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, Habib has produced an award-winning documentary film called Including Samuel.
This film will be the first film shown in the Loud & Clear: Voices from the Disability Community Film and Lecture Series sponsored by the Utah Disability Law Center and the Salt Lake City Film Center.
This screening of Including Samuel will be held on Wednesday, September 23, at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts – Dumke Auditorium at 410 Campus Center Drive in Salt Lake City. An opening night reception starts at 5:30 p.m., and the screening starts at 7 p.m.
Including Samuel chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include their son with cerebral palsy in every facet of their lives and explores cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion. Post film discussion will be held on the benefits and challenges of providing inclusive services for people with disabilities.
Keep watching this blog for information about the other three upcoming films in this series.
By Ginger Payant
Champions for Inclusive Communities has released a community-based assessment tool designed to assist State Title V Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs leaders and their partners. The tool helps assess the state’s capacity to implement family centered, comprehensive, coordinated and culturally competent community-based services.
ChampionsInC is a national center designed to support communities in organizing services for families of children and youth with special health care needs. It is a project at the CPD’s Early Intervention Research Institute at Utah State University.
The tool, “Examining State Capacity for Achieving a Community-Based Service System for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs,” seeks to answer the following questions:
1. Who are the best choices for state-level stakeholders to represent families, youth, community providers, and other important players in the service system?
2. What state level policies and practices should be in place to achieve the outcomes in our vision?
3. What policies and practices should be in place across communities in your state?
4. What are some data sources or ways to measure achievements for children, youth, and families?
Basic elements of such a system at the state and community level are identified in a format that can be considered by a team of CYSHCN stakeholders. Resources for obtaining training and technical assistance related to the CYSHCN performance outcomes are also provided.
We hope this is a valuable component when working with Title V partners for the upcoming Block Grant Five Year needs assessment. It can also assist at any point in strategic planning.
Find the tool on the Champions website.
Taghreed Abu Hamdan enjoys some hands-on learning at the Teton Science School in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Over the past summer, university faculty members from the country of Jordan got a taste of hands-on learning when they visited the Teton Science School in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Their visit was part of the Strengthening Early Childhood Education in Jordan project, coordinated by Dr. Vonda Jump Norman, a research scientist at the CPD’s Early Intervention Research Institute.
The faculty from Petra University and the University of Jordan also attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children Professional Development conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jump Norman said a partnership goal is to help students finish their degrees with exposure to a variety of teaching techniques and theories, a thorough understanding of child development, and applied practice working with young children.
She is also facilitating the translation of cutting-edge early childhood textbooks that are now unavailable in Arabic. “I think it will be a service not only in Jordan, but also in the rest of the Arabic speaking world,” Jump Norman said.
She and her collaborators are planning a workshop in Jordan for next summer, to present innovative teaching techniques for current university students and practicing teachers.
The collaboration between the two Jordanian universities and EIRI began after Jordan’s government sought help from the United States Agency for International Development to further develop its early childhood programs. The USAID grant that funds the EIRI project grew from that request.
Jordan’s government began offering voluntary Kindergarten classes in the last decade, where most Kindergarten programs are provided by the private sector. In recent years Jordan began an ambitious program to strengthen both the quality of its public early childhood education system and access for its young students.
All children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) require health and related services that go beyond those of children without disabilities, due to their chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions.
The families of children with these extraordinary needs often find themselves uncertain where to go for the answers and services that are desperately required to help their children. Many families face immense frustration as they try to find and access the many services their children need.
Some of the barriers that can leave families feeling overwhelmed include: eligibility requirements, policies, procedures, and multiple locations. There are often gaps in services due to agencies that provide limited services, and duplication in services from multiple coordinators and service plans may also occur. Needing to travel great distances to obtain specialized services may also be a challenge for families.
Champions for Inclusive Communities (ChampsionsInC) is a national center that is housed at the Early Intervention Research Institute, a division of the Center for Persons with Disabilities at USU, that supports communities in organizing services for families of CYSHCN. Organized community-based service systems will help families find the services and resources they need easily and to their satisfaction as these barriers are removed.
Communities that have an organized system of community-based services have the following components:
- Families have access to appropriate services and supports in their community.
- Services are coordinated between all providers.
- Families receive supports such as coordinated service plans or care coordinators.
- Families are connected to necessary services via a streamlined enrollment process.
- Families are satisfied with the services and supports they receive.
- Partnerships work to develop service systems at the community level.
Many communities across the nation are trying hard to facilitate this process for families of CYSHCN by putting into place many of these components. For families who would like to know what services are offered in their state, you can find a state summary with a listing of all service providers in your state by going to the ChampionsInC website .
Families in Utah can view Utah CYSHCN information at http://www.championsinc.org/resources/stateInformation.cfm?st=UT
The Note Taker is one of several high-tech forms of assistive technology featured in the online interactive training.
The Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) is holding a free online interactive training on Wednesday, September 23, 2009; from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Karl Smith, Access Technology C0nsultant, will present high-tech assistive technology for people with visual impairments.
This training will include demonstrations of Note Takers, Braille displays, Kurzweil, Open Book, Eye-Pal and the KNFB Reader. Participants will be able to ask questions during the presentation.
To participate you will only need a computer with high-speed internet access. If you are interested in participating please RSVP by Monday, September 21, to Heather Young. She will email you the participant instructions.
If accommodations are needed to participate in the training please contact Sachin Pavithran no later than Friday, September 18, to make arrangements.
