"Let's Talk About Autism" Radio Capicu Blog Talk Radio Recap

Last month while at Hispanicize, I met George "Urban Jibaro" Torres, founder of Sofrito Media Group.  Both Boricuas from New York, we immediately clicked - we even knew some of the same people.  So when George asked me if I was interested in participating on his Blog Talk Radio Show - Radio Capicu, "Let's Talk About Autism" - I didn't even hesitate.


Even if that meant taking a break from the Top Blogueras Retreat.  Connecting with the Latino community about autism was the very purpose of this blog.  


Today I had the chance to listen to the show.  And it was incredibly moving for me.  Listening to the other parents share their stories.  Also on the show was Veronica Vasquez-Jackson and Stuart Chaifetz. 


The show really made me think.  It sparked some topics for blog posts.  It made me realize that Latinos want to talk about autism - they just need the opportunity to do so.   


You can listen to the show by clicking the link below and/or it can be downloaded to your iTunes for Free.  That's how I listened to it.

 

Listen to internet radio with Radio Capicu on Blog Talk Radio

Here are some links that I talked about while on the show: 

Part 200 (Student with Disabilities) and Part 201 (Procedural Safeguards for Students with Disabilities Subject to Discipline) -- This has been extremely helpful; it is a PDF of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. (I found the link here.)  The document is long (about 200 pgs) but it's important to look through.  It goes through Due Process Procedures and the Board of Education Responsibilities and Definitions. I've noted sections in letters to CPSE administrators.  Let them know that you know the law. Please note there is a  disclaimer: These Rules of the Regents and Regulations of the Commissioner of Education ("regulations") are unofficial, and are presented for general informational purposes as a public service. 

Queens Parent Support Group - http://www.qcpac.org/

For more local resources please visit my NYC Resources page. But please keep checking back - I have LOTS of updating to do.  

April may have been Autism Awareness Month, but for us it's Autism Awareness every day.  Thank you Radio Capicu for helping spread awareness and for allowing your listeners to share their stories.

A Wonderful Month of Autism Awareness & So Much More

It's been a while since I've linked up with the fabulous Mrs. 4444.  And it's been such a whirl wind of a month, that I figured the best way to piece it all together is through Friday Fragments.

It's been a long winter.  The month of March has been the roughest I've had in a while.  But April, has been pretty fantastic and full of exciting opportunities! And I'm hoping (crossing fingers and toes) that it's a sign of better things to come.

The first week of April, AutismWonderland was ranked #10 on Babble's Top Autism Spectrum Blogs for Parents 2012!  And they wrote such a beautiful description of my blog - here's a snippet "Autism Wonderland is as informative a chronicle of the ASD experience as Lewis Carroll’s book was about where Alice went." I am so honored to be included on this list. 

I spent part of Spring Break in Miami at Hispanicize - a Media/Blog Event.  Truly such a life/mind changing experience for me.  In addition to speaking on a panel with other special needs blog writers, I had the opportunity to pitch my blog on SOiTV.  I'm not used to public speaking and was extremely nervous.  Johnny, the gentleman introducing me, spoke so quickly in Spanish.  And um...I don't speak/understand Spanish - so I look like a deer in the headlights.  The blogger with the most YouTube hits gets to be featured on SOiTV for a month. 

Last month the wonderful Ellen Seidman of Love That Max asked me - ME! - to contribute something to...wait for it... 

My post, The Milestones That Keep You Going When You Have a Kid with Autism, was published on Monday, April 23 and I've been squealing ever since.

Last week, I attended a reading in support of my friend Keisha - a beautiful Caribbean poet/writer.  While mingling, I met Brendan Costello.  Brendan is a contributor for The Largest Minority Radio Show and asked me to be a guest.  Also on the air was Savannah Logsdon Breakstone - a young autistic woman and Savannah just gave me a whole new perspective.  Below is the link to download an MP3 of the show: http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/wbai_120425_210052wed9pm10pm.mp3

And then last night, I was invited to speak at New York Cares.  The room was filled with Team Leaders and volunteers all eager to learn more about autism. Also speaking was:

• Alicia, the Executive Director of GallopNYC.  A wonderful program that "provides therapeutic horseback riding to people in New York City, using interaction with horses to promote the growth of functional and mental abilities in a safe, supportive and fun manner."
• Elly, a program coordinator for a new program at Birch Family Services - the New Frontier. The New Frontier focuses on pre-vocational and social learning activities for higher functioning young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
• Kevin, also with Birch Family Services, is the Autism/Residential coordinator with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Birch Family Services where he provides training, support and guidance to Birch residents and day habilitation programs.

Then this morning, I finally checked my personal email account.  After deleting all the SPAM, I opened up an email from the English Department of CCNY.  I won an award for a short story I submitted.  It reminded me that while I love writing this blog, I also love writing fiction.  It also reminded that even though I needed to take the semester off.  I need to get back and graduate.

I hope that all of these wonderful things are a sign that things are starting to look up.  I need a break.  And The Boy?  He needs a new school.  Cross your fingers that we find one and that the Board of Ed doesn't fight us too much.       

Play along! Don't know how?  

Check out Mrs. 4444

at Half Past Kissin Time 

for more Friday Fragments.

"You Have To Own It" ~ My Lesson Learned From #Hispz12

I've worked in Corporate America for more than a decade.  I've always been the minority.  The receptionist, the secretary - the person no one wants to hear from.  The person whose opinion does not matter.

And being a Creative Writing major in Graduate School?  I am still the minority.  Even though my school is in Harlem.  While I've been told my writing is good, I've heard how much harder it will be for me to get published - because I'm Latina.


And whenever I go into any kind of meeting for The Boy, I'm treated as if my thoughts regarding my own child mean nothing.


So it's easy to feel, well...?  As if no one is listening.  And that what I have to say - doesn't matter.  


I mean, this blog started out as a class assignment.  And out of 30 students in my class? Only 3 people read it - including my professor (he was grading me, after all).


So when I was invited to speak on a panel - Blogging for Cause - at Hispanicize 2012.  I was surprised.  Because...who the hell am I?  


I walked into the JW Marriot, not knowing a single person in real life - not even my roommate.


It was overwhelming those first few hours.  A whirlwind of fabulous Latino bloggers,  journalists, philanthropists, film makers, writers, celebrities, media folks - all jam packed into one place.  I don't think I've ever been in a room with so many influential Latinos.  It was truly inspiring. 


And then there was me?  And I thought to myself, "I have no business being here."


I'm not a professional.  I don't get paid for writing this.  It's just something I do, because I like to write.  It's a distraction for many things.  And since I don't have the time or the energy to focus on writing fiction - this blog, keeps me writing.  


I know why this blog is important to me.  But I never considered it to be important to anyone else.  


Sure there were bloggers that I had established an on line relationship but I can be painfully shy.  I'm not the kind of person to walk up to a stranger and say "Hi!  My name is...blah blah blah."  No matter how many comments we've exchanged on line.  And I could quite easily hold up a wall.


So when I started to mingle and introduce myself, I was hesitant.  Assuming that no one in that room had ever even heard of me and my little blog.   


Obviously, it's a great big blogosphere, so there were people who did not know me.  But they were interested in talking to me.


Then there were the ones who knew of me.  Like Angelica, Bren, Eva and Aurelia - who greeted me with open arms, telling me how happy they were to meet me.  And in my head I'm all like, "Seriously?  Me?" 


And then I met a mom blogger (I'm not tagging her because I don't think she writes publicly about her son) who cried when she met me.  We hugged and cried for a good ten minutes.  Then I met another mom blogger (again, not tagging because I don't believe she writes about her son) who said "Had it not been for your blog, I would have never known what to look for."  I don't even have the words to say how moved I was by these two women and listening to them speak about their children.  And there were a few more mom bloggers who had children on the spectrum, who I connected with.


Even after all this, I still had that feeling of not belonging.  


And then on the second day, after lunch a few us were sitting around chatting with Piera aka Jolly Mom.  We had attended her session earlier in the day and were picking her brain.  I expressed some of my insecurity.  And she said five words I'll never forget:  You have to own it.


I knew she was right.  I don't own what I do.  Don't get me wrong, I believe in what I'm writing.  And I believe that my writing is good.  But I am too quick to dismiss it.  I am too quick to think that I don't have a place within the blogosphere.  And I've been suppressed for so long in other aspects of my life, I find it hard to believe that my voice matters.  


My three days at Hispanicize, I learned that it does.  


I want The Boy to believe in himself and take pride in the things he does well.  I want him to be confident and know that he has a place in this world.  I want him to own whatever it is that he does.  


How can I expect these things from The Boy when I have such a hard time expecting it of myself?   


I have to look in the mirror and raise my own expectations.  I have to get out of my own way.  I have to assure myself that my voice matters.  That this blog matters.  And I have to own it.
                    

I'm Going to Miami!! #Hispz12

How could I not? 

On Wednesday morning, I'll be on a plane heading to Miami.  I haven't been to Miami in more than a decade.  I haven't been on a plane solo since I became a mom.  I'm only going for three days, but it will the longest I've been away from The Husband and The Boy.  I'm sort of freaking out.  And like any other mom leaving her family, I am feeling the smallest twinge of guilt.

I'm not going to Miami to lounge on the beach or hang at Wet Willie's.  I'm going to Hispanicize.  My very first blog/media conference.     

Back in January when Chantilly asked if I would be interested in speaking on a panel she was moderating, I immediately accepted.  The panel is Blogging for a Cause and I'll be with 2 other amazing blog writers - Laura & Eliana.  I have spent the last year reading their blogs and I am so excited to meet them.

To be asked to speak at this conference is such an honor for me.  To be able to talk about autism during Autism Awareness Month to a prodominantly Latino audience.  To meet other Latino blog writers also writing about autism.  I still cannot believe it.  When I started this blog a year and a half ago as a class assignment I had no idea people would even read it.  I had no idea what kind of impact it would have.  Or the opportunities that would come out of this.  All I wanted was a place to share my thoughts and in return I've gotten so much more.  

I cannot wait to tell you all about it when I return!

And in my absence, I'll be featuring 3 guest posts.  So be sure to stop by :D 

~~~~~~
Meet the Moderator & Panelists of Blogging for a Cause: 

Moderator:
Chantilly Pantino is a blogger who wears many hats. You can learn more about her at www.BiculturalMom.com.      

Panelists:
Laura Tellado is a young woman with Spina Bifida.  Her blog is called Holdin' Out for a Hero.  But I believe she is a hero to many. 

Eliana Tardio is the mother of 2 beautiful children with Down Syndrome.  You can learn about this Warrior Mami at www.ElianaTardio.com 

Who else will be speaking at Hispanicize?  Click HERE & find out.