Fwd: Invitation to the Autistic/Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday party FIELD TRIP

[Guest guest]

Please see response from organization as to the name of the event. I hope everyone will respect the fact that they have had that name for almost 40 years and while it may not be proper " current language " understand the intent of the event and overlook that when deciding to support it. They have obviously, had input about this in the past and appear to be open to changing it on printed communications and possibly change the name in the future.  

---------- Forwarded message ----------Date: Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 12:06 PM

Subject: Re: Invitation to the Autistic/Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday party FIELD TRIPTo: Patrice Byerly , Kral , vsequenzia@...

Thanks for sharing the concern.  We too have the concern and are sensitive to the " political incorrectness " of the phrasing and agree with your description of how the words can be received.  We have made a conscious decision several times to leave it as is because this organization has been active for 39 years and is known to thousands here in Central Florida by that name.  Of course it is registered with the federal government as a non-profit and with the state of Florida as well.  That being said, however, we are not opposed at all to thinking it through again and in no way do we want to offend anyone!    We are not stuck in the past and are very open to positive change.  Possibly a good resolution would be to ensure that our invitations, correspondence, etc. use the more updated phrasing.  We appreciated your suggestions below and we will certainly consider how to best implement them as we communicate with the schools and the public.

We continue to do this event each year because we share the love of community and children, especially those with special needs, that my father in law had when he held the first party in his backyard in 1973 and my husband was 8 years old.  Believe me, we have a great love and deepest respect for all these special children and their amazing teachers and parents who help them grow and learn each day of the year.  We only get to provide them with a unique and special experience one day a year! 

Please continue to share your thoughts because we are very interested in doing what's best for our community and try to make a positive difference in our world.thank you!  Debra and Kral

To: " dkral1@... " Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 11:30:30 AM

Subject: FW: Invitation to the Autistic/Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday party FIELD TRIPFYI- thought I would share some comments about the name of your event. This is from the president of the Autism Society of Florida.

 Patrice Byerly

Director of TrainingESE Parent Support Team

 cell:

 455 West Amelia St.

6th FloorOrlando, Florida 32801-1129

x 2518

fax

 From: Ven Sequenzia

Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 11:22 AMTo: Byerly, PatriceSubject: Fwd: Invitation to the Autistic/Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday party FIELD TRIP

 I told you that I would get replies about this. I think she makes some good points, although I told her my opinion. You may want to forward to the people holding the event and maybe they will consider a change for the future. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 11:09 AMSubject: Re: Invitation to the Autistic/Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday party FIELD TRIPTo: Ven Sequenzia

Cc: ven@... Oohhh….. I have a problem with both words….Autistic and Handicapped.

 This email is not meant to you personally but it is my desperate need to share my opinion with the world…. 

Autistic: When people use the word autistic to refers to our kids they are completely disregarding any and all other characteristic inherent to that kid, such as smart, intelligent, funny, handsome, athletic, or fat, or whatever….. the fact is that any other characteristic gets completely blocked and disappear in the yes of that person and the world and the only thing that is left to recognize and personalize that kid  is autism.  On the other hand, we do not refer to people with other kind of illness this way, we do not say: this is a diabetic, we say this is a person with diabetes. There is a huge difference in saying an autistic kid or a kid with autism. We should be leaders in making the world understand that our kids and adults are much more than only autism, and we need to set the example. Our kids are NOT autistic….. our kids HAVE autism…. among many other wonderful characteristics that makes them SO SPECIAL and so unique….. as anyone else.

 Handicapped:  Again, only focusing on the limitation and not in the potential. By us referring to our kids as handicapped we are ourselves allowing others to only look at our kids limitations and not to their abilities….. We need to set the example, if we do not make the world see our kids special abilities no one else  will see them.  

 What about:   39th Annual Central Florida Holiday Party for children with Autism and Special Abilities!!

 A more positive approach will help the world get a more accurate picture of our kids and give hope and confidence to the parents navigating the world of autism….. living with autism is already hard enough without having to add the rest of the world's ignorance and disrespect to our kids….

 Hope all is well.We miss you!! 

RP  

FYI. ---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 10:40 AMSubject: Re: FW: Invitation to the Autistic/Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday party FIELD TRIPTo: " Byerly, Patrice "

I don't have an issue with the name " handicapped " . As a matter of fact, I think it is more appropriate than all the other names we keep coming up with for our kids. I will forward this, but I am certain to receive some comments about the name of the event. 

 

FYI Patrice Byerly

Director of TrainingESE Parent Support Team

 cell:

 455 West Amelia St.

6th FloorOrlando, Florida 32801-1129

x 2518

fax  

 Hello!I hope you are all having a great first week of school so far!  Attached is your formal invitation to the 39th Annual Autistic / Handicapped Children of Central Florida Holiday Party!  The party will be held on Thursday, December 6, 2012, at the usual place, Camp Down, which has changed its name to " The Pines at Windermere " .

We look forward to our continued partnership with Orange County Public Schools and the other organizations that enjoy this party each year.  We will have the usual array of fun rides, activities, picnic lunch, Santa and goody bags and just a great day for the kids, teachers, parents and friends that come out.

Please feel free to forward this to any interested teachers or administrative leaders and OCPS ESE/ASD area coordinators that we may have missed.

It will be important for each group to be registered at our website by the deadline (November 16, 2012) so we can plan accordingly.and check for any updates at the website as well.Thank you so much and we look forward to seeing you this December!

http://www.autistichandicappedchildren.org/

Debra KralVice President and TreasurerAHCCF, Inc.

Administration:

Dr. D. Associate Superintendent

Exceptional Student Education & Multilingual Servicesanna.diaz@...

Leigh AustinDirector - Secondary

x2763leigh.austin@...

  Autism Support Teachers

Ellen Kaak   ellen.kaak@...

  “Beth” McAulay

elizabeth.mcaulay@... 

 Alissa Plaisance

alissa.plaisance@...  Schmidt     

david.schmidt@...  Velasco

maria.velasco@... 

Autism Support Program Assistants:Patti Brown

patricia.brown@... Sherry Todd

sherry.todd@... 

 Behavior Analysts:  

Ferreiradiana.ferreira@...

  Mclisa.mcdonald@...

Amy Roweamy.rowe@...

  ”Kimba” kimberly.smith@...

 June Hoeflingjune.hoefling@...

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 -- Regards,

Ven Sequenzia, Jr. 

PresidentAutism Society of America

State of Florida Chapter

   -- Regards,

Ven Sequenzia, Jr. 

PresidentAutism Society of America

State of Florida Chapter  

  -- Regards,

Ven Sequenzia, Jr. 

PresidentAutism Society of America

State of Florida Chapter  

-- Regards,Ven Sequenzia, Jr. 

PresidentAutism Society of AmericaState of Florida Chapter