ODDC Family Member Survey...Make Your Voice Heard

The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council is providing families with the opportunity to offer input into the council’s state planning through a survey. The survey will be conducted from July 15 through August 15, 2010.

Please encourage as many family members as you know to participate in taking the survey. Beginning July 15, 2010 go to www.okddc.ok.gov and click to take the planning survey online from your home, office or nearest public library. You can also call the council at 800.836.4470 to take the survey by phone.

Make Your Voice Heard
Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council
2010 State Plan Survey
July 15-August 15, 2010

The survey only contains 10 questions.
No one will contact you to participate in this survey. It is up to you if you want to take part.

The Council looks forward to hearing your opinions. For more information you may contact the council at 800.836.4470.

Bring a SIBShop to your neighborhood

WHAT ARE SIBSHOPS? Opportunities for brothers and sisters of children with special health, mental health, and developmental needs to obtain peer support and education within a recreational context. For more information, see: www.siblingsupport.org/sibshops/index_html

The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilies Council is seeking to establish more Sibshops through out Oklahoma. Currently Sibshops have been held in only Oklahoma City and Tulsa. They are willing to furnish mileage, room, per diem and registration to the Governor’s Conference on Disabilities on March 2 & 3 in Tulsa for Sibshop training. The training will run concurrently with the Governor’s Council, but attendees will be involved in Sibshop sessions, rather than the regular Governor’s Conference sessions. Attendees must plan to attend both days and be committed for one year to establishing a Sibshop in their community.

For questions and registration information, please contact Louis Worley at louis-worley@ouhsc.edu or 405/271-6824, extension 45131.

Exceptional FREE training for parent raising children with special needs

The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council is currently accepting applications for the next class of Partners in Policymaking.

Partners in Policymaking is a FREE 9 month advocacy training course for parents of children with disabilities, adult self-advocates and advocates for persons with disabilities. They provide training in best practice state-of-the-art information from national experts in the felid of developmental disabilities.

Topics covered include:
1. History of services and perceptions
2. People First Language
3. Inclusive education
4. IEP’s and school advocacy
5. Inclusive community living
6. Sexuality and disability
7. Supported employment
8. State and federal legislative processes
9. State systems and service coordination
10. Medicaid and Medicare
11. Natural family supports
12. Assistive technology
13. Behavior and non-aversive interventions
14. Advocacy strategies, grass roots organizing and working with the media.

The goal is to educate participants to be active partners with those who make policy and foster development of positive relationships with policymakers. Partners are trained to advocate for supports and services to increase independence, productivity and inclusion into the community for people with disabilities.

PIP has a one day mandatory orientation (August 23rd) and meets one weekend a month from September through May. They do not meet in December so everyone can be with their families. They provide mileage reimbursement, hotel rooms for those living 60 miles or more away, and pay reasonable childcare expenses. Also included are all meals during training.

The application form:
The application is on the OKDDC website at: www.okddc.ok.gov and you can view a Partners in Policymaking video to get more information.

For more information:
Call LeAnna Hart at 800-836-4470 or 405-521-4984 with any questions. They will be conducting phone interviews to seat the class through mid June.

PIP classes accept 30 participants each session.