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Disability Pride Parade: Get on the LCCIL Bus!

general parade logoExcitement is growing for the 10th Annual Disability Pride Parade in downtown Chicago.  Activities begin at 9am and the parade starts at 11.  There will be booths, entertainment and presentations.  Lake County-ers who want to attend the Parade can take the bus sponsored by the Lake County Center for Independent Living.  The bus leaves the LCCIL office at 8 and will return about 3.  To reserve your spot contact Matt at 847-949-4440, ext. 215, email:  matt@lccil.org

Are you wondering about the parade itself?  According to the event website:

The overall mission of the Disability Pride Parade is:

  • To change the way people think about and define “disability”;
  • To break down and end the internalized shame among people with Disabilities; and
  • To promote the belief in society that Disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity in which people living with Disabilities can take pride.

Visit the website at: http://www.disabilityprideparade.com/index.php.  

 

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Autism Seminar Saturday — Crystal Lake

TACA_IL_FebSeminar2013-4Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) is conducting a seminar for parents and others on this Saturday, February 16, 2013 from 1pm-5pm.    It will take place at the Home State Bank, 611 S. Main Street, Crystal Lake.  The event is free and open to any interested party (regardless of diagnosis), but  registration is requested.      http://www.tacanow.org/illinois-autism-learning-seminar-rsvp-form/

The speakers include Dave Geslak of the Exercise Connection speaking on exercise, Jackie Dorshorst, SLP, speaking on communication and language, and Dr. Anthony of Premier Wellness Chiropractic discussing neuro-developmental issues.  Each topic is detailed on the attached flyer or can be found here    (http://www.tacanow.org/local-chapters/midwest/illinois/crystal-lake/.

TACA meets regularly in McHenry County; this year they will be holding four Autism Learning Seminars in Crystal Lake on the following dates: Feb. 16, April 20, Sept. 21 and Nov. 16.   Please watch The Nemo News for more information on these future TACA seminars.

TACA also holds monthly Coffee Talks on the second Friday of the month at the Panera on Randall Road in Algonquin, Illinois, from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Coffee Talks are informal gatherings where parents, siblings and extended family support each other and share information and resources.

The Crystal Lake TACA group supports those concerned with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays.  TACA’s mission is to support, educate and empower those who care about individuals with autism, including parents, extended family and professionals in the autism community.

For additional information, contact Linda Betzold at linda.betzold@tacanow.org or at 847-922-5392.

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See you in 2013!

If the Mayan Calendar doesn’t get us all today, TheNemoNews will return in early January with more news and items of interest.  Thanks for following our journey this year.

We hope you have a Happy Holiday and here’s hoping 2013 brings us all the best!

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Financial Planning Workshop: Countryside Association

Countryside Association   (http://www.countrysideassn.org/)  is sponsoring a workshop titled “Financial planning for people with disabilities, with a focus on the Tax Law Changes It takes place on Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 6:30-8:30 at 21154 Shirley Rd. in Palatine.    The meeting is free of charge and open to the public.  CEUs are available for those with QIDP credentials.

Bill Deitch, founder of The Estate Planning Law Group (http://www.teplg.com/) will speak on strategies for protecting assets.   An additional financial professional will discuss how the results of the election may affect the investment markets during the coming year.

 For additional information, contact Marla Pendergrast at  847-540-3706 or mpendergrast@countrysideassn.org

 

 

 

 

 

Marla Gamze-Pendergrast

 

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Special Needs Trust, Guardianship Discussion at SEDOL

Attorneys Brian Rubin and Benjamin Rubin of Rubin Law will discuss Guardianship and Special Needs Trusts at 7pm on Thursday, November 15.   The workshop will be held at the Transition Center South, 330 N Ridgemoor in Mundelein.  There is no fee to attend.

This parent education program is sponsored by the Social Work Department. For more information, contact Beth Berger, Social Worker, at 847-548-8470, x 2643, eberger@sedol.us

 

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Lose the Training Wheels – Nearby Workshops

The ability to ride a bike is not only fun and healthful.  It can be key to transportation and inclusion with peers.  Yet the ability to ride a bike eludes many with intellectual and physical disabilities.   Enter Lose the Training Wheels, (LTTW) bike riding program created by Dr. Richard Klein, retired Professor of Engineering at UI – Champaign Urbana.

Using a unique system of graduated wheels, sponsor organizations, volunteers and therapy professionals, LTTW teams offer week-long workshops around the country helping children and adults learn to ride a bike.  They have a very high level of success.

There are two camps taking place near Lake and McHenry County this summer.  (There are none in Lake County.)  Camp registration is around $200-$350 depending on location,   In addition, volunteers are still being enrolled.  They camps are:

June 25-29, Milwaukee, Co-hosted by the Autism Society of SE Wisconsin (ASSEW)
414-427-9345 , assew3@assew.org and the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin (DSAW) 414-327-3729, info@dsaw.org.  Limited space is available.

 July 30 – August 3rd — Hosted by the Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region.  Contact Mary Beth Scholtes at 630-261-6287, mscholtes@eastersealsdfvr.org.

Each site has multiple sessions each day.  There are over 80 camps going on around the country this summer.  They are listed here.

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Special Olympics State Includes Lake, McHenry Athletes

Next weekend Lake and McHenry Counties will be well represented at the Special Olympics Summer Games in Normal.  Top regional athletes from several teams will compete in events at Illinois State University.

Aquatics — Individual and relay events
Independent Fox Lake, Lamb’s Farm, Libertyville Stars, Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association, Warren Special Recreation Association

Bocce Ball — Traditional and Unified
Lamb’s Farm, SEDOL, Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County, Special Recreation Services of North Lake County, Vernon Hills, School District, Warren Special Recreation Association

Gymnastics — Bars, Vault, Floor Exercise, Rings, Balance Beam and Rhythmic Gymnastics
Gymspot Champions, Northern Illinois Special Recreation, Woodstock School District

Power Lifting
Northern Illinois Special Recreation, Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County

Soccer — Individual skills and team play
Northern Illinois SRA, Woodstock School District

Track and Field — Walk, Wheelchair, Run, Shot-put, Long Jump, Ball Throw, Relay
Barrington Broncos, Grayslake Central High School, Jacobs High School, Kiley Center,  Lamb’s Farm, Northern Illinois Special Recreation, Northshore Special Olympics, SEDOL, Special Recreation Services of Northern Lake County, Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County, Vernon Hills, School District, Woodstock School District, Warren Special Recreation Association

TheNemoNews.com praises the organizations that field these wonderful teams of athletes.  We further recognize the coaches, volunteers, boosters and families that support them.  We regretfully noted that it was sometimes difficult to locate information on the sponsoring organizations and/or teams.  We would love to see these athletes and teams honored on organization websites by mentioning that they “made State”.

We wish all of these fine athletes well in the competition and are reminded of the Special Olympics Athlete’s Oath  — “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be strong in the attempt.”

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Ligas Consent Decree Update at Town Hall Meeting

Tony Records, the court monitor appointed to oversee implementation of the Ligas Consent Decree will speak at a Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Community Living Initiative.  He will speak on Tuesday, May 15, at the WIFi Building, 8180 N. McCormick Blvd, Skokie, IL.  Last month, Tony spoke at the state ARC convention.  His presentation can be downloaded here.  The  Ligas Consent Decree affects thousands of Ligas class members in the State of Illinois.

The Community Living Initiative for people with disabilities was announced last fall at another Town Hall meeting sponsored by  Jewish Federation, Jewish Child & Family Services and Keshet.  In addition to launching a pilot project, they hope to develop a model for other communities to adopt and replicate.   They will give an update at the meeting.  The previous meeting,  Creating Options, was reported in TheNemoNews.com.

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Rivkin & Rivkin Law Starts Outreach Program for Special Needs Families

A new initiative at the Law Offices of Rivkin & Rivkin (a law firm specializing in estate planning and special needs planning) will offer low-cost legal planning for a limited number of families that qualify for the services.  The planning services include special needs trusts, simple wills, and power of attorney documents.  The program is called the “Discounted Supplemental Needs Planning Program“. Qualified families will pay a fixed $500 fee for these services.  (The going rate is in the thousands, so this is quite a discount.)

Up to 12 families a quarter will be considered for this assistance.  To participate, the families need to be Illinois residents, have relatively modest assets, have not yet done estate or supplemental needs planning, and believe that the actual cost of such legal services would be a significant burden to their family.  In addition, families must pre-register in order to participate.  Each candidate family will need to attend an education session and, if they opt to participate, complete materials online.

The first education session will take place on June 2, 2012 from 9:30am to noon in Vernon Hills.   For more information, contact Jennifer Axelsen at jaxelsen@rivkenlaw.com

“We know that there are many parents in the area who face the many challenges of raising a child with special needs.  One of those challenges is obtaining a simple, but high-quality, estate plan that provides for their family – including protecting public benefits eligibility for a child who currently, or might one day, qualify for such benefits.  Our firm is committed to improving the quality and affordability of this planning, and we are excited about the opportunity to assist some of these families through our DNSP program.”  -according to Denise Kaplan of Rivkin & Rivkin, LLC.

 

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Support TheNemoNews.com

Over the last weeks and months, I’ve talked to several of you about developing TheNemoNews.com to serve the communication needs of Lake, McHenry and Kenosha Counties.  You may be aware that the news feed is now active and developing a little every day.   At this time, I’d like to ask you to support development of TheNemoNews.com in four ways (and none of them cost anything!)

  1. Subscribe to the Email Feed — Invite Your Friends.
    This allows me to count the number of people I am reaching.  That helps me monitor growth and “reach”.  At some point I will need to know these numbers in order to attract the paid advertising that will allow TheNemoNews.com to continue long-term.You will receive 1 email daily containing the story of the day, Monday thru Friday.In order to subscribe, go to the area behind the image of the submarine on the front page.  There is a place to enter your email address.  I believe you will be sent an email to verify your subscription.   This is to prevent “spam”.If you signed up at the CLC Options Fair or the Woodstock Autism Fair, I would appreciate it if you signed up as above.  For the same reasons.
  2. Comment on Stories
    Please feel free to comment on stories, perhaps providing more information or asking a question. Your feedback will help us all learn more, and help TheNemoNews improve.  If is currently set up as a blog to allow for this kind of interaction.
  3. Send Your Press Releases and News
    I’m always looking for high-quality news and announcements.  Please send news about your fairs, outings, speakers, etc.  Agencies and clubs are asked to add info@thenemonews.com to your outreach list.  We want to publish high-quality news that is timely, objective and engaging.
  4. Submit an Article (picture, poem)  for Publication
    We intend to add two sections to TheNemoNews.com in the coming months.  The first is an “Opinion” section.  This is where your article might go. The articles will be under 1000 words, and guided by the publication guidelines.You might consider submitting something like:   “Five Things Parents Should Know about IEPs”, “Does Your Child Need a Therapist?”, “Why I Like My Support Group (and Vice Versa)”.(For the record, the second section will be a “Spotlight” section where we write brief profiles of organizations and agencies in our area.)

Thank you so much for your attention and for supporting TheNemoNews.com
Mary Curran Rhodes, Publisher
mary@thenemonews.com

 

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