“He doesn’t like the letter ‘i’,” said Verne, life enrichment instructor at The Arc of San Antonio.  “We don’t know why he doesn’t like that letter, but it’s ok, we just write April without the letter ‘i’.”  Verne gently guides Joseph’s hand to write the letters on the board.  Afterward, he moves a table in front of the board signally that he is done.  Joseph follows his picture schedule and knows he is only allowed to write the date once per day. Otherwise, he would continue to write it over and over on the whiteboard.

Joseph is a young adult living with a more severe form of autism.  He is non-verbal and has obsessive compulsive tendencies.  Obsessive-compulsive disorder is prevalent in many young adults with autism. Verne uses techniques to help guide through these OCD patterns such as placing a picture indicating that Joseph is only allowed to write once on the board.

“He does much better with the picture schedule rather than the verbal prompts,” said Verne.

The Life Enrichment and Achievement Program (LEAP) is specially geared towards young adults, like Joseph, with severe autism.  This program provides more structured activities and additional support to help the participants be successful. All activities are centered around life skills such as: money and time management, literacy, technology and recreation.

One of the greatest challenges for families of adults with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities is finding a day program that meets the developmental, physical or behavioral needs of their family member.  For young adults with severe autism, the LEAP program is a perfect option to help them continue on the road to success.

For more information on LEAP, contact Melissa Cornelius, at mcornelius@arc-sa.org.

*Name changed for privacy purposes.

Also during The Arc’s butterfly-themed activities week, Monday, April 8th, to Friday, April 12th, we made “Fluttering Butterflies Carousel Arts and Crafts.”  I love butterflies. I even use a rainbow-colored butterfly as my symbol for my signature in The Arc’s newsletters, so this was a fun week for me.

On Friday, April 19th, we had our annual Classroom Fiesta Float Contest. Since the 2013 Battle of Flowers Parade theme is “Celebrations, ” we decided to use that theme as well. Each class use a different type of celebration to represent on their Fiesta Float. My classroom (The V.I.P.S., which stands for Volunteer Involvement Program) decided to celebrate Breast Cancer Survivors. Our name for our Fiesta Float (shaped like a Cadillac Escalade) that I came up with was, “We Survived and Now We Thrive!” I also played the song, “Survivor” by my one of my favorite girl group singers, Destiny’s Child on my communicator. The Arc Staff Members that judged the 2013 Classroom Fiesta Floats were Ms.  Pam S. (The Arc’s Director of the Community Outreach Program), Ms. Melissa C. (The Arc’s Curriculum Director), and Mr. Steve E. (The Arc’s President / C.E.O.)
The first, second, and third place winning classrooms received the grand prize of an ice cream party, and the other classes received a honorable mention certificates. The other Arc Participants, myself, and Staff Members had a great time creating their floats and celebrating the San Antonio Fiesta festivities.

The other Arc Participants, myself, and Staff Members decided that on Friday, April 26th, they would celebrate the Fiesta festivities by gathering in The Arc’s gym and watching the “Battle of Flowers” Parade on the website of San Antonio’s local PBS television channel KLRN, with their friends, eating nachos, listening to Mariachi music, hitting piñatas, and dressing in Fiesta clothing. I’m going to wear my purple mini sombrero. I can’t wear regular size hats because of my headrest on my wheelchair, so mini hats really come in handy. We didn’t have anything like Fiesta in North Carolina, where I used to live. That is why I like living in San Antonio so much!

Since the month of April is Frog Month and the other Arc Participants and I decided that we wanted to learn about one of the most popular and famous frogs of all time, Kermit the Frog. I have almost all of the movies with the Muppets, so I really got excited about this activity. We learned that Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson’s most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. Kermit performed the hit single “The Rainbow Connection” in 1979 for The Muppet Movie, the first feature-length film featuring Henson’s Muppets. The song reached Number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Kermit’s iconic look and voice have been recognizable worldwide since, and in 2006, the character was credited as the author of Before You Leap: A Frog’s Eye View of Life’s Greatest Lessons, which is an “autobiography” told from the perspective of the character himself. The earliest ever trace of Kermit first appeared in 1955 on WRC-TV’s Sam and Friends. This prototype Kermit was created from a discarded spring coat belonging to Henson’s mother and two ping pong ball halves for eyes. Initially, Kermit was a lizard-like creature. He subsequently made a number of television appearances before his status as a frog was established, which was shortly before Sesame Street began. His collar was added at the time to make him seem more froglike and to conceal the seam between his head and body.

Kermit is the only Muppet to be featured prominently on both The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. (Others like Miss Piggy and Dr. Teeth were shown in photographs hung on the walls of skits on Sesame Street, and Rowlf the Dog – another Muppet that predated The Muppet Show – also made occasional appearances. A few Sesame Street characters, like Big Bird, and Ernie and Bert, made guest appearances on The Muppet Show. On Kermit’s 50th birthday, the United States Postal Service released a set of new stamps with photos of Kermit and some of his fellow Muppets on them. The background of the stamp sheet features a photo of a silhouetted Henson sitting in a window well, with Kermit sitting in his lap looking at him. It might not be easy for Kermit being green but everybody loves

Monday, April 15th was McDonald’s Day. We learned about Ronald McDonald, the happy-go-lucky mascot of the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant chain. In recent years, Ronald  is instead shown interacting with normal kids in their everyday lives. Many people work full-time making appearances in the Ronald McDonald costume, visiting children in hospitals, and attending regular events. There are also Ronald McDonald Houses, where parents can stay overnight when visiting sick children in nearby chronic care facilities. When I was a little girl in North Carolina, my mother and I would have to travel two hours to get to the hospital so that I could have my surgeries, we would stay at the Ronald McDonald House. It is a very special place for people that are like me. It was a good day and we were lovin’ it.

To celebrate the upcoming 75th anniversary of the “wascally wabbit” known as Bugs Bunny (my favorite Looney Toon) He first appeared on April 30th, 1938, in a short theater cartoon called “Porky’s Hare Hunt. Bugs Bunny appeared opposite Elmer Fudd in “A Wild Hare,” the first of over 175 animated shorts starring the Warner Brothers’ cartoon rabbit. .Bugs was developed in the late 1930’s by a host of cartoonists at Warner Brothers. Animator Ben “Bugs” Hardaway drew the earliest sketch of the rabbit, which was dubbed “Bugs’ Bunny” by other Warner Brothers employees. An early form of Bugs appeared in Hardaway’s 1938 black-and-white feature “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” The other Arc Participants and I really enjoyed learning about Bugs Bunny and saying his famous catchphrase, “What’s Up Doc?”

So, that was the absolutely awesome month of April for the other Arc Participants and me.

I love Fiesta time! Viva Fiesta to everyone!  

The night was all about bright colors and whimsy as we celebrated our 25th annual Gala on March 2, 2013 at the fabulous JW Marriot Hill Country Resort. More than 400 of San Antonio’s best attended the “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Gala in their finest Seuss-y attire. We drank, we ate, we laughed, we cried, and then we laughed again. It was everything and more.

Lowry and Peggy Mays accepted the Hartman Humanitarian Award which was presented to their family in recognition and admiration of their continued concern and commitment to the San Antonio Community. The impact this family’s contributions have made on our city is immeasurable, and we were incredibly honored to present them with this award at our Gala.

When the silent auction closed, attendees checked their phones and iPads to see their winnings, then settled in for a nice dinner, program and live auction. Bill Taylor emceed, keeping the night exciting and everyone rolling. That was, until, the screening of The Arc’s award-winning video. It was Dolly Parton who once said, “Laughter through tears in my favorite emotion.” She would have adored this video. You will, too. View all these videos on YouTube.

Now that the high-heels are off and the ties are loosened, The Arc of San Antonio is thrilled to announce that more than $200,000 was raised for continuing our mission of enhancing the lives of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. We send an enormous THANK YOU to our presenting sponsors, The Gordon Hartman Family Foundation and The Mays Family Foundation. And, thank you, a million times over, to everyone who sponsored, attended, bid, volunteered and helped us spread the word about our Gala and about the wonderful people The Arc of San Antonio serves.

A Texas representative in the Miss Wheelchair America Pageant from the city of Converse, Ms. Mariah Rose Kilbourne was crowned Miss Wheelchair America 2013 in Providence, Rhode Island on August 11th, 2012. She will serve a one-year term as an advocate for the 54+ million Americans with disabilities.

The mission of Miss Wheelchair America is to provide an opportunity of achievement for women who happen to be wheelchair users to successfully educate and advocate for the more than 54 million Americans living with disabilities. Unlike traditional beauty pageants, Miss Wheelchair America is not a contest to select the most attractive individual. It is instead a competition based on advocacy, achievement, communication and presentation to select the most accomplished and articulate spokeswoman for persons with disabilities. The selected representative must be able to communicate both the needs and the accomplishments of her constituency to the general public, the business community and the legislature. Mariah is very grateful for the opportunity to serve a one-year term as an advocate of Americans with disabilities. As part of Miss Wheelchair America 2013, Mariah will travel throughout the USA to serve as a spokesperson for those with disabilities. “It is going to be such a blessing and incredible opportunity,”

Mariah says. “Miss Wheelchair America is about the opportunity to encourage yourself and others to embrace your (dis)ABILITES, and be strong role models, leaders and active positive participants in their communities and society at large – without any limits! I’m so excited and blessed to be able to serve in this role for the year!”

Mariah wants to use her year as Miss Wheelchair America to encourage everyone to be ‘inclined’ for inclusion and promote inclusion in many ways – from work to play! She will encourage inclusion through accessibility. She wants to increase fair and equitable access to public facilities, especially in historic districts, which are currently inaccessible to people with disabilities.

As a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Texas Lutheran University, Mariah majored in Communication Studies and minored in the Spanish Language. As a 24 year old published writer, successful advocate, and avid adaptive sports enthusiast, Mariah cannot help but express her love for photography, public speaking, and fundraising. She can’t wait to use these talents and abilities as Miss Wheelchair America.

I had a really good time talking to Mariah. We have the same interests. She loves to write stories just like I do. I’m so happy to have made friends with Mariah and I hope that she comes back to The Arc very soon! All of the Arc Participants and Staff Members are very grateful to Ms. Mariah Kilbourne and the Miss Wheelchair America Pageant Company for choosing to come to the Arc of San Antonio to show everyone that even though you might be disabled, you’re still able to do great things.

If you have any questions about The Miss Wheelchair America Pageant Company, please feel free to write to:

The Miss Wheelchair America Pageant Company
P.O. Box 86
Bryon Center, Michigan, 49315
or by telephone at: (877) 679-4335
or go to The Miss Wheelchair America Pageant Company’s website: www.mswheelchairamerica.org

We were surprised with a visit the Tooth Fairy (an employee from a local dentist office in San Antonio) to teach everyone about taking care of their teeth and to pass out free toothbrushes in honor of February being National Children’s Dental Health Month and National Tooth Fairy Day which was on Thursday, February 28th. We learned that in early Europe, it was a tradition to bury baby teeth that fell out. When a child’s sixth tooth falls out, it is a custom for parents to slip a gift or money from the tooth fairy under the child’s pillow, but to leave the tooth as a reward. Some parents also leave trails of glitter on the floor, representing fairy dust. Also, in northern Europe, there was also a tradition of tann-fé or tooth fee, which was paid when a child lost their first tooth. In Italy, the tooth fairy is also often replaced by a small mouse. The other Arc Participants and I are very happy that the Tooth Fairy came to us.

On Thursday, February 14th, we had our annual Valentine’s Day Dance, hosted by Staff Member Leon S. (I helped pick out the music) where some Participants wore red and pink clothing and made Valentine’s Day inspired arts and crafts. I wore my purple heart shaped antenna and headband. My friend and classmate, Arc V.I.P. Participant, Julian C. and Arc Participant, Cindy M. was chosen to be this year’s Valentine’s Day Dance King and Queen of Hearts. Julian has Cerebral Palsy like me but he can use his hand a little bit better, so he helps me do things that I can’t do by myself. We had a fabulous time dancing and celebrating Valentine’s Day with our friends.

The other Arc Participants and I would like to say thank you to Arc Staff Member, Tiffany V. for making such wonderful sashes for the King and Queen of Hearts.

Also, the Participants and Staff Members at the Arc of San Antonio on West Avenue would like to thank Mr. Doug W. (the father of Arc V.I.P. Participant: Megan W.) and his friends in his musical band for coming on Friday, February 15th, and singing country music songs in honor of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. I wore my mini cowboy hat and jeans.

On Monday, February 11th, the Arc Participants made Chinese lanterns to celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year of 2013 (which started on Sunday, February 10th), the Year of the Snake. We learned that the Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The Chinese calendar follows a twelve year pattern with each year named after an animal. The story that explains this is that the Jade Emperor invited all of the animals to join him for a New Year celebration, but only twelve animals turned up. To reward the animals that did come, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order that they arrived, starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. I learned that I was born into the year of the Pig. Which according to the Chinese animal characteristics are very smart creatures. The other Participants and I had lots of fun discovering what Chinese New Year they were born into.

On Tuesday, February 12th, some of the Arc other Participants and I made colorful masks and wore gold, purple, and green necklaces to celebrate this year’s Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans, Louisiana. We also learned that the Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Festivities begin at the beginning of February, leading up to Mardi Gras day, and consist of parades, dancing in the street, costumes and masked balls. The modern Carnival tradition developed in Europe in the middle ages, and is celebrated mainly in Roman Catholic communities in Europe and the Americas today. Some of the most famous celebrations are held in Nice, France, Cologne. Germany, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The other Arc Participants and I had a grand time having their own Mardi Gras festivities.

The month of February was so much fun. Now I’m ready to celebrate everything that happens in the the month of March, including my birthday! Happy February, everybody!

With the help of my classmates, I took pictures for the January 2013 edition of the Arc’s newsletter. The Presidential Inauguration was held in Washington D.C. on Monday, January 21st, 2013. A week of festivities included the Presidential Swearing-in Ceremony, Inaugural Address, Inaugural Parade and numerous inaugural balls and galas honoring the elected President of the United States. The official theme for the 2013 inauguration is “Faith in America’s Future,” commemorating the United States’ perseverance and unity, marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the placement of the Statue of Freedom on top of the Capitol Dome in 1863. Did you know that an estimated 1.8 million people attended the 2009 Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama? This was a record breaking number for any event in the nation’s capital. The President, the Vice President and their families participated in service projects in the Washington, D.C. area. Remembering Dr. King’s dreams of equity and learning and talking about President Obama and the inauguration made all of the Arc Participants (myself included) proud to be Americans.

“Inspire Your Heart with Art” Day is on January 31 and to celebrate this we learned about one of the most famous paintings of all time, the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503. We also became artists at the Artworks Studio at 1840 Nacogdoches Road and created works of art of our own to take home. I made a butterfly colleague.

In January, we also celebrated “Winnie the Pooh” day and the birth of one of the most famous children’s writer of all time, and the creator of the “hunny”-loving golden-brown bear, Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne. We learned that on January 18th, 1882, the British author was born. To celebrate the day, we made Winnie the Pooh inspired arts and crafts, such as Winnie the Pooh masks and paper bag puppets. We also learned that the first collection of stories about the character was the book “Winnie-the-Pooh” in 1926, and this was followed by “The House at Pooh Corner” in 1928. Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin. Christopher’s toys also lent their names to most of the other characters, except for Owl, Rabbit, and Gopher (added in the Disney version). Christopher Robin’s toy bear is now on display at the Main Branch of the New York Public Library in New York City. Stephen Slesinger was an American radio, television and film producer, creator of comic strip characters and the father of the licensing industry. The first time Pooh and his friends appeared in color was 1932, when he was drawn by Slesinger in his now-familiar red shirt and featured on an RCA Victor picture record. After Slesinger’s death in 1953, his wife, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, continued developing the character herself. In 1961, she licensed rights to Walt Disney Productions in exchange for royalties in the first of two agreements between Stephen Slesinger, Inc. and Disney. The same year, A.A. Milne’s widow, Daphne Milne, also licensed certain rights, including motion picture rights, to Disney.

We had a great time celebrating A.A. Milne and his creation of Winnie the Pooh. From the time I was a little girl, my favorite character in Winnie the Pooh is Tigger. So, I’ll say T-T-F-N, Ta-Ta for Now!

I have been so busy at the Arc during this holiday season. I would like to thank some people who made this holiday season very special for us!

Every year, USAA hosts a party for the participants at The Arc.  An USAA employee will buy a Participant a holiday gift that he or she has wished for. I asked for the book, “The Lost Hero” by Rick Riodran. It is about children who are the descendants of Greek gods and goddesses. All of the Arc of San Antonio is so thankful to the company of USAA and its employees for making the holiday season, very jolly.

Special thanks to Mr. Doug W. (the father of my friend and classmate, Arc V.I.P. Participant, Megan W.) and his friends in his musical band for coming and singing Christmas carols and making the holidays very merry. He is very nice to take time out of his schedule to entertain us.

Another special thank you to an employee of the Christmas Gallery store located at 13522 West Avenue (next door to The Arc) for a donation of Christmas angel ornaments during an outing to the store.

We had a jazzy good time at our New Year’s Eve Dance, hosted by Staff Member, Leon S. on Friday, December 28^th, 2012. We made New Year’s arts and crafts like, 2013 Party Hats, Noise Makers, and Paper Plate Banners. I would like to give special acknowledgement goes to Arc Staff Members, Tiffany V. and Ginette R. (who leads Classroom # 10) for making such wonderful and whimsical New Year’s Eve party hats for the Participants.

The Participants in my class in the V.I.P. (Volunteer Involvement Program) at the Arc of San Antonio on West Avenue decided that we wanted to give back to our community during this holiday season. We decided to donate to the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program. Using the money that we collected from our healthy food snack bar sales that we have every Friday afternoon, we were taken, by our classroom Arc Staff Member, Raechelle B., to a Wal-Mart store, where they brought three gifts for two young girls and a boy in the Angel Tree Program. This program, which is over 120 years old, helps low income families get Christmas gifts for their children. When families are accepted, the Salvation Army will place the children’s first name on an Angel Tree tag, including their age, gender, clothing sizes, their wish and their need. The V.I.P. Participants and I asked Ms. Andrea (the Arc’s Director of Day Services) to help them to choose three tags from the Angel Tree at Rolling Oaks Mall. The program usually helps around 2,500 families every year and around 6,000 children receive gifts for Christmas. It gave the other V.I.P.’S and me a great feeling to make a child’s holiday wishes come true.

During the month of December, we made holiday cards for the senior citizens at the Golden Estates Nursing Home. Later on, some of the Participants and Staff Members delivered the hand-made greeting cards to very happy people. We also had a “Drivers’ Appreciation Day” to show gratitude to all of the drivers that make sure the Arc Participants arrive and return to their homes safely.

On Friday, December 14th, the case workers and administrative staff members that work in the upstairs offices at the Arc had a Christmas decoration contest organized by Arc Staff Member, Ms. Beth Green, The Arc of San Antonio’s Director of Development. Brittany and I were the judges and I am very happy  that the first place certificate was awarded to Ms. Edna T. for the Most Magnificently Magical Christmas / Holiday Decorations. The second place certificate was awarded to Ms. Keri O., Ms. Celsa A., Ms. Annette C. for the Most Merry and Spectacular Christmas / Holiday Decorations. The third place certificate was awarded to Ms. Jill K., Ms. Kim F., Mr. Steven G. and Ms. Sheila H. for the Most Cheerily Creative Christmas / Holiday Decorations.

I made all of the decoration certificates and I’m so happy that the Staff Members like the certificates so much. All of the case workers and administrative staff members had a great time celebrating the holidays and decorating their work areas. My favorite decoration was Ms. Yolanda F.’s purple Christmas tree. Purple is my favorite color.

The Arc had a Holiday Classroom Door Decoration Contest. The goal was to come up with the most creative decorations. All of the Arc Participants and Staff Members worked really hard and were very proud of their holiday creations. The first place certificate was awarded to Classroom # 9 for the Most Holly-Jolliest Door Decorations named, “A Festive Fireplace.” The second place certificate was awarded to my class, the V.I.P. Classroom # 7 for the Most Magical Winter Wonderland Door Decorations with our decorations named, “Range for Reindeers.” The third place certificate was awarded to Classroom # 8 for the Most Delightfully Creative Holiday Door Decorations named, “I’m dreaming of a Merry Christmas.” All of the other Participants, Staff Members, and I had a great time celebrating the holidays and decorating their classroom doors.

I have so many great memories from the past year. The crowning of the king and queen of hearts, the Fiesta Float contest (which my class won first place), the ninth annual summer Talent show, and the Halloween and holiday decoration contests.

I hope that everyone who reads my blog had a happy and safe holiday season and a great New Year’s.

Click image to enlarge.