If you're there today, keep your eyes open, we might just be around...
Stephanie's Day, "A FREE Resource Fair for children with special needs and their families/caregivers" at NorthPark Center, Saturday, June 13, 2009 from 10am-2:00pm. Stephanie's Day was founded by CBS 11/TXA 21 President and General Manager, Steve Mauldin, in honor of his daughter Stephanie who has autism.Kids can enjoy music, games, entertaining activities, and much more at Stephanie’s Day. Meanwhile, parents and caregivers can find a wealth of resources available through local non-profit organizations, therapy centers, advocacy groups and parent-to-parent networks.This is a FREE EVENT located at NorthPark Center in Dallas, Texas.NorthPark Center8687 N. Central ExpresswayDallas, Texas 75225
Update (and postmortem)
If I had one criticism of the event, it would be that the organizers need to decide if they are interested in holding a general special needs event or one that focuses exclusively on autism. I think either one would be great; I certainly don't begrudge anyone in the autism community the attention such an event would attract, particularly in the present media environment where autism continues to receive so much focus. The rising tide lifts all the boats, as they say. I suspect every kid with a disability benefits from that kind of attention. not just the ones with autism.
But aside from a handful of specific providers (CP and fragile X, for example), the focus of the event was definitely on autism, which shouldn't be a surprise considering how it began. But I do think they ought to consider either working hard to expand their scope to include a much wider range of disabilities or making this about autism outright.
That's my sincere opinion that exactly no one asked for.
Not surprisingly, Schuyler managed to sneak into the tv coverage for a second or two...
7 comments:
Well, rats! That wasn't on our radar! How do you find out about these things? Anything else coming up?
I found out almost by accident. The guy who runs it (Stephanie's dad) was a guest on the radio show I was interviewed on this week, and I caught it on the podcast. it turned out to be primarily an autism-related event, but it was still encouraging to see something like this in the general community, with this kind of exposure.
That particular shade of blue is lovely on Schuyler. it complements her hair
That particular shade of blue is lovely on Schuyler. it complements her hair
A friend of a friend of a - well, you get the idea - pointed me to your blog; my 5-year-old son is autistic. I could identify you immediately as good people because of Debbie's illustration - very cool. Off to browse past posts -
Hey Rob, do you read Popular Science? Because it looks like five or ten years down the line, Schuyler's Big Box of Words may be just a little speaker--that would translate her throat movements into words in realtime.
Article is here.
I wasn't able to go and heard about it on the news. Thanks for telling me about it.
I did go to Basspro for their summercamp workshops, which are still going on until July 5.The kids can earn pins for each workshop.It was a lot of fun. Found out recently that we could also take our dog. This gives my son comfort.
wish I had been able to go.
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