Hi All

I am looking to connect with various parent groups that are trying to figure out a way to have our children with intellectual disabilities have a home of their own. We are looking to connect all groups in Ontario and start a provincial network. Linked together we are a stronger voice. Please contact me at sralternatives.weebly.com under contact us.

I look forward to hearing from you. Bonnie Heath

Oct. 18, 1948 - March 22, 2013

With deep sadness, Lynda and I are part of the team informing Ray's thousands of network collaborators, that last night after a lengthy illness, Ray's body, very suddenly this week, collapsed.  He passed from pain to peace at 11:30 last…

A brilliant film that peels the hidden and grotesque truth of how our 'dominant' culture attempted genocide on Aboriginal Canadians - and failed.  Two survivor stories are told with grace and clarity.  A must watch.

http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2012/10/02/we-were-children/

TSI2013%20Flier%3Abooklet.pdf

"Storytellers are the enemies of all champions of control,"

                         Chinua Achebe

Katie Byron on Racism and Prejudice

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

powerful exploration/demonstration of the power of the stories we tell ourselves - and the capacity to change our narrative - and our futures...

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

WELL worth your 20 minutes.... Brilliant teaching, innovation, facilitation - creation!!

education innovator Dr. Sugata Mitra.  It's his acceptance speech for this year's TED Prize.
http://metacool.typepad.com/metacool/2013/03/sugata-mitra-experience-the-world.html

Take 2 minutes - and see the future emerging...

http://youtu.be/psoPDvo0GMM

http://chn.ge/YLKd3p

Please go to the link and sign the petition to reduce TTC fares for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

A rose 

A red red rose 

So soft

A red red rose

So bright that shines like a star

Make a wish.

A red red rose so gentle from the heart.

A red red rose 

That darkens

An warms the heart so gentle 

A red red rose

A beauty of a rose

Oh so sweet of my heart

Janine Shepherd was an Australian Olympic bike racer - hit by a van - and had to rebuild her life.  She did - she has.  Brilliant reframing of the opportunities of a life well lived.

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_shepherd_a_broken_body_isn_t_a_broken_person.html

What determines who is normal and who is not?

How do we as a society determine that this person or that person deviates from “the norm”?

And how does this inevitable “deviation” from the norm end up having value assigned to it by society?

For example, if a person is highly coordinated and can run fast, this is a deviation from the norm. And if this person is able to use…

The struggle for fundamental human rights continues.

An excellent overview from Al-Jazeera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL28UxmWhtE

Chief Theresa Spence began her hunger strike on Dec. 11.  She is offering leadership to all of us to stand up for fundamental justice for all - and all means all - us included.  The Idle No More movement is now global as concerned citizens everywhere are standing up as in 'occupy' 'Arab Spring', 'Maple Spring' - and now Idle No More.  Join us however you can.  It is a new beginning for 2013 - as we ally with others to create the future we want!…

As we approach a new year, a new era, I have been watching a remarkable DVD - Tracks Across the Sand, directed by Hugh Brody - a Canadian who was a powerful quiet innovator during the Mackenzie Valley Pipelines (70's) and throughout the Arctic in Canada.  It tracks the grotesque exclusion of the Sans people of the Southern Kalahari in South Africa.  They were declared non-people; expelled; their language was pronounced extinct, and then in the 90's, a family/clan emerged and began a…

John O'Brien posted in The Art of Social Change

    

John O'Brien     1:56pm Dec 15

Not quite the current practice of Citizen Advocacy, but a story of real and lasting relationship.

http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2012/12/16/patti-morris-essay-befriending-sherri-hr-3/

    Patti Morris Essay: Befriending Sherri (Hr. 3) | The Sunday…

In Paraguay, where for many, life is genuinely difficult, a few people with a vision, and the capacity to think well out of the box, decided to create music - harmony - and a future for their youth - literally from the dump.  It's a short powerful story of enormous possibility.  And if they can do it.. why not you, me  - us. 

It's 11 minutes you will not regret your investment!

Landfill…

An excellent short piece by some Ontario advocates pointing out the layers of struggle for families to just get along and have a life..  More work to do...

Direct%20Funding%20News%20Dec2012.docx