Weekend reading and listening: 19th - 20th July 2014

How I Found Inspiration In The Typical

Christie Taylor, TED Weekends (Huff Post), 14th July 2014
... Wil is not typical because he has 47 chromosomes, while all the other children in his classroom have 46. In other words, Wil has Down syndrome, and his classmates do not.Seeger is not typical, because it's not common to hear kids share these everyday types of conversations with Wil ...

Little Miss Swiss

Tom Bachofner, The Future's Rosie, 24th June 2014
... Grandad just 'gets' Rosie, they always interact so well together regardless of which language they converse in!

Life with a Disabled Child (12m audio file)

BBC Radio (Woman's Hour), 10th July 2014

A listener (the single mother of a child with Down syndrome) on the realities of being the main carer for a disabled child.

Self-Advocates Train To Have Safe Encounters With Police

Sandy Banks, Los Angeles Times, 14th July 2014

... Iland is trying to make sure young people like her son who are pushing for independence, don’t wind up as law enforcement statistics. Since 2007, Iland has been trying to teach Los Angeles Police Department officers how to recognize and interact with people who have autism spectrum disorders. Now she’s trying to teach people with autism what to do if they are stopped by police ...

In Defense of People Who Need Caregivers: Disability Should Not Erase Dignity

Emily Ladau , Huffington Post (The Blog), 16th July 2014

... For children of any age and any ability, the care they need from their parents can sometimes be messy or personal; these are the moments to keep behind closed doors purely because it is the respectful thing to do to protect a child's privacy ...