Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living

Connecting people to the power of independence

youth

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.

“Gathering Grounds” School-based Employment Skills Program Helps Youth with Disabilites Achieve Job Readiness

Students with special abilities at Brenham High School in Washington County, Texas gain employment skills while helping to keep the faculty on their toes. “Gathering Grounds” is a school-based job readiness training program partnered with Independence Coffee Company in Brenham. Students in this program make and deliver coffee to teachers and staff within the high school. Through their choice to participate in this program, students learn transferable work skills such as promptness, planning, sequencing, following procedures, and interpersonal communication.

This program was part of the Brazos Valley Employment Project, and had developmental support from BVCIL Director Jackie Pacha. Please watch the following YouTube video for more information about the “Gathering Grounds” program.