Helping to Facilitate the Participation of Children with Disabilities in Community Settings
The
Community Connections Communicator --
November 2003
In this Issue:
The theme of this month’s issue is Fostering Friendships
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Tip Sheet: Let’s Play Together |
| This tip sheet provides information on how to foster friendships between children with and without disabilities. It gives tips on expanding a child’s social circle and making and keeping friends. | |
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Article: How To Encourage Friendships for Children with Disabilities |
| This article provides valuable information on how to help younger and older children develop friendships. | |
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Spotlights of the Month: |
Me, Too! Kindermusik
of Bowie/Crofton Maryland National
Capital Area Park and Planning Commission |
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Prince George’s
County Memorial Library System Howard County
Library System |
Tip Sheets
Let’s Play
Together….
Fostering Friendships Between Children With and Without Disabilities
Why is it important for all children to have friends? How can you help
create an atmosphere that will develop friendships for your child? This
tip sheet, provided by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) Parents
website, discusses the importance of developing friendships between
children with and without disabilities. Such positive outcomes from
fostering friendships include: helping the child increase his/her self-esteem,
increasing the child’s emotional and intellectual development,
broadening your child’s social experiences, and most of all having
fun. This tip sheet provides information on finding activities that
your child will enjoy in order to help them meet friends who have similar
interests. Such activities in the tip sheet include having your child:
take classes at your local community center, attend an after school
or weekend program, and join an organization such as the Boy Scouts
or the YMCA. The tip sheet gives further suggestions on how to keep
friends once your child makes them, through scheduling easy to do activities
such as play dates and buddy shopping trips. To learn how to enhance
your child’s friendship circle, click on the link below to view
the full tip sheet for more suggestions:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/issuesadvice/inclusivecommunities/friendships.html
Additional Tip Sheets include:
Social Interaction
Barriers and How They May Be Overcome
This tip sheet provides seven easy tips on how to help children develop
healthy friendships. Provided by the Beach Center on Disability, this
tip sheet is a good resource for teachers as well as family members
of children with disabilities. Click on the link below for the entire
tip sheet.
http://www.beachcenter.org/stories/default.asp?intResourceID=73&act=detail&tip=true&type=topic&id=8
Involving Peers
This tip sheet is also provided by the Beach Center on Disability. It
outlines 10 tips on how to include peers of students with disabilities
in helping them foster relationships in the classroom. This is a great
resource for teachers. Click on the following link for further information.
http://www.beachcenter.org/stories/default.asp?intResourceID=66&act=detail&tip=true&type=topic&id=8
Articles
How To Encourage Friendships For Children With Disabilities
Friendships are essential in helping children develop socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Based on your child’s disability and specific needs, you may need to provide some facilitation in helping your child build relationships with other children. This article discusses the importance of friendships as well as the ways in which families can help children foster those relationships.
In helping younger children develop friendships, the article provides such suggestions as: discussing the child’s disability with his peers, having children play in small groups rather than larger groups, and playing games that encourage children to play with one another. Information is also provided on fostering friendships with older children as well. The article provides a brief summary of “winning strategies” that can be used to help create an atmosphere that will encourage the development of friendships.
To view the entire article
in a PDF format, click on the link below:
www.vtpic.com/FRN-FS-002.pdf
Additional articles include:
Friendships and Stories:
Using Children’s Literature to Teach Friendship Skills to Children
with Learning Disabilities
This article provides strategies to teach children how to develop appropriate
skills needed for making friends. For the entire article, click on the
following link:
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/teaching_techniques/childlit_socskills.html
Personal Relationships
Between People With and Without Disabilities
Check out this question and answer article on friendships to find out
answers on why friendships are important, and what makes developing
friendships difficult. To view this entire article, click on the link
below:
http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/relshp.htm
Preschool Holds Key
Social Opportunities For Kids With Special Needs
This article provides an overview of how teachers can help children
with disabilities develop friendships inside and outside the classroom.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link:
http://www.specialednews.com/early/earlynews/preschoolfriends121299.html
Exceptional Parent Magazine has a wealth of information for parents of children with disabilities. An article on helping preschoolers make friends, can be obtained using the following reference:
Hanson, M., Morgan, M., Gutierrez,
S., Barnwell, D., and Beckman, P. (May 1997) Finding Friends
at School and at Home: Parents’ strategies for helping pre-schoolers
develop friendships. Exceptional Parent Magazine, 24-26.
You can contact Exceptional Parent Magazine by clicking the link below:
www.eparent.com
Spotlights
Me, Too!
Paul H. Brookes, Publishing Co, Inc.
P.O. Box 10624
Baltimore, Maryland 21285-0624
1-800-638-3775
http://www.pbrookes.com/store/books/hanson-5087/
This is a great set of six books geared toward helping families of preschool age children with disabilities build community connections. This series was edited by Dr. Marci J. Hanson, Professor of Early Childhood Special Education at the San Francisco State University and Dr. Paula J. Beckman, Professor of Infancy and Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Maryland. Through suggestions on making new friends, achieving positive behaviors, adapting environments to enhance children’s participation, preparing for preschool, and accessing community programs, families and providers learn how to help develop positive and successful relationships for children with disabilities.
The set of six books includes: Introducing Me, It’s Time for Preschool, My Community, My Family, My New Friends, On My Best Behavior, and Look What I Can Do Now. The books can be purchased as a set or individually. To order the books, please contact Pbrooks, at 1-800-638-3775 or visit the following link: http://www.pbrookes.com/store/books/hanson-5087/
Kindermusik of Bowie/Crofton
Gail Trafelet, Director
(301) 249-9188
Kindermusik of Bowie provides opportunities for children with and without disabilities to discover the great expressions of music such as singing, moving, dancing, and playing various instruments. An array of sessions, are provided at a cost. In addition to the sessions, Ms. Trafelet, the Director of Kindermusik, also provides a free Kindermusik session every first Tuesday of the month at Border’s Books in Bowie at the 10:30 a.m. story time. For further information about Kindermusik and/or the free story time, please contact Ms. Trafelet at (301) 249-9188.
Maryland
National Capital Area Park and Planning Commission
Provides inclusive activities
in various areas for children with disabilities. In addition to their
Therapeutic Recreation Programs and Inclusion Services, children with
disabilities are encouraged to enroll in any activity of interest, and
provide a two-week notice for accommodations and support staff. Activities
include aquatics, crafts, dance, martial arts, performing arts, etc.
For further information, please contact (301) 699-2480. Please check
out the following link for additional information:
www.pgparks.com
Recommended Websites:
Prince George’s
County Memorial Library System
Story-time and Other Activities
www.pgcmls.info
For children ages newborn and up, the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System provides daytime and evening story times, book clubs, and home school groups, at many of the libraries throughout the county. Check out these great events that will help your child develop early literacy skills as well as make new friendships.
Please note, the library system provides accommodations for persons with disabilities, which include sign language interpretation for library programs, wheelchair access, large print books, and other resources. For further information on these programs and services, please contact the administrative office at (301) 699-3500, or click the following link: www.pgcmls.info
Howard
County Library System
Story time and Adapted Toy Lending Program
Central Office Children’s Librarian
Cari Gast
(410) 313-7825
www.hclibrary.org
Howard County Library System
provides an array of story times and programs that can suit just about
every family. With advance notice, the library system can provide sign
language interpreters for story times and other scheduled programs.
They also have devices available for persons with visual impairments.
In addition, Howard County Library has a Disability Information Specialist
on staff. If you have a little one with a disability, the library system
has put together an adapted toy lending program. This program allows
you to check out fun adapted toys to try at home with your child. If
you would like to gain further information about the programs and services
provided, please contact the Ms. Gast, the Children’s Librarian,
at the Central Office at (410) 313-7825 or visit the link below:
www.hclibrary.org
We currently offer training
and technical consultation to businesses, churches, and other community
organizations to help make them more welcoming to families and children
with special needs. If you know of a business or other organization
that would like to take advantage of these services, please e-mail us
at: communityconnections@umd.edu
OR
If you know of a business that is already welcoming to children with
special needs and their families and you would like to share this information
with other families and professionals, please send us your name as well
as the name and contact information for the business with a brief description
of why you believe they are welcoming to families. If appropriate, we
will post the business on our website and we may even feature it as
a 'Spotlight if the Month'. E-mail your submissions to: communityconnections@umd.edu
*Questions or Suggestions about our newsletter? Have an idea you would like to submit? Please feel free to contact us at communityconnections@umd.edu
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2004, Community Connections. All rights reserved.
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© 2004 University of Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
Last updated on
September 26, 2005
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