Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living

Connecting people to the power of independence

awareness

Guests on Brazos Valley Magazine

KAMU is the local PBS station for the Brazos Valley.
KAMU is the local PBS station for the Brazos Valley.

 

Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living is excited to announce our debut on KAMU TV‘s program, “Brazos Valley Magazine”. Dr. Sharon Colson is the host of the locally aired program and she invited BVCIL to attend as some of her guests. Jackie Pacha, Executive Director, and Shelby Catron, Office Assistant, arrived on set August 21st where they were given the opportunity to talk about BVCIL and our recent Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary celebration. Part of the show consists of footage produced by some of KAMU TV’s student production assistants and our wonderful accessible bus is the star! Please support your BVCIL by watching us on Brazos Valley Magazine next week!

The episode that BVCIL was a guest on will be aired on these dates:

  • August 28th, Thursday, 7:00 PM CST
  • August 30th, Saturday, 5:30 PM CST
  • August 31st, Sunday, 5:30 PM CST

All of the air dates will be on these channels:

  • Locally on HD Channel 12
  • Suddenlink Cable Channels 4 and 700
  • DirecTV Channel 15
  • DishNetwork Channels 4 and 700
  • Or, online streaming… CLICK HERE

 

Youth In Development Internship Program

From the program announcement:

“The summer 2014 Youth in Development (YiD) internship program is aimed at students and recent graduates with disabilities who aspire to careers in international development or international affairs.  Applications are open until January 29, 2014.

The YiD program will bring a group of talented graduate students, recent graduates, and rising college juniors and seniors with disabilities to Washington, DC, for nine weeks. This will include a one-week training and orientation program followed by an eight-week internship at an international organization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. USICD will cover the cost of fully-accessible housing during the YiD progam, reimburse travel expenses to and from DC, and provide a limited stipend. It is anticipated that the program will run from May 25 to July 25, 2014. These dates may be subject to change.

The United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD) launched the YiD internship program in 2013 with funding support from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation.  The project follows from a vision, core to USICD’s mission, to increase disability inclusion in U.S. foreign affairs by supporting future generations of Americans with disabilities to invest their skills and talents in this field.

To  learn more about the YiD program, eligibility criteria, and the application process, please visit http://usicd.org/template/page.cfm?id=257.  This website answers Frequently Asked Questions for applicants.  You can also download a printable handout about the YiD internship program.

Please disseminate this email, or the printable handout, among students and recent graduates who may be interested.  If you are an international organization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area interested in hosting a YiD intern, please communicate with yid@usicd.org.

Application deadline for the summer 2014 YiD program is January 29, 2014.

P.S. In addition to coordinating the YiD program, USICD also leads the campaign for U.S. ratification of the “Disability Treaty”.  This is the first international treaty to protect the human rights of people with disabilities.  We are interested in hearing from campus and student leaders who want to help mobilize others to take action in support of the Disability Treaty.  Please communicate with Andrea Shettle at ashettle@usicd.org for details.  No time to be involved?  Then you may want to simply sign and disseminate a petition at http://bit.ly/Youth4CRPD.”

Very well said! Good luck to all interested youth!

June is Child Vision Awareness Month

Each June,  the Pharmacy Council on Child Vision Care reminds youngsters and their parents about the importance of caring for their eyes. The mission of Child Vision Awareness Month has three parts:

  1. To better educate and counsel the public on children’s vision problems and detection of eye diseases in children and infants,
  2. To increase the number of school-aged children who have an eye exam by an eye doctor, and
  3. To increase the number of children with learning disabilities who have a developmental vision exam to rule out vision problems.

boy getting vision exam

The Hadley School for the Blind is acknowledging this month by highlighting four of its family education classes, including:

  1. Low Vision and School-Age Children
  2. Braille Teaching Methods for Children
  3. How to Be Your Child’s Advocate
  4. Parenting Children with Multiple Disabilities

BVCIL is acknowledging this month with media posts and an interactive display about how children, youth, and their parents can succeed in education and life with a vision impairment.

For additional information about this initiative, please contact Pharmacists Planning Service, Inc. (PPSI), c/o Pharmacy Council on Child Vision Care, 101 Lucas Valley Road, Suite 382, San Rafael, CA 94903.

April 14-20 is Disability Awareness Week in Texas

National Disability Employment Awareness Month comes around every year in October, but in Texas, disability awareness gets an extra boost every April with Disability Awareness Week. This year, it is April 14-20, and 2013 is also the 25th anniversary of the event.

Rendell Resneder, an entrepreneur, pastor, and educational computing professional in the Ph.D. program at North Texas State University, founded Disability Awareness Week 25 years ago when he was a freshman in high school. Randell, who is also the Executive Director of Texas Disability Awareness Programs and the current Vice-Chair of the Texas State Independent Living Council, established the event to advocate his “I CAN” philosophy.

Many organizations around Texas that serve people with disabilities have commemorative events planned for this week. The Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living launched Disability Awareness Week on Sunday, April 14  with Dining in the Dark, an event to raise awareness of blindness and low vision and also to raise funds for accessible transportation.

Click here to view a video of Randell Resneder’s story, “Looking Beyond the Obvious,” in which he discusses Disability Awareness Week.

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month

The Brain Injury Association of America reminds us that, “A brain injury can happen anytime, anywhere to anyone. Brain injuries do not discriminate. Did you know that 1.7 million people will sustain a brain injury each year? An injury that happens in an instant can bring a lifetime of physical, cognitive and behavior challenges and early, equal and adequate access to care will greatly increase overall quality of life. This is our goal. Please click here for more information.