31 for 21 Day 14 A major misconception about NLD.

       I have  Non  Verbal  Learning disorder, NLD for short.  When  people  first hear that they  think that I  am non Verbal .   The  answer  to this is false.  I  talk  and use speech for all of  my communication  needs.    My  speech is  unclear  but that  has to do with Cerebral Palsy not  NLD.

  Too learn more about  NLD  please  watch this  somewhat short video,

31 for 21 Day 13 Sending your kids with disabilities to college an Q and A

  

Today’s post will be from Stephanie,  Stephanie has two kids    the oldest  is Ryan, who has been on my Special  Olympics Track Team  for the past four years,  Ryan  has  Autism  but that does not stop him from   going to  college.  He goes   to  the Wayfinders program at Fresno State.   I talked  to Stephanie  about her family’s decision to send  her son to college.




 AZ :How did you find out about the program?
  Stephanie:  I heard about the program when I googled colleges for kids with disabilities. I did a lot of research on Fresno State Taft College and UCLA.
The process to apply for Fresno State took about six months. We visited had interviews and there was extensive application process. In the end Ryan liked Fresno State

 AZ Why did   you  guys  chose the Wayfinders  program?

 Stephanie: I  didn't take him to UCLA because I thought LA is too big and too far. When I did research about Taft College it was also too far and it is a very small school. Fresno seemed perfect because it was a perfect mix of not really a big city but a nice college campus
Their program is very extensive. Not only does it include independent living skills and budgeting finance paying bills on your own it's also a work program.
Ryan starts his job in the library and bookstore this week.It's a great school for not only social interaction academics but also the independent living component and they have a lot of life coaches and other coaches to help them along the way
It's challenging because they really work you hard and they make sure that you stick to a budget and that's not always fun. But the whole goal is to get you to a place where you can live and work independently and have a social life. And really isn't that what everybody wants?

AZ  How is  Ryan  doing?

 Ryan and his brother  Will 

 Stephanie :It's taking some time adjusting to all of the new experiences having three roommates sharing living spaces sharing refrigerators going out to parties and events going to classes and all the while keeping track of your own money. Ryan is finally starting to enjoy it a lot more I think at first it was very very difficult because he's never had to do anything like this
 AZ What would   you   want to say to other parents about  sending their  student   with  disabilities  to college ?

 Stephanie: I would say be prepared for a lot of ups and downs. First of all it has to be what your child wants not what you want. Like with Ryan him being 3 1/2 hours away it's very hard. He gets homesick he didn't know anyone when he got there and for some kids with disabilities it's very hard for them to use language skills and social skills and get out there and meet people.
You have to be prepared for a lot of phone calls and a lot of support.
And you also have to realize that it's OK to fail if it's not the right situation for your child or your child is it happy then it's OK to say come home


   Thank you  Stephanie for giving us some insight.  I  can not wait to hang out with  Ryan over winter break.  Have a question for Stephanie  leave a comment below .

 

31 for 21 Day 12 Meet the girl that stared in Switched at Birth

 Meet  Sofia  Sanchez.  She is  a first grade student who is  also  making quite a name for  herself as a modal  in the Change the Face  of Beauty and has recently made a guest appearance  on Switched at Birth.

     In the  show   Toby, who is  the older brother  of Bay who was  Switched at Birth  with  Daphene,  breaks the news to his  family that he is expecting a baby with  Down Syndrome.   In an effort to educate themselves about the condition the two of them  go to a school for kids with  developmental disabilities.  There they  meet   Sofia who shows Toby that Down Syndrome is not the  end of the world.  Sofia stole the show and was supper cute.  I have been  Facebook  friends with Sofia mother  Jennifer  for a while  now She was kind enough  to let me interview her.

 AZ:

 I know Sofia was adopted can you tell me anything about where she came from

 Sofia and her  brothers.  Mateo,  Joaquin and Diego

 Jennifer:

She was adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine. She was abandoned at birth.

Her bio parents were married and she was their first child. We believe they were fearful of raising a child with a disability or maybe felt like they were equipped. Culture in Eastern Europe is about 40 years behind us in the U.S. in terms of people with disabilities.

AZ

How long have you been watching switched at birth ?

Jennifer 

 Just Season four ! 

AZ 

Was it hard to catch up on all the drama?

I have been watching since the   first episode  back in 2011

Jennifer 

It was pretty simple to get up to date. I did go back and watch the first few episodes of season 1

I am missing a few key players like Angelo but I do plan on going back and watching from the start.


AZ
How did Sofia wind up on the Show?

 Sofia  high five Lucas Grabeel -  who plays  Toby - for a job well done.
Grabeel also played Ryan in High School Musical     

                                             

Jennifer:

She auditioned for the part and was chosen by SAB

We got the audition from her agent Gail Williamson  at KMR Diversity

AZ
  How was it on set?

Jennifer
The set was impressive. Soooooooo many people behind the scenes to make it all happen. It was amazing to witness

AZ
What has the reaction been to Sofia's stardom?

 Jennifer
Her peers (other 1st graders) LOVED seeing her on TV and are so excited to say hi to her. Her teachers and family are so proud of her. Sofia loved it all. She loved the work, the people, watching herself on TV. She loved it all. 

   AZ: Any future projects?
 Jennifer: She has a modeling job next month for Freckles & Kitty and Zulily and she auditioned recently for a movie role that we are still waiting to hear about!

 Sofia on her first day of  First Grade 

School is her top priority! She's learning to read and write and working on her speech. This way she has a bright future ahead of her! But her love is modeling, acting, performing and making people smile!!!

AZ

 What does Sofia like to do for fun?

 Jennifer 

Sofia likes to dance, sing, read, swim and play barbies.

AZ

If there was one thing you want other people to know about Down Syndrome what would you want people to know?

Jennifer 

 That people with Down syndrome are PEOPLE with their own sets of dreams and hopes and wants.

  Thank you  Jennifer and  Sofia

  Have any other questions for  Jennifer ?    Leave a comment below. 

31 for 21 Day 11: Learning disabilities video

           This is a   great video I watched this last spring in my intro to special education   class.   I  hope you enjoy it.


                                                               

 

31 for 21 : Day Ten more about Unified Sports

   Earlier  this  week I  posted about Unified  Sports.  Here is more  information about the program from Special  Olympics   Northern California.

31 for 21 Day nine : Reflections from Kindergarten

     

   I remember

    Me in  Kindergarten.    I  was  so cute. 

      Sound books  esp  the letter /k/. The  teacher told me I was different.

               Jump rope  Every day at recess my  teacher  would  try to  teach me how to jump rope.  I was able to jump  rope by the end of the year.

                 Read Write and Type  Click here to read more about it.

                  Learning about community jobs  highlight   was   having my mom come in her scrubs to teach us about being a doctor.

                Learning different coin  values

                   Butterflies  We watched them in our classroom go from  caterpillars  to butterflies. It was very fun.

 Thanksgiving  play. I was the cat on the Mayflower.





 Not bad considering I was only  six.


   Eight Months  I will be   graduating with a  BA.




  Other posts

       In  Kindergarten


  Learning to read 

31 for 21 Day Eight: My inclusion Story

  Hi  guys for those of you that are new  here, or want to   watch my story again . Here is my inclusion story.  As   I  Countdown to College  graduation I will be   talking about my memories in more detail in  the weeks and months ahead but here is a quick overview of my story.