Therese Weisbrot of Sloan Kettering Mentions Stress Induced Regression

Also found through the Child Life Council Facebook Page. Click on the CL Month tag below to see all the videos from this and last year

I'm Hiring My First PA

To follow up from last years Valentine's Day post I will be starting horseback riding lessons in about 6 weeks I hope! I will be starting a temporary part time job and will be saving most of that $ for horseback riding lessons. I can hopefully stretch the $ out for a year by only going once every other week. The problem, which is not a problem is that paratransit only operates within .75mi of a bus/train line and of course barns are in the country and buses typically don't operate in the country.

I was fortunate enough to find a barn in civilization that has both a typical and therapeutic riding program, but of course it is still 0.9mi from the closest bus stop says google maps, and the paratransit scheduler people say it's 1 street too far. Although I could find the closest possible address and huff it, that just isn't my idea of stress relief. That's stress creation, and riding is supposed to be stress relief. So I'll be paying someone (a student) to drive me there and back. There is a state program that could pay back most of the $, but I've heard there's a waiting list, so I'll be paying out of pocket and looking for someone who'll do it for cheap. I have several options of places to look. I'm rather excited!

Any advice for a first time employer?

I GIVE UP!!!!!

[image description: woman sitting in front of a computer about to tear her hair out]

I have to do this assignment for Senior Seminar in Family Studies based around one of the family life education content areas. I was assigned family life and public policy and am trying to design a research paper and 75 minute presentation around what I decided to term Nothing About Us Without Us: How to Empower Your Clientele. I am shaping the whole presentation around Bob Kafka's Pitchfork Approach to Social Change. [see picture left. It's a hand, but same deal]

It could turn out really cool. But could and trying are the words of the day. I could scream right now if I wasn't right in the middle of the library. There's just this one big hitch--this 8-10pg research paper that has to go with it. We have to have 4 articles from peer reviewed journal articles that support our topic of choice. Fine. Not a problem. What is a problem is that they have to be actual research studies done on our topic. Not literature reviews, not conference papers, and certainly not newspaper articles/ADAPT press releases. Well let me correct myself a bit. We can have those things included as long as they're secondary to the damn research articles that I can't find. I've sat here for 3hrs searching databases. I can find things that have been published in peer reviewed scholarly journals but not research studies.

My professor did find me an article that has to do with Olmstead. It was written by some very cool people. Carol Gill from University of Illinois at Chicago and Diane Coleman of Not Dead Yet, among others. Someone from Access Living is even listed as an author. Anyone from Chicago is A OK in my book. Chicago seems to be the Mecca of disability rights. The problem, I gave up with the community organizing thing and went to Olmstead instead and couldn't find anything else to use either. I can't go off of the reference list from the article I have because most of their articles are Chicago Tribune articles. Can't use those...

I could do a really cool awesome fantastical presentation if only I could FIND SOMETHING!!!!! So I give up. I surrender. I am officially done for the day.

On another note a bill addressing disability awareness in educational settings (all public elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions) has been introduced into the Maryland legislature. The Maryland Disability Law Center has decided to support it of course and I have personally been asked to be the lead point person on all efforts surrounding this bill, even though I don't work for them. Stressful, but AWESOME!

Where Have I Been?

SCHOOL!!!! Classes started on the 2nd. I HATE SCHOOL!!!! I've just got nothing blogable going on now. The first 2 weeks of the semester are the worst. Running (rolling?) around trying to get a handle on my new schedule, getting my profs on the same page w/me (or is that me on the same page w/them?), all of the fun things going on, and generally trying to keep my head on straight. It's maddening, and has been worse then usual. Very soon I think I will have some rather interesting things to blog about, as I hope to have some great adventures, or at the very least a thought provoking class or 2. I have a feeling I will be blogging soon as the topic for the Sept 25th disability blog carnival is "Falling." I'm an expert on that...

This One Sounds Particularly Interesting

Please SAVE THE DATE for the upcoming teleconference and webcast, “Let’s Talk About Sexuality!” presented by the National Youth Information Center of the National Youth Leadership Network on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 8:00PM Eastern.

Join this teleconference and webcast to learn more about:

· Dating and Marriage

· Reproductive Issues

· Safe Sex and Safety

· GLBT QI (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer, Intersex Issues)

Also, our presenters will be discussing:

· The history of people with disabilities and reproductive justices

· How to get only what you want when it comes to dating and sexuality

· How marriage affects SSI and other benefits

· Talking about your disability with a date

Help young people with disabilities talk about sexuality. Spread the word!

To sign up for this webcast visit www.nyln.org. A Teleconference link will be available soon. Please refer any questions to eleanor@ncil.org.

I HATE MY LIFE!!! No... really I dont. WAIT! Yes I do...

That's what's been running through my mind since Friday. You see, my campus has too many hills, and hills do not typically agree with CP. So it's taking everything I have just to walk around that place. I already can't get out of bed in the morning and have taken to going 5 days between showers and last week I wore the same clothes tues & wednes and then showered thurs (finally) and wore the same clothes thurs & fri. Oh yeah, I slept in the clothes the night in between too. EEEEWWWWW!!!! But yet I feel behind. I'm so tired I slept in til 3:45 sat afternoon. What more do people want from me?!?!?! Oh yeah, to spend 7hrs a week for the next month working with 100 children in a residential treatment center to get them ready for what I decided was a "Reach for the Stars" talent show (aren't I cleaver? We're working on raising self-esteem). Did I mention I'm supposed to be there from 4-6 wednes/thurs and 10-12 sat. No more sleeping in on Saturdays I'm going on my birthday, I canceled my appointment to finish ordering my ultra-cool wheelchair, and I rearranged my shrink appointments for this. GAAAAHHHH!!!!!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm having SO much fun with the talent show (making my t-shirt was a nice displacement activity. Really... I am doing homework) but could I please have a permanent IV caffiene drip?

I may not be blogging for the next 5 weeks. Hope you don't miss me, and I hope for my sake that I don't have to be wiped off the floor when this is all over. [:'(]