I should have worn waterproof mascara

by Elsa Remak

It was the great “pinkout” of the summer, complete with a pink carpet and boas galore. The tenth floor of the Spertus Institute on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue was transformed into a pre-teen girl’s version of paradise Wednesday for the premiere of the HBO documentary Miss You Can Do It. Many of us here at Easter Seals Headquarters left our cubicles behind for a day full of laughter, tears, and of course, lots of Justin Bieber music at the film’s premiere. It was a celebration of five incredible families, a brave filmmaker, and an inspirational beauty queen who combined efforts to create the Miss You Can Do It HBO documentary. This was a day where disabilities meant nothing and inner-beauty meant everything.

From the minute the young guests arrived, they were treated to a celebrity experience. The girls worked the pink carpet, sipped on fizzy mocktails, and had their pictures taken with the building’s stunning lake view as a backdrop. After an hour of mingling and delicious food (I’m still dreaming about the mini hot dogs) it was time for the film’s premiere.

For 70 minutes, the 200-person audience got a glimpse into the lives of eight amazing young girls. Any negative thoughts on pageants quickly disappeared as the audience learned about Abbey Curran, the Miss You Can Do It founder. Abbey Curran is the former Miss Iowa, and she is the first woman with a disability to compete in the Miss USA Pageant. Curran, who has cerebral palsy, created the Miss You Can Do It pageant to give other girls the chance to feel beautiful.

Filmmaker Ron Davis captured the joys and hardships families who have children with disabilities face. This screening was the first time the families saw the complete film. I should have worn waterproof mascara, because the tears were flowing. Some of the waterworks were out of heartache, but the majority were from joy.

Miss You Can Do It contains so many powerful messages about beauty and disabilities that I found myself smiling for hours after the film was over. Some of us at Easter Seals are already planning our trip to this year’s July pageant.

The celebrity treatment continued after the film: the girls got to rotate between booths for hair, nails, and facepaint. I felt star-struck approaching the girls after the film. One of the film’s stars, the hilarious Ali Shanks, complimented my playlist for the event, but mentioned that I missed some of Bieber’s good songs (duly noted).

As I looked at the girls’ smiling faces I realized, for the millionth time, how lucky I am to have this summer internship at Easter Seals. This event was life-changing — not only for the stars of the film, but for me too. These happy young girls and their courageous families will continue to inspire me long after my internship is over.

I encourage EVERYONE to tune in for the HBO premiere of Miss You Can Do It on June 24th. This film will educate and inspire people of all ages. This is not some “toddlers and tiaras” documentary — it’s a 70 minute celebration. These girls have proven that they really can do it.

Paying more than lip service to veterans’ employment

by Col. David Sutherland

Let’s talk about employment for veterans. It’s a hot-button issue, with everyone from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the White House urging corporate America to hire veterans. Laws exist requiring companies that do business with the U.S. government to actively pursue and recruit veterans. But does it actually happen? Not as often as I’d like.

Easter Seals is a leading provider of workforce development for veterans. They offer vets the direct services and solutions that are desperately needed. It’s one reason I joined the Easter Seals team and co-founded Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Community Services. Together, we’re able to advise major corporations, businesses, trade organizations, government and philanthropic entities on how to put theory into practice based not on the best practices of others, but rather looking at the conditions and resources of the specific organization.

Consider the trucking industry. The average age of a truck driver is high and it’s not getting any younger. Right now, more than 500,000 drivers are needed across the United States. But state licensing requirements can be restrictive, favoring private-sector experience. Yet we have thousands of young men and women who are driving heavy-duty armored vehicles across hundreds of miles every day in combat conditions. This experience ought to count for something, but so often it doesn’t.

So I jumped at the chance to help when the Teamsters asked me for my assistance in helping vets. I proposed pooling resources at the state level to better enhance their existing training to help turn real-life experience overseas into family-wage jobs. The Teamsters did a state-by-state comparative analysis of commercial truck driver’s licensing and Department of Defense training, and this will allow employers and the states to better understand how, with some legislative changes, they can help returning vets get their trucking licenses by recognizing their credentials from time served in war zones. Through this Teamsters effort, policy change is taking place and targeted training has been developed for veterans throughout the country.

This Dixon Center and Teamsters partnership is now developing mobile training efforts on military installations throughout the country to provide certified civilian licenses before transitioning from the military. We really need help in Arkansas, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Tennessee — the top five states with the highest rates of unemployment for veterans returning from active duty, Guardsmen and Reservists. Every industry — not just trucking — needs to put resources on the table. As another example, Dixon Center is assisting the Utility Workers of America by assessing support organizations to enhance opportunities for skilled military veterans going into the gas and electrical utility sector.

It comes down to this: if you’re an employer, recognize that veterans come with real-life skills. Don’t just focus on academic degrees. Also, understand that employment goes beyond recruiting. It has to include training, integrating and retaining the veterans as well as their families. If you’re a state, reassess the credentialing and licensing restriction that don’t take into account the already existing skills of our service members and make the appropriate changes. Taking simple actions will make a positive difference for our veterans, and for your organization too.

“Miss You Can Do It” portrays ability in an empowering way

by Rachel Talen

Pink feather boas, glittery carpet, hair stylists, tiaras, premiere parties, photo shoots, pageant girls and film producers …

These things didn’t pop up in office conversation before I knew about the HBO pageant and documentary Miss You Can Do It, but I’m so glad they did!

Miss You Can Do It profiles several Easter Seals girls with disabilities and their families. This is no Toddlers & Tiaras — it’s heartfelt, it’s real and it portrays ability in an empowering way.

Founded by Abbey Curran, a former Miss Iowa and the first woman with a disability to compete in the Miss USA Pageant®, and former Easter Seals kid, Miss You Can Do It is an inspiration for girls everywhere.

Filmmaker Ron Davis documented the pageant, which takes place one weekend each year. These young girls, along with family and friends, get to be glamorous and celebrate their abilities. No one leaves the pageant empty-handed, with each girl receiving a special award. The film also celebrates the “hero parents” and families, who talk about the joys and challenges of raising a child with special needs.

It was great to hear that HBO, Easter Seals and Comcast would be hosting a Hollywood-style premiere screening on June 18th in Chicago for more than 100 girls and young women, both typically-developing and those living with disabilities. The attendees are going to love the “Glam Girl” activities the premiere party has in store for them — it will be everything the girls need to feel like rockstars, from hair styling and a nail salon right down to volunteers posing as paparazzi, taking photos of the girls walking the pink carpet.

I’m so excited to volunteer at this event and hang out with the girls! We’ll follow up in another post about the party, complete with photos of our Miss You Can Do It celebrities. And mark your calendars for June 24th when Miss You Can Do It airs on HBO!

Imperfectly perfect

by MacKenzie Olsberg

Recently, Temple Grandin was on Katie Couric’s show Katie talking about autism. She provided a lot of fascinating and cheerful stories about what it’s like to have it and what she’s done to adjust. It was incredibly fascinating and I loved her no-nonsense approach to children with autism, specifically about labeling and achievements. Many parents, in her experience, seemed to forget that Jimmy wasn’t just on the autism spectrum … he was also brilliant at math. Suddenly Jimmy wasn’t Jimmy, he was Jimmy With Autism, and there were no more celebrations for his achievements.

The reminder of labels struck a chord with me. You see, I’m not a stranger to autism. I’ve always grown up with autism and disabilities being close, if unspoken, companions in my own life. My father has it, my youngest sister has it. I have two learning disabilities myself. And for the longest time, my family and I defined ourselves by our challenges rather than by our achievements. We weren’t Mac and C. We were Auditory Processing/Dysnomia and Autism Spectrum.

But as I grew older, I began to realize I was more than just what “hindered” me. I had many gifts to make up for my different way of doing things and those layers of experiences and abilities meant I was more than what was “wrong” with me. I may be an awful public speaker, but I was a great writer with a brilliant imagination (as long as I had a thesaurus and time to gather my thoughts). I may have a hard time focusing on one person talking in a noisy crowd, but I was gifted at reading comprehension.

I was imperfectly perfect.

The thought blew me away.

Which is why when I watched Temple speak about autism and looking beyond the “can’ts” into the “cans,” I was ecstatic that someone else knew intimately the struggle of working extra hard to appear normal and shared my thoughts on how it should be. We celebrate achievements for people who fall mostly in the norm — why not celebrate what autism/disabled children are good at and celebrate a little more? Celebrating is good. Differences are good. Remembering we shouldn’t let a label decide who we are, and that we should decide who we are ourselves? Well, that’s just perfect.

It’s cookie time!

by Rachel Talen

Your calendar says the first official day of summer isn’t until June 21, but the first sign of summer always comes early here at Easter Seals with the launch of Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes’ annual cookie campaign.

This is the first year that Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes will be offering the cookie campaign for Easter Seals in ALL of their 128 restaurants across the nation. With the help of generous consumers, 20 Easter Seals affiliate organizations will benefit from this year’s campaign.

From now until the end of June, Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants will donate $1 to Easter Seals for each bag of homemade cookies sold. And that’s not all — restaurant guests will also receive a coupon for a future visit as a thank you for their cookie purchase.

Sweet Tomatoes has supported Easter Seals for six years and has raised nearly $180,000 in support of Easter Seals families. Donations collected from the campaign support Easter Seals programs for children and adults with disabilities.

So just think: you can go ahead and indulge in a bag of homemade cookies without feeling guilty! Each and every time you and your family visit a Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes in June, you can help support essential Easter Seals programs in your community!

“The Story of Luke” breaks the Hollywood mold

by Elsa Remak

The single, twenty-something man is a role Hollywood is no stranger to. Films consistently revolve their plots around the trials and tribulations young men face while attempting to navigate adulthood.

I recently came across a trailer for an upcoming film titled “The Story of Luke.” Before watching the trailer I assumed “The Story of Luke” would follow the typical Hollywood formula. At the surface, central character Luke is a 25 year old man who is jobless and looking for love. As a twenty-something myself, I say, “Welcome to the club, Luke!”

After viewing the trailer I learned this film completely breaks the traditional Hollywood mold. Yes, Luke is a quirky character. Yes, he is single and unemployed. But his role is something that the entertainment industry repeatedly ignores, Luke has autism. The film follows Luke as he adjusts to life after his grandmother (and primary caretaker) passes away.

Luke’s autism is approached in a realistic manner. He is not Dustin Hoffman’s savant character from “Rain Man.” Luke isn’t a human calculator who counts cards, but this does not make him any less of a compelling character. Director Alfonso Mayo approached Luke’s autism in a way that best reflects those living with autism. Mayo’s mother runs a school in Peru for those with developmental disabilities. Many of the school members served as inspiration for the film. Mayo stressed that Luke would not be perceived as a caricature. “We want people laughing with Luke, not at Luke,” Mayo said in an interview with Disability Scoop.

Hollywood take note, autism is NOT a setback, nor is it only interesting in the form of a genius character. Luke’s experience is just like the rest of my generation’s, autism or not. His determination is something all millennial kids can relate to. There is something magical about the way movies affect us. We laugh with them, we cry with them, and we relate to them. Thanks “Bridget Jones’s Diary” for teaching me that it’s OK to eat Ben & Jerry’s in bed!

More than anything else, movies have the ability to inform in an entertaining manner. If Hollywood continues to portray autism in this normalized, realistic way, society will rethink their perceptions. Hats off to you Alfonso Mayo! Hopefully Hollywood will soon follow your lead.

“The Story of Luke” is currently doing the film festival circuit (to rave reviews). The movie is available on both Itunes and Amazon. To learn more about the film you can check out the “Story of Luke” website.

Adapt and overcome

by Col. David Sutherland

Colonel David W. Sutherland founded the Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Community Services at Easter Seals. He actively contributes to numerous national veteran and military family committees and boards. COL Sutherland speaks in communities at universities, businesses and conferences around the country as a vocal advocate and leader for transformational change. He is a vocal advocate for our service members, military veterans, their families, and the families of our fallen.

I’m the Chairman and founder of the Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Community Services at Easter Seals. Dixon Center is coordinating, collaborating and consolidating the disparate efforts underway in communities across the U.S. to support veterans and military families.

My mission is to align this nationwide network of support for veterans and military families so that the organizations involved can sustain their momentum and maintain the best possible services. Between the drawdown in Afghanistan and tighter restraints on government fiscal resources, there is a greater need to fill in the gaps. These groups must look beyond the present and consider how they will build for the long haul.

My team and my efforts unite complementary efforts in three areas that are necessary to ensure a sustainable life in civilian society for veterans and their families:

1. Education so that veterans and their families can achieve their graduation goals, go one step beyond their “battlefield knowledge” and better transition to private sector careers that take advantage of their skill sets.
2. Meaningful employment that earns a “family wage” — enough to provide for the veteran and his or her family.
3. Access to healthcare beyond what is provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including information and options, for a “whole person” concept.

If we can efficiently and effectively provide these elements to our veterans and their families — in the communities where they live — these heroes will thrive.

The idea of community is important. Currently, our veterans and service members come home to a grateful nation. But we also come home to our families, neighbors and communities who — while grateful — also expect us to pick up where we left off.

Together, we can figure this out, challenge the status quo, and do the unthinkable — consolidate efforts to focus solutions for our veterans and military families during their transition and reintegration. As Admiral Mike Mullen, 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “Just get them started and I think they’ll soar.”

Freddie Mac offers internships for people with autism!

by Patricia Wright

Internships are a great way to gain professional experience and build your resume to land future employment opportunities. Freddie Mac clearly knows about the benefits of internships as they are partnering with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and have launched the ASAN-Freddie Mac Internship Program.

Freddie Mac is a mortgage finance company. This new program is focused on finding people with autism for the following roles:

• Architecture and Data Services Intern
• SF CFO Strategy, Planning and Development Analyst Intern
• Planning and Development Analyst
• Securities Internship
• Testing Internship

Not being super savvy in the mortgage industry, I’m not even sure what these jobs entail. The good news is that the position descriptions are listed on the ASAN website. The internships are in the Washington, D.C. area and are 16 weeks in duration.

How fantastic that a company as large as Freddie Mac is stepping up and promoting internships for individuals with autism. I hope that other companies hear about the success of this program and consider starting their own.

Individuals with autism have difficulty finding and maintaining employment. Sharing the news of a successful internship program like this might break down barriers and raise awareness that individuals with autism can be valuable employees.

In case of emergency…

by Beth Finke

This is the first post I’ve written for the Easter Seals blog where I hope readers get halfway through, quit reading, and move on to something else. What I mean is, I really hope none of you are eligible to complete this survey, that none of you have had to endure a frightening storm. But in today’s climate, maybe that’s too much to wish for.

Here’s the thing: The Center on Disability at the Public Health Institute has combined with the Center for Personal Assistance Services at University of California – San Francisco to collect emergency and disaster experience stories from individuals with disabilities who use personal assistance services. The folks conducting the survey call it an “opportunity to share what you have learned in surviving an emergency” and expect these experiences to lead to valuable lessons, techniques, strategies, and skills. To participate, you must :

• Use one or more personal assistants (also known as an attendant or caregiver). This can be someone who you pay for, or someone who volunteers to assist you, including family members or friends.
• Have in the last 5 years (since 2008), lived through a large emergency (such as, but not limited to, a storm, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, fire, flood, heat or cold wave, power outage, or chemical spill.
• Be interested in helping others understand and learn from your emergency experience.
• Be willing to share your written or recorded story on the Center for Personal Assistance Services website.

They point out that By “large emergency” they mean an incident that effected a large physical area, affected many people and overwhelmed local resources and led to the state and possibly FEMA responding. If this is all true for you, then first, and most importantly, I’m glad you are okay! and second, these people would love to have you link to their survey to share your experiences, which may very likely help someone else in the future .

In the meantime, I encourage you to link to the Easter Seals S.A.F.E.T.Y. First page to take a look at our list of tips to prepare for emergencies. S.A.F.E.T.Y. First is a community-based effort to help everyone, especially individuals with disabilities, plan and prepare for personal safety in emergencies.

Using Technology to Empower People with Special Needs

by Rachel Talen

Easter Seals has been working with Comcast NBC Universal and the Comcast Foundation to make a difference in communities by expanding digital literacy, bolstering assistive technology programs and helping to power independence through technology and innovation.

Comcast donated air time to run Public Service Announcements highlighting the importance of early identification and early intervention for children at risk of developmental delay. I’m pleased to introduce Elise Hough, the CEO of Easter Seals Greater Houston and spokesperson for Make the First Five Count to tell you how The Comcast Foundation is making a difference in Houston.

Using Technology to Empower People with Special Needs
By Elise Hough

Without therapy, training or intervention, people with disabilities can face lifelong challenges. That includes millions of children with disabilities, and for many of them it is not a lack of intelligence or ability, but a lack of training, education or access to the tools and technology that limits their futures.

Consider the Gonzalez family, whom I met a few months ago in my office at Easter Seals Greater Houston. The two youngest Gonzalez children, ages 5 and 6, are healthy, funny and talkative,while the two older children, Matthew, 9, and Matilda, 11, can neither walk nor talk. When we met, their mother told us that Matthew and Matilda were assumed to be very low-functioning because of their significant physical disabilities. Unfortunately, they were never given an assessment to determine if technology could help them. It could.

Within the first 15 minutes of working with an Easter Seals specialist, Matthew, who has limited use of his hands, was using a touch screen on a communication device. Matilda, who can only control the movement in her eyes, was using a communication device powered by her eye gaze. They both sped through the basics — “yes” and “no,” then four-word sentences, and then on to more complex communication. Within minutes, they were communicating, for the first time in their lives, with their mother and siblings.

This is the sort of life-changing impact we have every day at Easter Seals Houston, in part due to the support of our community and partners like Comcast who understand that we all deserve an opportunity to succeed.

Last year, Easter Seals Houston received a grant from the Comcast Foundation to support our BridgingApps Project, which helps families, like the Gonzalez’s, bridge the gap between technology and people with disabilities. Comcast’s support allowed us to significantly expand in-person services and our web site content, which reached over 20,000 users each month. The grant also helped us expand the project to Austin and the Rio Grande Valley in collaboration with Easter Seals Central Texas and Easter Seals Rio Grande Valley.

With the impact of projects like ours in Houston, Comcast broadened its support last January by naming Easter Seals its newest national partner, launching the Comcast Assistive Technology Grant Fund to support Easter Seals affiliates who are working to bring technology resources to individuals and families. The partnership also includes airtime for public service announcements to raise awareness of Easter Seals’ services, particularly our early intervention programs such as Make the First Five Count. We are thrilled about our partnership with Comcast, which this year will allow us to develop a year-long “camp” for children with disabilities, siblings and parents to learn how to use technology focused on improving communication, and support other Easter Seals projects across the country that are helping children and individuals with special needs achieve the best quality of life.