Now, presenting our new blog, The Star Gazer!

We now have a new layout, new name, and coming soon is new content! We’ll continue to update you with the newest in DDA and the community.

Please remember to update your bookmarks to www.dda604.com, as we’ve changed servers and our dda604@wordpress will no longer be updated.

Until the next post, stay tuned.

Tickets for Vancouver Twestival are only $20 and includes everything from food, a wine and raffle ticket, to other goodies. Get your tickets for Vancouver Twestival! 100% of ticket proceeds go directly to Concern Worldwide. Follow Concern Worldwide @Concern on Twitter for more information on Concern Worldwide, or visit their website.

Keeping along on the topic of diversity, the Developmental Disabilities Association was nominated for the DIVERSEcity Awards and will be recognized as a finalist at the 15th Annual Cultural DIVERSEcity Award Gala on Tuesday 13th of April, 2010. We’ve got out fingers crossed that we’l'l be leaving the gala with the DIVERSEcity Award!

Again, thank you everybody who donated. If you’re interested in doing a fundraiser for your own purpose (sports team, charitable purposes, etc), you can take advantage of the Developmental Disabilities Association’s Cash-4-Clothes program as well.

Leola Purdy’s second son, Bobby, was born with Down Syndrome in the late 1940′s and suffered further brain damage from delivery forceps. She had hoped that when Bobby reached school age, he would at least be admitted to the Vancouver School Board’s special classes for “slow learners.” What she found out, however, was that the schools only accepted “educable” children, and under their definition, that did not include Bobby. (Continue reading…)

For more info on the editorial or on Island Times Magazine, you can follow Island Times Magazine on their Twitter @IslandTimesMag.

In celebration for the Paralympics going on out there, we’ve got our own recognition event at the Developmental Disabilities Association. Today, we recognized our own Special Olympian medalists for a lunch celebration.

We’d like to congratulate Hugh, Mark, and Rosemary for each of their successes at the Special Olympics. Mark and Rosemary are both known in the Special Olympics as two outstanding swimmers, and Hugh has a whole assortment of Special Olympic medals in a variety of activities. Josh Dueck really hits the nail on the head when he says that “anything is possible if you work hard for it.”

Finally, this day is a special day for another reason. It’s also the birthday of our Executive Director, Alanna Hendren (shown above with our Special Olympians). Happy Birthday, Alanna!

The clients at our Worthington residence were invited by Edward Kaufmann’s PLAN to join in the celebration of the Paralymplic torch relay at Riley Park, in Vancouver, B.C.  Dawn Turner and Edward Kaufmann were thrilled to be able to accept this invitation.

Dawn said that she really enjoyed seeing the torch runner.  Some of the other highlights of her experience at Riley Park were the band and the lady juggling fire on someone’s shoulder.  Dawn was impressed with people wearing red and taking pictures and really liked that flags and pins were being given out to people.

Edward Kaufmann said it was fun and he was thrilled with being able to lift the torch with the flame in it and to have his picture taken with the lady who won a gold medal.  He felt honoured to be able to hug the “gold medal artist”.  He was also pleased that everyone was so nice to him and that people he knew were at this wonderful event including his good friend Lyle.  Ed was also super excited that people took pictures of him and that he was on T.V.

Over two years ago, there was an investigation by ABC 7 On Your Side on the Bumbo Baby Sitter. In the past, there have been issues with babies toppling over on the Bumbo and falling and hurting themselves, especially from high places. A news release by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in the same year announced a recall on the Bumbo Baby Sitter Seats; however, these recalls were for a new safety stickers and not for a retrofit or new chair. Although post-recall, there have been noticeably fewer complaints or issues mentioned on the Internet, I’ve noticed that there have still been reports on Bumbo chair incidents in 2008 from ConsumerAffairs.com. Some reports state that your child will be safe as long as the chair is placed on the floor and not on an elevation, but there are still some incidents (in the previous link) which mention injuries from babies falling off the chair while on the floor. If your child will be using the Bumbo Chair, please be sure to monitor him or her.

If you have any questions on the Bumbo Chair or would like further information on the product, you can view the contact section of the Bumbo website here.

• Show their support for the services DDA provides to your loved one
• Are given voting rights at DDA’s Annual General Meeting
• Receive DDA’s quarterly newsletter – The Star
• Influence the direction of the organization into the future
• Receive DDA’s Annual Report
• Are invited to participate in any DDA advocacy strategy and campaigns
• Contribute to expanding DDA’s circle of support throughout Vancouver and Richmond
• Are invited to participate in special events
• Receive access services and resources offered to members only as well as relevant information and resources

If you’d like more information on membership, feel free to email memberships@develop.bc.ca.

For more readings on this topic, there is a book by Ellen Notbohm that highlights the above, in addition to nine other points. The book is called Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew (click link for an excerpt).