Community Connections: November - December 2005 newsletter

The Community Connections Communicator
November - December 2005

In this Issue:

The theme of this month’s issue is Enjoying the Winter Season. This is a great time of year to help create lifelong memories with our children and the articles, tips, and online resources found in this newsletter will help your family continue that tradition. You will find information on how to create holiday and winter crafts to help you have fun activities to do in your home. To help with cabin fever and boredom we have included a month long calendar with fun reading, arts & crafts, and family activities to keep everyone busy. Also, shopping tips are included for those of us who have the itch to purchase gifts for our loved ones. Many children with disabilities want to play with the same popular toys as their typical peers. A cool description of when to purchase adaptive toys versus regular toys is found in the article titled “Assistive Technology.” And this article encourages us help our children accomplish this goal by challenging them to persevere and be creative. Check out the additional articles on toys for children with disabilities to get ideas on how to give the perfect gift this year. You will also find information on the Festival of Lights, which is a fun drive through exhibit of over one million holiday lights. So get ready to have fun during this winter season by checking out the resources in this month’s newsletter. Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! Eid Mubarek! Happy Kwanzaa!
Enjoy the Winter Season!

	Tip Sheet: Top 10 Things to Consider When Buying Toys for Children With Disabilities

	Provided by the National Lekotek Center through KidSource Online http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/toys.disabilities.html
	Articles:
	*Holiday Planning Resources:*
	Planning Ahead for Holiday Expenses – provided by KidSource Online
	Assistive Technology – provided by Suite 101
	Finding the Right Toy – provided by Brookes Publisher
	Toys “R” Us Differently Abled Guide – provided by Toys “R” Us Click the link then click the guide’s picture to view the guide in full
	Toys for the Holidays for Children with Disabilities – provided by the United Spinal Association
	*Winter Activities:*
	Holiday Activities – provided by the Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service
	Holiday Preparedness Calendar: Activities and Reminders for a Healthy, Safe, Fun and Giving Holiday Season – provided by KidSource Online
	Holiday Crafts – provided by Family Education
	Holiday Fun Party Games – provided by Kaboose
	Preschool Home Activities for Parents and Young Children – provided by Gayle’s Preschool Rainbow
	Spotlights of the Month:
	19th Annual Winter Festival of Lights at Watkins Park
	Recommended Websites:
	Disability Resources
	The Whizz Kidz
	Links to Toys and Accessories for Children with Disabilities- provided by the Council for Exceptional Children
	Special Mentions
	Announcing the Launch of Community Connections’ On-Line Training Modules!
	Community Connections “Community Inclusion” Contest
	Spotlight a Welcoming Business:
	Community Connections would like to “Spotlight” businesses who are welcoming to children with disabilities and their families. If you would like to spotlight a business, please click on this link and we will post it free of charge on our website. Thank you.

Tip Sheet:

Top 10 Things to Consider When Buying Toys for Children With Disabilities

This tip sheet provides ideas on how to choose toys for children with disabilities. It gives you 10 tips to consider when selecting the cool toy for your loved one. If you have questions about multisensory appeal, method of activation and adjustability, these questions will get you thinking about what will be a good match. Take a look at each of these links in full for further information.

Articles:

The following articles provide information to help you to plan ahead for holiday expenses, purchase cool toys for children with disabilities, and create fun activities for your family. Each of the articles is outlined in the sections below. Please view the entire articles in full by clicking on the link.

Holiday Planning Resources:

Planning Ahead for Holiday Expenses – provided by KidSource Online
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/plan.holiday.expenses.html

Assistive Technology – provided by Suite 101
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3367/29813

Finding the Right Toy – provided by Brookes Publisher
http://www.brookespublishing.com/email/archive/march01/march01DD3.htm

Toys “R” Us Differently Abled Guide – provided by Toys “R” Us
Click the link then click the guide’s picture to view the guide in full
http://www1.toysrus.com/our/tru/prom/#

Toys for the Holidays for Children with Disabilities – provided by the United Spinal Association
http://www.unitedspinal.org/pages.php?catid=179&submenu=241&pageid=722&
styleid=magazine

Winter Activities:

Holiday Activities – provided by the Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=301&id=1858

Holiday Preparedness Calendar: Activities and Reminders for a Healthy, Safe, Fun and Giving Holiday Season – provided by KidSource Online
http://www.kidsource.com/general/holiday.chart.html

Holiday Crafts – provided by Family Education
http://fun.familyeducation.com/holidays/handicrafts/34974.html

Holiday Fun Party Games – provided by Kaboose
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/birthday/party.html

Preschool Home Activities for Parents and Young Children – provided by Gayle’s Preschool Rainbow
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/preschoolers.htm

Spotlights of the Month!

19th Annual Festival of Lights

Come and enjoy a wonderful holiday tradition sponsored by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Convention. The Festival of Lights features an animated display of more than one million twinkling lights. You can drive through this beautiful exhibit and experience the joy of the season. This is an event that is great fun for the entire family. The festival is currently running now through Sunday, January 1, 2006 from 5:30 to 9:30pm nightly. For more details on cost and location, please contact Watkins Park at (301) 699-2456 or click on the link below,
http://www.pgparks.com/pdf/2005_FOL_rackcard.pdf

Recommended Websites

Disability Resources
This is a great website with links to resources to help you locate specially designed toys and adapt conventional toys for children with disabilities. Click on the link below to view the website in full.
http://www.disabilityresources.org/TOYS.html

The Whizz Kidz
This is a cool website for young children with disabilities. Click on the link below to view the website in full.
http://www.whizz-kidz.org.uk/Page.asp?originx340ma_60625844787643b81u36917776

Links to Toys and Accessories for Children with Disabilities
This website provides links to a variety of organizations that provide toys and accessories for children with disabilities. Click on the link below to view the website in full.
http://ericec.org/fact/toys.html

Special Mentions

Announcing the Launch of Community Connections’
On-Line Training Modules!

Are you interested in gaining the knowledge and skills needed to help your organization build a welcoming, inclusive environment for children with disabilities? If so, are you worried that you don’t have time to attend a training session in person? Then, the Community Connections on-line training modules are perfect for you!

The modules are available via an interactive, web-based course sponsored by the University of Maryland at College Park. For a limited time, we are waiving all registration costs. That’s right—the training is free! But, act fast! Free registration will end on December 15, 2005.

Available Training Modules:

Creating an Inclusive Environment
Making Accommodations
Working with Families
Teaching Kids About Kids with Disabilities

*You can choose to complete any single module, combination of modules, or the whole course!

*Contact Amy Nicholas at anichola@umd.edu for registration information

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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Disclaimer
Unless otherwise noted, all referenced articles are available at no charge to you. Community Connections provides this for informational purposes only and cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by linked sites. The opinions and views expressed at these web sites do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Community Connections. Any personal information requested by any of the web sites will be governed by the privacy policy at the site, and any questions you have related to the sites' use of information should be directed there. The information contained in this newsletter is not intended to make any offer or commitment to purchase, subscribe to, provide or sell any service or product or to provide any recommendations on which readers should rely.

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Helping to Facilitate the Participation of Children with Disabilities in Community Settings

The Community Connections Communicator November - December 2005