Maybe the reason that mentoring didn't go too far is that there wasn't a
"plan" encompassing ALL disabilities (OK, the 'big timers' -spina bifida and
cp, etc.) ... and some consistent ground rules, expectations and some
incentives to make it worthwhile for all concerned.

 Ideally, I'd like to see some basic secondary research on what has already
been done in the past; what worked and what didn't work, etc., so that when
this thing starts up we're not reinventing the wheel.  Then, I'd like to see
a district, SELPA (that's "California-ese" for special ed local planning
area), university, etc., some 'group' working together ... some kind of
incentive for whoever becomes the mentors to become mentors and to find it
rewarding, some kind of understanding re: code of coduct or what to expect
from mentors, families and kids so there are no "surprises" ... maybe some
kind of pre- and post- expectations (or what we hope to gain by doing this),
how long the project should run (at least one phase), etc.

I think there are some organizations "out there" that have already
established "mentoring" programs, albeit for non-disabled kids needing 'Big
Brothers/Big Sisters', etc.  I bet they have some good ideas - then we need
the adults with the disabilities to extrapolate from these ideas and
identify other things mentors can help with.

I edit an online newsletter for people with Moebius - creatively (hey, I can
keep a straight face here!) it's called "MoebiUS" .... just yesterday I got
a letter from the mom of a Kindergartener who is uneasy about how kids will
react to him when he starts K next week.  I had been thinking about getting
something like this going ...

Another idea... What about this group putting together a booklet of sorts
that talks about the real lives of various people who happen to have cp?  A
lot of the mentoring could be accomplished via kids having access to
pictures of people along with their stories ... I bet you all ALREADY know
the kind of things kids with cp think about, worry about, etc., so when you
write your 'story', you could explain how you dealt with this worry or that
thought.  AND since you're spending time planning it (what you write) you
can keep re-wording it til it says what you want it to say.  Write about the
good AND the bad.  I bet a lot of you have pictures of when you were
smaller - I bet a lot of kids would like looking at pictures and reading the
stories.

Have any of you ever read, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats?  Peter, the
little kid, goes out and makes angels in the snow.  It's a kiddie classic.
BUT... reading it to kids with arthrogryposis and spina bifida (no cp that
year) .... kinda hard for the kids to understand the "angels in the snow"
thing.  And then I thought - what if Peter had cp, and a friend pulled him
on a sled and he rolled in the snow instead?  Same story, with a twist, and
now my kids get an idea of what Peter did.  (OK, its California - our snow
is plastic....)

That's another project - adapting kiddie lit so the characters have
disabilities....