ADA -20 years

Thanks to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 20 years ago, we have made great strides in the areas of employment, public entities and accessibility for people with disabilities. There is still a need to help children with disabilities have more participation in daily activities with their peers. Allowing children to participate more can prevent feeling of isolation and also teach all children valuable skills for employment and social activities. Participation in sports is a wonderful opportunity to help build confidence. Two organizations that are particularly helpful are the Special Olympics organization(www.specialolympics.org) and the National Disability Sports Alliance (www.blazesports.org).

Children's Literature

Teaching peace, compassion and respect ensure that we are all able to work with others and respect differences and create change. We can promote this at home and in school by reading some of the excellent children's literature that is available. One author who captures the human spirit is Patricia Polacco. As a teacher and as the director of It's OK, I have read many of Polacco's books. One of my favorite's is Chicken Sunday. This story is about friendship that crosses cultures, religion and age. It emphasizes the importance of trust, love and acceptance. I highly recommend all of Patricia Polacco's books.

Foster Understanding with Good Books

Teaching peace, compassion and respect ensures that we are able to work with others, understand and respect differences and create change. We can promote this at home and in school by reading some of the exceptional children's literature that is available. An author who captures the human spirit is Patricia Polacco.

Just Say Something!

The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities has a new blog to help make positive changes in the community. They encourage people to write about what they think is Right and what they think is Wrong. The council has also had an active campaign to eliminate the R word, as I wrote in a previous blog entry. I encourage everyone to check out the council's blog:http:www.facebook.com/JustSaySomething and also to stop using the words "retard" and "retarded." Thank you.

Beep baseball

Can you imagine playing baseball when you are visually impaired? Our friend and Speaker for It's OK, Sherlock Washington, plays Beep baseball. A 16oz. softball with a speaker in it is used to help fielders locate the ball. Sherlock has organized a team that plays in Matawan, NJ. Check out the schedule at http:www.facebook.compages/New-Jersey-Lightning-Beep-Baseball/122422584434827?ref=mf. Sherlock, you continue to inspire us to pursue our dreams no matter what the obstacles.

Summertime

School is out! I plan to use the time to change the purpose of this blog. It will be a teacher to teacher blog, providing information on new childrens literature, news releases, music, etc. that are relevant to the It's OK program. As it continues during the school year, I hope it will be an information board for teachers participating in the program. A website of general information is also being developed and the program is now on Facebook. I welcome your comments and suggestions as I continue to promote teaching tolerance to very young children.

The Pledge - end the "R" word

Last week a gentleman from the NJ Council for Developmental Disabilities visited the kindergarten class. He told the kids about a campaign to get rid of the "R" words - "retard" and "retarded." He asked them to take a pledge to not use the words and to ask others not to use the words. We are working on this campaign already and the children have decided that because we used to refer to Respect as the R word, we now have the good R and the bad R. For more information go to www.njcdd.org. Please make the pledge to eliminate these hurtful words from our language.