Show #34 – Facilitated Decision Making for People with Disabilites with Julia Niimi

Air date: Sunday, June 27, 2010 || 8 to 9 AM, CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph, Ontario, Canada 

Our theme today is “anything is possible when you continue to follow your dreams and get the support you need to live them” 

Julia Niimi is an exceptional woman who has worked hard to become an advocate and speaker for people with disabilities. She has Down Syndrome. On May 6, 2010, Julia Niimi won the Women of Distinction Turning Point Award. 

Julia Niimi wrote a booklet “The Journey of living with a Disability” and directed a short film “Walking in my Shoes”: a story about being bullied, growing up with a disability, and the support she received along the way. 

You can purchase Julia’s booklet and DVD at:
Staples on Stone Road in Guelph, Ontario
The booklet is $9.99. $5 of every purchase goes to support Ontario Special Olympics.
Julia has raised hundreds of dollars to support one of her favourite charities.
Buy her film for $10.00. $9 of every purchase will go to support Families for a Secure Future. www.familiesforasecurefuture.com 

Julia says this about making a film:
Making a movie has helped me to become a better advocate for people with disabilities. I had pain and suffering and a barrier to tell my story. I couldn’t talk about it until I saw me on film. 

Making a movie can help people to become leaders in their communities.
Everyone, including people with disabilities, has strengths and weaknesses.
Sometimes people can’t speak. A movie can talk for them.

Show 26 – My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The unabashedly human experience of raising kids with disabilities

Airs: Sunday, April 25, 2010 8 to 9 AM ET || www.CFRU.ca 93.3 FM

Sarah Talbot and Yantra Bertelli are calling from Seattle, Washington to speak about their personal experiences and their book “My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The unabashedly human experience of raising kids with disabilities”
http://shortbusbook.blogspot.com/

This anthology is a wonderful blend of humour and reality. It features works by alternative parents, both professional and novice storytellers, who have attempted to move away from mainstream thought while raising children with disabilities.
“This assortment of authentic, shared experiences from parents in the know is a partial antidote to the stories that misrepresent, ridicule, and objectify disabled children and their parents.” quoted from http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781604861099-0

Why did the editors decide on the “fringe of the fringe” perspective?

Yantra Bertelli wrote: We compiled a book for people like us. I do believe in one way or another we all considered ourselves placed on the fringes of society prior to our children, who’s challenges placed us even further on the outside of what society deems “normal” or “typical”.  We write from the places we know. Thank you again for the opportunity.

Other references:

Shannon Rosa, contributor to “My Baby Rides the Short Bus” and contributing editor of “Parents of Children with Special Needs” at blogHer.com: http://www.blogher.com/my-baby-rides-short-bus-interview

KQED Radio Interview: The Forum: Friday, March 12, 2010 1 pm.: http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201003121000

Book Review: http://daddy-dialectic.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-baby-rides-short-bus-review.html

Facebook link: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35394681927

Show 25 – Raising Kids with Disabilities

Aired: April 18, 2010 8 to 9 AM ET || CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph, Ontario

Anne is a mother of 4 boys. Her oldest has autism.

When I first met Anne, I thought that it must be really difficult to raise a child with autism. I asked her about that. Anne laughed and replied that Ceddy was the easiest of her 4 boys.

I invited Anne on the radio to help debunk some beliefs that living with an autistic child is tragic, that they’re suffering, they need to fit in with “normal”, and that autism is a communication disorder.

Next week, we’ll continue to explore the issue of “Raising Kids with Disabilities” when I interview Sarah Talbot and Yantra Bertelli from Seattle, Washington who edited the anthology “My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The unabashedly human experience of raising kids with disabilities”.