Chester County Down Syndrome Interest Group, Inc.

INCLUSION TODAY — PRESENTATION

julie_p — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:16:05 +0000

INCLUSION TODAY – HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOUR CHILD? with CCIU INCLUSION SPECIALISTS: PATTY GIESCHEN AND CHARLIE ROBEY

February 11, 2010 10:00am – 12:00pm

INCLUSION TODAY – How to make it work for your child! A brief snapshot of how special education has arrived at the inclusive practices of today, followed by a discussion of ways to collaboratively increase the overall “culture of inclusion” in your child’s school. Insights on working as a collaborative IEP team member, identifying supplementary aids and services, and an overview of the appropriate use of the SAS Toolkit process will be provided.

There will be time for questions.

Location:

Chester County Intermediate Unit
(455 Boot Road, Downingtown, Pa 19335)

Registration:

Connie Mohn – 610-696-8090 x220, cmohn@arcofchestercounty.org
Pre-registration preferred, but not necessary.

LTF Business meeting from 10:00 with the Inclusion presentation beginning at 10:30a.

Sponsored by: Chester County Right to Education Task Force, CCIU, and The Arc of CC.

Share on Facebook

Intellectually Disabled Student Wins Dorm Suit

Chris_Hyson — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:56:16 +0000

by Joseph Shapiro

December 29, 2009

Micah Fialka-Feldman attends Oakland University, one of many schools and community colleges that are setting up programs for students with Down syndrome.

Courtesy Micah Fialka-FeldmanMicah Fialka-Feldman attends Oakland University, one of many schools and community colleges that are setting up programs for students with Down syndrome.

Here’s one reason Micah Fialka-Feldman wants to live on his college campus, instead of remaining at home with his parents: To get to college in the morning, he takes the public bus near his home, then transfers to a second bus. The trip takes about two hours.

Fialka-Feldman, 24, attends classes at Oakland University, as part of a program for students like him, with intellectual disabilities. The campus is about 20 miles from where he lives with his parents in Huntington Woods, Mich.

A few years ago, Fialka-Feldman helped his younger sister Emma move into her dorm room when she went off to college at Mount Holyoke. It gave him another reason to want to live on campus: He thought he was missing out on an important part of college life. But his school said because he was in a special program and not a full-time student, he couldn’t live on campus.

So Micah sued.

Early yesterday morning, his cell phone rang. It was his lawyer with the news: He had won. “I’m happy and I’m proud,” say Fialka-Feldman.

A U.S. District Court judge in Michigan ruled that Oakland University had discriminated against Fialka-Feldman. The new school term starts Tuesday. And Fialka-Feldman says he hopes to move into his new dorm room by Sunday. He’s got his computer, his radio and his bedding ready. He’s got the posters he wants to put on the wall, including ones with quotes from civil rights leaders. One says: “A community that excludes one member is not a community at all.”

To live on campus, he says, “means I would have the full college life and … I could go to Friday night things in the dorm, like Friday night activities like a film night or like a basketball game and going out with friends.”

His father, Rich Feldman, adds: “The judge’s decision is a wonderful victory for Micah’s dream to live in the dorm and a victory for so many other students and folks with cognitive disabilities. Now it’s their right to be fully included in the college dormitory experience.”

A spokesman for the university said officials there have not had time to evaluate the decision. The school can appeal.

It’s pretty common these days for kids with intellectual disabilities like Down syndrome to go to their neighborhood schools and to be mainstreamed with all the other kids. And when these disabled students finish high school, they often want to go to college. In recent years, scores of community colleges and universities have opened special programs and invited students with intellectual disabilities to enroll. Oakland University has been a pioneer in opening up to these students. But the colleges can’t always keep up with the rising expectations of disabled students and their parents.

Fialka-Feldman takes regular classes, and students act as tutors to help him follow along in class and keep up with his homework.

He has taken classes at Oakland since 2003 and the new term will be his last on campus. “I’m taking a class on public speaking. And a class on persuasion,” he says.

He’s already been pretty good at persuasion. In the course of fighting this case, he has spoken twice to the school’s board of trustees, and he pressed his case in court. The university’s study government voted to support Fialka-Feldman’s right to live on campus, and the student body president, Kristin Dayag, was at his side at his court hearing earlier this month.

“Micah has really found his voice,” says his mother, Janice Fialka. She remembers when Micah was 2 or 3, and still didn’t speak. “I remember vividly asking the speech therapist, do you think that Micah will ever talk. And she hesitated. And that hesitation, which was probably only four seconds, felt like a lifetime,” says Fialka, a social worker who now is a speaker on disability issues. “And basically she was saying, ‘We don’t know.’ And now he’s speaking in front of all kinds of people. So this is quite a journey of surprise, and the importance of believing that every person has a gift and should be supported in their dreams.”

A generation ago, parents couldn’t dream for their kids with disabilities. Before the 1975 special education law, public schools weren’t even required to teach them — and about 1 million then didn’t get any education at all.

Even today, lots of these kids aren’t capable of going to college — and for many of them the future remains bleak.

But Paul Marchand, with the advocacy group The Arc, says parents now have higher expectations. “Parents want the best for their kids. They want their kids to get a job; they want their kids to be as independent as possible. They want society to accept them. They want their kids to be as typical as all the other kids of their age, including going to a college.”

Last year, Congress passed legislation that for the first time makes it possible for people with intellectual disabilities to get federal college loans — even if they’re not in a full-time program.

Share on Facebook

New Parents

Jason Brennan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:39:11 +0000

Please call us at (610)889-0291. We’d love to hear from you and tell you more about the group.

Share on Facebook

Spread the Word to End the Word

Jason Brennan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:45:43 +0000

Pledge Your Support

ACT NOW–pledge your support to eliminate the demeaning use of the r-word. Tell us what you think.

Make a Difference

Create new opportunities by helping Special Olympics bring the gift of sport to one more person. Even the smallest donation can make a huge difference. Donate Now.

Words Matter

The language we choose can help cultivate a culture of respect and dignity for all people. Young people around the world are creating a world of acceptance. See how.

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Volunteer Best Buddies

Best Buddies International wants you to volunteer, start a chapter or become a friend. Find out how.

Share on Facebook

2009 Buddy Walk – Chester County

Jason Brennan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:31:42 +0000

What a great day! The 2009 Buddy Walk was a resounding success with over $30,000 raised. Thanks to everyone who participated as well as the overwhelming support for friends, family, and local businesses that support our Buddies.

Please visit the Photo Gallery page to see just a few of the day’s highlights.

Share on Facebook

One Woman’s Vision – Enice Kennedy Shriver

Jason Brennan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:22:30 +0000

As founder and honorary chairperson of Special Olympics and executive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, Eunice Kennedy Shriver has been a leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities for more than three decades.

Please visit her website to learn more about this extraordanary woman.

Share on Facebook

New Board Members!

Jason Brennan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:17:48 +0000

We are please to announce that the following members have been elected to the Chester County Down Syndrome Interest Group, Inc., Board of Directors for a two year term starting July 1, 2009.

Please Congratulate:

Elaine Scott – President
Heidi Slater – VP of Education and Planning
Colleen Brennan – Treasurer
Chris Hyson – Membership
Kathy Bucher – Secretary

We all thank you for your service and we look forward to the many new things the Board has planned.

If you have not yet sent in your dues for 2009-2010, please print the membership form and send the form and your check made payable to CCDSIG to CCDSIG, P.O. Box 258, Exton, PA 19341.

Thank you and Happy Summer to all!

Share on Facebook

We’re More Alike Than Different …

Jason Brennan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:54:39 +0000

We’re More Alike Than Different.

It’s the theme of the new NDSC Down syndrome awareness campaign.

As resources mount we will bring that message to doctors, teachers, employers and your neighbors. It’s a simple, compelling and, ultimately, essential message delivered by self advocates – their stories told in their voices.

Each time our message appears on TV or in newspapers, the world will be reminded that people with Down syndrome are more like everybody else than different. That they love to dance, bowl, have pets and jobs. That they cope with everyday challenges and dream big dreams. That like all people, they deserve respect and a fair break.

The NDSC has produced a total of nine powerful television public service announcements – five in English and four in Spanish. You can preview all nine by clicking here. And, copies of all nine spots can be ordered by contacting the NDSC Center.

Please support this wonderful opportunity by clicking here to make your donation on line.

Or, contact us – by phone, toll-free, at 1-800-232-NDSC or via email at info@ndsccenter.org.

Won’t you please consider making a donation to the More Alike campaign fund? Every dollar counts!

Share on Facebook

National Down Syndrome Congress

Jason Brennan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:47:54 +0000

The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1973. The NDSC is governed by a twenty-two member Board of Directors composed of parents and family members of individuals with Down syndrome, self-advocates and other individuals involved with people with Down syndrome.

The purpose of the NDSC is to promote the interests of people with Down syndrome and their families through advocacy, public awareness, and information dissemination on all aspects of Down syndrome. The NDSC is financially supported primarily through membership dues and individual contributions.

The National Down Syndrome Congress was formed in 1973 by group of people who had been meeting as a committee of the Association of Retarded Citizens, now known as the Arc. Out of this meeting came the decision to become a self-sufficient organization dealing specifically with Down syndrome which is now known as the National Down Syndrome Congress. The original committee members were: Dr. Karol Storm, William Bronston, M.D., Kay McGee, Richard Koch M.D., George Johnson, and Betty A. Green, M.D. The NDSC was incorporated in the state of Illinois and operated in Illinois until 1993 when the National Center was moved to Atlanta, GA.

Share on Facebook

National Down Syndrome Society

Jason Brennan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:43:40 +0000

The mission of the National Down Syndrome Society is to be the national advocate for the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.

The National Down Syndrome Society envisions a world in which all people with Down syndrome have the opportunity to enhance their quality of life, realize their life aspirations, and become valued members of welcoming communities.

Share on Facebook