See ME. See My Ability

See Me, See My Ability tackles the tough topic some parents of neurodivergent or IDD students face:  restraint and seclusion in our schools of their sons and daughters. Restraint and seclusion crisis management strategies are used in many schools nationwide and worldwide. But, what if we all, friends, neighbors, teachers, and security forces, better understood our sons and daughters? We talked with Guy Stephens, the executive director of the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint about what is a deadly problem.  Find out more about educating your staff, and schools, plus get tools for self-advocacy here.

The Arc Southern Maryland facilitates the training of police and other security personnel on handling encounters with people like our clients. These are young men and women with developmental disabilities, varying communication abilities, and sensitivities to sounds and lights. In this, the second part of our special two-part series Calvert County Deputy Sheriff Corporal Nick DeFelice talked with See Me See My Ability about his training and why he likes his job of community outreach. 
 
 

Have you ever had an encounter with a police officer, security guard, or someone else in authority and you didn't know how to behave? If you or a loved one has a problem communicating or understanding everything that's being asked of you? You're not alone. This week's episode features Neil Lichter, the program director for Baltimore County Based Pathfinders for Autism, who works with police agencies and the Arc to teach police and our community members how to communicate better and accommodate one another.
https://pathfindersforautism.org/
Next week we'll publish Part 2 featuring #calvertcountysherrif corporal #NickDeFelice

See Me. See My Ability, the podcast from The Arc Southern Maryland celebrated being in production for one year on August 22. Industry standards say we beat the odds. Most podcasts and podcasters poop out and stop output after six months!  Thanks to your help we are going strong. We're open to your reviews at info@arcsomd.org and thank our friends, family, and community members for sharing their stories. We're not done yet!
 
#DunkinDonuts #Maryland.gov #podcasters, #NonProfitInstitute, #GellerMedia #Comcast #Autism #ARC #ArcMD #Annapolis #HouseofDelegates #MarylandSenate
We'd like to thank all the production people who have allowed us to sample their music via Creative Common Licenses, and permissions we don't have to pay for including in part:
 
Happy Birthday by Michael Riepen Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
It's Your Birthday! by Monk Turner + Fascinoma Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
And, our friends from #Canada whose blanket music licenses and permissions to Rita Rich are so important to her. Friendships from #CanadianMade are long lasting and strong. Shout out to #ICareForRares.

Everybody can use a new lid, or cover and this month when you buy one at a LIDS franchise in your local mall or shopping area you can help support the ARC!
We talk to the Arc of the U.S.'s Kristen McKiernan about their new partnership with the Lids Foundation. You can read more about it here. 
LIDS PARTNERSHIP | The Arc
Much thanks to The ARC of the United States for the Episode Photo
Meantime, listen to our fun podcast and leave us some reviews. When you listen you'll find out about important conferences and meetings for staff, parents and all of our allies.

The Arc Southern Maryland could not provide safe places for our residents without Casey Roberts. He's been the director of community living for the past four years. Meet Casey and hear how he shares his time with our clients. 

Are you a person with disabilities--any disabilities? Have you ever been taught about the 1990 signing of the American Disabilities Act? Listen to this podcast to learn about the work that's gone into making more places, events, and things open to you and those you love. A lot of people worked hard before you, your parents, and even your grandparents were born to make life more equitable and accessible for those with disabilities!  Keep it here to learn about a new law that goes into effect in Maryland in October-Learn about the new Purple Alert! It will help those who love you find you should you get lost! Thanks to our guests  Maryland House Delegates Michele Guyton of Baltimore County and Aaron Kaufman of Southern Montgomery County, two of the Purple Alert laws sponsors.
#disabilityrights #history #Safety #accessabililty #Alert  #purple, #State #Delegates #Guyton #Kaufman

See Me See My Ability conducted a community Zoom session for our podcast class and found that our clients love being out-and-about and social. We heard from two organizations that organize, free for the disabled, events in our tri-county area of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties, in Maryland. They are Shantel Thomas of the  BJK Support Services brokerage firm in  LaPlata (240) 901-2214, and Therese Thiedman of Southern Maryland Community Resources. or " S-M-C-R."  Email: therese.smcr@gmail.com.

Amber Brady, Instructional Specialist for Secondary Transitions, a department in Special Ed in Charles County Schools. Our Rita Rich talked to her for See ME. See My Ability about the help public school systems can be to most parents of physically or intellectually developmentally disabled children. Learn practical advice, and gain valuable wisdom about working with the school system to help you and your child.
 
#IDD #ADA #Disabilities #Public Schools. #Transitioning Youth 

The Arc Southern Maryland recently hosted at our Waldorf facility a guest speaker named Jennifer Bobbitt, BCBA, specializing in speech therapy and mental health. She is part of a guest speaker series open to members of the general public, those who work with clients like ours, and younger individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD.) 
This episode of See ME. See My Ability talks about using some American Sign Language signs to change how we communicate with others and will help others communicate with us. The idea is to reduce frustration levels.
If you want to hear Ms. Bobbitt's full presentation email us at info@arcsomd.org