Governor's Council on People with Disabilities - Youth Leadership Forum 2006

[Guest guest]

Dear Friend of ASO:

Information on submitting applications for the Governor's Council on People with Disabilities - Youth Leadership Forum 2006 - wouldn't it be great if there was a representative with autism on the Council! Please share with anyone who you think might be interested.

Sincerely,

Barbara C. YavorcikPresidentAutism Society of Ohio701 S. Main St.Akron, OH 44311(330) 376-0211fax: (330) 376-1226email: askASO@...home: byavorcik@...web: www.autismohio.org------------------------

Hello all,

The Governor's Council on People with Disabilities is now accepting applications for its 2006 Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) for high school juniors and seniors who are students with disabilities. To be eligible for this forum, students must: (a) have a disability; ( be a junior or senior by December 31, 2005; © have demonstrated leadership potential in the school and the community; and (d) reside in Ohio. YLF is a cross-disability forum, so please consider all students with disabilities, from learning disabilities through severe physical impairments. It is our intention to have a forum that reflects the racial, ethnic and disability diversity of Ohio. There is no cost to the students or parents for attending YLF; all lodging, meals, personal care assistance and other costs are paid by the program. While we do ask that students provide their own transportation to and from Columbus, if this is a problem, we usually can work something out. We have volunteer staff and delegates coming from all over Ohio, so carpooling is usually one possibility.

The deadline for applications is January 31, 2006. If you have any questions about the program, please contact me at 614-438-1392 or leslie.alloway@.... I will be happy to answer any questions or provide additional information. If you are interested in having a speaker come and talk with a group of students about YLF, please contact me; we often can arrange for a former delegate who lives or who is attending college in a particular area of the state to come and speak.

You can find additional information about YLF, including photos of past YLFs, at the Governor's Council website, http://gcpd.ohio.gov. You also can print out additional copies of the application and the description.

YLF has been a life-changing experience for many of the young people who have attended it. Most delegates are eager to return to YLF as volunteer staff, and most maintain contact with many of the other delegates and the volunteer staff whom they meet at YLF. For many, it is the beginning of building a personal support system of other young leaders with disabilities. Please consider urging any young person you know who is eligible to apply for the program, and please do not limit yourself to your own students or consumers. Also consider those young people with disabilities whom you know as friends of your children, children of your friends, youth who attend your place of worship, youth who work in stores at which you shop, etc. We want to spread the word as widely as possible. We would love to see every Ohio county represented at YLF.

Thank you for your time.

Alloway, YLF Coordinator

H. Alloway, M.Ed., CRC, PC

GCPD Program Specialist/YLF Coordinator