Children with disabilities, chronic health conditions, or developmental delays are born into families of every culture and ethnic background. We are not serving our children's best interests when our local parent groups, advocacy organizations or district wide school meeting audiences do not reflect the diversity of our communities.
Ethnic outreach and inclusive practices go beyond sending information and meeting notices out to newspapers and organizations that serve individual multicultural groups.
Advocates can make regular efforts in including fathers, grandparents and siblings by making arrangements for male speakers, offering childcare and age appropriate entertainment, having targeted topics and presenters from multicultural organizations, and planning social get togethers where panels and organizations can offer services to their specific cultural communities.
We need many voices raised in advocacy for our sons and daughters who have special needs, as well as their nuclear and extended families. Reaching out to families who have not participated in the regularly scheduled activities of our advocacy groups has the potential of moving opportunities forward for all our children.
Providing a point of access to information and support for all ethnic and cultural communities is a natural extension of our general advocacy for families and brings in wonderful resources for those who are already active.
Many organizations and advocacy groups serve the diversity of their communities well by providing ethnic outreach, information in several languages, translators, multilingual staff and volunteers. They have already found that the benefits far surpass the effort to introduce and welcome those who have not been traditionally included in community organizations.
Families from multicultural backgrounds often have the same questions and concerns as everyone else in an established advocacy group, with some additional concerns that may be specific to the culture or family. A frequent question from bilingual parents is whether children with developmental disabilities like Down syndrome can learn two or more languages, how to teach them both,and how this might affect their general acquistion of language and ability to communicate. Looking into such questions is delightful and interesting.
Thank you for your interest in including families from multicultural backgrounds - the more inclusive we are in advocacy, the more inclusive our communities will be for all our sons and daughters.
Browse at your local bookstore, public library or online retailer for books like: 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America
or, Mental Wellness in Teens and Adults with Down Syndrome - A Guide to Emotional and Behavioral Strengths and Challenges
Riverbend's
Language and Communication page
http://www.riverbendds.org/bilingualds.html
Parent Advocacy for Educational Rights
PACER Center Multicultural Resources
PACER Center Multicultural and/or Translated Resources - African-American, Hmong, Laotian, Spanish, Somali, Southeast Asian
Parent Advocacy for Educational Rights
PACER Center Translated Resources
Recursos en espańol
Cov ntaub ntawv hais ua lus Hmoob
qoraalada ku daabacan afka soomaaliga
Bilingual Therapies Speech Language Pathology Spanish
National Indian Health Board Tribal Summit For American Indian/Alaska Native Young Adults (Ages 14-30) with Disabilities
http://www.nihb.org
Bilingual Children with Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51927.asp
Dutch Multicultural Pages - Down Syndroome
http://www.downsyndroom.nl
Yahoo group discussion of children with Down syndrome learning multiple languages
http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/bilingualds.html
Down Syndrome Educational Trust articles on bilingualism at down-syndrome.net
including Bilingual Children with Down syndrome
http://www.riverbendds.org/bilingualds.html
Down Syndrome and Bilingualism - Down Syndrome Association Malta
http://www.riverbendds.org/bilingualds.html
The Language Abilities of Bilingual Children With Down Syndrome - American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
http://www.riverbendds.org/index.htm
Family Village Resources
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu
Family Village - Multicultural Center Latino Disability Resources
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/multicultural/Latino.htm
Family Village - Asian American Disability Resources
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/multicultural/Asian.htm
Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of New South Wales (MDAA) for people from a non-English speaking background , their families and carers. Find information about MDAA in Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Farsi, Hindi, Korean,Maltese, Serian, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese languages
Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria
http://www.dsa-nigeria.org/
Down Syndrome Association of New South Wales:
World Down Syndrome Day around the world - links
http://www.dsansw.org.au/events/WorldDownSyndromeDay.html
Articles in English, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic:
Makaton Signing for Children with Down Syndrome
Aging and Its Consequences for People with Down Syndrome
Guidelines for Parents of Children with Down Syndrome - Vietnamese
AN INTRODUCTION TO KEY SIGN - Arabic flyer on classes offered by Down Syndrome New South Wales and Koorana
HEALTH OF CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME - Vietnamese flyer on class offered by Down Syndrome New South Wales and Vietnamese Parents of Disabled Children Support Group in NSW
Writing with Symbols 2000 English, Welsh, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portugese, Brazilian, Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Hebrew
Writing with Symbols 2000 Spanish
Escribir con Símbolos
PBS and PTA Look at the Pressures on Parents Raising the Next Generation of Kids
Early Childhood Learning, Extracurricular Activities, New Media Technologies
Us and Them - by Mayer Shevin
http://shevin.org/articles-usthem.html
Diversity World
http://www.diversityworld.com
NFPA Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities
http://www.nfpa.org/evacuationguide
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) developed this free guide as a resource for creating an all-inclusive evacuation plan that considers everyone’s needs for evacuation, including the needs of people with disabilities.
Please share this with local mayors, fire and police chiefs, and school district directors.
NDSS: Everyone Counts: Teaching Acceptance & Inclusion - K-6
Center for Independence Resources at centerforindependence.org
Gentle Teaching - Teaching children and adults with developmental disabilities to feel safe, loved, loving, and engaged
Sensory Integration as a Daily Strategy of Care Giving
Sibling Support and Rivalry - Brothers and Sisters of Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art33375.asp
Cousins of Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art44239.asp
National PTA - Rescuing Recess
Recess kits, grants and support for funding playground equipment, volunteer programs and research studies
www.pta.org
Going Back to School with a New Health Imperative
Nutrition education, guidelines for foods in school, physical education, and physical activity
http://www.pta.org
PTA Reflections Recognition for Artistic Expression
Theme: My Favorite Place - Photography, Visual Arts, Literature, Musical Composition
Primary (Preschool-Grade 2) Intermediate (Grades 3-5) Middle/Junior (Grades 6-8) Senior (9-12)
Emerging Minority Leadership Conference: October 27 – 29 in Detroit, MI
PTA Leadership Conference: September 29 – October 1 in Chicago, IL
Diversity Organizations and Associations
Browse at your local bookstore, public library or online retailer for books like: Mental Wellness in Teens and Adults with Down Syndrome - A Guide to Emotional and Behavioral Strengths and Challenges by Dennis McGuire and Brian Chicoine
Us and Them - by Mayer Shevin
http://shevin.org/articles-usthem.html
Diversity World
http://www.diversityworld.com
NFPA Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities
http://www.nfpa.org/evacuationguide
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) developed this free guide as a resource for creating an all-inclusive evacuation plan that considers everyone’s needs for evacuation, including the needs of people with disabilities.
Please share this with local mayors, fire and police chiefs, and school district directors.
