Hi-

There are many fronts that progress needs to be made.  In the school yards,
in the workplace, in the healthcare field, in the comunity.  In middle school
the kids would alawys startel me for the fun of it.   In high school I used a
scooter and everyone used to "honk" at me.    I think Sandy is absoultly
right in what she has said but I would like to sugest a bit of an expansion
of sorts.  We all must advocate for each other...not just kids and not just
adults--ALL OF US, TOGETHER, FOR EACH OTHER.  It's amazing how much kids can
do when they are inspired to do it.  We have to ispire them to do it--or they
have to be inspired to do it as was the case with me.  The imortent thing is
not how they get the insperation but that they do get the insperation.

Last year one of my friends asked me to go and talk about disability
awerness.  She asked me to vist the school she was working at and talk to her
class aought that I might be able to help boost the self-esteem of one the
students who happened to have spina biffida and was haveing how shall I put
it an attitued/outlook problem, low selfesteem...you know the drill.  I think
that things like this could help too.  Not just in supporting the student
with a disability but in educating there classmates that disability is ok.

Alot of problems could be helped by more united advocey I think.   More unity
among those with disabilities.  Not just from the age group point of view (I
think the mentoring thing is a great idea)...but from the point of view that
many of what I call the disability camps don't work together to achive
things--and to know that we are not alone in the challanges that we face.  We
the CPers have alot to learn from the blind camp, the deaf camp, the SCI
camp, and on and on.

 I joined this group when I was like 15 because I wanted to talk to people
who faced the same challanges as I did and had the same experiences as I did.
 We had moved from a place where there were lots of others  who had
disabilities including cp but my highschool in mckinney texas only had one
other physicaly disabled student who was mainstreemed.

Oh by the way there are several mailing lists for kids with CP and there is
an internet chatroom having to do with teens and disabilities (they meet on
Thursdays.)  On aol there is a chat for teens with CP.

Well I guess I've rambled on long enough,

Anee Stanford
http://www.geocities.com/aneecp/
ICQ # 67019089


In a message dated 8/17/00 12:03:34 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Must EVERY child with a disability grow up in isolation?  Is the disability
 experience really a gauntlet to be run, where we honor ONLY those who still
 are alive at the end?  When are adults with disabilities going to become
 pro-active in advocating for kids with disabilities?
  >>