Rachel

 

Bridget Brown’s Blog Dec. 2022

 

 

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and are looking forward to celebrating the winter holidays.  This is always a fun time of year but definitely cold.  Keep warm and safe!

 

I just finished my classes at UIC and it is good to take a break.

I start up in early January and I will be on the east and west side of campus so it might take me a little time to learn how to get around.

 

I am so excited to write to you about two great friends of mine. Ashley and Rachel. You are in for a treat to learn more about them because they are both incredible people. I have known these women for most of my life. Both of them are wonderful self-advocates and they are celebrating the 1-year anniversary of living together.

 

Rachel ~

I met Rachel when I was two weeks old and we have been friends ever since.

Rachel loves to have fun and plan activities with friends.

She has 3 great jobs. She has worked at Lou Malanites for 10 years. She recently started working at Gia Mia.

She also works at the same school she attended when she was younger. She helps the 2^nd-grade children and reads to them.
She love going to the awesome life academy when she is not working. Some of her superpowers are:

 

·       she remembers how to do jobs.  She starts out with a list of activities she needs to do but quickly just remembers the things she must do and doesn’t need the list.

·       She speaks up for herself. 

·       Rachel taught Ashley how to be patient and Ashley taught Rachel how to speak up. 

·       she uses her phone to learn how to spell something and to look things up.  She speaks into the phone and it writes a text for her.   

·       Rachel is a great party planner

·       and she is learning how to be self-advocate. 

 

Ashley ~

Ashley has two brothers who are married and a nephew and niece. One of her brothers lives in Colorado and has a pet pig niece named Velma. 

She is going to Colorado and plans to ski with her brother and sister-in-law on Christmas day!

 

Ashley is an actress and the movie she was in, Gem Seeker, was just at the Skokie movie theater.  She walked the red carpet, and it was fabulous.  A limo picked the actors up and took them to the theater.  Pretty fancy!!

 

She has been doing acting for many years with the Ups for Downs theater group.  She was the lion in The Wizard of Oz.

Ashley is a hard worker and has had many jobs. She worked at Jewel, and at the Kane County Cougar games. She loved working at a nursery school and the kids loved her. Now she works at Burlington Coat factory and really enjoys it but her feet get sore after a long day of work.

Ashley graduated from a two-year program called Career Skills Institute at Harper College.  

 

Ashley’s super powers are:

 

·       Ashley is successful because she is super organized. She has a calendar on her phone and computer. She is fantastic with technology

·       She is resourceful at finding answers she doesn't know

·       She is super quick at thinking things out 

·       Ashley has a good heart and gives things away 

·       She is incredibly helpful and very determined!

·       She has a strong faith life and is very grateful 

·       She is a strong self-advocate 

·       Ash loves to laugh and have fun with her friends.

·       And she is good at brainstorming and thinking of new ideas and problem solving. 

 

 

Ashley and Rachel are room mates 

they have been living together for one year now. 

They have a fabulous home. Some of the things they love to do together are: 

·       They watch full house together 

·       They cook together 

·       Both of them take care of their home 

·       They really like hanging out together 

·       They love to have people over to their place and have parties 

·       They like to have their own rooms and have community gathering space as well.

·       They really enjoy doing crafts, coloring, making lists and working on their healthy lifestyle by finding great recipes.

 

 

Ashley and Rachel 

have been working on a healthy living lifestyle and both have lost weight and are feeling healthy!

They cook together and look for recipes that are healthy. They do a lot of swapping out bad food for good food.

They even started a project called “Just A Dollop”  

They are working on a recipe book and a website. They have you tube video and are working on teaching other people how to cook health food and enjoy cooking. 

Their first mini-Recipe book should be done in the spring.

They have a logo and are thinking about making t-shirts. 

Ashely has a few opportunities to talk about her “Just A Dollop” project coming up in 2023. More to come on how to connect with Ashley and Rachel and learn more about Just a Dollop!

  

 

I am so excited about this and so happy to learn a lot from Rachel and Ashley.

I hope you enjoy this time of year!  Happy New Years.  2023 is heading here fast!

 

Have a great holiday!

Bridget Brown

Pursuing Post-Secondary Education: Think College!

Hi There!

We hope your holiday season is off to a great start and this blog finds you joyful and well! In case you missed it, Bridget recently blogged about how her life has been going at UIC and shared an interview recently conducted with Ryan Burke, an incredible self-advocate who works in schools and has a passion for musicals and enjoying time with loved ones. Make sure to check it out! This time, we will continue exploring post-secondary experiences and opportunities!

Stay warm! Later this month, we will be back with information on how to access accommodations in college and where to go on campus if you are needing support!

Warmly,

Megan

Let’s dive back into pursuing post-secondary education! Today I will be sharing about Think College! Think College provides resources, technical assistance and training related to college options for students with intellectual disability, and manages the only national listing of college programs for students with intellectual disability in the United States. They are a national technical assistance, research, and evaluation center dedicated to developing, expanding, and improving higher education options for students with intellectual disability. With a commitment to equity and excellence, Think College supports evidence-based and student-centered research and practice by generating and sharing knowledge, guiding institutional change, informing public policy, and engaging with students, professionals and families.

Here are some exciting and supportive resources if you or someone you know is interested in attending college! 

Searching for Colleges? The Think College Search features information on 314 postsecondary education programs for students with intellectual disability. There are 16 here in Illinois!! You can find them HERE. 

Are you wanting to share more about Think College with parents, friends, family, or colleagues? You can watch a short 25-minute film produced by Think College that explores the growing movement to include students with intellectual disability in higher education. Click here to access the short film, Rethinking College.

Looking for more information? Check out their FAQ HERE!

Unsure of what questions to ask when researching programs or visiting colleges? HERE is a list of questions you can ask of college programs. 

Interview for Ryan Burke

 

Bridget’s blog for November 2022.

Interview for Ryan Burke

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving celebration with family and friends.   Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year because it reminds all of us to be thankful for everything in our life.  I had a great time with my family making pasta. It is an odd way to celebrate Thanksgiving but everyone, even the little kids, can get involved in making the pasta together and making a huge mess.  It has become a family tradition. Maybe we will have turkey at Christmas time.

I am finishing up my fall classes at UIC. It has been challenging and lots of work but I learned a lot. I hope to get good grades. I will continue working at the Nursing School next semester and I will take a course on radical Inclusion and my internship. This time I will be in class on campus and so that should be very exciting. I think it will be better for me to take classes in person instead of online. I have some great support teachers who do everything they can to help me succeed and I am very grateful for them. I also have a study group and all the accommodations that they have available.  

This month I got the chance to interview my friend Ryan.  He has a smile that brightens up the room when he walks in. He is one of a kind! We were on the board together for the National Association for Down Syndrome (NADS is the oldest organization for people with Down Syndrome.) 

He is 28 years old and comes from a big family. He is a great man.  He lives a full and productive life. He has Down Syndrome, just like me, and we belong to the same special recreation association.

Ryan has an amazing life. He is super friendly and loves people. He inspires people especially his family. One of his sisters is a special education professor. Another sister is a Speech Therapist and he has a brother who is a child psychologist.  All of them were inspired by Ryan. He loves his family and is a proud Uncle to his sister Meagan’s kid.

I was so excited to learn that Ryan attended Notre Dame High School in Niles and was a Burke Scholar. This is amazing because it is an INCLUSIVE high school education program of faith, scholarship and service for students with special needs.

The Burke Scholars Program is the first of its kind in the Archdiocese of Chicago and one of a small selection of such programs in the United States. Notre Dame College Prep believes that all students should have the opportunity to participate in a Catholic high school experience regardless of ability or disability.

Now, Ryan works at Notre Dame High School. He loves it because he can see all his past teachers, he is very familiar with the school and has great memories. He also mentioned that they have really great food!

 Ryan also works at an elementary school called Gower. He loves working there and is very committed to his job. People love working with him because he is reliable and super friendly. He is a perfect employee! He is funny and it is fun to hang out with him. His work at Gower is great because he gets supports from The Working Together Group.

Ryan also has lots of fun in his social life. He loves going to movies with his brothers. He loves musicals and doing activities with Seaspar. He is a powerlifter with Special Olympics and often goes to the competition. He also likes going to dances with friends. He loves bowling and swimming.  

He was in a musical called Fiddler on the Roof. He loves musicals like, Into the Woods, Aladdin, Frozen, and Beauty and the Beast.

.

Here are some of the things that help Ryan succeed:

.Ryan is successful because ~

·         he has lots of great skills and a good attitude

·         He knows how to take public transportation

·         He never gives up

·         He has a great job coach when needed

·         He likes to have a schedule

·         He works hard and has a strong work ethic

·         When things are new or difficult, he sticks with it and keeps trying

·         He is very dedicated and doesn’t like to take any days off

·         He listens when people give him directions

·         Likes seeing people everyday

·         He is very friendly

·         And he likes to try new things

·         He has lots of support in his life

The most important thing is that Ryan has lots of friends and family and enjoys every minute of his life.

It was so much fun to spend time with Ryan and learn more about his amazing life!  One more incredible self-advocate living his best life!

Pursuing Post-Secondary Education

 

Hi Family Matters Community!

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving and/or fall holiday break!! This November and December, we are going to highlight Post-Secondary Education and related experiences. We will kick-off with a re-share of our very own Bridget Brown’s experience at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in a new inclusive program titled, the Co-Op program, under the Disability Studies College. If you loved any of the stories, feel free to comment on this post and share below. If you or someone you know is doing anything related to self-advocacy or wants to share their story, please let us know! We are also sharing our blogs on our Twitter @FamilyMattersIL- so your story could also be shared there! Now sit back, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and learn more about Bridget’s college experience!

Warmly,

Megan

Hello again

I hope you are having a fun Fall so far. Wow, can’t believe that 2022 is flying by. I love fall! 

My last blog was an interview with my friends Kelly & Karen Neville. I learned so much about their life, and their business “Special Sparkle”.   I hope you enjoyed reading about them.

Today, I thought I would give you an update about my new college experience. Maybe some of you are thinking about a post- secondary college experience or some of you might already be in college.   I am excited that some of you might be considering college for your future.

I went to College of DuPage for a number of years. That is my local community college.  They have lots of exciting classes there but I was hoping for something more inclusive.  I also did a summer college program during Covid at John Wood Community College online.  That was fun!

So you might be wondering what is my college experience like now. I currently am a student at UIC (University of Illinois CHICAGO). I am in a new inclusive program called the CO-OP program, under the Disability Studies College.  This program just started up and it is very exciting.

I also have an internship in the School of Nursing at UIC.

I started last Spring and my first class was called Radical Inclusion.  This was a perfect class for me because I am an inclusion advocate and it gave me information about the history of inclusion so I know how to be a better advocate for people with disabilities. It was very interesting. 

I also took a class called Career building.  This was to help me prepare to get an internship and employment.  I learned how to make a cover page and learned the difference between formal vs informal questions. I also learned how to get a paid internship. Because of this class I now have a paid internship at the nursing simulation lab in the nursing department at UIC.    

During that time, I even made friends because I worked with a team of my peers who were also in the CO-OP program. Being part of this class I learned the importance of being professional in my relationships.

Now this Fall I am studying Disability in American film.   I am learning how people with disabilities are portrayed in movies and how that describes their life to people. That can be positive or negative.  I am learning that it is important to hear real voices of people with disabilities so they can share their stories about their lives.

I love my internship at the Nursing department.  I have an internship working in the simulation lab. I am also an actress and I work as a patient with a disability so the students can learn about how to work with individuals with disabilities in a health care setting.  It is very exciting and a new program for the nursing department.  I love it!

For me college life is wonderful!   Being part of a college and being included in general education classes is great.  I love working in a team with other students who are also in the program and some who are general college students.   I am looking forward to getting to know more students and professionals.  I just love being a student at UIC and working in the nursing department.

Life as a student is different but I am learning the ropes of being safe and using self-determination by speaking up for myself and for helping others out. I also learned that classmates are very kind, respectful and that I can trust them.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts about my college experience.  If you are thinking about college, I encourage you to check it out and see what is available in your area and throughout the country.  There are lots of great programs!  I am available to share my experience with you so if you are interested you can contact me and we can talk more about my experience.

Have a great October (November!) and dwell in the possibilities!!

Bridget Brown

October Blog by Bridget Brown: An Interview with Moira

Welcome to October! It seems like this year went so fast. How was your fall going so far? I have been to Wisconsin a few times this month to see the leaves and do some camping.

I am working hard at my college classes and things at college are fantastic. The class I am taking now is Disability and Film. It is very interesting but hard. I am learning how films and movies show people with disabilities in both positive and negative ways. I have a letter of accommodations now so I can receive the accommodations and support I need to succeed in my classes.

I am now working two times a week at the UIC Nursing school and I am also working as an actor at the school as well. It is great! I am now picking out my classes for next semester. I am finally getting comfortable down at the University and it feels great to get dropped off and walk a short way to my work. I also just met a mentor friend who is willing to help me learn about some of the fun things I can do at college and I don’t feel so alone.

Let me tell you about a dear friend of mine, Moira Morgan. I have known her for a long time and today I interviewed her to find out more about her and what she has accomplished in her life so I can share her story with you.

Moira is a strong self-advocate who has many gifts. She describes her life as AMAZING!

The first thing you notice about Moira is that she is a very positive person and very kindhearted. She is also an incredible person who captures your attention with her loving smile that brightens every room she is in. She has two sisters and a brother. She is also an aunt of 4 nieces and nephews.

She went to Naperville North High School and was included in school. She was involved in activities at high school that she enjoyed very much.

Now, Moira is very proud to work as a customer service courtesy clerk at Mariano’s grocery store. She likes to visit with her friends when she is working and her favorite part of work is getting a drink at Starbucks.

During her transition years after Highschool she worked at a plant nursery called WE GO DREAMS & at Goodwill.

She is also a self-advocate public speaker and loves to talk to people about her life.

One of her favorite things to do is spend time with friends. She is in a bunco group, a book club, and she does many activities with her special recreation group. She hangs out with friends on the weekends.

Moira travels a lot and has been to Wisconsin, Missouri, Italy, London England, Paris and Spain with her family. Moira attends her local church called St. Peter and Paul and was in the youth group there when she was younger.

She was involved with special Olympics and went to a summer camp often when she was growing up with her sisters. Summer camp was wonderful because she loves swimming. She was also involved with Best buddies at IL Benediction.

Now she takes classes at College of DuPage. She wants to take music and ballroom dancing and is looking for more educational classes she can take. A few years ago, I took a culinary class with her at College of DuPage.

I asked her about some of her success strategies. She said she said she is successful when she is super friendly to people and when she is organized. She is pretty good with organizational skills.

She thinks it is important to let people know when she needs help and when she doesn’t need help.

She thinks it is important to get rest because she is at her best when she is well rested.

When she is at work she listens to her boss and is respectful to others. She is a hard worker and contributes a lot at her work.

Moira has a wonderful life filled with family, friends, work and activities. She said she is always busy!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Have a great THANKSGIVING DAY and I will connect with you soon. Be Grateful for all the wonderful things in the world and for friends like Moira.

Bridget Brown

October Series: Stories of Entrepreneurship- Part 2

 Hi Family Matters Friends!

I hope you are enjoying the fall season with cooler temperatures, trips to the orchard, and a spooky movie or two! This week, I am going to wrap up our October series on “Stories of Entrepreneurship.” If you loved any of the stories, feel free to comment on this post and share below. If you or someone you know is doing anything related to self-advocacy or wants to share their story, please let us know! We are also sharing our blogs on our Twitter @FamilyMattersIL- so your story could also be shared there! In November, I will be sharing about post-secondary education opportunities- so stay tuned! Now sit back, grab a cup of hot cider, and hear more about successful entrepreneurs!

Warmly,

Megan

1. Equally Fit 💪🏋️🧑‍🦽:

As an adult with autism Mark Fleming, the owner of Equally Fit, firmly believes that just because someone may have a disability doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a chance to be as fit as someone without a disability or that they deserve a trainer less than properly qualified. With this in mind, Fleming started Equally Fit out of the trunk of his car in 2016 before opening it’s first physical location in 2019. Equally Fit offers functional training incorporating strength and cardiovascular training as well as exercises to improve motor planning, social skills, and balance.

2. The Fry Guy 🍟🙋🏽👕

Ronnie Brown has an affinity for fries that has earned him the nickname The Fry Guy. Born with Down Syndrome, Ronnie was on a feeding tube for the first six years of his life. As soon as he started eating solid food, he fell in love with French fries. Fifteen years later, Ronnie created a  catering menu full of garlic fries, Texas chili fries, and so many more fries packed with flavor and topped with delicious sauces. Bonus: Ronnie also sells t-shirts for fry lovers and Down Syndrome supporters. 

3. Spacerobot Studio: 🤖🧑‍🎨🏳️‍🌈

Spacerobot Studio is a small art business run by a queer & neurodivergent art nerd, celebrating neurodiversity, pride, alternative communication... and a passion for crafting and knitting! They sell items such as communication necklaces, neurodiversity jewelry, clothing, stim jewelry and more! Check out this shop at the link above!