Read More Here: http://bit.ly/dwUxSeJoshua, who also has autism and cerebral palsy, had refused to go to art class and would not move from the school courtyard.
Joshua was subjected to an especially harsh form of prone restraint, a maneuver in which the child is held face down until he stops struggling.
So risky that six states have banned it outright in schools, prone restraint remains legal in Florida: Palm Beach County schools have used it on disabled students more than 1,500 times since 2007, according to a Palm Beach Post analysis. Most were elementary schoolchildren. Some were in pre- kindergarten.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Pinned down: Palm Beach County schoolchildren subdued with risky restraint
Pinned down: Palm Beach County schoolchildren subdued with risky restraint
Monday, October 4, 2010
HELP FAMILIES OUT OF POVERTY AND ENABLE THEM TO BE SELF SUSTAINED!
Pepsi Refresh Project
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Mercer County PA advocate Olivia Lazor has been able to secure a spot in the Pepsi Refresh Project contest for Circles of Mercer County. You may be familiar with the contest after the Conneaut Lake Park Blue Streak received a $25,000 grant based on votes by community members like yourself.
Currently, Olivia volunteers much of her time to this extremely worthy cause. The program has become so popular that they find themselves in need of expansion. This grant will help them do, just that.
It takes very little of your time to vote. Those who have Facebook accounts, can vote simply by logging in with the Facebook Account. For those who do not, it's a very simple form. Pepsi is not spamming those who sign up and vote.
In order to secure the grant, Circles of Mercer County and Community Action Partnership must place within the top 10 of ideas. There are hundreds of competitors for the funding. For this reason, they need your daily votes! You can vote every day, including weekends. The more votes, the higher up the place.
Please consider taking a minute of your time each day to vote. It's a really wonderful cause that benefits everyone in Mercer County and beyond.
Please consider using one of your Pepsi Refresh Votes to help this wonderful cause!
Currently, Olivia volunteers much of her time to this extremely worthy cause. The program has become so popular that they find themselves in need of expansion. This grant will help them do, just that.
It takes very little of your time to vote. Those who have Facebook accounts, can vote simply by logging in with the Facebook Account. For those who do not, it's a very simple form. Pepsi is not spamming those who sign up and vote.
In order to secure the grant, Circles of Mercer County and Community Action Partnership must place within the top 10 of ideas. There are hundreds of competitors for the funding. For this reason, they need your daily votes! You can vote every day, including weekends. The more votes, the higher up the place.
Please consider taking a minute of your time each day to vote. It's a really wonderful cause that benefits everyone in Mercer County and beyond.
Please consider using one of your Pepsi Refresh Votes to help this wonderful cause!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Amy Gould Caraballo’s True Colours
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| Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo Amy Gould Caraballo |
Since November 2009, Amy Caraballo has been writing for the Examiner.com as the Pittsburgh Special Education Examiner where she reports on Special Education issues as they pertain to the Western Pennsylvania region. Recently, she has started the Disability Advocacy Network of Mercer County (DANMC).
DANMC is a registered business in Pennsylvania working on Not for Profit status. DANMC provides free services to those in and around Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Currenlty, Amy Gould Caraballo is seeking advocates and board members who wish to volunteer their time to work with DANMC. If you are interested, visit www.disabilityadvocacy.org for more information.
In the past, Amy Gould Caraballo has worked with the following advocacy groups:
- The Autistic Women's Network (AWN)
- Advocates Against Fraud in Advocacy (AAFA)
- ARC of Pennsylvania Systems and Governmental Affairs
- Early Childhood and Education subcommittee member
- Pennsylvania Gaskin Settlement Agreement Overall Implementation Committee
- PA Right to Education Local Task Force
- Green Grannies and Friends for Clean Air
- Healthy Kids committee
- Mothers of Asthmatics Member (AANMA)
- American Lung Association Parent Outreach
- Pennsylvania Families Together for Autism
- Autism Society of America Member
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
- Families Against Restraint and Seclusion (national)
Amy Gould Caraballo, Amy Caraballo, Amy C. AWN, Autism Women's Network, AAFA, Advocates against fraud in advocacy, ASAN, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Advocacy, aspergers, autism, amy-caraballo, amy-gould-caraballo, philanthropy, When good advocates go bad, ravingmotherfromhell, raving mother from hell, caraballo, amy
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
When Trolls Attack, Throw Bear
The game by Will Crowther's and Don Woods's called ADVENTURE was one of the first RPGs on computer written in Fortran. It was all the rage on college campuses in the 1970's. And thanks to
my Facebook buddy Phil, I've decided that this is indeed a good approach for online serial trolls – just Throw Bear.
throw bear:The bear lumbers toward the troll, who lets out a startled shriek and scurries away. The bear soon gives up the pursuit and wanders back.
Now of course, I don't have a pet bear that I'll literally throw at those who intend to harm or defame others in the name of personal gain. But I got to thinking of how funny that visual would be; here catch this bear. Suddenly, the whole thing seems dang funny and I'm laughing it off.
So the next time someone threatens or posts blatant lies about you, just think about throwing them that bear. Guaranteed to make you smile.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
AAFA, Advocates Against Fraud in Advocacy
On the coattails of Dave Wilde, I thought I'd give some information about AAFA (Advocates Against Fraud in Advocacy). As an investigative member of this team, I am very vested in outing fraudulent activities of “so called” advocates who take the money and run and even blackmail their clients into silence.
For years, I've watched some of these suspicious people taunt and torture innocent families. Finally, after reading a publication online about one known “scammer” I found it time to really do something about it. After speaking with a few other legitimate advocates, we decided to form an organization. More can be found at: www.advocacyfraud.org
AAFA does not formally investigate anyone. We aren't police or detectives. We use our Internet know-how and informally interview people who are associated with suspected frauds. We run background checks and attempt to match up claims with real documentation. In the end, if we suspect that the claim of fraud is true, we turn over all our findings to the proper authorities. After that, there is little we can and will do unless the authorities call upon us for more information.
We do not take on every case. We've had requests by those who dislike someone and want their name smeared. When we find evidence of flame wars, we walk away. But if an advocate is out there making grandiose claims about their conquests, that's where we come in.
What can you do to protect yourself?
- Most real advocates do not “advertise” their cases. If an advocate is tooting their own horn, you probably want to do some research and verify that this person is for real.
- In today's social network world, its very easy for scammers to take on multiple personalities claiming to be clients or victims of advocates. Look for real proof – not just someones words. If the advocate or victim won't send you legitimate proof, it's probably a lie.
- Additionally, look to organizations who have legitimate licenses with their State to do business. If an organization doesn't have a Federal Tax ID (in the US), they are likely not very legitimate. Tax IDs are public information and can be requested from the IRS.
- Lastly, if you aren't sure, you can request AAFA to do some research. We do not charge for this service. And while we are in the process of becoming Not for Profit, we only hope to obtain grants to cover the costs of our research.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Perspectives Anthology launches August 22, 2010
Perspectives Anthology launches today - Long Island autism | Examiner.com
Marc Rosen
Long Island Autism Examiner
Over the past several months, two men gathered, selected, edited, and compiled poetry from over fifty poets, from three continents, to bring forth the first-ever anthology specifically dedicated to poetry about autism and other neurological, psychological, social, and communicative disabilities. Today, that effort has finally come to fruition, and Perspectives Anthology: Poetry Concerning Autism and Other Disabilities is now available for purchase online. The editors, when asked, expressed their excitement and exhaustion, but hope that people see the message they have attempted to put forth with this work, as they said in their mission statement, "...no matter what our differences, we are all human." The anthology will also have a book tour from September through to December, consisting of live readings from the anthology by the poets who wrote the works as well as book signing opportunities, with the first event being on September 16th at Dowling College. To purchase your own copy, you can attend one of the tour events, or see the link below:
Saturday, August 28, 2010
When good advocates go bad
Most advocates are born through adversity. They have first hand experience of the wrongs they seek to “right”. There is a fire in the belly of these advocates.
These advocates experience years of fighting for their own family or selves. They've often been betrayed by supposed trustworthy individuals. All of this can lead to paranoia and general distrust of every person that crosses the advocates path.
For example, advocate Ellen Bradley* has a child with severe disabilities. She's fought the systems for years and years to help her daughter. Ellen has been through it all.
Setting out to help others like herself, Ellen Bradley found a partner Trent Thompson* and began a venture to promote awareness and help other families like herself. Together the partners formed a company Eleven-o'clock-in-Atlanta (EIA)*, an informal business that set out to promote awareness through art and music. Ellen and Trent blogged about their work, advocacy efforts and news related to disabilities. Realizing that there were expenses to be paid, Ellen and Trent began selling their wares to help fund their efforts.
But one day, things took a different turn. Suddenly, instead of blogging about advocacy, Ellen began seeking to find fraud in others. Her blog posts began to name other legitimate advocates, some who had never even heard of Ellen or her advocacy company. In the posts, she accused other advocates of numerous slanderous activities. Ellen wrote about these folks as if she'd personally worked with them or had direct dealings with them. However, in many cases, these advocates had never had any contact with Ellen, Trent or EIA. In fact, most of the accused were completely oblivious to any of Ellen's advocacy efforts.
Little by little the accused advocates became aware that their name was connected to Ellen's blogs. In effort to “clear the air”, they attempted to contact her to find out if it was mistaken identity and/or what had caused Ellen to post these slanderous remarks on her blog. Soon, the legitimate advocates learned that Ellen took anything they said and used it against them. She took snippets from emails and conversations out of context and manipulated words to look like threats. She'd then post them on her blog as proof the advocates were criminals, bullies and frauds.
The more the legitimate advocates fought back, the more Ellen used it as fuel to post horrendous things about them. Ellen began paying for criminal background checks on individuals and posting their driving records for all to see. She'd dig up whatever she could on each legitimate advocate as if to “prove” those with a misdemeanor or driving offense on their record must be bad people.
Advocates soon learned that fighting back was futile. Ellen would only use their words against them.
What happened to Ellen? When did it go so very wrong that she stopped helping and began hurting others in the name of her justice? One can only speculate that her convoluted past of fighting for her child, dealing with double agents who promised to help her and the general disdain society has for those with disabilities all attributed to Ellen's plummet down the dark path.
Today, Ellen and Trent continue to blast advocates through their blogs on EIA. Random advocates are featured as low life frauds and scam artists in her weekly rants. In addition to new victims, Ellen continues to use the names of every advocate she's slandered in the past. One can surmise that it's an attempt to stir up more controversy.
Ellen's story is such a sad testimony to how badly more support is needed for those fighting for better services, supports and general social acceptance in society. We need more good advocates in our world. And Ellen surely could have been one if the world was different to her.
*Names have been changed.
These advocates experience years of fighting for their own family or selves. They've often been betrayed by supposed trustworthy individuals. All of this can lead to paranoia and general distrust of every person that crosses the advocates path.
For example, advocate Ellen Bradley* has a child with severe disabilities. She's fought the systems for years and years to help her daughter. Ellen has been through it all.
Setting out to help others like herself, Ellen Bradley found a partner Trent Thompson* and began a venture to promote awareness and help other families like herself. Together the partners formed a company Eleven-o'clock-in-Atlanta (EIA)*, an informal business that set out to promote awareness through art and music. Ellen and Trent blogged about their work, advocacy efforts and news related to disabilities. Realizing that there were expenses to be paid, Ellen and Trent began selling their wares to help fund their efforts.
But one day, things took a different turn. Suddenly, instead of blogging about advocacy, Ellen began seeking to find fraud in others. Her blog posts began to name other legitimate advocates, some who had never even heard of Ellen or her advocacy company. In the posts, she accused other advocates of numerous slanderous activities. Ellen wrote about these folks as if she'd personally worked with them or had direct dealings with them. However, in many cases, these advocates had never had any contact with Ellen, Trent or EIA. In fact, most of the accused were completely oblivious to any of Ellen's advocacy efforts.
Little by little the accused advocates became aware that their name was connected to Ellen's blogs. In effort to “clear the air”, they attempted to contact her to find out if it was mistaken identity and/or what had caused Ellen to post these slanderous remarks on her blog. Soon, the legitimate advocates learned that Ellen took anything they said and used it against them. She took snippets from emails and conversations out of context and manipulated words to look like threats. She'd then post them on her blog as proof the advocates were criminals, bullies and frauds.
The more the legitimate advocates fought back, the more Ellen used it as fuel to post horrendous things about them. Ellen began paying for criminal background checks on individuals and posting their driving records for all to see. She'd dig up whatever she could on each legitimate advocate as if to “prove” those with a misdemeanor or driving offense on their record must be bad people.
Advocates soon learned that fighting back was futile. Ellen would only use their words against them.
What happened to Ellen? When did it go so very wrong that she stopped helping and began hurting others in the name of her justice? One can only speculate that her convoluted past of fighting for her child, dealing with double agents who promised to help her and the general disdain society has for those with disabilities all attributed to Ellen's plummet down the dark path.
Today, Ellen and Trent continue to blast advocates through their blogs on EIA. Random advocates are featured as low life frauds and scam artists in her weekly rants. In addition to new victims, Ellen continues to use the names of every advocate she's slandered in the past. One can surmise that it's an attempt to stir up more controversy.
Ellen's story is such a sad testimony to how badly more support is needed for those fighting for better services, supports and general social acceptance in society. We need more good advocates in our world. And Ellen surely could have been one if the world was different to her.
*Names have been changed.
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