Dust off your lederhosen and follow that dirndl to Rheinlander’s annual Oktoberfest! Raise a stein under the Big Beer Tent on NE 50th & Sandy Blvd.!

21 & over 5 to 10pm, Friday September 23rd and Saturday the 24th; featuring Munich beers on tap, a live Oktoberfest band, dancing, contests and Oktoberfest fare.

Bring your kids on Saturday from noon to 5 and enjoy live polka music, performances by Rogue Valley Alpenhorns, Liederkreis German Choir and Grant High School a Capella; plus arts & crafts.

A portion of the cover charge will go to the Northwest Down Syndrome Association.

www.rheinlander.com

Filed under Events

The Beaverton Schools Need You!

Like many school districts across the area, the Beaverton School District recently announced deep budget cuts, with the Special Education budget taking a disproportionate hit. There will be a Budget Committee Listening Session open to parents and community members this week. While no decisions have been finalized at this point, proposed cuts would eliminate the district’s Augmentative Communication and Assistive Technology Team, eliminate the Youth Transition Program, drastically reduce Instructional Assistant support, and much more. To learn more, and to advocate for a more equitable budget, please plan on attending Thursday’s meeting. Your attendance will make a difference!

Thursday, April 21st from 6:30-8:30 PM.
Beaverton High School
13000 SW 2nd St.
Beaverton, OR 97005

Call Your Legislator!

In Oregon:
If you missed Rep. Sara Gelser’s speech during the All Born “In” lunchtime keynote, she mentioned that she has sponsored HB 2296 in the Oregon House of Representatives, which “places on school districts the burden of proof related to school district’s determination for a child who may require or does require special education and related services.” For full reading of the proposed law, click here.

Representative Gelser requested we contact our state representatives in support of this bill, to help build support. A quick phone call or email is all it takes to make your voice heard! If you are unsure of who your representative is, you can find them here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/house/

For more information on the Oregon DD Coalition’s Project Go!, please click here.

In Washington:
Washington State is facing another tough budget year, and your legislators need to hear from you! The following is a message from the Arc of Washington State:

“It’s time to re-balance the Developmental Disabilities system! We once had 4,000 people living in 5 state institutions and now we are down to about 850 individuals.

Please pass SB 5943 which addresses transition services for people moving out of institutions and creates the community residential investment account.”

To learn more about the Arc’s Legislative Action Center and to locate your legislators, please click here. Call today!

Filed under Uncategorized

Many supporters answered the call for stories and photos about Early Intervention and how it has impacted their lives. These stories have been compiled into a booklet that will be presented to legislators at the EI/ECSE rally in Salem. A special thanks to everyone who shared their stories with us. Click here to download the PDF of this booklet.

We are still accepting stories for this booklet. If you wish to contribute your experiences with Early Intervention, please download this Microsoft Word template and add your own stories and photos, and send it to us via email to abraithwaite@nwdsa.org.

Early Intervention Services in Oregon are vastly underfunded, and we need to let our legislators know how important these services are in our families’ lives. Even if your child’s days in Early Intervention are in the distant past, please consider taking a few moments to remember how important it was to your early days. Services have diminished drastically over the past 10 years, so the cuts proposed today are to an already depleted program.

There are a few different ways you can get involved. Please consider doing one or more of the following. We need your voice!

* Share Your Story

Make your voice heard by sharing your experiences in Early Intervention with us. We will collate stories that we receive into a booklet that we will present to legislators at the EI/ECSE rally in Salem next Wednesday. This is your chance to tell your story even if you can’t join us in Salem.

Please download this Microsoft Word template. We need a very quick turn-around on this in order to get a booklet together by next week, so please send your stories and photos by no later than this Sunday. Please send the template via email to abraithwaite@nwdsa.org

* “State of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) Programs in Oregon.”

The Multnomah ESD Early Childhood Program and The State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) are hosting a forum for more information on the current state of EI/ECSE.

• When: March 15, 2011 from 9:00-11:00 AM
• Where: MESD-Edwards School, 1715 SE 32nd Place, Portland, OR 97214.
• Questions: Dave Andrews at 503-262-4100.

* Rally for Services in Salem March 16th

The Oregon Alliance for EI/ECSE is hosting a rally in Salem on March 16th for people from the Portland Metro Area to advocate around this issue. Come and spend a few hours at the State Capitol in Salem. Talk with your legislators about EI/ECSE services and your personal experiences. You are welcome to bring your family. Meet other parents and supporters of EI/ECSE programs.

• When: March 16, 2011 any time between 9 am and 2 pm
• Where: We will meet in Room 257 in the State Capitol
• Questions: Nancy Anderson, 503-793-5307

Please try to make appointments to meet with your legislators before you come to ensure you will see them. Here is the website to find your legislator and get their contact information: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/. If you can’t make it to the rally, please call your legislator and tell your story over the phone. They need to hear from their constituents!

Early Intervention is an invaluable free resource that families rely on for support and education in the early years. Early Intervention services help families create a vision and connect with others with similar experiences.

Unfortunately, we have seen EI services erode consistently over the years, and now it is under threat again. With this outreach, we want to show how much services have eroded, and let people know that these services are valuable and necessary for the health and strength of families. We hope that you are able to take a few minutes or a few hours to help with this advocacy effort!

* Please share a story about your family’s experience with Early Intervention.

You can just answer these bullet points, or write a narrative about your experience. Keep it brief and strength-based! Click here to download a MS Word template that you can fill out, print and mail.

If you are comfortable, please consider sharing your first and/or last name and legislative district. Your power is your vote here, and this can have a strong impact.

* What services did your child receive when s/he was an infant (age 0-3)

* What about for preschool (age 3-5)?

* How many hours a week did s/he receive EI services?

* Who provided services (i.e. teacher, early intervention specialist, physical, speech or occupational therapist) and where (i.e. home, center, etc)?

* What was the best thing about EI/ECSE for your family? How did your experience in EI empower you as a parent of a child with a disability? How did it affect your understanding of your child’s potential and abilities?

* Please share strengths of your child now, and one or two things they enjoy doing.

Filed under Uncategorized

From The Columbian

By Scott Hewitt
Thursday, January 6, 2011

If you need eyeglasses to drive but you’ve just lost your Medicaid payment for glasses, what happens to your mobility and independence?

If you need the state’s Basic Health Program to afford any doctor at all, but the program is eliminated, what happens to your health?

If you need a caretaker to stay at home — but your caretaker’s state support is crumbling — what happens to you?

Many of the roughly 50 people who turned out for a “Candlelight Vigil and Rally to Restore Medicaid Benefits” on Thursday evening said they feel their lives are on the line.

“I’ve already fallen through,” said John Perkins, whose disability-related medical bills were just rejected by Medicaid and whose eyeglasses aren’t getting any younger. Eventually, he said, he will wind up sick and shut in — unless the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire last month are somehow averted.

Nobody claims to like Gregoire’s budget plan — least of all the governor herself. When she released it on Dec. 15 she said, “in some places, I don’t even think it’s moral.” But because Washington is facing a $4.6 billion budget deficit, and state law requires a balanced budget, her hands are tied during this prolonged economic downturn.

Read full article

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Please get in touch if you are interested in getting involved in community and legislative advocacy in either Oregon or Washington. To learn about the NWDSA’s collaborative advocacy plans and how you can get involved, please contact Angela at 503-238-0522 or ajarvis-holland@nwdsa.org.

Filed under Uncategorized

Click here to download and save or print this information as a PDF

As 2010 draws to a close, we find ourselves looking back and celebrating a year of achievement! We have experienced some incredible growth, and feel fortunate to be able to carry on our work in difficult times. Although the Bill Fallis Golf Tournament, Buddy Walk, individual donations, corporate donations, and other fundraising activities have provided us with ongoing financial support, including the NWDSA. Many of our traditional funding sources have reduced or eliminated their support due to budget constraints.

Our need remains high as we continue to grow our work, reach out to new families and pilot a brand new Kindergarten Inclusion Cohort project. We are asking you to help us financially. If you find yourself with the resources to give back to your community this year, please consider giving a gift to the NWDSA.

Why Support the NWDSA with a Year-End Gift?

• We are careful with our resources; with the help of volunteers and many partners we more than double each dollar donated. In-kind donations are one of our greatest assets. We are given space at churches for our meetings and playgroups, pro-bono design and artwork from local professionals, free tech support at our office, and much, much more from others who see the value in our work.
• We are not a member organization and do not charge dues or registration fees.
• Accessibility is very important to us, and many of our events are free, or have fees based on the ability to pay.

All financial gifts we receive are put straight to work enhancing our projects and community. You can trust that your money will be spent thoughtfully, and not a penny will be wasted. Please join our circle of support and help create a community where everyone of us can thrive.

We know these are challenging times for individuals and businesses alike. As a group, we focus on what we do well and we are driven by the love we have for our children. Our work does not slow down, and we need your help to keep building on the love and skills we bring together to help individuals and empower families. We are growing our outreach to genetic counselors and other medical providers in order to get current information to families who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome, and this important work does require extra time and resources, but we consider it a vital part of our support.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we want to offer a special thanks this year to the Fallis family for organizing the Tee UP for DOWN Syndrome golf tournament in memory of Bill Fallis, grandfather to Riley and Colin. The event was a great success and the proceeds from the event will directly support the work of the NWDSA.

How Will Your Donation be Used?

Here are a few examples of how your money may be spent:

• $25 pays for the mailing of 5 New Parent Guides to new families.
• $50 pays for a scholarship to the All Born “In” inclusion conference.
• $100 pays for volunteer childcare stipends for educational events for parents.
• $500 pays for Resources for family support.
• $1,500 pays for printing and mailing of one edition of Stepping Up, our quarterly newsletter.
• $2,500 pays for a family social.
• $5,000 pays for the lunch for the All Born “In” conference.
• $10,000 pays for increased new parent outreach.
• $20,000 pays for speakers and stipends.

Thank you for considering a gift to the NWDSA, a registered 501(c)(3); contributions are tax-deductible.

If you are able to give us a gift this year, please send your tax-deductible donation to:

NWDSA
P.O. Box 9127
Portland, OR 97207

If you prefer, you can make a contribution using PayPal via the “Make a Donation” link in the sidebar to the left or by Clicking Here.

Short on cash but holding onto some frequent flyer miles?
The NWDSA is hoping to send representatives to the Buddy Walk on Washington once again this winter. This is an excellent opportunity for advocacy on the national level, and we would love to represent our Oregon and Washington families with visits to Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill. If you have any transferable air miles that you would like to donate, please contact the Resourcefulness Center at 503-238-0522 to discuss this further. Click here for more information about the Buddy Walk.

Filed under Uncategorized