Cerebral Palsy Party What inclusion look like

   

 Hi guys today  is  #whatinclusionlookslike twitter chat today.  2pm so I thought I'd show you /tell you.


 Inclusion is having parents read your bedtime stories  and expose you to books about different cultures  and  races.  Inclusion is   knowing that  college is  expected of you when you graduate high school

   

Inclusion  means  having access  to the playroom at the same  time as your siblings. 

Inclusion is  playing  sports on traditional recreation leagues

And playing Piano (or doing whatever  after school activities  that  you / parents want not just the things for kids with disabilities  

 Inclusion is  about going on field trips with your class because   you are just another student  

 Inclusion is about knowing your siblings friends   because  you go to school with them. 

 Its being able to play sports on the same team as your siblings 

  Its about being on the School team ( even if its just a practice team)

 Or  Being a Team Manager 

 Its about going to  your high school's Senior Prom with a date.   

Its about being   a leader and educating others about  things you care about .  I founded a Disability Awareness Club back in high school.

 Its about having  General Education Professors be friending  you to the point where they find some Green to wear on World Cerebral  Palsy  Day  then wanting to take a picture to  put on their Instragram 

 So to rap it up 

  Inclusion is 

 LOVE 
 HOPE 
 KINDNESS 
   FAMILY MEMORIES 
  

AND  CELEBRATIONS 

LOTS AND LOTS OF CELEBRATIONS   
 FOR THINGS  BOTH  BIG AND SMALL

AZ CHAPMAN IS A College Senior with Cerebral Palsy,  Non -Verbal Learning Disorder and Anxiety.  She has   been blogging  on blogspot since 2007.  She loves  sports advocating for inclusion  and   Nintendo Games. 

Recycle Post Talking and understanding are not mutually exclusive

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 I am  re posting because   I will be writing another  post related to this topic  later this week.

Talking and understanding are not mutually exclusive

                        Lets  say  a genius  who  spoke  Latin  were to come to  the United States.  Now  lets   just say  for the sake of the argument that  there was  no one else  who spoke  Latin.    Is the  genius  still a  genius.    Of  course  many  people would say   he just  needs    needs to  learn  English.       Well  what if there was  a  person  who  could not speak  at all  and  had  no device,  could he  be  a genius?
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It  angers  me as a person living with a speech  delay  when  I hear  someone  who has  no  speech  due to  disabilities, and do not have any  device  and  are  placed   as  limited  intellectual  ability.  It  really   angers me    because   the person does not have a  opportunity to  prove  there intelligence one way or the other.  Why am  I pissed  off  let   me  tell you  my story.

 bookgal  princess  and  az We were so cute 

          I was  born   September   1991   a month  prematurely   resulting in mild Cerebral Palsy.  As  a newborn  I could not suck  from a bottle  to well  a feeding tube was  placed  though my throat so  I could  eat.   When  my parents  took me   home  I  had a  hard  time  breast feeding and my  mom had to pump her milk out  and put it in a bottle.  My  muscles  were soo  weak that   feeding took  forever. 




 When  I was a  toddler   I had difficulty communicating. I leaned sign langue  to communicate. I  remember saying and  signing  cracker  in the kitchen.  Using  signing  I was  able to  express  my wants  and  needs  until my speech   came  along.




 With me and  my  speech  impairment  repeating  words  is   frustrating  especially when  no one  understands  me.    I  hear myself  speaking clearly, My  mind   makes  the ideas  and  the words   that come out   are   fuzzy.   I  remember  saying answers  in class being  told  I was  wrong and   someone said the  same thing  and got it right.      That means that I  got  the answer   right.   


  Now  for me  I have a voice . Its  not  the best  but its  a  voice. As  frustrated  as I must  feel  it must be  ten  times more frustrating  for  people  without a voice.  I feel for those  people  and   can not igmane  being inside  and  not having  a  way to  communicate  and   because of  not being able to communicate  getting   labeled  as  worthless.    Having the school system  write  you  off being  isolated  from your peers.  Being  talked to in a high  pitch  voice  every day when  you  are not a  kid. Then  because of  your physical limitations  being  labeled   as  being as  smart as a  toddler.  That is not  fair  nor is it  right.  I  know  all about  history   understand  Spanish and  english  have a  talent for writing   can  play chess    yet I can not  say the  L  R   K   G sound   easily.  Does  that  me   not smart  no. Now  igmane   if  i could not talk or  had a device yes  I would not be able  to   write  read and play chess  not because  I   was  not smart  but because i  had  not had  the opportunities  to  learn.     If  you are reading this and have a child  who can not communicate  my  advice  is   to  go to the ends of the  earth  for your kid, Buy the i pads   the dynvoxs help your  child  find their voice.   If your  the  parent   or  know  someone  whose  older  who can not communicate   do the same thing.  The   sooner    you  get it the better but do not give up on an older   person in fact you need to get  the information them faster to make up for loss time. In the  meantime  continue talking to   the person   as  would with   a person as  there  chronological  age. ( So     talk  to a baby  like  a baby
 All people deserve   a chance to connect with others.  It  does not  matter how smart they are everyone  wants  to connect  with  others.    Think about  it  this way   if the person  is  said  to have an intellectual disability  and you  talk to them about  stuff that  is  to hard for them  then  they it will be  to hard, but if   the child is smart  but has not fond their  voice they will  observe  it like a sponge.  Please  remember  speech  is  very  complex  and hard but   the   spoken word  is   the end result.   The  process  may still be in place.








  

He Has

He  Has  been on the earth for  22 years.
  He has  a great job.
  He gets around in our town independently.
 He   has co workers that adore him.
 He loves to play basketball and swim.
 He has  friends that are close to him that he considers part of his family.
  He  loves to see movies.
  He has his Eagle Scout.
 He has  an extra chromosome.

  Honestly   I hope you do not think  that  he is a different person.   He  has been a constant  friend in my life since  I was ten.    LM,  LM has  Down Syndrome, and he is a normal  young man.     Yes,  He does navigate the world without someone.     In fact there are times  when  me  him and his best friend, who also has DS,  have walked  downtown to grab a bagel. I do not live in the  same area  as they do so they were the ones guiding me.  LM  is amazing because he is doing things that some said  would not happen.  I am so proud of  LM. He  rocks.

     

Cerebral Palsy Party Sorry for the lack activity

    I have been busy with finals.  Happily  that is over and I am on

Tune in next week for

new posts. Have a great weekend.

Hope Everyone had A

Cerebral Palsy part eleven Playing unified

 A great video.  Click  Here to watch

Cerebral Palsy Party day ten Skiing

I love skiing  I have not been  in a while but it isn't for lack of asking.  I love  going down the mountain.   Skiing  is one of those sports that can be made adaptable for all kids.  Click here to see     adapted Skiing in action.

 Skiing in Tahoe a few years ago