It's Official: UCP Announces MyChildWithoutLimits.org,
An Online Resource for Parents of Young Children with Developmental Delays
United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) today announced the launch of My Child Without Limits (MyChildWithoutLimits.org), UCP's pioneering initiative that provides parents of children with disabilities an online resource with critical information that also connects parents to a vital social network of parents of newly diagnosed children ages 0 to 5.
The first realization that your child is going to face the many challenges and obstacles encountered by those who live with a developmental delay or disability can be a lonely, frightening and confusing time. Many parents who have been assisted by UCP have reported that finding the organization and receiving the information and advice our affiliates provide has been a very significant turning point for them.
My Child Without Limits is a place for parents worried that their child is not developing like other children, to find answers to their questions. It is a place where parents know they are not alone after their child has been diagnosed with a developmental delay or disability. The authoritative site and online community are designed to be resources for families and their caregivers and professionals.
The Web site provides access to accurate, user-friendly and relevant disability-related information, resource guides, and experts on early intervention and family support in three basic areas:
Understand Help families answer the questions: What are Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome?
Plan Provide guidance about where to go for early intervention services, treatments and therapies, assistive technologies, and expert direction and advice.
Act Direct parents and caregivers to where they can explore issues surrounding disability awareness, advocacy and lifespan planning.
The community section of My Child Without Limits also offers a venue for parents to communicate with each other, ask questions of professionals and service providers and receive support through the critical period of initial diagnosis.
"I can't think of a better way to reach parents of children with disabilities who are so desperately seeking credible information they can trust," said Stephen Bennett, President & CEO, United Cerebral Palsy, Inc."My Child Without Limits will be the one-stop shop for parents and professionals, and help children with disabilities start achieving a life without limits at an early age."
My Child Without Limits Teams Up With Including Samuel: A Film Documentary About Inclusion For People With Disabilities
Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Including Samuel centers on the efforts of Habib and his family to include seven year-old Samuel in all facets of school and community. The film also features four other families with varied inclusion experiences, plus interviews with dozens of teachers, young people, parents and disability rights experts.
Including Samuel is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion. Says Habib, "Four years ago, I sat at my son Samuel's hospital bedside at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center as he lay in a medically-induced coma. He was four years old and had developed pneumonia from complications following surgery. Samuel's neurologist, Dr. James Filiano, encouraged me to be a photojournalist in the midst of my fear." The result is this documentary that accounts for Habib's experiences with his son.
Disability Advocates Meet at the White House in Late August
On August 27, as follow-up to the meeting that President Obama had with disability community representatives on July 24, a group of advocates for home- and community-based long-term services and support, met with Nancy-Ann DeParle and other senior staff at the White House to discuss the Community First Choice (CFC) Option.
The disability representatives thanked the President's staff for his strong leadership on enacting comprehensive health reform that will help advance the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act by eliminating disability-based discrimination in health care coverage and barring pre-existing condition exclusions.
Guest Post: A Life Without Limits Because of UCP of New York City
By Christine Rudd,
UCP supporter and past consumer of UCP of New York City services.
I have never thought of myself as different. That's just not the way my family has ever treated me or how I see myself. So, when I was little and couldn't walk because of my Cerebral Palsy (CP) and wanted to play with one of my toys, I remember being told that I could crawl and get it if I wanted it, because there was nothing wrong with me. I never saw that as mean or a bad thing, and I think those words are what continue to push me today.
I started my interaction with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) at the UCP Center in Brooklyn, New York when I was around two-years-old. One of my earliest memories of that time is being in my classroom singing and playing with a parachute with the rest of my classmates. I also remember a field trip we took to Pennsylvania and having a great time with everyone.
Ask Lara: Information on Swine Flu and Children with Disabilities
Q: Are children with cerebral palsy or other developmental disabilities more susceptible to the H1N1 virus (otherwise known as the swine flu)?
A: Children with chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic conditions, neurologic and neuromuscular disorders, and pregnant women are at higher risk of having complications from flu.
Founded in 1948 to help people with cerebral palsy, today United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) is a pivotal advocate for the rights of all people with disabilities. As one of the largest health charities in America, UCP is dedicated to advancing the independence, productivity and full citizenship of people with disabilities.
History highlights disability rights Concord Monitor Concord,CA,USA 9/30/09 Scott Cooper of California will make Concord his 106th stop this week as he tours the country collecting the oral histories of disabilities rights advocates.
A Rare Victory for Disability Rights in Florida ProPublica FL,USA 9/25/09 We reported in June that thousands of people continue to live in nursing homes and other institutions in spite of a 1999 Supreme Court decision saying people with disabilities should be able to live at home if they want to and are able. Now, disability activists who have pushed for equal access to community services have scored a big victory in Florida.
60 Minutes,
September 20, 2009 CBS Washington,DC,USA 9/20/09 Scott Pelley shows us the biggest innovation in prosthetic arms since WWII.
Disability Leaders Meet with Attorney General JF Activist Blog Washington,DC,USA 9/18/09 [N]ine representatives from the disability community met with Attorney General Eric Holder at the U.S. Department of Justice to go over our priorities for the Department under his leadership.
Schwarzenegger halts evictions of disabled residents Patricia E Bauer Blog USA 9/18/09 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that a group of disabled renters who had received eviction notices would not be losing their homes. "Your eviction notice is being terminated," he said.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month Employment Specialist Corner Blog USA 9/9/09 October is Disability Awareness month and this year the Department of Labor has announced a theme titled Expectation + Opportunity = Full Participation.
Too many students 'graduate to the living room' Kansas City Star Kansas City,KS,USA 9/5/09 The problem is so pervasive that advocates have a term for it — graduating to the living room. The state invests millions of dollars in public school special education programs, and then leaves the graduates to languish at home.
Gov't bill would make Internet more accessible for disabled via real-time texting, closed captioning New York Daily News New York,NY,USA 9/1/09 The "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009" (H.R. 3101) plans to modernize disability standards by making such accessibility features as closed captioning, video description and real-time texting a standard for Internet technologies.
Device Allows Man With Cerebral Palsy To Express First Word At Age 27 Disability Scoop USA 9/1/09 Dung Le's cerebral palsy so severely impairs his movement that simply trying to form words makes his whole body develop a sweat. But a new communication device allowed Le to let his voice out for the first time at age 27 and could soon help others with severe mobility problems as well.
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I have never thought of myself as different. That's just not the way my family has ever treated me or how I see myself. So, when I was little and couldn't walk because of my Cerebral Palsy (CP) and wanted to play with one of my toys, I remember being told that I could crawl and get it if I wanted it, because there was nothing wrong with me. I never saw that as mean or a bad thing, and I think those words are what continue to push me today.
