Children's Week
We had a good turn-out at our Children's Week Event held in Dunedin last weekend. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success:
Angelo's Pizza, Winn-Dixie, Target, Boy Scouts of America, Gymboree, The Dunedin Public Library, Art from the Heart Café, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Dunedin Parks & Recreation, Dunedin Blue Jays, Clearwater Threshers.
Staff will be participating in Children's Week activities at the State Capitol April 3-9.
The Youth Advocacy and Action Project of FND
With the help of generous funding from the Starbucks Foundation, Family Network on Disabilities (FND) is very happy to announce the launch of a new statewide project called The Youth Advocacy and Action Project of FND.
This project is aimed at developing advocacy and leadership skills among youth with disabilities to help them improve their lives and their communities. The project will provide training in advocacy to youth with disabilities, who then put those skills into practice by advocating for themselves and for improvement in their communities.
In addition to the monetary help provided by the Starbucks Foundation, FND will be partnering with Starbucks employees to assist the project's "graduates" in choosing and participating in an activity or project that will benefit and improve their community.
By motivating youth to action, we hope to inspire a generation to take responsibility for their communities. The ultimate goal of this project is to leave in place a well trained, confident group of youths with disabilities who will be able to advocate for themselves - to improve their own lives - as well as their communities.
Family Network on Disabilities (FND) was founded in 1985 by a group of parents of persons with disabilities who came together for mutual support and information-sharing. FND is a grassroots organization for persons with disabilities and their families that is family-centered and family-driven.
The mission of Family Network on Disabilities is to ensure through collaboration that individuals have full access to family-driven support, education, information, resources, and advocacy. FND serves all persons with all disabilities and believes that everyone has intrinsic value and the inherent right to: respect, independence, knowledge, freedom of choice, inclusion, quality of life, success, and equality.
Wrightslaw Conference
Registration for the Wrightslaw Conference is full, but the training will be available FREE via live-streaming webcast on our website as well as on your iPhone or Android phone, so stay tuned!
We are proud to be hosting this FREE Special Education Law & Advocacy Training Program with Peter Wright, Esq. on Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 9:00am until 4:30pm at the Campus Activity Center at USF St. Petersburg in collaboration with the USF St. Petersburg College of Education.
The Wrightslaw special education law and advocacy training program will focus on four areas:
- Special education law, rights and responsibilities
- Tests and measurements to measure progress and regression
- SMART IEP's
- Introduction to tactics and strategies for effective advocacy
Wrightslaw programs are designed to meet the needs of parents, educators, health care providers, advocates and attorneys who represent children with disabilities regarding special education.
All in-person participants will receive FREE Wrightslaw materials pertaining to the training! Additional Wrightslaw materials will be available at a discounted rate.
Box lunches will be available on site for $5.00 per person. Cash only!
Jan La Belle Scholarship Program
Family Network on Disabilities is proud to announce the winners of the Jan La Belle Scholarship Program.
The Jan La Belle Scholarship Program was created to honor Jan La Belle, Executive Director of Family Network on Disabilities from 1995 to 2005, for her passion and dedication to individuals with disabilities and their families. FND wishes to recognize her dedication by helping ensure that each person, regardless of ability or disability, is able to pursue their own hopes and dreams and to do so as independently as possible. This program is created to allow any qualified individual with a disability to pursue their dreams and give back to the community.
The 2010-2011 winners are the first recipients of the Scholarship Program. Awards will be made annually, up to $15,000 and will be targeted at individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 who have a disability and who are pursuing higher education as a first-time student at any institution of higher learning, whether academic or vocational.
This year's award winners are Kinsey Leonard and Jessica Moody.
Kinsey Leonard will be attending Daytona State College in the Fall of 2011. She has been accepted into the Photography Technology Program and hopes to become an underwater photographer. In January of 2004, Kinsey was hit by a pick-up truck while crossing the street to board her school bus and suffered a life threatening traumatic brain injury. She has overcome tremendous obstacles and FND is thrilled to be able to help her realize her dream.
Jessica Moody will be attending University of Central Florida in the Summer of 2011. As a student with a disability, she has also overcome tremendous obstacles. Jessica wants to be a Special Education teacher and FND is honored to be able to help her achieve that goal.
Mothers Against Brain Injury, Inc.
Mothers Against Brain Injury is a 501(c)3 Florida non-profit organization created in 2005 out of compassion and empathy for families experiencing the sudden and unexpected news that a loved one has suffered traumatic brain injury. Visit www.mabii.org to learn more about this organization and for additional information on how they help families.