PLUK News feed

Art Program Focuses On Abilities, Not Disabilities

Link:Art Program Parents of special-education students rarely get to have those precious, scholastic coming-of-age moments, such as watching their children star in school recitals or pitch shutouts for their baseball teams. If there's a meeting at school, it's often to focus on what their children can't do and how to make the best accommodations. So there's something powerful about the annual Pastime Players performance, when parents get to see their children take the stage, regardless of mental or physical challenges, and showcase their ability to recite poetry or Shakespearean lines or to dance hip-hop or to sing "What a Wonderful World."

boston.com: On stage, Nixon brings a light touch to a heavy subject

Link: boston.com
NEW YORK - In "Distracted," Cynthia Nixon plays a mom trying to figure out if her son has attention deficit disorder and should be medicated.

wjz.com: Local Artist Is Positively Influenced By Autism

Link: wjz.com
"The majority of my artwork is about the relationship between the mundane and the surreal, and how it relates to changing contemporary notions of childhood," Miller said.  "I'm interested in things that look like they may be scenes from every day, but when taken out of context they seem very odd or abnormal."

BillingsGazette.com: Instant changed Cody photographer's life

Link: The Billings Gazette

DENVER - In the time it takes to snap a photo, life can change in unforeseen and unimaginable ways.

Model is now on his toughest assignment yet: recovering from a traumatic brain injury caused by an apparently random act of violence last June. That's when he was hit by a chunk of concrete that smashed through the windshield of a car he was in while vacationing in Cape Town, South Africa. Doctors said his chances of survival were remote.

AG Bell: 2008 Arts and Sciences Financial Aid Award Applications Available

Link: Financial Aid

The AG Bell Arts and Sciences Financial Aid Awards are for children who are deaf or hard of hearing between the ages of 6 to 18 who want to participate in extracurricular programs that focus on developing skills in the arts or sciences. The award can go towards any program that targets the sciences and arts, including those held by museums, nature centers, dance and theater workshops, music centers, zoological parks, and space and science camps. Deadline for applications is April 1, 2008.

PublicBroadcasting.net: Learning Outside the Box

Link: Public Arts

Jonathan Mooney is president of a nonprofit mentoring and advocacy organization for students with learning disabilities. He grew up "learning disabled" but graduated from Brown University and is the author of The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal. He tells Jim Fleming that "normal" is a social construct, not a medical one and society should learn to embrace diversity. In this radio program, Mooney discusses what happens when learning occurs "outside the box."

NCTimes.com: Success story: Students learn to use words, pictures

Link: North County Times

ESCONDIDO ---- Sunday isn't a day most students expect to spend with their teachers, but the Escondido students who spent Sunday afternoon on stage at the Escondido Arts Center didn't seem to mind.

The students on stage, from the 10 classes participating in the school district's literacy through the arts program, were being recognized for their hard work in the program.

Now in its second year, My Story: Literacy through the Arts, gives Escondido fourth- and fifth-grade students the chance to develop artistic and language skills simultaneously

Chalk artist shares his hurdles in life

Link: TimesDaily.com

34-year-old Ben Glenn, known across the country as "The Chalk Guy," brought Florence High School students to their feet in awe at his dynamic, 12-minute production of a multi-dimensional mountainous landscape scene. He uses his art and his own life story of dealing with the challenges of dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, and learning disabilities to inspire his audiences.

ColumbusDispatch.com: Photographer sees past his struggles

Link: ColumbusDispatch.com

A Gahanna man has overcome severe learning disabilities to find his passion in photography at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium.

Young David Copeland was labeled as severely learning disabled, further burdened with obsessive-compulsive disorder and tethered to the grim pronouncement that he had a low IQ.

The first two challenges he has learned to overcome. As for the IQ, "I don't believe in that anymore," he said.

How smart is that? He believes in himself.

Boston.com: A shop with something to celebrate

Link: Boston.com

A Maine boutique called Spindleworks features crafts all made by artisans with disabilities. The store also features studios for painting, weaving and ceramics, and a woodworking shop for the artists' use.