KEEN LA Blog

#KEENBENEFIT Twitter Contest

2009-10-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

This entry is available online as a formal request for funding with our letterhead and tax payer ID: http://bit.ly/3fzFvo

Dear Twitter Community

On behalf of Kids Enjoy Exercise Now Los Angeles (KEEN LA), I invite you to support KEEN Benefit 2009 by participating in our one day only #KEENBENEFIT Twitter Contest. KEEN LA is a non-profit organization that provides free sports and recreational opportunities to children with severe and profound disabilities in the greater Los Angeles area. With your participation in our #KEENBENEFIT Twitter Contest, you will help raise money for our organization and help us to continue expanding our reach in Los Angeles community while keeping our programs free-of-charge to children and their families.

About #KEENBENEFIT Twitter Contest

To keep our organization going throughout 2010, we are running a contest today on Twitter. The winner of the contest will receive TWO FREE TICKETS to the KEENLA Benefit on Sunday, ($200 value). We will also write an article about the winner, the winner’s organization, or business, on our blog and website. The winner of the contest will be announced via “@ reply” before the end of the day. There are two simple requirements to participate in the #KEEN BENEFIT Twitter Contest:

Make a small donation of at least $20 at http://www.keenlosangeles.org/

Tweet: “Just donated 2 @keenla 4 #KEENBENEFIT Twitter Contest in hopes of winning 2 free tix to the event. You can 2! Visit http://bit.ly/UGg9" OR Write an article about your donation and email the link to info@keenlosangeles.org

About KEENLA

KEEN began with a simple idea: pair a trained volunteer coach with an athlete with disabilities, and let them discover together what they can do. With this simple idea and five children, KEEN was launched in Washington DC area nearly 14 years ago. Now, the national organization serves hundreds of young people with disabilities across the nation through a myriad of recreational programs (e.g. free gym play, basketball, swimming) brought to life each week with the help of volunteer coaches. In 2005, KEENLA was launched, realizing a longstanding vision to bring KEEN to the Los Angeles Area. Over the past year, KEEN LA has served area wide athletes with the help of over 850 volunteers. KEENLA is proud to accept every child, no matter his/her disability or limitations.

About #KEENBENEFIT

KEENLA with the support of top sponsors, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Joe Moller Events and other local sponsors, will host a benefit night to help fund free recreational programs for special needs children in LA. The benefit will take place at the Bel Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades on Sunday November 1st, 2009 at 5 p.m.

KEENLA sponsors such as Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Joe Moller Events, KEEN CFOS, Miss California Latina, State Farm Insurance, ABC Supply, celebrity guests such as 3 Olympians, members of Ziggy Marley’s band, volunteers, parents of KEENLA athletes, and the KEENLA Board of Directors will be in attendance.

The event will include a silent auction, for items such as hot air balloon rides, “The Closer: set tickets, autographs, Lakers tickets, spa treatments, and hotel stays. The evening will also include professional salsa dancing lessons, a hosted bar, and hors d’oeuvres.

The main event is the highly competitive KEENLA Trivia game. Teams of ten race each other across an interactive game board, and answer questions related to KEENLA, current events, and pop culture to earn a chance to move closer to the finish line. They can also pay to have extra opportunities to answer questions correctly or wreak havoc on another team, such as paying to have them sent back a few steps. Waiting across the finish line is a prize, such as a spa treatment or gift certificates.

Tickets are $100, available online at http://www.keenlosangeles.org/

#KEENBENEFIT will be held THIS SUNDAY!!! November 1, 2009 at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades. If you and/or your organization/business would like to join other Los Angeles area organizations and individuals in supporting KEENLA by becoming an event sponsor, please contact Leah Weiner, KEEN Los Angeles Executive Director at 213-892-2935 or info@keenlosangeles.org

Proceeds from #KEENBENEFIT will support KEEN Los Angeles’ sports and recreation programs and will help us to continue to provide them at no-cost to our athletes and their families. We sincerely hope you will choose to support our KEENLA athletes during this special event as we celebrate our 4^th year providing services to the Los Angeles community.

Sincerely,

Janelle Maluenda

Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles
Events & Fundraising Committee
626-825-3602 | keenlosangeles@gmail.com

Live Video Feed from #losangeles #specialneeds #tweetup: 929 Academy Road, Los Angeles California

2009-10-24T18:12:00.001-07:00

Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, in an effort to unite the tweeting special needs community of Los Angeles, California, is hosting the first ever #losangeles #specialneeds #tweetup tomorrow, Sunday October 25th, 2009 at Elysian Park Therapeutic Recreation Center.

Disabled children ranging from 3-18 with autism, aspergers, pdd, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, spina bifida, add, adhd, and many others will be laughing and playing with their trained volunteer coaches.

Volunteers arrive at 1030am. They'll be trained how to work with the kids.

Special needs athletes arrive at 11am.

Each volunteer with be paired with his/her own "athlete".

They will play until noon. Anything from arts and crafts, basketball, jump rope, baseball, bowling, sand castles, go cart racing, playground equipment and swing sets.

Then we do hokey pokey.

Then we play parachute and do the pride circle where every athlete shares what he/she did that day that makes him proud. We are done by 12:30

Its really fun. Volunteer coaches can register and find directions at keenlosangeles.org

Epilepsy Brain Storm Summit

2009-10-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

We invite you to attend the Epilepsy Brain Storm Summit conference on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the Conference Center at Cathedral Plaza in Los Angeles, California. The conference will be held in English in the morning and in Spanish in the afternoon.

The conference theme – “Tried & True & New Strategies Through Tough Times” – will focus attention on strategies that everyone can use to help manage seizures, promote safety, develop coping skills, improve general quality of life, and increase awareness about new treatment options even during these tough economic times. These strategies will be highlighted during the two panel presentations in the morning. The panels will be followed by “Special Interest Groups” for parents of children with epilepsy, adults with epilepsy, and siblings. Interested parents of school-aged children won’t want to miss the “Workshop on IEPs” and adults with epilepsy and their parents/partners will want to attend the “Workshop on SSI”. These will both be very practical, interactive Workshops where you can ask questions and get guidance.

For more specifics about the schedule and to register, please visit www.EpilepsyBrainStormSummit.kintera.org.

From your friends at the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles

www.EpilepsyFoundationGLA.org

Twitter Community Call to Action:

2009-10-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

I directed you to this post, because I wrote it for you. Thanks for trusting my suspicious link and thanks for being interested in what I have to say...

Please click here to email us directly to involve your organization, if you are an agent, if you have questions, would like to volunteer, or need directions

Who:
You are a mom or a dad of a child with special needs, the representative of an organization, a celebrity, a Los Angeles area business owner, you work in the special needs field, you're a student, or even a volunteer. Or maybe you want to become a volunteer!

What:
Help attract a large following to our cause by tweeting and retweeting using #KEENBENEFIT and some of the following hashtags:

#LosAngeles #tweetup# specialneeds #children #benefit #LAUSD #charity #donate #nonprofit #autism #aspergers #ADD #ADHD #bipolar #cerebralpalsy #epilepsy #specialed #spinabifida #disability

Examples of tweets:

#networking #opportunity for #specialneeds community: #LosAngeles #tweetup, 10/25 11am Elysian Park by #Dodger Stadium http://bit.ly/1yRq39

Hope 2 C U at the #specialneeds #tweetup #losangeles 10/25 11am Elysian Park by #Dodgers stadium. #KEENBENEFIT

@KEENLA is turning this Sunday's #specialneeds session for #children into a #Losangeles #tweetup 10/25 11am Elysian Park

Plz share #KEENBENEFIT press release! Donations/attendance is appreciated. Keep #play free for #specialneeds http://bit.ly/3TwANT

Los Angeles Community Unites for Children with Special Needs - http://bit.ly/3ChOs1 #KEENBENEFIT

Don't miss the #KEENBENEFIT: hosted bar, professional salsa dancing lessons, Lakers tix, silent auction: http://bit.ly/3TwANT #specialneeds

Dear #LosAngeles Community: 60 #specialneeds #children need your support of the #KEENBENEFIT: Attend. Donate. Retweet. http://bit.ly/3TwANT

Enjoying this pic of #specialneeds #children playing: http://bit.ly/1kWZhd #KEENBENEFIT

@KEENLA talks about the benefits of play for children w/#specialneeds http://bit.ly/1To2U1 to promote #KEENBENEFIT

When:
1. THIS Sunday October 25th 11am PST: #LosAngeles #specialneeds #tweetup
This is the date and time of our next KEEN session. We are inviting the Los Angeles twitter community to come out to Elysian Park Therapeautic Rec Center at 929 Academy Road, Los Angeles California and participate in our event. During this time I will be tweeting pictures and videos of our athletes, volunteers, and twitteres in action. If you can retweet these pictures and videos to your followers, that would be awesome!

Here's a look at what you will be exposed to while participating in this unique Los Angeles tweetup for special needs children:

2. October 22nd - November 1st: #KEENBENEFIT
The big day is fast approaching and we are working to earn $50,000 to secure our programming for 2010. Help us spread the news of #KEENBENEFIT to whoever you know.

If you know some one that would like to attend, great!
If you don't know any one that is willing to attend, that's cool too.
All you have to do is help pass along the message.

The idea is that the message of our organization's need of help will quickly spread and eventually the right people will read about us and we will connect and they will attend and they will donate our kids will continue to play throughout 2010 and all will be wonderful!!!!!!

Where:
Location of tweetup/KEEN Session: 929 Academy Road, Los Angeles California, 90017
Location of KEEN Benefit: 16801 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, California, 90272

Tickets/Donations: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=28433
Benefit Press Kit: http://bit.ly/3TwANT
Benefit Radio Interview with Tricia Kenney: http://tobtr.com/s/734684
Session article by Bonnie Sayers: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63495.asp
Session photos: http://www.snapmylife.com/pictures/user/1343395
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/keenlosangeles
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/keenla

Why:
Because if we don't meet our financial goals next Sunday, our programs will no longer be offered free to parents.

Thank you. Thank you for clicking the foreign url that brought you to this post. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Thank you for considering to support our benefit. Thank you in advance if you choose to participate in our social media push. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

About Kids Enjoy Exercise Now
Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles meets twice a month. We provide one-to-one supervised, recreation and care opportunities to children with special needs in the Los Angeles community. During a KEEN LA session, children strengthen physical, mental, social, and intellectual skills through non-competitive play. Those often turned away from group settings and physical education come to KEENLA to develop friendships with other children and volunteer coaches. We empower our athletes to lead an entire day of activities ranging from baseball, soccer, basketball, arts and crafts, jump rope, hop scotch, go cart racing, and dancing... all at no cost to parents and caregivers.

Nearly 4100 4th Graders Attend Free Concert at Disney Hall sponsored by Pasadena Showcase House

2009-10-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

October 20, 2009, by Jenine Baines
LOS ANGELES, Calif. When Rich Dembowski, the music teacher at the Frostig School, registered 30 students to attend "A Musical Carnival" – a free concert for 4th grade students from throughout Southern California sponsored by the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA) at Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 15 – he had a specific purpose in mind.

"The connection between kids with learning disabilities and music is a very direct one," says Dembowski who has been part of the team at the Frostig Center´s day school for children facing such challenges as dyslexia, non-verbal learning disabilities, and ADHD for the past nine years. "I´ve learned that our students are not necessarily ´disabled,´ so much as they learn differently. I think that, in the future, music will be proven to play a big part in understanding learning difficulties and help unlock the potential of ´different´ minds."

But what Dembowski hadn´t necessarily factored into his decision to bring his students to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform composer Camille Saint Saëns´ Carnival of the Animals was the students´ overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the performance itself.

"I think that was one overlooked reason for going -- to take children to a very special place to see a very special group of musicians playing a piece of music that made us laugh, think, and be entertained," Dembowski reflects. "The kids were much more excited than I had anticipated, and I think it speaks to the power of music, and live music in particular."

The children´s comments after the performance supported Dembowski´s claim. "What I loved the most was the swan," said ´Arina´. "It was like a harp." Meanwhile ´Conrad´ liked the "majestic" lion and the fossil. "It really sounded like a fossil," the boy explained. "It was totally awesome."

Enthusiasm for the performance was by no means limited to the children at the Frostig School. Dr. Tianna Tang of Wilkerson Elementary School in El Monte believes student Alexia Figueroa summed up the morning best for the 90 children who accompanied her to the concert. "We went to an amazing place with beautiful music," said the fourth grader.

Altogether, nearly 4100 4th grade students and their teachers attended A Musical Carnival, which featured pianists Gavin Martin and Joanne Pearce Martin and actress Marlene Martinez. David Afkham – assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and one of four young conductors chosen by the LA Phil to participate in its Dudamel Fellowship Program – led the orchestra and regaled his young audience with a showstopper line about one of the percussion family´s less familiar instruments, the glockenspiel. Two productions took place, one at 10:00 a.m. and another at 11:15 a.m.

"We are thrilled that Disney Hall was filled to capacity for both performances," says Eileen Reilly, Youth Concert chairman. "It´s wonderful to work with so many schools that share PSHA´s belief in the power of music to enhance and change a child´s life forever."

"Every year, Grand Avenue is filled with row after row of school buses," adds PSHA President Delise Menik. "I don´t know who´s more excited at that point – our Showcase volunteers who greet the children and guide them to their seats or the children themselves."

Rich Dembowski would probably place odds on the children. "Hey, we had a blast," he says simply. "I think that´s why kids with learning disabilities respond so enthusiastically to music. They are by definition creative thinkers."

Funding for the Youth Concert is provided from proceeds raised annually at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, one of the oldest, largest and most successful house and garden tours in the nation. Tickets to visit this year´s Pasadena Showcase House of Design – which will take place from Sunday, April 18 through Sunday, May 16 – will be available starting February 1, 2010. For more information, visit www.pasadenashowcase.org or call 626.578.8500.

The Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts also thanks The Green Foundation for its donation of $50,000 to help fund this year´s Youth Concert.

ABOUT THE PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE FOR THE ARTS

Since 1948, Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA) has awarded more than $17 million in gifts and grants to support the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and numerous non-profit organizations and local symphonic, cultural and educational musically oriented programs for youth. In addition, PSHA supports three programs of its own: the Pasadena Showcase House Music Mobile TM, an award-winning program introducing 3rd graders throughout the San Gabriel Valley to the instruments of the orchestra; The Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert, a free performance by the LA Philharmonic for 4th grade students at Walt Disney Concert Hall; and the Instrumental Competition, where exceptionally talented musicians, aged 16 to 24, compete for over $30,000 in monetary prizes to further their music education.

Dyslexic author offers a different outlook for kids who don't fit in

2009-10-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 5:44 PM PDT

By Tony Lystra

By the end of his first day of first grade, Jonathan Mooney was the bad kid. He fidgeted. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Every day at school was miserable. Mooney said he was always “chilling with the janitor in the hallway,” because his teachers booted him from the classroom. He was “on a first-name basis with Shirley, the receptionist in the principal’s office.” And when he wasn’t in trouble, he was hiding in the bathroom, his face streaked with tears, to avoid having to read.

He was labeled dyslexic in fourth grade and diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder the following year. He dropped out of school for a year in sixth grade and began plotting his suicide. He didn’t learn to read until he was 12.

And yet, Mooney graduated in 2000 from Brown University, an Ivy League school, with a degree in English literature. He was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist and founded a nonprofit organization to help students with learning disabilities.

How did he do it? On Monday, during a presentation hosted by the Family House Academy, a private school in Kelso, Mooney said he certainly didn’t become a “normal” person.

In fact, “normal people suck,” he said. “It is a tyrannical idea that there is a normal way to be in the world.”

Mooney, who has written two books about the world of so-called “special education” students, told the audience of more than 100 parents, students and educators who had gathered at the Cowlitz PUD building in Longview that the education system broke him down. He simply couldn’t fit in. And before long he was convinced he was “stupid, crazy and lazy.”

He offered an alternative outlook Monday. Most artists, entrepreneurs and innovators were just like him as children, said Mooney, who is 30 and lives in Los Angeles. They weren’t incapable of learning, he said. They were simply “late neurological bloomers.”

Children with learning disabilities are often “on a different timeline,” he said. Which, “means that things can change. And there’s a lot of hope in that message. And it’s not a message that we’re giving kids in this culture.”

“We spend a lot of time trying to fix kids like me,” he said. “Guess what we lose sight of? We lose sight of what’s right with kids like me.”

Mooney, a vivacious bouncing red-head with a booming voice, told parents and teachers not to ask whether the children around them are smart, but “how is my child smart?”

He suggested talking to kids about the different ways people show their intelligence. One of the great ironies of child psychology, he said, is that ADHD isn’t a deficit of attention; it’s an ability to pay attention to seemingly a thousand things at once, which will come in handy on Wall Street or other chaotic work environments.

If kids are struggling, he said, focus less on remedial skills and channel them into areas where they excel, such as a debate club for a kid who’s particularly verbal but not so good at writing.

And don’t tell kids they have to sit still in their desks, he said. The fidgeting stimulates the brain and helps them pay attention.

Mooney also told parents to become advocates for their children at school — and to teach kids to stand up for themselves. When Mooney applied to Brown, he told the school he wouldn’t give them SAT scores because he bombed the test. The school didn’t allow face-to-face interviews as part of its admissions process, so Mooney waited in an office for 12 hours until he got one.

He spent his years at Brown pacing in the back of lecture halls, taking notes on a clipboard. He studied using books on tape. And in his own oddball way, he began making his way in the world. He said he once got an A on a paper at Brown, even though, his dyslexia in full effect, he wrote it on “orgasmic chemistry” instead of “organic chemistry.”

“Tell a kid, ‘You’re not broken,” he told the audience. “Normal’s broken.”

Vista Del Mar Hosts — Groundbreaking Autism Conference for Parents and Professionals

2009-10-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Nov 12 8:00a to 4:00p
at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, Los Angeles, CA

Please share our benefit story with your friends and family. November 1st, at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades

2009-10-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Please share this video with at least one other person you know.

Embed it on your site.

Link it on your facebook/twitter.

If you have any questions, feel free to take a look at our press kit.

Please help us to spread the story about the KEEN LA Benefit with the Los Angeles community. our children are depending on us to continue to provide free recreational programs for children with special needs.

Here is an article about KEEN LA from Bonnie Sayers

Listen to our radio interview with Tricia Kenney on Discussing Autism, Blog Talk Radio

Save our organization. Attend the KEEN LA Benefit!

Buy your ticket NOW at keenlosangeles.org

Thanks guys!!!

Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles featured on Blog Talk Radio!

2009-10-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you Tricia for featuring our organization and allowing us to talk about our upcoming benefit on November 1st, 2009 at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades

NM school goes from worst to among best in 3 years

2009-10-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

TOHATCHI, N.M. – Fifth grader Darius Yazzie's after-school chores include hauling water for horses and feeding chickens, while his classmate, Shanika Begay, rides a bus 15 miles each way through the rolling hills of this impoverished corner of the Navajo Nation.

Some students travel a much greater distance, as far as 45 miles on dirt roads that become impassable in bad weather. Some of their homes lack electricity and running water. About 83 percent of Shanika's and Darius' classmates are poor, according to state data, with about 80 percent designated as English language learners.

While Tohatchi Elementary School is a new building this year, with walls decorated with Navajo language posters and student artwork, the demographics of poverty and language have added up in the past to some of the worst test scores in New Mexico.

But about four years ago, Shanika, Darius and other students noticed a change.

A bespectacled, mustachioed man with a buoyant character was there to greet them each morning. George Bickert, who as a first-year principal had to get a special waiver to take the job, immediately learned his students' names. He gave them smiles, hugs and high fives. He led early morning basketball games, which Darius loved.

Like those games, Bickert turned academics into a challenge, one that he believed these students could win. And win they did.

Tohatchi boosted its math scores from 15 percent of the students being proficient in 2006 to nearly 78 percent this year. Reading scores rose from nearly 28 percent of the students being proficient to almost 71 percent this year, according to state data.

Ask Darius and Shanika, both 10, about making "adequate yearly progress" a year ago and they break into wide grins when they recall how Bickert shaved his head as his part of the bargain.

State Public Education Secretary Veronica Garcia described Tohatchi's progress as "astonishing."

"It is astonishing and it is amazing," she said. "And, I hope that his success is able to grow even more success."

Daria Hall, director of K-12 policies with The Education Trust, based in Washington, D.C., said that schools like Tohatchi "are proof positive that when we organize for student success, low-income and English language learning students can perform at high levels."

Nationally, Native American and low-income fourth graders score lower than their peers in reading and math, Hall said.

A 2007 National Assessment Education Progress report shows 49 percent of Native American fourth graders tested are not proficient in reading, compared to 34 percent of fourth graders of all ethnicities. Disparities also appear in math scores.

Bickert, who was promoted this school year to principal of Crownpoint High School 40 miles east of Tohatchi, insists that his character and motivational skills were not the only reasons for the school's success.

"I do think several staff members thought I was crazy, but I believed in the faculty and staff that we had, and more importantly I believed in our students and parents," he said.

Data drives Bickert's methods. He knew who his English learners were, which students were poor, what skills they were missing, what their reading and math scores were.

"Know your students," he said. "Everybody around the country is struggling with English language learners and students with disabilities, but you need to know what categories your students fit into and find out what your students need."

Bickert also made learning fun and competitive.

The eye-drooping "curriculum based measures" — weekly tests to measure students' progress — became "Math Monsters" and "Cougar Readers."

Classroom scores were posted. Students who got perfect scores on the weekly 10-question tests heard their names read during Monday morning announcements and classes that scored 100 percent got pizza parties.

Darius still remembers his classroom's party.

"We worked so hard on it, and I'm proud of myself because I amaze myself by what I can do," he said. Darius wants to be a doctor and live in Los Angeles or Atlanta.

Parent Margie Leonard, whose three sons attend Tohatchi, noticed changes when Bickert became principal, though she was initially unaware of the rising math and reading scores.

Suddenly, homework was brought home. Teachers were available to parents. Weekly tests measured her sons' progress.

"The kids liked it," Leonard said. "They liked the way he praised him."

Bickert said he was fortunate that "the teachers and community rallied around the vision of excellence."

Tohatchi's new principal, Vanesa Holly, says she plans on maintaining Bickert's success.

"I don't know if we'll make the huge jumps that we've made in AYP (adequate yearly progress)," she said, "but I think we'll continue making AYP and just move farther and farther along that road."

A mother learns to speak out

2009-10-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

From Mike Kilen of the Des Moines Register:

Joy Brown never raised her hand. She knew the answers to teacher questions but didn't want anybody to look at her. She asked herself later why she didn't speak up, but never sought advice from older sisters.

"She was so quiet you almost didn't know she was around," said sister Jolene Godbey.

Joy Brown, whose father died from a heart attack when she was 4, went through life quietly.

She went through high school and college for a while at the University of Northern Iowa but simply wanted to be a mom and homemaker and humbly care for her children.

For a while, Brown became a hairdresser, then worked at K-Mart and was a desk clerk at a hotel in Mason City. She met her husband, Tom, a factory worker, at the Back 40 in Mason City, the loud beer-drinking bar where many couples in the 1980s secured future mates. A judge married them quietly in 1985.

They began having children, one after another up to four, and a life under the radar unfolded.

Then one day, she had to raise her hand. Over the next 20 years, she was forced to stand up to save herself, save her son and try to help save others.

Saving herself

By 1993, the Browns were living in the modest farmhouse where Tom grew up, along Highway 65, two miles south of Mason City.

Four children were underfoot and Joy had her hands full. Brown's second child, Jamie, didn't say a word until age 4 and Joy and Tom thought it was autism. Doctors called it a "pervasive developmental disorder." He was given to tantrums and had to be closely watched, lest he wander off.

Joy was watching a "Winnie the Pooh" video with Jamie, then 5, when her youngest, 8-month-old Kayla, needed to be put down for a nap.

When she came out of the bedroom, Jamie was gone. She called out, looked under the sofa. He was nowhere in the house. She looked out to busy Highway 65 just feet away.

"I was afraid to find him and afraid not to find him," she said.

Her husband hurried home. They searched the ditches. After an hour, they called the police. An officer told Brown that her child was there. A passing motorist had picked him up.

Relief. Momentarily.

The Iowa Department of Human Services opened a child abuse investigation. Six days later, the DHS told her their investigation found child abuse for "denial of critical care."

She was placed on the state's child abuse registry for 10 years.

"That is when my whole world changed," Brown said.

Friends told her to put it out of her mind; she knew she was a good mother.

"But the only thing I wanted growing up was to have my own kids. Then I have a child with a disability that I fight for every day and then I'm called a child abuser," she said. "Every part of it felt wrong. I just couldn't live with it."

If you don't like it, authorities told her, then change the law.

"So I did," Brown said.

For months, she privately waged a battle, notifying legislators about the unfairness of the inflexibility of the state codes on neglect.

But not until 1995 did she forcefully come forward. She stood all the way up in class, as it were, and told her story to newspapers in Iowa and across the country. The Los Angeles Times even called her "outspoken."

Brown even rose before groups to speak about it. Her sisters wondered. Is this the same Joy who wouldn't even speak at family gatherings?

"I found determination I never knew I had before," Brown said.

In the next year, the laws were changed, leading DHS workers to assess cases more as social workers than crime investigators and limit the state child-abuse registry to only serious cases.

For the first time in her life, she had really spoken up.

Saving her son

From the time he started school, Jamie was placed in classes for disabled students.

One day he was held down to control his tantrums. Then he would be placed in classes: "art" and "lunch."

It wouldn't do. She worked with the elementary school to put him in classes with other mainstream students.

"All children have worth," she told them. "Inclusion is a right, not a privilege."

By the time Jamie reached middle school it was tougher. Officials warned her the school wasn't locked. They asked how he would ever learn anything and wondered about his tantrums.

She went home in tears. Again, she raised her hand.

Jamie was smart, could read and write and was great with computers. This wouldn't do.

Brown joined support groups for disabled students. She kept the pressure on the school to include her son in regular classes and joined an effort called the National Inclusion Project.

"She is very good about getting the word out," said Aron Hall, the volunteer coordinator for the project based in Raleigh, N.C.

Hardly shy, newly determined, she watched her son graduate from Mason City High School. Today he is 21 and lives at home but hopes to one day live independently.

"If he wouldn't have been included he wouldn't be near as far as he is," Brown said.

It wasn't easy.

"When life pulls you into a situation you have to speak out," she said. "You find something inside you."

Saving others

By 2002, Brown had worked through many jobs while raising her children - an ag equipment company, Hobby Lobby - then one day in 2002 she discovered a lump in her breast.

She remembers where all her children and husband were sitting that day when she removed the telephone from her ear and slid it to her husband at the kitchen table.

She remembers her son Daniel, today 19, buckling at the knees.

"We have tough news for you," the doctor said. She kept hearing those words in the night. The fast-growing breast cancer had to be removed and so did her breasts.

What about her kids? She couldn't stand to think of them growing up without a parent, like she did.

"If it wasn't for her kids, it might have been a different story," said Godbey, her sister from nearby Charles City.

Then she did something she would have never done as a young woman. She picked up the telephone and told everyone she knew. She needed to talk, stand up in front of everyone and be afraid.

Chemotherapy shed her hair, which was the hardest because it symbolized lack of control. The sight of her husband's anguished face after he volunteered to cut her hair then held in his hands was almost too much for her to take.

Radiation burned her and fear gripped her.

"I told my kids, 'God gave you to me for a reason.'"

So the kids helped do laundry. They watched out for each other and Jamie.

"I fought so many things before, it's just one more thing," Brown said.

But then she would go to her bedroom and cry.

Over the next two years, she vowed a few things. To remember the sun and breeze on her face even during the simplest walk to the mailbox. To do things she always wanted, which led her on several trips with daughter Kayla, today a high school senior.

They've gone to New York City, to Florida and Texas, California and Oklahoma.

By the time she was cancer-free in 2004, she knew that life had taught her to raise her hand again.

She began volunteering with the American Cancer Society. She talks to women newly diagnosed. She tells others to get regular breast checks.

"She wants to bring so much awareness," Godbey said. "Now you can't shut her up."

Brown is 57 today and the journals she kept during her breast cancer fight are public, too - all her fears and advice, all her questions and answers, for anyone to read.

She paid $1,000 to print a few dozen copies and the formally shy schoolgirl gave the book a title: "My Face To the World."

Target Free Holiday Mondays

2009-10-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

Visitors of all ages are invited to a free day at the museum. We will always share free activities for kids in the Los Angeles area with you.

Monday, October 12 | 12–8 pm | Columbus Day

LACMA

Los Angeles County Museum of Art •

12-8 M/T/Th • Closed Wednesday • 12-9 F • 11-8 S/S
5905 Wilshire Blvd • Los Angeles California 90036

323-857-6000

publicinfo@lacma.org

Special Needs Conferences 101: Autism conference in LA for parents and professionals

2009-10-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Dr. Kari Miller of the Los Angeles Examiner reported last week that there will be an autism focused conference being held at the Vista Del Mar Campus in Los Angeles.

The website provides a wonderful pdf on the event.

It focuses on innovation, intervention, and inspiration in autism. Barry Prizant and Stephen Shore are featured guest speakers at the event as well! Dr. Barry Prizant is recognized internationally for his extensive contributions in research and educational programming for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Here is a video of a father and his son, taking the advice of Barry Prizant that when children model speech (watch as his son observes himself on the video monitor), they are laying the showing a precursor to holding conversation.:

Autismasperger.net offers a wide variety of video, audio clips, and articles that demonstrate Stephen Shore's extensive involvement in the autism community. He was also involved in the Dan Marino Foundation, where he talks about his own personal journey on the autism spectrum.

EVENT INFO: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009 Vista Del Mar Campus 8:00 a.m. – Registration | 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Conference 3200 Motor Avenue • Los Angeles CA 90034 www.vistadelmar.org

Non-Profit Helps Kids Through Exercise

2009-10-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

At age 6, Molli Hernandez couldn't walk. She fell down everywhere she went because she had too much flexibility in her legs.

"I couldn't do the things my friends were doing, like sledding. I had to stay indoors. At home, I got around the house crawling on my hands," she said.

She had two surgeries over the next few years, but the pain was still unbearable. Molli started an exercise medicine program at Children's Hospital in St. Paul. She hit the treadmill and learned how to walk again and an exercise physiologist helped with confidence, strength and nutrition.

"He tells me to eat breakfast every morning," she said, laughing.

Now 17, she still continues her exercise medicine program, but now she just does it at different place. Molli works out at I.EM.PHIT, a non-profit clinic that helps children and families treat chronic disease or special needs with a physician-supervised fitness and nutrition program. It's the only one of its kind in Minnesota.

The program was started by pediatrician Dr. Cynthia Garr and her husband, cardiologist Dr. Michael Garr.

It's a full mind and body approach to helping kids learn how to use their bodies to feel better. Among the conditions they treat are heart disease, autism, asthma, diabetes and Down syndrome.

"They either stop exercising because of their disease process and they're scared or they feel like they can't perform like all of their friends so they stop doing it in front of everyone," Cynthia Garr said.

For Molli, it's been a lifesaver. Most of her pain has disappeared.

"What they've done for her has been a miracle to my family," said Virginia Hernandez, Molli's mom. "We look back and she does everything normal now. We look back and we start thinking about it. We get a little teary-eyed ourselves."

The program costs $1,300 for a three-month regiment. It's not covered by insurance yet, but the Garrs are working with insurance companies to get it started. I.EM.PHIT also accepts donations to put toward scholarships for children who can't afford the whole program.

There's an open house this Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Healing: A Fine Art Portrait Exhibit of Families of Children with Special Needs

2009-10-09T22:09:00.001-07:00

From Everythinglongbeach.com

In partnership with the Miller Children’s Hospital’s Stramski Children’s Developmental Center and the non-profit organization, “The Steel Magnolias,” Southern California photographer Linnea Lenkus presents “Healing: A Fine Art Portrait Exhibit of Families of Children with Special Needs.”

The exhibit captures the emotional connections of families raising children with a wide variety of physical, mental and behavioral conditions. All families are from Long Beach or Southern Los Angeles area. Two families feature children adopted from Russia and Ethiopia as part of Stramski Center’s International Adoption Program.

The “Healing” exhibit features Photographer Linnea Lenkus, The Steel Magnolias, and members of the Stramski Center and their families and children.

“Healing: A Fine Art Portrait Exhibit Featuring Families of Children with Special Needs” will take place during 2nd Saturday Arts Walk in partnership with Phantom Galleries LA and the Long Beach Arts Council’s “GLOBAL” initiative Saturday, October 10, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Phantom Galleries LA, 390 E. 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA 90802.

Working closely with Dr. Gary Feldman, medical director of the Stramski Center, Lenkus photographed children with medical conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, Asperger’s Disorder, Craniofacial Disorders, and array of others. All families are from the Los Angeles and Long Beach area.

For more information, please call Michelle Shortencarrier at 562-980-2908. For more information on Linnea Lenkus, please visit www.LinneaLenkus.com

Get a sneak preview of the Healing exhibit and photographer Linnea Lenkus’ work in the video below.

KEEN LA: Exercising with your kids at the 7th Annual Resource Fair, Aurora Elementary! TOMORROW!!!

2009-10-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Unified School District works to provide leadership, guidance, and support to the school community in order to maximize learning for all students within an inclusive environment so that each student will contribute to and benefit from our diverse society.

The Community Advisory Committee for Special Education and the Special Education Multicultural Advisory Committee help to accomplish this goal each year by hosting their annual Resource Faire!

At this event, LAUSD provides free health screenings, activities, entertainment, giveaways, prizes, food, and so much more for the kids!

There will also be a pumpkin patch for the kids to stroll around and explore and enjoy.

Tomorrow KEEN LA will be set up ready to play and exercise with the kids. At our exercise booth we will have two EZ ups, a table, and music. We will be dancing with the kids, and teaching them stretches, and doing jumping jacks, and the hokey pokey, and the chicken dance. It is going to be such a great way to reach out and hang out with the children in our community.

The Resource Fair will be held at Aurora Elementary School from 10am-2pm
1050 E. 52nd Pl.
Los Angeles, CA 90011

At the intersection of Central Ave and 52nd place, 6 blocks north of Slauson Ave. On the left side of Central Avenue.

Labeled Disabled

2009-10-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

By Joy Perrino Choquette, Mothering.com

When was the last time you saw someone with a disability on the big screen, playing a leading role in the latest Hollywood blockbuster? Featured in a fashion magazine? Or the main character of a popular television show?

The United States has come a long way since the exclusion of children with disabilities in traditional classrooms was the norm. With the inception of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal law mandated that children with disabilities be given the same education as children without disabilities. IDEA also requires that children with disabilities be given free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible. Additionally, the rights of children with disabilities and their families must be secured and protected, according to the IDEA law.

For years there has been a separation between those with and without disabilities. And while some of the distinctions have been positive—improvements such as parking spaces for the handicapped, fully accessible bathrooms, access to public spaces through the use of ramps and wider entryways, Braille signs, and more—others have not been.

Still, there is a difference between mandating that disabled individuals are treated a certain way and that they receive the same services as their non-disabled counterparts and true acceptance of individuals with disabilities. For first grade teacher, Maggie Doben, learning empathy for and acceptance of individuals with disabilities has become the focus of her career in education.

Doben, who currently teaches at the Cambridge Friends School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, began a project with her first grade students called Labeled Disabled shortly after beginning her teaching career 11 years ago. Doben states that she was deeply influenced by a teaching mentor in her early elementary education years. She was also deeply affected by two parents at one particular school where she worked who were handicapped. Doben states that she started the program slowly, by bringing guests with disabilities into the classroom. “Once I saw how effective it was and how inspirational it was, I just kept going,” says Doben.

From there, the program grew and expanded, culminating in Doben’s creation of a 48-minute film, aptly titled, Labeled Disabled. The first grade teacher, who is also a photographer and cinematographer, states that the project took a little over a year to shoot. The film features clips of the Labeled Disabled program in action within Doben’s classroom. It highlights the students and their changing reactions to individuals with disabilities throughout the program. The highlight of the film, according to Doben, is the interview section with some of her previous first grade students, now in middle school. These teens give honest assessments of what they learned through Labeled Disabled and how the information they were exposed to within the coursework has remained with them since.

One of the most intriguing parts of the film says Doben, is the evolution of children’s minds. From initially seeing disabilities through stereotypical eyes, students come to understand and accept that though individuals with disabilities are different in some ways, they are very much the same as individuals without disabilities in others. Throughout the film, children are seen discussing and discarding previous generalizations of individuals with disabilities, as they come to understand instead the similarities which they all have in common with individuals who have disabilities. “This was an amazing journey for my students, but it was also an amazing journey for me,” says Doben. “You literally can see how their vocabulary changes, how their compassion deepens.” Another rewarding part of the program is the satisfaction that guests who visit the classroom seem to experience. People with disabilities, Doben says, often feel somewhat isolated from society, that there is no place for them. “It’s very rewarding for me to have visitors come to the classroom and feel acknowledged, valued, and complimented. I think they leave feeling that ‘This was the best day of my week,’” says Doben.

Of course the program has had its share of challenges as well. Doben sites educational policy as one of the largest. It’s sometimes difficult to demonstrate and prove that this type of education is valuable and important, not just an add-on, says Doben. In addition, there has been some family resistance. Doben recounts issues she experienced at a school where she previously worked. Some parents accused her of trying to scare students, of potentially traumatizing them by exposing them to individuals with disabilities. In another instance, a colleague made a reference to the “circus show” that she was bringing into her classroom. Doben was understandably upset by the comments. “It’s personally what forced me to leave that school,” says Doben. At the Cambridge Friends School, a distinct part of the institution’s mission is to talk about and challenge bias. Doben states that when she was interviewed for her position at the Cambridge Friends School, the discussion of her program was more a point of attraction for administration. “Rather than a debate it became something that they embraced,” says Doben.

Still, even with the full support of administration, some parents were still concerned about the Labeled Disabled project. In order to make parents more comfortable and to help them understand what the program is really about, Doben created a mandatory “Parent Education Night”. With the full support of administration, parents are required to attend the educational session before Labeled Disabled curriculum is introduced into the classroom. This night shows parents what types of information their children will be exposed to throughout the program. The educational session has made a positive difference in the way that parents perceive the project.

What is perhaps most inspiring about the project, are the positive effects of the Labeled Disabled which last much longer than the time children spend in Doben’s classroom. Doben, who went to visit some of the middle school students who had attended her first grade class, states that the cumulative effect of the entire program really became visible to her during that visit. She met the students, bringing along her lights and video camera to gather clips for the film. She was moved by what she heard from them about the program and how it had influenced their lives. “The stuff that they said,” says Doben. “I really couldn’t have paid them to be more eloquent. It was clear to me that there really was purpose and a life lesson involved in this.”

The Labeled Disabled film premiered in May of 2008. Since that time, it has been shown in several educational and public locations throughout the state. Doben hopes that with time, the film will grow outside of the Massachussets border. The film is currently available online at www.labeleddisabledfilm.org.

Doben has plans to expand the program more fully as well, and is hoping at some point to have the time to sit down and create a curriculum which other teachers could use in their own classrooms. Of course, between her teaching career, photography, cinematography projects and the Labeled Disabled work, Doben is understandably busy. Still, she believes that projects like Labeled Disabled will continue to grow in popularity and in importance in the coming years.

“. . . society is changing,” says Doben. “There’s a lot more on TV and in magazines and in children’s books about characters with disabilities.” Doben points out that there may also be more people in society with disabilities as war veterans return to the United States. “Children need to know how to grow up in a society where they learn how to interact with people with disabilities,” says Doben. Labeled Disabled is certainly on the right path to helping children in that area.

"Rescuing Childhood" to Premiere at 5th Annual LA Femme Film Festival, Oct. 15-18, 2009

2009-10-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles, CA, October 07, 2009 --(PR.com)-- “Rescuing Childhood: Understanding Bipolar Disorders in Children and Adolescents,” a new landmark educational film about the challenges of raising and treating a bipolar child, will make its festival debut as part of the 5th annual LA Femme Film Festival, October 15-18 in Hollywood.

The film, produced by Veronica Bird and Rosalie Greenberg, MD, focuses on the increasing number of children and adolescents being diagnosed as bipolar and the challenges their treatment presents. The film uses combined interviews with leading experts in pediatric bipolar disorder and three affected families to illustrate the scope of this potentially devastating disorder.

“Rescuing Childhood” will be screened on Friday, October 16 at 2 pm at the Renberg Theatre at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, in Hollywood. Theatre is located at 1125 N. McCadden Place, near Highland and Santa Monica Blvd.

Up until 15 years ago, Bipolar Disorder or Manic Depression (as it was previously known), was considered almost non-existent in childhood, the common belief being that it was primarily a disorder of adults and some older adolescents. But recent studies show there has been an explosion of children being diagnosed as bipolar. Why? What has caused this 180-degree shift? And what are the long-term implications of having a major mood disorder at such a young age?

“Our hope with 'Rescuing Childhood' is to provide help and hope as replacements for fear and stigma,” says Dr. Greenberg. “We have portrayed, accurately and sensitively, the important individualized approach needed for every child diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The key is early detection and intervention which is not only life-saving, but life giving.”

The film's producer, Veronica Bird, started the Veronica Bird Charitable Foundation whose mission is to produce quality educational films exploring mental health disorders in children. Ms. Bird is also the producer and director of the critically acclaimed and award-winning film, “The Different Shades of Autism: The Screening and Diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorders.” Co-producer Rosalie Greenberg, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and author of the book “Bipolar Kids: Helping Your Child Find Calm in the Mood Storm.”

###

Contact: Deborah Gilels
LA Media Consultants
818-758-6509
ddgilels@prodigy.net

Kids Enjoy... BEACH DAY... NOW!!!

2009-10-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

Awesome awesome awesome! This is very exciting to share with you! There is an organization up north that is similar to ours.

They are called Best Day Foundation of Santa Cruz and they set up wonderful play days for special needs children by the ocean. Max Montgomery started the organization, the following article was written by Anne Kallas of the Ventura County Star:

Kids enjoy beach day despite fast winds

By Anne Kallas
Monday, October 5, 2009

Download this story as a podcast!

Photo by Rob Varela

Brandon Ponce of Oxnard bodyboards with the help of volunteer Gedina Bergstrom of Los Angeles during the Best Day Foundation’s Best Day at the Beach event for kids with special needs on Sunday.

Photo by Rob Varela

Justin Tsang of Newbury Park surfs with the help of volunteer Alex Wallace of Ventura during the Best Day Foundation’s event for kids with special needs in Ventura.

Jace Bauer of Somis practices his surfing technique on the sand with the help of volunteer Michael Mariani of Ventura during the Best Day Foundation’s event in Ventura on Sunday.

High waves and punishing winds forced an early end to a day of surfing and water sports for children with special needs held Sunday at the Ventura Harbor South Jetty by Best Day Foundation of Santa Cruz.

Despite the early finish Sunday, Lisa Cardoza, who is married to Best Day co-founder Brooks Lambert and was one of the organizers of the inaugural Ventura Best Day at the Beach, said the two-day event was a success.

“Sometimes it rains up in Santa Cruz or there are thunderstorms. It happens once in a while,” Cardoza said from the Channel Islands National Park facility, which offered to host the final portion of the event at the last minute after sand-blasting winds made having the awards ceremony and wrap-up taco lunch at the beach impossible.

The Best Day Foundation’s goal is to help children with special needs build confidence and self-esteem through activities such as surfing and bodyboarding.

Chipper “Bro” Bell, who co-chairs the Ventura Best Day chapter with Johnny Johnson, said the idea for the event grew out of the Ride A Wave events that are held for special needs children in Santa Cruz.

“They’re supplying the expertise to get us started,” Bell said. Bell, who is the owner of Surfclass.com, which offers camps and lessons to people who want to learn to surf, said the participating children can have any special need, from Down syndrome to autism to physical limitations. They are able to engage in tandem surfing, kayaking, outrigger canoe riding, bodyboarding and more.

As the winds picked up Sunday, the event first moved from the ocean-facing portion of the beach to the protected portion, before finally moving to the park facility.

Best Day Foundation co-founder Max Montgomery of Santa Cruz emphasized that safety was the first priority for the day.

“The most important thing is safety. We make sure we have adequate safety procedures,” Montgomery said. “Each child gets a life vest, a helmet, a wet suit and they are assigned from one to five individuals in the water.”

Before they got in the water, the children ran through an obstacle course built by California Conservation Corps members. The run was a release for the children, who had been standing in line waiting to be matched with volunteer “buddies” who guide them through the day, said Paula Gould, a spokeswoman for the event.

Stephanie Montano of Oxnard said she was there with her friend Miriam Ruiz because she enjoys working with children who have disabilities.

“We want to give them the best day of their lives, to make them happy,” she said.

Janelle Bauer of Somis waited in line with her 6-year-old son, Jace, who has autism.

“He loves the beach, but he’s never been on a surfboard,” Bauer said, before trying to calm her son as he grew increasingly restless waiting to play in the water.

Ayelef Sason of West Hills was encouraging her son Yarin, who also has autism, as he navigated the obstacle course before the entire group did warm-up exercises under the direction of Captain Kelp and Barnacle Babe, otherwise known as Elizabeth Sprenkel and Maya Springsock, both of Santa Cruz.

“He loves the ocean and he loves the water. We’re hoping to go with the flow and not freeze,” Sason said.

While the Best Day at the Beach on Saturday attracted 42 children and went off without a hitch, the high surf and increasing winds proved difficult to overcome Sunday. According to Diane Soule of Ventura, who was volunteering at the children’s registration desk, only 17 of the more than 40 children who had pre-registered showed up.

“Some people are sitting in their cars, but the kids don’t want to come out,” she said.

Despite the weather, Lisa Cardoza said she had no regrets. “We’re not disappointed. Never. It’s just another adventure.”

PS: I just got off the phone talking with Kate about web design. Then I stumble upon the Best Day Foundation website and I am absolutely blown away. Best Day's website is beautiful! Best Day's Donate now button is beautiful. Congratulations to Best Day Foundation of Santa Cruz for a beautiful site, and a beautiful cause for these beautiful beautiful beautiful children.

Young Variety Children's Charity Volunteers with Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles

2009-10-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to Debi Dodge of Young Variety for taking these wonderful pictures of the KEEN Session at Elysian Park Therapeutic Rec Center on September 27th, 2009! Your volunteers were wonderful, your support is appreciated, and your friendship is cherished!

PS: Sorry the pics go by kind of fast. It was my first shot at using Picasa Movie Maker... But you get the idea: We rock!!!

Los Angeles Community Unites for Children with Special Needs

2009-10-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

I discovered Adobe Share today. it beats keepandshare.com ten fold in its ability to share pdf dosuments online. I am absolutely in love with the site.

Below you will find the KEEN LA Benefit Press Release. I hope you like it PR writing professors at Chapman.

Exhibit focuses on families of special needs kids

2009-10-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

By SUE MANNING Associated Press Writer

Posted: 10/02/2009 02:49:17 AM PDT

Updated: 10/02/2009 11:14:37 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES—Scars blemish their fragile backs as the brother and sister embrace their parents, showing in a single portrait how the two children got through more than 30 surgeries between them.

Another portrait shows the daughter without ears as her mother pulls the girl's hair back.

"I have a difficulty with her being born without ears. I need to see this image so I can heal in my heart," Debbie Groves told photographer Linnea Lenkus.

The two photos are among 35 portraits Lenkus is displaying to raise money for a Long Beach children's hospital clinic and raise awareness about families with special needs children.

As she took the photo called "Scars of Healing," Lenkus said she realized how powerful the project was.

The exhibit, called "Healing" will be held Friday at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. On Oct. 10, another showing in Long Beach will be sponsored by Phantom Galleries L.A.

Thirty-five photos, all 30 inches by 40 inches, will be on display, showing 17 families dealing with all sorts of behavioral disorders, from autism to cerebral palsy.

A 12-by-12 inch book of the photos will be sold for $90 at the exhibits and online.

Profits from sales will go to Steel Magnolias, the fundraising group for the Stramski Children's Developmental Center at Miller Children's Center in Long Beach, about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The clinic survives on this kind of money, explained Dr. Gary Feldman, a pediatrician and medical director of the outpatient center.

"A lot of these kids are terribly misunderstood," he said. "I don't think the idea is to provoke pity but to provide understanding."

At the hospital's annual September gala, participants usually donate about $15,000 specifically for the Stramski Center. This year, Feldman opened that portion of the program with a video of Lenkus' photos, warning the audience how raw they were. They collected over $50,000.

Ross Davis, 31, has four children. His youngest, 2-month-old son Rory, is scheduled for an operation next month for a cleft palate. He will have at least five surgeries before he turns 6, Davis said in a telephone interview.

Davis, a union iron worker from Downey, said he didn't know if he should allow his son's photo to be used. His fiance encouraged him to do it "and it has been a blessing. It's a chance for people to hear what goes on in our lives when we have a disabled child."

Davis was also born with a cleft palate and despite a series of operations, he was teased all through school by other children and even some teachers.

He believes what he did with the project was honorable because he and his son are not the only people in America to struggle with the deformity.

"It's a to'ugh road. He spits up, gets gas, is uncomfortable a lot," Davis said. He hopes his childhood experience "will make me stronger as a father, more compassionate with my son.

"I am flattered I had this opportunity. No one ever asked how I felt before. I kind of buried my feelings. To have my new little guy here brought it all back," he said. He wants to explain so people will understand. "I just hope I can get the words out."

Lenkus, 49, and her husband, Chris Robinson, have three children: Dexter, 7, and 5-year-old twins Ava and Maxwell. They are all healthy.

She hopes schools across the country will use the photos as a teaching tool. "My children are fascinated with these images. They asked a million questions. They cannot figure out why they are in a wheelchair or have scars or no ears. It was a teaching opportunity for me, a chance for me to show my children how fortunate they are and how to treat someone they meet with a disability with compassion and empathy."

Lenkus has studios in Pasadena, Long Beach and Irvine and has been taking photos professionally for 20 years.

She started her career on the other side of the camera as a fashion model in Los Angeles and Europe, modeling for magazines like Elle and Vogue.

Born in Chicago, she moved to California 25 years ago and got her degree in psychology at California State University, Northridge. She took art or photo classes in Washington, Nevada and California.

She specializes in photos of pregnant women, newborns, children, families, flowers and nudes.

———

On the Net:

http://www.linnealenkus.com

http://www.thesteelmagnolias.org

http://www.mcsgkids.com

Mission Viejo teen faces 'super-special' chance

2009-10-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

16-year-old with autism has a shot for singer/songwriter award.

By NIYAZ PIRANI

The Orange County Register

Comments 1 | Recommend 3

MISSION VIEJO - Sarah Lonsert knew exactly how to describe what it felt like to be nominated, from a field of nearly 1,000 people, for a prestigious music award.

"Super-special-awesome!" the 16-year-old said, so quickly that the words jumbled into one. "When my mom told me I was like, 'You're kidding right?' I didn't believe her."

Lonsert is not only the youngest artist to be nominated in the Los Angeles Music Awards 19-year-run – in the Female Singer/Songwriter category for her song "Romeo" – but she's done it by channeling a lifelong developmental disability into an awe-inspiring gift.

In the third grade she was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome – also referred to as high-functioning autism – and has dealt with social awkwardness and unexplainable fits of rage since she was a child.

She doesn't get along with kids her own age and relates much better with her elders, said her mother, Michelle. She would be violent, stay alone for hours, and exhibit super-human strength for her size.

The only thing that would calm her down and help her focus would be to sing.

She began singing along to her favorite artists but when she got older she honed her talents in community musical theater. In 2008 she auditioned for singer Deborah Gibson's Electric Youth Camp, was accepted, and participated in both summer and winter sessions.

"I would bring in my poems to her and she would play a chord, and then another chord and we'd make up a melody and go from there," Lonsert recalled. "When she and I did it, I really learned about writing songs."

Her lyrics focus on teenage quandaries – like friendship and boys – but with a lyrical maturity uncommon for her young age. She's said she's equ

ally inspired by Kelly Clarkson and "The Phantom of the Opera" and calls her style of music "popera."

"It's just something inside my soul," she said while curling her fingers into opposing "C's," making a heart shape with her hands. "It helps me tell people what I want to tell them because I'm not really smooth with my words."

Lonsert will be at the mercy of the judges come Oct. 8 when she performs at the Whisky-a-Go-Go for the Los Angeles Music Awards voting ceremony. A panel of judges, with help from the crowd, will decide by listening to selective live performances and 30-second samples of every nominee who will win an award in November.

"I've never heard somebody who can create melodies at that age, at that kind of skill level," said Al Bowman, founder and producer of the awards. "I evaluate music every day and the older I get the less easy it is to impress me."

Lonsert's level manner belies the passion for her music that comes through when she's on stage. She speaks of the upcoming competition in a matter-of-fact way, and struggles to describe what it might feel like to win.

"I'd have to win in order to figure out how I would feel," she said. "We'd have an ice-cream party for like, three days."

"It would feel even better than super-special-awesome."

Winnick Family Foundation Renews Support for Special Needs Program at Jerusalem Zoo

2009-10-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 23, 2009 -- The Winnick Family Foundation announced today its continuing support for a unique program serving special-needs children at the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem. The Animal Assisted Therapy Program, begun in 1998, matches children in safe and organized sessions with animals living at the zoo.

Winnick Family Foundation

We are very pleased to support a program like this that teaches special-needs children to care for animals and, at the same time, enables them to progress in their own abilities.

Education and child welfare are a central part of the Winnick Family Foundation's mission.

Said Winnick Family Foundation Chairman Karen Winnick: "We are very pleased to support a program like this that teaches special-needs children to care for animals and, at the same time, enables them to progress in their own abilities."

The children participating in this unique education program in Jerusalem, now in its second decade, represent a cultural and ethnic cross-section of Israel, but all have special needs like autism, deafness, learning disabilities or mental problems. The program has become a global model in education methods and has been repeatedly honored for its measurable track record of success with children dealing with emotional problems because of disabilities.

According to program administrators, special-needs children enrolled in the zoo program learn concentration and self-discipline by forming a connection with the animal. Each child participating in the project is monitored and coached while feeding, petting, and cleaning the animal - learning in that way to do things for others, perhaps for the very first time.

The program is resident at The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, which is a main attraction in Jerusalem with more than 500,000 visitors a year. It has also become one of the most important educational centers in the Middle East with 100,000 students of different ages and background coming yearly to learn conservation, ecology and the importance of nature preservation.

About the Winnick Family Foundation
The Winnick Family Foundation encourages project-specific programs but also selectively supports capital campaigns and unrestricted gifts to grantee organizations. There is a preference for projects in Los Angeles and New York - or those having an international component.

Foundation naming grants include:

Winnick Family Clinical Research Institute at Cedars Sinai Hospital
Winnick House and Arnold S. Winnick Student Center at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University
Winnick International Conference Center at the Simon Wiesenthal Center / Jerusalem
Winnick Children's Zoo in Los Angeles
Winnick Faculty Scholar at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University
Winnick Hall at the Skirball Cultural Center
Arnold & Blanche Winnick Popular Library and Karen Winnick Children's Gallery at the Los Angeles Central Library
Winnick Hillel House at Syracuse University
Winnick Board Room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City
Winnick Winners Mentoring Program for the Los Angeles Unified School District
Winnick Fellows at UCLA School of Medicine
Winnick Gallery at Yeshiva University Museum, Center for Jewish History

Karen and Gary Winnick and the Foundation have endowed university and high school literacy and scholarship programs at Brown University, at Mrs. Winnick's alma mater Syracuse University, and at Gary Winnick's alma mater, Long Island University.

They have also funded the transformation of the on-campus C.W. Post mansion administrative center - renamed Winnick House - as well as the main cafeteria which is now named in honor of Gary Winnick's late father.

In California, the Foundation has supported educational programs at the California Science Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, KOREH L.A., the Los Angeles Zoo, L.A.'s Best Afterschool Program, the Wonder of Reading, the Fulfillment Fund and Noah's Ark at the Skirball Center.

Among the many other Foundation grantees are the Special Olympics, The Center for Jewish History, Children's Scholarship Fund, Partnership for Better Schools, Teach for America, The Gettysburg Foundation, The National Parks Foundation, Best Friends Animal Society, The Los Angeles Police Foundation, Shoah Foundation, and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University.

The Foundation also supports charities operating outside the United States, including the International Medical Corps, Flora and Fauna, World Wildlife Fund, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the Israel Museum, the Israel Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Zoo, Heifer International and the Bloomfield Science Museum at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. For more information on the Foundation and its work, visit http://www.winnickfamilyfoundation.com on the Web.

Sexy Autism Ads: Catastrophic!!!!!

2009-10-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

Original article from Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com Guide to Autism

So we begin again with the "Bad publicity is still publicity debate". I disagree. As you can see the above video is an ad. I am an ad major so I can talk about ads FOREVER...

Rethinkingautism.com uses celebrities and sex appeal to carry their message, as seen above. The autism community is appalled by the above ad. I am too, because I think special needs is such a sensitive and difficult subject to advertise... I don't think it should be handled the same way Britney's Spears perfumes are handled.

Thennn..... rethinkingautism.com releases this video that begins, "All too often, in the world of autism, celebrity and sex appeal are used to promote..." blah blah blah.

You can watch it for yourself:

Hmm.... Amd then they create ads like this:

So I'm just really confused. Mixed messages? Maybe not. Maybe so.

Conclusion: watch these awesome videos of real children with autism who do not need sex appeal to convince any one to play with them. Our kids smiles and laughter are more than enough to convince people to join KEEN. that's why I love being KEEN LA's outreach coordinator. I don't feel like I'm being manipulative, I don't feel like I have to use sex to sell our cause, I don't feel like I have to twist our message. If I just tell it how it is, people will join because we serve a wonderful purpose in our community!

Angie’s List Wishmakers and local company grants wish for area family battling cancer and autism

2009-09-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

(Los Angeles – September 28, 2009) In many ways, the Reztlaff family is the typical American family - two working parents and three children. However what they face on a day-to-day basis is anything but typical.

Roger and Lisa Reztlaff’s middle child, 16-year-old Jacob, is in a fight for his life. The now wheelchair-bound teenager was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2008. Additionally, he and his ~~older~~ brother, 22-year-old Eric, both suffer from severe autism.

In the midst of learning about Jacob’s diagnosis, the family also learned that their home equity line of credit was being retracted due to declining home values in the Santa Fe Springs area. Since then, medical bills and full-time adult care costs for Eric have consumed the family’s limited finances. Several home improvement project that were underway have been stalled as they deal with the more pressing obligations.

A family friend heard about the Angie’s List Wishmakers program and reached out for help.

“It has been a rough few years for us, so when we heard that we were nominated for the Wishmakers program, it was like a little ray of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds,” said Lisa Reztlaff.

Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com), began the program five years ago.

“It’s our way of giving back to the communities we serve,” Hicks said. “We work as a liaison between families in need and highly rated service companies in the area that are willing to volunteer their time and service for a worthy cause.”

After hearing about the Retzlaff’s struggles, Los Angeles-based, California Construction Center (www.californiaconstructioncenter.com) stepped forward to replace the family’s mix-and-match kitchen floor. The entire floor is being donated.

General Manager, Oz Zilberberg felt compelled to do what he could for this family in need. “This family deserves so much more than they have. It was an honor to be able to help them out. I only wish we could have done more.”

***PHOTO / INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY****

Date: Thursday October 1st

Time: 11:30am-12:30pm

Interviews Available:

Lisa & Roger Reztlaff, Parents

Oz Zilberberg, General Manager, California Construction Center

Visuals:

Crew installing new kitchen floors. Still photos of “before” pictures are also available

CONTACT Angela Barnes, Angie's List for details and address

angelab@angieslist.com

317.803.7561

Anyone wishing to help the Reztlaff family wish additional home repairs can contact them via email at: lretzlaff@mac.com.

Previous Wishmakers projects include:

Building a room addition on to the home of an Indianapolis family whose little boy has the “Bubble Boy” disease and has to live in sterile isolation.
Repairing the car of a disabled Navy veteran in Deland, Florida to help him get back up on his feet after a long, up-hill medical battle.
Removing and properly sealing exterior lead paint and replacing gutters for a Rochester, N.Y. woman who operates a child care center out of her home.
Finishing flooring and installing doors in the home of a St. Petersburg, Fla. woman in frail health who has spent her retirement fund taking care of her Alzheimer’s-stricken mother.
Improving the kitchen and organizing the home of a Boston, Mass. woman who cares for drug-addicted and HIV positive newborns.
Improving kitchen countertops and installing a portable dishwasher in the home of a legally blind Portland, Ore. man.
Making a Kansas City, Mo. backyard safe for young children, including an infant with a congenital heart defect.
Installing a safety rail and improving the gutters and trim of the home of a Washington, D.C. woman with multiple sclerosis.
Landscaping for a widowed Bellingham, Wash. woman with two young children.

###

Angie’s List is where thousands of consumers share their ratings and reviews on local contractors and companies in more than 425 different categories. Currently, more than 750,000 consumers across the U.S. rely on Angie’s List to help them find the right contractor or company for the job they need done. Members have unlimited access to the list via Internet or phone; receive the award-winning Angie’s List magazine, which includes articles on home improvement and maintenance, consumer trends and scam alerts; and they can utilize the Angie’s List complaint resolution service. Get more information about Angie’s List at http://www.angieslist.com View the latest Angie's List News Releases in our Press Center and read Angie’s blog at http://www.angiehicksblog.com.

We have a graphic for our BENEFIT!!!

2009-09-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WRKHZRH_H1Y/SsZ3QIoH7LI/AAAAAAAAAAw/k5ojnHXTW50/s1600-h/KEEN+LA+Gala+Invite.jpg">
Wow I can't believe the benefit is so close. Well, its one month away. But its still blows my mind that there is so much to do in so little time. Its very exciting.

Press kit is done. Media list has been built. I created a wonderful href="http://www.facebook.com/keenla">facebook fan page for our organization and even threw wonderful videos of the kids playing onto youtube. Its so much more enjoyable sharing our athletes with people instead of selling steak and t-shirts and concerts. Don't get me wrong- I learned a lot from working at href="http://kobeentertainment.wordpress.com/">other places...

But volunteering with KEEN is much more rewarding. I love that I get to play with athletes twice a month. I love that I get to talk with parents who struggle daily, yet still seem to get up the next morning and be willing to work, and fight, and push forward. Children with special needs are wonderful and appreciative, but caring for them on a daily basis is not easy and the parents I interact with are so inspiring.

One of my favorite parts of my position as outreach coordinator for KEEN LA is being on href="http://twitter.com/KEENLA">twitter and reading the stories, the blog entries, the tweets, of parents just being themselves; sharing about taking his/her son to Disneyland, questioning the true motives behind organizations, seeking ways to deal with attachment issues and bonding, food allergies, and homeschooling, transportation, and play dates.... All these conversation happen on a daily basis and though I don't tell the parents enough- they truly inspire me to be the best mom I can and be the most involved volunteer I can be.

AUTISM STATS EXAGGERATED: PARENTS STARTING TO REBEL Worldwide Event Oct. 10 & 11

2009-09-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ — Parents and child advocates in 60+ cities across the US and Canada and on every continent will gather Oct. 10 &11 to advance the conversation about “autistic-like” children, and watch the path breaking documentary film AUTISTIC-LIKE: Graham’s Story.

www.autisticlike.com

Misdiagnosis is the hottest emerging autism issue. Thousands of children diagnosed each year with autism actually have milder disorders, but to get treatment, parents are often pushed to accept the inaccurate label of autism.

From New York to Mexico, and from Fiji to Dar Es Salaam, parents working to persuade the medical community to make more nuanced distinctions about early childhood developmental delays will gather to discuss the issue and watch the film. Parents who accept an inaccurate diagnosis to get therapy for their child often embark on a confusing treatment path, wasting precious time and money.

According to Dr. Stanley Greenspan, who is featured in the documentary, “We basically have to misdiagnose them to get them treatment. The people who are going to have to take the lead on this are the parents.” Go to www.autisticlike.com

AUTISTIC-LIKE: Graham’s Story shows how Erik and Jennie Linthorst eventually found the right help for their 4-year old son, who has sensory processing issues, but is not autistic. “Every child with autism has sensory issues, but not every child with sensory issues is autistic,” Greenspan says in the film.

Linthorst produced the film with journalist Jody Becker, a former National Public Radio station reporter and editor. Praised as a “must see,” unblinking portrayal of a family’s anxiety and education, the film’s universal message stresses parent advocacy, no matter what challenges a child may face.

The worldwide event October 10 &11 is co-sponsored by the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation. The SPD Foundation is dedicated to Sensory Processing Disorder research, education, and advocacy, including diagnostic recognition of SPD in the DSM-V.

AUTISTIC-LIKE: Graham’s Story has screened at eight film festivals in the US this year, is featured in segments on the Documentary Channel and Good Morning America/Health, and is a 2009 Freddie Award finalist for outstanding medical reporting. Director and dad Erik Linthorst presents the film at the SPD Foundation’s annual conference October 10 in Chicago.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley are among growing number of parents adopting special needs children

2009-09-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Ellis/AP

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley adopted their 10-month-old baby girl from Korea.

Katherine Heigl’s decision to adopt a special needs child rather than endure an ever-lengthening wait for a healthy child “made the adoption process much quicker,” as she explained on Ellen DeGeneres’ chat show.

The actress and her husband, Josh Kelley, are now parents to 10-month-old Naleigh, born in South Korea. They’re also joining the growing numbers of prospective adoptive parents choosing to add a child with medical issues to their family rather than wait to take home a healthy child.

As the number of children available to adopt from other countries is dwindling, more babies with disabilities that range from a cleft palate to heart disease are being brought home by their adoptive families.

“We’ve seen a lot more interest in special needs babies,” says Nancy Dykstra-Powers, director of Bethany Christian Services, which she says is the largest adoption agency in the country. “I used to have a really hard time placing babies with disabilities but there's a real demand for them now.”

Cory Barron, foundation director at the St. Louis-based Children’s Hope International adoption agency, says that this year so far, 62 percent of the children placed by that agency have special needs, as compared to 13 percent in 2005. It’s due, he says, to the fact that the wait for healthy children grows ever longer.

A couple wanting to adopt from China can expect a wait time of four years, he says, while a special needs child can be picked up within four to six months after the adoptive family’s paperwork is completed.

“People look at the waits and say, could we handle a child who is missing a limb or who has HIV/AIDS,” Barron says. “They’re starting to think, okay, there are other children besides healthy ones out there who need a home as well.”

Adoption from China in particular has slowed down because there simply aren’t enough children available. Domestic adoptions are up in China, and as the per capita income there has risen, more couples can afford it, Barron says.

His agency also handles adoptions in Ethiopia, and this year, close to 10 percent of children placed by Children’s Hope from Ethiopia had special needs.

Russia, another popular country for Americans to look when they want to adopt, is not only a lot more expensive but more complicated. A Russian adoption can cost $35,000 to $45,000 and involve several trips there, Barron says.

While it can seem like a wonderful idea to give a home to a special needs child, experts warn that it’s not a decision to make lightly. Some of the children’s medical issues, like heart disease and cerebral palsy, can require lifelong care and drain a family’s financial and emotional resources. Many of these children are older when they join their adoptive families, since it can take longer to place a child with special needs.

“And with an older child, attachment and bonding with the parents can be difficult,” says child psychologist Michelle Reitman. “The older a child is, the more difficult it is. And if there is not good bonding these kids become oppositional and defiant, and more at risk for dropping out of school when they are teenagers.”

Recognizing the commitment in time, energy and money is crucial, says Nina Epstein, a partner at Goldweber Epstein LLC, says.

“You have to be a very focused and committed person to adopt a child with special needs,” she says. “Taking on this commitment, while it may advance you to the head of the line in terms of getting a child sooner, is something to consider very carefully. It’s virtually impossible to reverse an adoption.” Yet, she adds, “People who do this are remarkable.”

Dykstra-Powers says her agency is now placing some children with very severe medical challenges. “But the people who are adopting them are amazing,” she adds. “It is wonderful when people have it in their hearts to adopt a child with special needs.”

Chiropractic Care Helps Child With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

2009-09-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

KEEN coverage is going really well!

2009-09-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sharon daVanport is an influential blog BlogTalkRadio Show Host and Pre-Executive Director for the Asperger Women Association. She and her youngest son and are on the autism spectrum, both diagnosised with Asperger's Syndrome.

Sharon is an influential "tweeter". She has 1,241 followers on the social networking site.

Sharon also keeps a blog, that is very engaging and highly circulated among the autism online community.

Sharon would like to interview KEEN for her radio show. She learned about KEEN through twitter. Her friend, Bonnie Sayers also learned about KEEN on twitter. She introduced her two special needs sons to our event last weekend. Bonnie then continued to act as a KEEN advocate by sharing our information with the parents of the Los Angeles Unified School District Special Education Community. Bonnie also wrote a very positive article on BellaOnline Community for women about her experience with our organization.

Here's KEEN LA's current press kit

My first impression of Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles

2009-08-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

This is only the beginning of something really amazing.

I am so excited.

Who I am and how I met KEEN:

2009-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

So I have done a lot of work in public relations in advertising. Well not a lot, but I'd say a good amount to realize that I am not a fan of public manipulation. I do not like selling products. I do not think that products can fulfill the true human need for love, and family, and happiness.

This post might possibly end my career as an advertiser because I am shunning selling products. But I am writing this post to take a stand. I only want to sell/advertise/promote causes that I firmly believe in. That I am passionate about. That encourage being with family and being active and being healthy and being outside. Away from the television. Away from the brands. Away from the profit seeker execs that sell kids to advertisers...

From CuddlingChaos

Today I found KEEN. KEEN stands for Kids Enjoy Exercise Now.

From CuddlingChaos

I love KEEN.

I am going to copy and paste the description straight from the website because it is perfectly written and makes my heart jump with joy!

KEEN is a national, nonprofit volunteer-led organization that provides one-to-one recreational opportunities for children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities at no cost to their families and caregivers. At each KEEN Session, a volunteer coach is matched with an athlete for a variety of activities including arts/craft, basketball, soccer, bowling, swimming, etc. KEEN fosters the self-esteem, confidence, skills and talents of its athletes through non-competitive activities, allowing young people facing even the most significant challenges to meet their individual goals. To register an athlete or to volunteer please e-mail info@keenlosangeles.org.

From CuddlingChaos

Nicole Alvarado, who is amazing and on her way to become a first time full fledged teacher in Santa Barbara right this minute, told me about idealist.org. I nifty site for non profits that shares job postings and internship opportunities. I found KEEN. KEEN found me. I don't know how it happened but it makes me really happy because KEEN offers everything to kids that I believe kids need. Today's kids lack activity. They are glued to computers, television screens, and ipods, and other devices. They need to play to be active to be creative to become their own type of person to be able to contribute to society in a way that makes them happy and encourages others to be happy and healthy. KEEN does that.

From CuddlingChaos

KEEN also focuses on kids with mental and physical disabilities. I love this! These kids need our help. They do not deserve to feel outcasted, or left out of activities. These kids are blessings. Some of them barely made it, some of them were not supposed to be alive... but they are and they need people to play with them. They are inspirational and they are reminders about what is important in life. They need me!!!! I would absolutely love if Kiela could grow up around these kids and learn to not only accept them, but to be kind to them and help them and share with them and love them. Oh man I wish I wish I wish I wish!!!!

From CuddlingChaos

So. Her name is Leah Weiner. She is the executive director of KEEN. If she has google alerts she will read this post. I have her email. I am going to contact her. I'm gonna do it write after I burn the energy in my fingers onto this keyboard and into cuddlingchaos!!!!

Leah, I'm going to send you an email. If you get this first, here's my cover letter and resume. I hope we can work something out. I know non profits don't have a lot of money to pay people and I understand if you only want volunteers at the moment. I am still a student and just got a job at Starbucks so time is definitely an issue. I can work from home, I have a train pass... we can make it work! But I absolutely love your organization and I will do whatever it takes to become involved with you guys!

From CuddlingChaos

I'm just being honest because that's what we're allowed to do on blogs. Emails and cover letters are more formal and straight and to the point. But in blogs you're allowed to post whatever you want and write and write and write for days and days and days and misuse grammar and use run on sentences because that's the beauty behind blogging. It's raw and in real time and awesome!

KEEN LA Blog

#KEENBENEFIT Twitter Contest

Live Video Feed from #losangeles #specialneeds #tweetup: 929 Academy Road, Los Angeles California

Epilepsy Brain Storm Summit

Twitter Community Call to Action:

Nearly 4100 4th Graders Attend Free Concert at Disney Hall sponsored by Pasadena Showcase House

Dyslexic author offers a different outlook for kids who don't fit in

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 5:44 PM PDT

By Tony Lystra

Vista Del Mar Hosts — Groundbreaking Autism Conference for Parents and Professionals

Please share our benefit story with your friends and family. November 1st, at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades

Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles featured on Blog Talk Radio!

NM school goes from worst to among best in 3 years

A mother learns to speak out

Target Free Holiday Mondays

LACMA

Special Needs Conferences 101: Autism conference in LA for parents and professionals

Non-Profit Helps Kids Through Exercise

Healing: A Fine Art Portrait Exhibit of Families of Children with Special Needs

KEEN LA: Exercising with your kids at the 7th Annual Resource Fair, Aurora Elementary! TOMORROW!!!

Labeled Disabled

"Rescuing Childhood" to Premiere at 5th Annual LA Femme Film Festival, Oct. 15-18, 2009

Kids Enjoy... BEACH DAY... NOW!!!

Kids enjoy beach day despite fast winds

STORY TOOLS

Young Variety Children's Charity Volunteers with Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles

Los Angeles Community Unites for Children with Special Needs

Exhibit focuses on families of special needs kids

Mission Viejo teen faces 'super-special' chance

Winnick Family Foundation Renews Support for Special Needs Program at Jerusalem Zoo

Sexy Autism Ads: Catastrophic!!!!!

Angie’s List Wishmakers and local company grants wish for area family battling cancer and autism

We have a graphic for our BENEFIT!!!

AUTISM STATS EXAGGERATED: PARENTS STARTING TO REBEL Worldwide Event Oct. 10 & 11

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley are among growing number of parents adopting special needs children

Related News

Chiropractic Care Helps Child With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

KEEN coverage is going really well!

My first impression of Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, Los Angeles

Who I am and how I met KEEN: