By Lauren Lieberman. Can a Student Who Is Deafblind Learn to Ride a Unicycle? When I started to tell my story, I began, as we all would, at the beginning. I was born in East Goshen, PA. I was the second oldest of four. A nice home in a nice community with a nice family. … Read more
By June Converse. Thirty Seconds to Re-Imagine: A Self-Advocacy Case Study Our last post centered around the Self-Advocacy program being developed for the campers at Camp Abilities in Brockport. When I asked Ruth to name a camper who she felt exemplified Self-Advocacy, she immediately mentioned Chris Smoker. Chris is a sixteen-year-old who has attended Camp … Read more
By June Converse. In the last blog, we presented Camp Abilities – Brockport’s more organized method for teaching and practicing Self-Advocacy. One aspect of that training was helping the people who are resistant provide what you need. In other words, “I know you are worried about this, but here is how we solve that problem.” … Read more
By June Converse. Advocacy Is A Sport Andrew, an 8th grader, loves to play sports. He especially loves goalball. But he hated sports at school. His physical education teacher didn’t understand how Andrew could participate. She had her heart in the right place, but she didn’t know what she didn’t know. Andrew was excluded. What … Read more
By June Converse. “I am not uncomfortable with my visual impairment. As a matter of fact, I believe my visual impairment is one of my greatest strengths because I learned to deal.” ~ Griffin Pinkow, Founder of The Foreseeable Future Foundation Can We Keep Talking? Have you ever met someone you wish you could spend … Read more
By June Converse. As summer approached and COVID spread across the world, camps all over the United States were closing. Not Camp Abilities. The world of Camp Abilities is about making necessary adaptations to achieve our fullest potential. A pandemic was simply another challenge to overcome. How do you run any camp virtually? How do … Read more
By June Converse. Last week, you read about Paul from Camp Abilities Alaska. Paul is now 23 years old. He moved away from Alaska when he was 19 and currently resides in California. Rather than ask questions and solicit answers, I suggested he tell me his story. *** Paul was born blind. He is one … Read more
By Lauren Lieberman. Meeting Paul in Alaska: Only 360 Days Paul was nine years old in 2005 when I met him at Camp Abilities in Wasilla, Alaska, a small town an hour north of Anchorage. He was a wiry and energetic young man who was blind. Paul had never been to camp. He was thrilled … Read more
By Lauren Lieberman. The Ferry Ride In 2009 I was sitting on a ferry in Alaska while on vacation. Those of you who know me will not be surprised to learn I started a conversation with complete strangers. They asked me questions about my life and when I talked about camp, their curiosity deepened as … Read more