Greetings All,

          This was posted to Our-Kids-Adults list. Thought someone here might be interested.

                                          Goddess Bless
                                               Angel

I have been in service to people who have developmental
and other disabilities for the last 16 years, in Oregon, Idaho and
Washington State. I've worked in a K-12 special education program; with
adults in sheltered workshops, group and individual supported employment; in
community-based and institutional residential programs;  community
integration and family supports. For the last six years, I've been serving
adults in a supported employment program in an ultra-rural part of eastern
Washington.

About a year and a half ago, I started gathering information on disability
rights issues from Internet and other sources, and sending it out to
friends, and lists like OK ADULTS and AFCI. I found that the amount of
information "out there" is staggering. But trying to be informed was a
nightmare, because there was not a single source a person could use if they
were interested in rights and self-determination of people with mental
retardation and developmental disabilities.

Since there was a need, with no apparent provider, I decided to do it
myself.

On December 2,  I took a big, deep breath, and launched "Inclusion Daily
Express". This is a daily news service that focuses on the challenges faced
and met by people who have developmental and other disabilities, in their
struggle toward full community inclusion, meaningful participation and
self-determination.

What I do is get up about 3:00 a.m., rub my eyes, and sit down at my
computer to "span the globe" to see what's going on in the disability world.
I collect information from various disability communities and concerns,
along with articles from alternative and mainstream media.

About six hours later, I send out a summarized packet, complete with
headlines, news briefs, and links to more in-depth information, to my
subscribers, through their email.

So far, it's not doing too badly. Right now I have about 50 current
subscribers. What's gratifying is that nine of those who signed up for
quarterly subscriptions in December and January have renewed their
subscriptions for a whole year! I must be doing something right!

I started something new last month, by offering people the chance to "test
drive" the service for two weeks so they could check it out for free before
deciding whether or not to commit to it financially. Forty-four people have
already signed up to do the two-week trial. Three of those already have
opted for annual subscriptions!

I'm still doing my full-time day job, but I'm cutting my hours back later
this month so I can focus on the news service. Working two full time jobs is
hard on my body, life, and family. Besides, I want to spend time doing more
in-depth coverage on issues that are relevant to people with disabilities
and those who care about and support them. I think this is my calling right
now.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

By the way, if you're with an organization that serves people with
disabilities, a self-advocacy group, or any other formal or informal
coalition, I'm always looking for press releases and stories from real life
along with links to relevant articles or  internet websites.

Thanks.

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express
[log in to unmask]
http://www.inclusiondaily.com