Creating a Disabilities Awareness Puppet Show
Katie and Alysa, former Connect-Ability editorial board members and now college freshmen, help write scripts to be used by elementary school teachers to help raise awareness of disabilities and the many students affected by them. Check out the puppetry videos in the blog's right hand margin to see their work.

At a recent writing workshop for Connect-Ability.blogspot.com
students were asked to complete some sentences. This is one of them:

I am blind and when I think about my future I_____________
   
    I have my whole life ahead of me and I can make of it what I want.


    I imagine a life just like many of my friends do.  I hope to go to college,
    get married and have children. I want a nice house for my happy family.
    My disability will not determine my future. I am in charge of my life and I
    know I have a lot ahead of me.


    I intend to think this through about what career I want for myself.  I really
    need to buckle down and work hard to get into college. I know if I stick to
    it I'll be just fine.


How would you complete this sentence? Any ideas?
Click on the Comment below and send them to us.


What would I say about my future?

Tom Corrado, Connect-Ability writing coach, reads his poetry at a workshop in 2008.  For eighteen years he has been sharing his many creative talents - writing, music, art - with Connect-Ability editorial board members. He inspires Connect-Ability bloggers to tap into their own inborn abilities.

Comment if you have a teacher who inspires you.

Katie D. created this logo
for Connect-Ability.  I like the
heart shape line extending
from the A for Ability.

What do you think?

FEEDING THE BLOG

Valoree writes for Connect-Ability.blogspot.com at the March 23 writing workshop at NYSUT Headquarters. Val is a former editor of the Connect-Ability newsletter and serves as a mentor to younger students. She's currently an active advocate for students with disabilities in the Newburgh area.



Connect-Ability Q&A:

 

Q:    There's a new kid in my school who wears really thick glasses. He sits in the front row in every class so he can see the board. He told me he likes playing chess and asked me to play sometime. I like chess a lot but this kid may be weird. I feel funny hanging out with him. What should I do?

 

A:     I think you should play chess with him. Don't think that just because he looks "weird" or acts "weird" he can't be a really good friend in the long run. Don't judge a book by its cover because what's inside is all that matters. You guys have something in common - explore that! You might get in touch with an old friend of Connect-Ability - Fabio Botarelli. Look what he's doing with chess.

 

Fabio Botarelli, a former editor of  Connect-ability has always been interested in promoting the welfare of people with learning disabilities since joining the newsletter as a freshman in high school back in 2003. After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford CT, in 2010, Fabio retired from writing for Connect-ability and created his own chess business called Chessability NY. Today his business runs three individual chess programs in NYC schools and plans on making chess part of the general curriculum of all schools in the state of New York. He has extensive tutoring experience working with students with learning disabilities because he was once in special education himself and he knows first hand how the game of chess can work wonders for students of all educational backgrounds, especially for those who love to learn and have the potential to learn much but struggle in a mainstream school environment. Contact Fabio at fabiobotarelli10@gmail.com for more information.