• "Starting w/ Julius"

Starting With Julius- reCasting Difference-Where Everyone Belongs

We love the folks at Starting With Julius! What They Stand For : We believe that the mainstream media is a powerful tool to stimulate cultural transformation for a world in which people with disability are recognised, respected and valued as equal citizens and unique individuals. We also believe that including people with disability in advertising and media makes commercial sense and work with the advertising and media industries to promote the benefits of an ethos that embraces diversity and inclusion. Starting w/ Julius is fabulous and Catia Malaquias' writing and advocacy will blow you away so check out the blog

  • Ollibean News Headline ON SURVIVING INCLUSION, Written by: Kerima  Çevik, These groups view inclusion as an educational disaster, as racist educators saw racial integration in its time. Photograph of Gail Etienne age 6, one of the Mcdonogh 3, being driven to school by federal marshals looking very sad. Photo credit: NOLA.com

On Surviving Inclusion

On Surviving Inclusion by Kerima Cevik Three young Black soldiers, bubbling over with the news that the Civil Rights act was just signed into law, and ready to demand a front door entrance and equal treatment everywhere rushed around places where people of color were formerly unseen and unheard. Image is of the first page of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Credit National Archives. I cannot impart on you what this moment in time meant to them. Imagine being told all your life that you were less than others. Imagine approaching your local supermarket

ALL Students Should Be Safe at School

I spoke at Hillsborough County School District's board meeting on September 9, 2014 to address safety concerns for students with disabilities after Tamya Johson, a nine year old student on the autism spectrum was left sleeping on her school bus. The day after this meeting, September 10, Hillsborough School Bus Crash sends 21 people to the hospital. Transcript Mrs Elia, Board members, I’ve come to speak to you today to offer my help and the community’s help to do whatever we need to do to ensure all students are safe in our schools. Being safe while at school is the

  • There is a big difference between HEARING what you are saying & UNDERSTANDING what you are saying. Linda Tossoonian on Ollibean

Deaf Parent Advocates for Communication Supports She Received from Same School 40 Years Ago

Deaf mother goes before Hillsborough County School District Board to advocate for son's necessary services. The 8th largest school district in the country has an operating budget of $ 3 billion. Despite being notified in advance of her attendance, the district was unable to provide any access .

  • I fear that Hillsborough County School Board is standing on the wrong side of history.

Disabilty and Civil Rights: Standing On the Right Side of History

"If we were to go back to the 1960s and we were to talk to those leaders who were vehemently against desegregation, we would hear the conviction in their voices of them stating why they believe their decisions and what they were doing to those children were just. Just as I believe that some of you and some of the board members that have spoken believe that their decisions are just. But, I fear that the Hillsborough County School Board is standing on the wrong side of history."

Inclusion is a right not a privilege.

Inclusion is not only socially just, but research shows it improves academic outcomes for all students.

  • op one fourth of book cover is a white background" Black and White" written in black text with capital letters in large font "A Colorful Look at Life on the Autism Spectrum"Beneath also in black text with capital letters written in small font . Middle section contains a color photograph of blonde light skinned woman in profile . Text in right hand corner reads A Book by S.R. Salas Bottom quarter of bookcover has a black background with white text, small font that reads "Renee provides a fascinating insight to autism, I highly recommed (her) book..."- Dr. Tony Attwood "Black and White provides an inside positive view of autism..." - Dr Temple Grandin

Ollibean Spotlight: Renee Salas

" Talk to people with disabilities. As many as you can: Adults, adolescents, kids. These people are the real experts on disabilities. These are the people that can tell you what life with a disability is like." Renee Salas

  • Photograph of woman with brown skin and dark brown shoulder length hair looking down smiling while holding her baby.

Ollibean Spotlight: Kerima Cevik Pay It Forward Activist

"Equal access, level playing field, dignity, respect for my son and all his community. No separate classrooms separate doors or isolation from others. See I’m a woman of color. When I began my education you could still see the Colored Only bathrooms in the Deep South. If you put my son in one room and say he is not good enough to be where the law says he should be, with his peers, then red flags of segregation fly up at me. Many parents of color feel the wrongness of it organically, but they have been convinced that their neurodiverse children are not good enough for their neighborhood school and that their children are a distraction or threat to typical children in some way. The different operating system in their child’s brain throws them off, particularly when maladaptive behaviors are in the mix. It leaves them feeling guilty, helpless, afraid their kids will come to harm, and they listen to anyone, even if their gut tells them the advice is unjust. I am and advocate of Universal Design for Learning. I think my son can be with his peers in age as well as ability and everyone can benefit." Kerima Cevik

Believing in Your Child and Why It Matters

"No one affects a child's day, dreams and future like a mother. Of course we are never perfect, but perfect is never the goal." Tonya Whitlock

  • Photograph of blonde mother holding her blonde daughter in her lap.

Ollibean Mama Spotlight : Ariane Zurcher

"It means living in a society that embraces the diversity of human beings. It means inclusion is a way of life and manifests itself in every aspect of our culture, from the schools and education, to the work place and everything in between… It means paradise!" Ariane Zurcher

  • Presume Competence, Believe in Yourself, Treat Yourself Like You Are Your Own Best Friend, Breathe, Do Your Thing, Hug Those You Love..Every Single Day, Challenge the Paradigm, Take a Million Pictures, Play, Trust Your Gut, Keep All Records and Reports, Believe in Random Acts of Silliness, Be Informed, Think in Parallel, Turn It Up to 11, Appreciate the Beauty and Strength in Our Diversity, Question Everything, Love Deeply, Research, Own Your Difference ,Bust a Move, Know That Typical Is Overrated, Lean Into It, Embrace The Teachable Moments, Call on a Friend, Laugh, Laugh, Laugh, Laugh, Laugh, Sleep When You Can, We Are More Alike Than We Are Different, All of a Kind, Ollibean

Happy Mother’s Day Week : Turn It Up to 11

It's that time of year .... Mother's Day Week! Is there a song that makes you think about why you love being a mom? Or a song that just reminds you of your family? Share it here.

  • image of woman with white skin and dark brown hair smiling. Turquoise circle "Ollibean fav"

Sara Winter,Founder of Squag™ Had Me at :)

Sara Winter answers our Change Leader Questionairre. Sara is the founder of Squag™ - a wonderful curated, online space that offers kids on the autism spectrum as well as other disabilities (and their siblings) a safe, beautiful corner of the web.

  • woman with black and gray hair speaking at podium

Karen Clay Defines Inclusion for Hillsborough County School Board Member Olson

"I fought for him to remain in the classroom, I fought for him to attend his neighborhood school. I did not have to fight for him to be fully included, because Principal Vince Sussman at Plant High School knew that students with disabilities have value, have worth."

  • woman reading a book in lounge chair with ocean in background

Ollibean Mama Spotlight

Connect and learn with other parents like Tonya who presume competence and celebrate their children for being exactly who they are. #allofakind

Change Leader Marianne Russo

Change Leader Marianne Russo of The Coffee Klatch Special Needs Talk Radio answers our questions. We talk to her about why she started the Coffee Klatch interactive network and she answers our Ollibean Questionairre.

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