A photograph and a thought on current events

A current photo of Donald Triplett, age 77, the first child officially diagnosed with autism by Leo Kanner. Mr. Triplett lives independently in his own home, drives a car, is a retired bank teller, and is an avid golfer.

Had Donald grown up in Pennsylvania, he might have spent the majority of his life (as 10,500 other people with developmental disabilities did) at the Pennhurst State School. Parts of the Pennhurst story can be found here: http://preservepennhurst.com/default.aspx?pg=167

I have tried to read first person accounts of former residents of state schools in the United States. The ones I have found have been gripping and horrifying... and mostly written by persons who were incarcerated "improperly" because they did not have intellectual disabilities.

For some reason, the media always makes great noise about the fact that these authors "should never have been institutionalized in the first place." Should anyone have been incarcerated in state schools for life, regardless of disability?

A haunted asylum has just opened at the Pennhurst State School campus, amidst the protest of the disability rights community. According to the video, it's pretty scary. None of us should ever have gone to Pennhurst; no one should go now.

Autism’s First Child - Magazine - The Atlantic

Autism’s First Child - Magazine - The Atlantic

In case I have not mastered the fine art of uploading video to the blog, here is a link to the article on Donald Triplett.

The place we are all searching for...

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's great hunger meet." ~ Frederick Buechner

My students started their first project today - a project about their own personal passions. They will be collaborating to make a bulletin board, illustrating and explaining their passions. It is a diverse group of interests this year - machines, motocross racing, video games, animals, sound engineering, etc. We'll be returning to this theme over and over again - what do you know ? What do you love? What do you have to offer the world?

We forget to ask young people with disabilities, "What are your gifts? What are you bringing to the table?" Bring it... the world needs it.

UCM's THRIVE program first of its kind in Missouri - News

UCM's THRIVE program first of its kind in Missouri - News

Opening thoughts for the 2010-2011 school year...

Life is too short to be mean... and life is too short to be dishonest. How to balance the two? This, I think, is the beginning of wisdom...

Lights, camera, action...

Last spring, I attended the Sprout Film Festival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan with a good friend. The festival features films starring individuals with developmental disabilities (in some cases, the actors also write the screenplays and participate in production). I loved it. Find a list of films here at www.GoSprout.org. They also have a commercial site where you can buy or rent films (www.Sproutflix.org). The quality of the acting and production is very high and many of the stories are startling in their honesty.

The Performing Arts Studio West is a professional group that trains and represents actors with disabilities, so that they can portray characters with disabilities on TV and in film. The documentary "Acting Normal" (see the GoSprout site for more information) is about the group's efforts to make sure that trained actors are available and cast for roles where they can give the best representation for the story.