Category Archives: Global News

Experience Autism through Video

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Ever wonder what it is like to feel over-stimulated? Carly Fleischmann shows through video what it is like to experience sensory overload in everyday settings.

Video 1: Coffee shop

Video 2: Walking down the street 

3. Video 3: Shopping at a store

Carly Fleischmann created these videos through her own experience. As we know, every individual sees the world through a different lens, which can lead to a different experience than those shown above. The reason I still appreciate these videos are that they highlight important characteristics that are common with those who experience sensory overload:

1. Increased brightness

2. Jumbled noise

3. Sensitivity to certain smells

4. Distracted by individual objects that become the complete focus of the individual 

New York State Assembly Press Release: Accessible Icon Project

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It was a surprise to the Accessible Icon team when we received a call from the New York State Senate inviting us to speak at their press release regarding the Accessible Icon legislation (A.8193/S.6846) created by Senator Carlucci and Assemblywoman Galef. New York is now the first official state to adopt the icon officially. Here are pictures from our trip visiting New York for the special event.

Mozambique: The Bocaria

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Bocaria

From http://mozambique-musings.blogspot.com/2010/12/bocaria.html

I have seen the poor part of Africa–the part of Africa that is highlighted in documentaries, books, and television segments. It is the part of the world some people do not believe is real and cannot fathom even existing. It is the place where people of all ages literally search through piles and piles of trash to find food and materials for the day. It is where 11 year old children do not go to school, but instead dig through trash to find items they can sell and eat.

Today I went to the Bocaria—the local garbage dump and home to hundreds of children, parents, and elderly people in Maputo, Mozambique.

Our day…

We woke up early and met a group of people at the Arco Iris center in Zimpeto, Mozambique. From there, we left on a small white bus and took a 15 minute bus ride to the Bocaria. From the bus window, I saw little stands where people were selling fruits, vegetables, and other small items. We also passed  cement houses with tin roofs stationed close to the roadside. Cars were flying by us and people of all ages were running through the streets. It is not uncommon to see little children–2 and 3–playing close to the road as well as 6 and 7 year old children caring for their younger siblings. Many carry food on their heads and babies on their backs using a capulana.  Some people smiled, some waved, and others just stared as we passed.

After traveling on top of a bumpy dirt road with many little hills and curves, we finally pull into the Bocaria. The first thing you notice are the mountains and mountains of trash and the smell of fire smoke and sweat. There is so much garbage that fumes rise from the mountains because the trash is being burned. Piles of garbage is to our  left, homes on our right, and children of all ages standing in front to greet us.

As soon as we get off the bus, little children are waiting for hugs and embraces. These children have mixed matched clothes with holes and dirt, smiles, and usually runny noses. You pray for grace and love, and embrace the children who are excited to see you. As you are being led by the children to the church you are visiting, you start to notice the broken glass and metal you are stepping over. You have sneakers so you are fine, but then you notice the little boy who is holding you hand is not wearing shoes. Many children are not wearing shoes. Although you try to watch your step, you cannot avoid the broken glass and metal. We walked over to a church 50 ft from the dump.

The church service was amazing. People were dancing and singing. Children were clinging on to me and playing with my curly hair. I was brought to tears at how amazing this place was. Despite the external “ugliness”, much beauty was present in the people and in this building. After the service was over, it is tradition for Iris Ministries to hand out one piece of bread to each child at the door. As the children were pushing and shoving their way up to the front, I was praying we would have enough bread to feed all these hungry children, but we ran out. We ran out of bread. A good 20-30 children were without bread. And you know what, not one child screamed, cried, or even pouted. It is what it is. That is the motto I would say rings true in places like this. Some children received bread, and others did not. They seemed more used to this unfairness than I did.

There are some memories at the Bocaria that I hope to write more in detail about at another time. I decided to briefly include the stories below:

1. The smile of the little boy who received pink socks

2. The sadness of Erika, an 11 year old girl searching through the rubbles of garbage with her mother

3. The “all about me” shirt that was donated and handed out to one of the children

4. Being on top to the garbage dump and watching people rush over to the new pile dropped off by a garbage dump

Until next time,

Leah

Mozambique: Post 2

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I have been in Mozambique for just about two days and have found that each day is filled with a new adventure. With the more people I meet and the more places I see, my understanding of the land is growing as I find a lot of my preconceived notions about Mozambique–and Africa–in general are wrong. Mozambicans are generally very happy and social people. They enjoy building relationships and love to sing and dance. I am learning more and more Portuguese as the days go on. I have found that the language is similar to Spanish. At this point, I am only able to hold basic greeting conversation (ex. hello, goodbye, what is your name, how are you, how old are you, where do you live).

Yesterday, I visited an orphanage in Matola-Rio. At this center, the orphans have it good (and good is probably defined differently than most Americans would consider ‘good’). They have a safe place, three meals a day, and people to look and watch out for them. In comparison to others in the countries, I would consider the orphans pretty lucky despite the sadness of losing one or both of their parents.

To be honest, I did feel weird taking out my camera at this place. It wasn’t until I realized that the children loved having their picture taken did I become more comfortable with it. It was so funny–the children were posing and then laughing hysterically at their picture. I put some of my favorites from the day below. I hope you enjoy. Many more pictures and thoughts to come.

With much love,

Leah-the world traveler.

Moving Forward: Activating and Evolving the International Symbol of Access

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Officially called the International Symbol of Access (ISA), the “handicap” symbol is one of the most recognized symbols in the world. While its service in accommodating those with physical disabilities is without peer, we argue that changes must be made. In its current state, the ‘passive handicap’ stick-figure pictogram portrays a stagnant figure constrained to the restraints of the wheelchair, representing at best an archaic conception of people with disabilities. Just as our language and terminology has evolved in describing disabled populations, we argue that our symbols must progress as well. We propose an evolved international ‘active accessibility’ symbol to better represent the progressive conception of current disabled populations as active and engaged in society, moving forward in our new century (http://www.accessibleicon.org/). This progressive symbol, we argue, stimulates others to re-imagine the active role that those with disabilities play in society. This is suggested by both quantitative and qualitative survey data collected from locations where this new symbol has replaced the old. In addition, we argue that this progressive symbol becomes a new rallying-point for the advocacy of disabled populations by those who want to express support by replacing their handicap symbols with those of active accessibility.

Dr. Glenney, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Gordon College (also a graffiti artist and activist) and myself were invited to speak at the University of Tennessee on November 29th and 30th for a Disability Issues and Advocacy Conference to promote this issue. The keynote speaker for this conference will be Sam Sullivan, the former mayor of Vancouver with paraplegia. He will be talking about his experiences with the election process, urban and citizenship issues, and disability advocacy.

To learn more about this project, please visit:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessibility-Icon-Project/291203767657196

Main Website: http://www.accessibleicon.org/

You can also follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/AccessIconPro

We appreciate your support! We would love hear what you think. You may comment below or send your thoughts to accessibilityiconproject@aol.com . 

 

Mozambique Adventures: Rooftop Teaching and Learning

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Most days in Mozambique, I would be out with Terry Larson exploring Mozambique. We would usually return home before dinner. At around 4, I would hear girls calling. I would go on top of the roof to sing, dance, and teach English. It sort of became a tradition everyday.  In three weeks, the girls were able to count to ten, say/point to basic body parts, and learn simple greetings (hello, goodbye, see you soon). This was really one of my favorite parts of Mozambique. Please enjoy the photos below!

Hundreds convene in Jerusalem to discuss global challenge of Autism: “We cannot give up on our children”

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Hundreds from Israel and abroad convened in Jerusalem for ICare4Autism’s International Autism Conference. Below I included a short video as well as the news article covering the event.

Please watch this three minute video interviewing the founder of ICare4Autism. “We cannot give up on our children, especially children with autism. Everyone has a place in this world and they can function if you put in the effort. I like to use a four letter word, love…”  http://youtu.be/6-W6GjIyPfk

Below is the article Yoni Kempinski wrote for www.israelnationalnews.com about the global event.

“The 2012 International Autism Conference concluded Thursday in Jerusalem with organizers laying out a detailed plan for ICare4Autism to lead the global movement to help those on the autism spectrum. After two days of intense panels and plenary sessions that included a thousand participants from over twenty different countries, ICare4Autism announced that it will focus on three key areas over the next twelve months:

“We will continue to work tirelessly to realize our dream of ICare4Autism’s new global headquarters on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, we will move quickly to implement a state-of-the art database system to allow families and caregivers to check information from various governmental and NGO offices in one place, and finally, we will work to implement a workforce initiative for training young adults on the autism spectrum and placing them in high-quality jobs,” said Dr. Joshua Weinstein, founder CEO of ICare4Autism.

Mayor Nir Barkat greeted the conference participants, presenting a detailed vision for Jerusalem in the years to come.  “With strong research and care, we have the ability to send a message all over the world,” said the Mayor.

“Jerusalem is a powerhouse in health life sciences, and 50% of Israel’s clinical trials are conducted here. There is no doubt in my mind that ICare4Autism will be extremely successful in Jerusalem. We will make ICare4Autism a centerpiece for this city,” the mayor concluded.

Barkat’s greetings were followed by speeches from Dame Stephanie Shirley, the founding UK Ambassador for Philanthropy, Dr. Shekhar Saxena of the World Health Organization, and First Lady Marta Linares de Martinelli of Panama.

“As the keynote speaker at the conference, I was extremely impressed with the depth and diversity presented,” said Dame Shirley. She shared her own personal experiences with the participants, explaining how her family’s struggles in raising their autistic son encouraged her to become active in the global cause of autism spectrum disorder policy and awareness.

Dr. Saxena noted that “The key is collaboration: for NGOs, developmental organizations and social activists to work together to make a difference for affected families.”

“Jerusalem is the natural location for an event of this nature because the country has historically been a leader in groundbreaking neurological research. We saw it as imperative to expose some of the world’s top academics and public health advocates in this quickly developing field to the Israeli marketplace of ideas,” Dr. Weinstein explained. “We furthermore firmly believe that collaborations like these will lead to the breakthroughs necessary to best confront this condition and we are confident that ICare4Autism will be the catalyst in this global process.”

Over the two-day event, participants chose from fours tracks that focused on important disciplines relating to autism; “Policy and Awareness,” “Bio-Medical Research and Practice,” “Education and Behavioral Techniques,” and “Technology and Resources.”  Each track featured top international experts in the designated field.

Some of Israel’s leading institutions of higher learning partnered with ICare4Autism in sponsoring the conference. These included Hebrew University, The Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University and Bar Ilan University. The Ministries of Health and Education also collaborated with ICare4Autism on the content of the conference.

Dr. Eric Hollander, a renowned psychiatrist at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in New York and the Chairman of the ICare4Autism Advisory Council, added that he sses the ICare4Autism 2012 Global Conference as “a unique opportunity for leading researchers, clinicians, educators and policymakers from all over the world to share their latest findings and create powerful new international collaborations that will ultimately allow us to discover the etiology of autism and its biologic and environmental causes. This global cross-disciplinary gathering will play a vital role in speeding the development of improved methods of autism detection and treatment that are urgently needed by patients and the families.”