is still normal to me

    First and  foremost  today is  Princess's 17 b day  happy  b  day  princess.


   One of  Princess's  friends called  last night   to  ask  my mom  to   have a surprised  b day  party.     So  my day  was  spent   getting  ready for the surprise  b day  party.   Throughout the course of  the day I  talked  to  book gal  (who is  doing well thank you  very much)  and  i mentioned to her    it would be  cool  for me to have a surprise b day party. But then I  thought about it.  I do not have many of my own  friends and social situations are  hard.    Princess's  friends   and her  went out   to do stuff  I have yet to  learn how  to drive.    I have  average  friends, flocks without disabilities, but   for me it seems   to hard.  I  can  really  be  myself more around  my peers  with disabilities and  adults.


 Flash forward to  shopping for a card for princess. I found one that said   that sisters  know each other best.  I picked it up   because my dad and I (Mom is in  DC hope u  are  reading this mom ) had a lot to do.   The  card said  that sisters  know  each other best.   Yeah   maybe   typical sisters  know  each other best and  have  the same friends but that is not me. That is  book gal and   Princess  they are inseparable  and   their  friends   are  friends   too.   I know  about their   relationship  because they now  always  fb  each other  I am happy for them  but sad  at the same time.


  The  actual  party   the  girls    let me surprise them  and  cake  was  nice.  I  thought  I   had an allay in one of the girls  who does not come  over here that much.  I  told  her  jokingly that I  had a crush on  Mr.T (they  went to the same high school I   graduated from ) and  she  told the others  and they  laughed.  I get so confused  socially I mean  do  i make fun of myself on  purpose to fit in   Do I talk about boys?    I do  not  know  it is  soo  hard on me.

 After   they kicked me  out of   Princess's room   I  went to my neighbors house   and brought back  my  friend D  (who has  Autism and is 24)  and  we played  Lego  Pirates of  the Caribbean on the wii.   I  enjoy playing  wii  with D   and  it  showed    me   this  I may  have  a disability and  not a lot of  average  friends but  I have  lots of friends    on Facebook and    among the disability com minty. My life  may  be different then a typical  teenager  but  it is  my  normal.  Stay  toon  for more

About United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate (UCPGG)

I am really happy I found this I hope to start UCP hoops in my area

My abilities abc style

This post was inspired by this post from   Ellen  who  blogs  at  Love That  Max in the post Ellen ,who was sharing stories about the 2011 special Olympic world summer game said Special Olympic is great because it is about abilities not disabilities I agree so much that I am going to post my abilities abc style

A I can get an  advocate for people with disables

B I can be beautiful

C I can catch a ball

D I can dance

E I can explore

F I can have fun

G I can go golfing

H I can hold a baby

I I can invite people to hang out with me

J I can jump high

K I can  kick  a ball  

L I can get licked by my dog

M I can make a movie

N I can be nice

O I can overcome  obstacles

P I can be proud of my work

Q I can be quick

R I can  raise money for a cause I believe in

S can swim and ski

T I can text people

U  I  can  understand   things 

V I    can    play   video games

W  I  can  run  really fast in the water 

X I  can sign  my name on the  X

Y  I  can   yack  people's heads off 

 Z  I can  takes  some  Z's

  What  can    your child  do ?  how  about  you  leave a comment  and  or  post about it and let me know  if  i  get  enough  pictures      I might make a  short   video  montage  

 Ps in case  you missed  it    a  look at the  2011 world Summer Games

Oldest??????

    Two  days ago my   sister  book gal  left  for   collage.  For those of you  that do not know  Book gal is going to  UMass Boston to play on the volleyball team.    She  left  early Saturday morning  and   my mom is  still  with her   getting her  ready to move into her dorm .

  I  have    mixed emotions about  her  leaving  . I  mean    we  go back   18 years  and a few  months.  I have  seen her   mostly  every day  of her life  and  now she is     across the country from  the family.  I am  excited that  she  is  going to continue her education while  staying  fit and  get to explore  a new  city  new  people  and new experiences. I am  sad  that   she is not here  anymore  every day  and   can not hang out with me  but    I  am pretty sure  I will  see  her   for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

    I am also  reminded  that     my middle sister and  I  have  different skill sets.    I should have  moved out  to go to collage  this  past  year  and   my parents  should  had  helped  me moved  out.     Its  as  if  Book  gal is the "oldest"  out of   the girls  and   I am the youngest.   Book gal did not have to move out to prove that though   when we are  all at home  I need  the most help to   house hold  tasks  such as  doing my hair  and cooking   I  have yet to learn to drive    and  my siblings  have .    They let me tag along with their friends   Its  just a different   life   and  even though  I  got to experience many  numerical firsts    ie   first to  graduate  high school  first   to  turn 13  the big things   my two sisters  get to experience.   I   think it  must be  hard on them to have  to  be the  oldest  to me  but that is  what the  cards.

                 For those of you that have   childern  Have you  seen  this  with your kids?

  For  people  with disabilities   How  has  sibling relationships  worked in your homes?

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    

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