Just thought that I would share a moving story that made me cry tonight. Tommy and his best friend Carl spend hours playing video games together. Well, for Christmas, Carl bought him a wireless arcade stick for his playstation. It is a controller that instead of holding in your hand, you sit on the floor. It is wireless, and has HUGE buttons and a joystick instead of the typical handheld controller. I really didn't pay much attention to it, until I heard Tommy raving to Carl on the phone about how cool it was and how he was going to beat him now. When I asked him about it, he said that Carl had noticed that he was able to beat Tommy in certain games because he had some difficulty with the small control buttons. So when he saw the controller with the joystick, he thought of Tommy. Now, the playing field had been somewhat leveled, giving Tommy more control, and Carl less of an advantage. So, we are going to see who is going to become the video champion now that our game has been "adapted"!!!!
What a friend!!

Eric is your typical 11 year-old Boy Scouts. He loves to hike, camp and earn merit badges. Eric is also differently abled. He has Cerebral Palsy, which affects his walking and endurance. This does not stop him or his troop. Eric has participated in Scouts for 5 years. The troop has supported Eric in a variety of ways, as they do all of their members. The troop modified the hiking requirement to a level that was challenging for Eric but attainable. In addition, during a 6-night event a counselor with a car would drive Eric to and from events if the hike was too difficult for him. Any activity or Merit Badge that Eric is interested in the troop will modify for Eric’s needs. Scouts have been so accepting and interested in including Eric in all activities other children do. Eric has many friends and has wonderful self-esteem. Once scout personnel understood Eric’s abilities and needs, the fear disappeared.

This past summer, my son Kalonji attended a Summer Enrichment Program at a community high school in my area. It was the first time that this program had accepted children with disabilities, and his arrival was met with fear, anticipation, and some resentment. I worked with the Coordinator for weeks before the start of the program to map out a plan for meeting his needs during the summer. Mrs. C was reluctant, and did almost everything she possibly could to discourage our participation. But, I was determined! I wanted Kalonji to attend the same program as his 10 year old sister, Victoria. This program was perfect for both of them.
During the first week of the camp, I spoke to all 200 of the children about playing with and being friends with children who are "differently-abled". I talked about disabilities, and encouraged the children to think of games that they could play with someone who was blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair. We talked about famous people with disabilities. I asked the children not be afraid to be friends with kids who were different. My daughter spoke to the children about how she dislikes it when people make fun of children with disabilities. She also explained how it can be really cool to play with a child with a disability. My son Kalonji told the children that, "Kids with disabilities can be a lot of fun".
After my presentation, the Coordinator was clearly moved. She had tears streaming down her face, and she came up to me and gave me a big hug. She said that is was a blessing to have my son in the program, and that she wanted to make sure that the program was open to kids like him next year! Even though I am happy about that, I felt that the bigger success was watching my son who became the camp celebrity, make his rounds in the morning and in the evening before going home. There was not one single child in the whole program who didn't know his name. He got lots of hugs and encouragement from the other children. Even though I knew that there would still be children who would make fun of him, or say mean things about children with disabilities, I knew that he was surrounded by enough kids who would stand up for him and say, "It is okay to be different, and Kalonji is my friend!".