The Connecting Point

Volume 3 Issue 18 January 6th, 2006

In This ISSUE:

1) Publications available from The Wisconsin Healthy & Ready to Work
2) Fact Sheets from: The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
3) MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: 50 ASSET-BUILDING ACTIVITIES TO HELP TEENS EXPLORE DIVERSITY
4) LET'S CONNECT WEB SITE

Guest Editorial: Pete Farrelly, Producer of the Movie “The Ringer”

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1) Publications available from The Wisconsin Healthy & Ready to Work project has completed a series of publications that will be of interest and value to agencies and organizations that are working to assure youth with special needs successfully transition to adulthood. 

Below is a listing of these materials, along with a brief summary.
Additional ordering information is available on the Wisconsin HRTW web site.

http://waisman.wisc.edu/hrtw/publications.html

(Note:  The charges for items reflects only printing, shipping and handling costs.)

Publications available from Wisconsin Healthy & Ready to Work
Ordering Information http://waisman.wisc.edu/hrtw/publications.html

Transition to Adult Health Care: A Training Guide in Two Parts
This training guide is intended to serve as a framework for anyone interested in helping young people with special health care needs and their parents prepare for the transition to adult health care. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines a child with special health care needs. Cost is $15.00

Stories of Transition to the Adult World
The road to adulthood is rarely smooth, even for young people who have had the best possible preparation. When a young person has a significant disability, that journey can be even more challenging. Work experiences can be harder to come by and require more support. A young person may have to learn how to manage medications and talk to doctors along with learning how to cook and balance a checkbook. Inadequate transportation and long county waiting lists further complicate the ability to live and work in the community.
No Cost

Caleb's Story
An 11-minute video developed in partnership with Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities and Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy, highlighting the work and home experiences of a young man with very involved health, cognitive and physical disabilities. It includes footage of him at work in the community, shopping and traveling in the community, and at the home he purchased.  Discussion questions included.
DVD and VHS format: DVD $20, VHS, $15. DVD also includes Legal Decision-Making video and handout at no additional charge.

Safety Awareness for Empowerment - An eight-module curriculum to teach self-care and community safety skills to youth, particularly those with cognitive disabilities. Includes handouts,graphics, a board game. Topics include staying home alone, safe relationships, avoiding victimization, sexuality, first aid and self defense. 319-page training guide Cost is $125.


Whose Life Is It Anyway?
How One Teenager, Her Parents, and Her Teacher View the Transition Process
for a Young Person with Disabilities. This publication is a unique exploration of the emotions and relationships between three key transition partners: Becky, the youth; her mother and her teacher. It includes talking points for group discussion about relationship building and best practice in adolescent transition. Outcomes include helping all partners raise expectations about what youth with special health care needs can achieve, how to meaningfully involve youth in the process and ultimately, how to better understand each participant's perspectives.
Co-authored by national trainer Janice Fialka; Martha Mock, University of
Rochester; and Jennifer Wagner Neugart of the Waisman Center.

Cost is $10.00

Ordering Information
http://waisman.wisc.edu/hrtw/publications.html

2) Fact Sheets from The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law - published a collection of fact sheets on the federal programs that address the wide range of needs of youth with serious mental health conditions who are transitioning into adulthood. A total of 57 programs, run by 20 or more different agencies in nine departments of the federal government were identified and a detailed assessment of each are available in "Moving On: Analysis of Federal Programs Funding Services for Transition - Age Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions." Each fact sheet offers information about the program's purpose, services and funded activities, the administering federal agency, grantee and beneficiary eligibility and a brief assessment of the program's impact.

To access "Moving On...."  go to:
http://www.bazelon.org/publications/movingon/

3) MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: 50 ASSET-BUILDING ACTIVITIES TO HELP TEENS EXPLORE DIVERSITY
Help teens explore a wide range of cultural competence with this fun, creative resource for raising diversity awareness. With a comprehensive approach that incorporates a variety of learning styles and skill levels, the three sections include personal-awareness activities for those with little exposure to diversity issues, a section for building cultural awareness around a particular topic, and practice activities for trying out new relationship-building methods. For more information, go to http://www.search-institute.org/catalog/customer/product.php?productid=16422&cat=&page =&  

From: Reference Points

4) LET'S CONNECT WEB SITE - This web site was created by young people with chronic illnesses for young people with chronic illnesses. It provides forums, links to information about conditions and programs, and Dear Connect where users can write to the site's creators, and more. The web site can be found at http://www.letsconnect.org/

Hi, Pete Farrelly here, producer of Movie, 'The Ringer.'

'The Ringer' took more than five years to get made because the studios were all afraid of it. Here's why: It's about a guy (Steve) who tries to fix the Special Olympics. He does it because he's broke and he knows a bookie who will take any bet. So he figures he'll bet on himself, thinking he'll be a shoo-in to win. What he doesn't realize is that these athletes are 'intellectually' disabled, not 'physically' disabled. So they kick his butt. And though he fools the Special Olympic officials, the Special Olympians themselves quickly recognize that he is a fraud and confront him. But they don't turn him in because they're sick and tired of the perennial winner, Jimmy (on the cover of Wheaties, a big story on '20/20', it's all gone to his head); instead they train Steve to beat the champ. In the process, Steve and the gang become good friends. There's another, perhaps bigger, reason 'The Ringer' was so hard to get financed. It might be the first film ever to portray a large group of intellectual disabled people in a complex, three-dimensional way. Some of the Special Olympic athletes are funny, some aren't; some are outgoing, some shy; most are friendly, but one or two are slightly surly. The point is, they're just like everyone else.
Most movies of this kind tend to veer toward mawkish sentimentality, and that's okay, it's better than no representation at all. Our goal, however, was to show the happy, uplifting, life-affirming side of knowing people with intellectual disabilities. If there's a stereotype that I've noticed, it's that these people are fun. They're positive. They're affectionate. This movie has very little sadness--it celebrates their lives. There are many jokes, yes, but the athletes are 'in' on them. They dish them out as well as take them. There are over 150 real Special Athletes in the movie, including five of our lead actors. We have screened 'The Ringer' to hundreds of people with intellectual disabilities, as well as their families, and they all come out smiling.
Recently I showed the movie to a friend who knows not one person with any kind of intellectual disability. He told me that for the first ten minutes he was nervous about being thrown into their world. By the end he wished he knew these guys. He wanted them to be his friends. And that's what 'The Ringer' is all about. It's about making people with intellectual disabilities more accessible.
It's about helping people who are not in their world become more comfortable around them. This is a necessary step if we are ever going to achieve the dream of a fully integrated society.
Thanks for reading this and please pass it on to your friends. By the way, 'The Ringer' opens on December 23rd. Yours, Pete

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