RCM - Revitalizing Community Membership: Empowering Independence: March 2016

Monday, March 28, 2016

Understanding Autism Spectrum Diagnosis Key to Helping Shawn Yancy's Son Tyson Succeed

WASHINGTON - Shawn Yancy is the anchor of our 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news at FOX 5. She's also a mom to three sons - her middle son being on the autism spectrum.

FOX 5’s Allison Seymour sat down with Shawn last week to talk about her pride and joy - Tyson.

During the process of trying to figure out what was going on with Tyson there were people - who before the official diagnosis - mentioned her son might have autism, Shawn told Allison. At that early stage, she says, she was unsure about what the disability really was.

Her first thoughts and assumptions were that autism involved non-verbal children who exhibited behaviors like rocking or finger waving. "Tyson didn't have any of those symptoms," Shawn said. "So when someone mentioned it I was like – 'No way. There's no way my child has autism.'”

To read more on this story, click here: Understanding Autism Spectrum Diagnosis Key to Helping Shawn Yancy's Son Tyson Succeed

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Happy Easter from RCM

Happy Easter from RCM!

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Video Shows Teacher Knocking Over Special Needs Student

TIFTON, Ga. -- A Georgia teacher has resigned after surveillance video appears to show her knocking a special needs student to the floor in a school hallway.

WALB-TV reports the incident happened at the Tift County Pre-K Center in Tifton on March 17.

The child's mother, Sarah Patterson, tells the station that the teacher thrust her knee into the little boy's back, causing him to fall forward near a classroom door.

To view this video, click here: Video Shows Teacher Knocking Over Special Needs Student

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Florida Insists Severely Disabled Teen Take Standardized Test — Despite Pleas from Family

Several years ago, I published several posts about a boy named Michael who was born without the cognitive part of his brain but was made by the Florida Department of Education to take a state-mandated standardized test. Michael, as I wrote then, couldn’t tell the difference between an apple and an orange, but his caretaker was still forced to administer the test. He later won an exemption, but Michael was hardly the only child with severe disabilities who faced this kind of treatment.

[Nobody stopped it. They made him take the test.]

Ethan Rediske was another. Ethan, who passed away in 2014 at age 11, was born with severe brain damage and had cerebral palsy. As he lay dying in a morphine coma, his mother, Andrea, was required to provide documents proving that he was unable to take the Florida-mandated test.

[Mom to officials: Stop forcing kids with severe disabilities to take high-stake tests]

Now, a mother named Paula Drew is fighting the same kind of battle with the Florida Department of Education. Paula’s daughter, 15-year-old Madison Drew, has cerebral palsy and cannot speak. She suffers from a number of conditions related to her condition and takes several medications daily to prevent seizures, which can affect her cognitive abilities, a doctor’s written diagnosis shows.

To read more on this story, click here: Florida Insists Severely Disabled Teen Take Standardized Test — Despite Pleas from Family

Monday, March 21, 2016

World Down Syndrome Day 2016: Olivia Wilde Teams Up With 19-Year Old To Deliver A Powerful Message

HOW DO YOU SEE ME? | March 21 - World Down Syndrome Day | #HowDoYouSeeMe

To commemorate the upcoming World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, actress Olivia Wilde has teamed up with 19-year-old AnnaRose Rubright to deliver a powerful message about the realities of living with Down syndrome.

The above video features Rubright narrating along as a version of her, played by Wilde, goes through the ordinary yet blissfully fulfilling rituals of humanity: Spending time with friends and family; grabbing pizza with a loved one; distracting herself from the monotony of a laundry run with a good book.

“I see myself as an ordinary person, with an important, meaningful, beautiful life. This is how I see myself,” she says, right before the image of Wilde in the mirror pans away to reveal the real-life Rubright standing in front of us, asking, “How do you see me?”

To hear this powerful message, click here: HOW DO YOU SEE ME?

Today is World Down Syndrome Awareness day

The Kojo Nnamdi Show: From WAMU 88.5

The Kojo Nnamdi Show is a daily talk show keeping you ahead of the curve on the local, national, and international topics important to your life. We'll introduce you to fascinating artists, expansive thinkers, new ideas, cutting-edge technology, overlooked historic moments, and up-and-coming talent you'll definitely want to share with friends.

Click on the below link and scroll down to 3/17/16 to hear Steven Powe, Laura Nuss and Tina Campanella have a conversation with Kojo about the significant progress DC has made in it's supports for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. They also touch on the challenges faced today and strides to be made in the future. ‪#‎frominstitutiontoinclusion ‪#‎everydayinclusion ‪#‎NPR ‪#‎thekojonnamdishow

Click Here: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/381443519/the-kojo-nnamdi-show

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Workshop Series: Defining the Basics -Thinking About a Good Life for Our Families

This workshop series is designed to share with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families person centered thinking and life course principles that will guide us in thinking about a good life. The workshops are about identifying all the supports and strengths that are available to us and realizing the power we have to make change.

All workshops will be held at the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center at 2730 Martin Luther King Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20032. They will all take place from 10am-2pm.

Workshop 1: March 22, 2016

Workshop 2: April 5, 2016

Workshop 3: April 19, 2016

Workshop 4: May 10, 2016

RSVP: Please RSVP to Alison Whyte at alison.whyte@dc.gov or 202-870-9640.

To get the full benefit of this workshop series, participants should commit to attending all 4 sessions. Spots for this workshop series are limited and people with disabilities and family members will be given priority.

Accessibility: The space and bathrooms at the R.I.S.E. Center are wheelchair accessible. To request additional accommodations, including language access, specific dietary requests, etc. please contact Alison Whyte.

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Alison Whyte

Program Development Specialist

State Office on Disability Administration

District of Columbia Department on Disability Services

1125 15th Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

202-870-9640 (office)

202-730-1843 (fax)

www.dds.dc.gov

Follow DDS on Twitter and Facebook!

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Tuesday, March 15, 2016

DC Metro System Shut Down - All Programs Will be Held as Scheduled

Please be aware that DC Metro System will be shut down for 29 hours beginning at midnight tonight. RCM Supported Employment, IDS, and Active Treatment programs will be held as scheduled.

For more information, click here: Metrorail to shut down for at least 29 hours

From Institution To Inclusion

For D.C. residents with developmental disabilities, it’s been a decades-long fight to be treated like everyone else.

Forest Haven. The name conjures up images of a bucolic getaway hidden from view by tree-covered hills. But the reality is much different.

The “haven” is actually a campus of close to two dozen buildings on 200 acres outside Laurel, Maryland. At the peak of its 66-year history, it held some 1,300 D.C. residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In 1976, a group of parents sued the city over conditions there. Two years later, a federal judge ordered it closed. In 1991, it finally did. Today it stands abandoned and overgrown.

But even though D.C. was one of the first places in the country to completely abandon the use of institutions for people with developmental disabilities, the broader process of integration has been much slower. D.C. residents with disabilities may no longer live in segregated and isolated facilities like Forest Haven, but they also don’t enjoy some of the same chances and choices — especially in employment — as everyone else.

To read more on this story, click here: From Institution To Inclusion

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Here's What's Happening This Week: March 4, 2016

Stay Informed!

ANCOR members can check their inboxes every week to learn what’s happening and what opportunities exist to engage as we work to move the needle on the Department of Labor's Proposed Overtime Exemption Rule and address the perfect storm of unfunded mandates challenging I/DD service providers across the country.

New Action Alert!

Continue visiting our ANCOR Amplifier at www.disabilitysos.org and take action! We sent an Action Alert out Wednesday to members and others in the disability services field. Please spread it far and wide! Since this morning, almost 1,000 touches have been made to Congress on this issue!

Have you taken 2 minutes to take action yet?!

To read more on this story, click here: Here's What's Happening This Week: March 4, 2016

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Parents Raising Four Children with Angelman Syndrome: A Rare, Debilitating Disease with No Cure

Cortland, Ohio - It's playdoh and iPads on a Friday night in the Jones home in Cortland.

"Every day is a whole new scenario," laughs Melissa Jones, mother.

That's because all four kids, 17-year-old Andrew, 16-year-old Christina, 15-year-old Ryan and 13-year-old Ashley have a rare genetic disease called Angelman Syndrome.

"They are happy, pleasant but they can't function in a normal environment. They are not able to take care of themselves," said Mark, father.

"I will have to take care of them for their rest of their lives," added Melissa.

Melissa and Mark say they knew they wanted a lot of kids when they got married 24 years ago.

"I had a thing, I wanted to have all the kids we were going to have by the time I turned 30," said Melissa.

They had two typical kids first, Danielle and Matt.

But their next four kids had developmental delays, did not talk, and even had seizures.

To read more on this story, click here: Parents Raising Four Children with Angelman Syndrome: A Rare, Debilitating Disease with No Cure

Friday, March 4, 2016

Beautiful Wheelchair Dance

M.C. Mobility Systems, Inc.

There's nothing more artistic than dance, and this duo did an amazing job with this wheelchair dance. Beautiful!

There's nothing more artistic than dance, and this duo did an amazing job with this wheelchair dance. Beautiful!#accessible #wheelchair #dance #dancing #wheelchairdance #disability
Posted by M.C. Mobility Systems, Inc. on Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Going on Offense vs. Down Syndrome

Most people saw limits for Frankie Antonelli. Parents Frank and Debbie saw potential.

Mount Pleasant, S.C. — The dogging question for any athlete is whether their competitive values mean anything in the real world. Here it was for Debbie and Frank Antonelli. What were all the sweat-soaked shirts and the worn-soled sneakers for when their infant son was on oxygen, facing a lifetime of impairments from slowed motor skills to cognitive deficits?

It was a random error in cell division, the pediatric specialist said. Down syndrome was an accident, a faulty extra copy of a single chromosome. “All the rest of them are yours,” he said.

They had counted with an unthinking confidence on having healthy kids, maybe even a team roster’s worth. She played basketball at North Carolina State before becoming a sportscaster, and he hit .400 for the Columbia University baseball team before making a career in elite sports management, and they hoped to add some quality little strivers to the general population. Their first child was an easy birth, and they were so confident of their second that she played nine holes of golf the day he was born. Then he came out scrunched up with the cord around his neck, and holes in his heart.

To read more on this story, click here: Going on Offense vs. Down Syndrome

Job Opening: American Sign Language and Spanish Speaking Employment Specialists

RCM is looking for American Sign Language and Spanish speaking Employment Specialists!

Job Description:

Join RCM of Washington's team and become and Employment Specialist where you will assist people with disabilities in finding employment in their community. You will assist in training and coaching people in finding gainful and fulfilling employment and help them maintain their employment with reputable companies.

To learn more about this position, click here: American Sign Language and Spanish speaking Employment Specialists

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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Special Olympics DC: Spread the Word, To End The Word

As we continue with our theme for today to Spread the Word, To End The Word. Our adult league bowling championships were held today. Each athlete and those who participated took the pledge.

So can you! Go to www.r-word.org

‪#‎spreadthewordtoendtheword

Department of Labor Overtime Exemption Rule and Its Impact on IDD Providers and Services

Here is some great information on the proposed rule! ANCOR is the leading resource for information! @therealancor ‪#‎disabilitysos

Looking for more information on the Department of Labor Overtime Exemption Rule and its impact on IDD providers and services? Here's your new one-stop shop: www.disabilitySOS.org

To read more on this story, click here: Funding the Future of Disability Services

2016 Special Olympics Polar Plunge!

2016 Special Olympics Polar Plunge! On February 28^th, Our very own Diara Lawson and Susan Brooks took the plunge!