The University of Oregon Center for Excellence in Developmental ...

August 29, 2011, 1:48 pm

The Karen Gaffney Foundation is a non profit organization that is dedicated to championing the journey to full inclusion in families, schools, communities and the workplace for people with Down syndrome or other developmental disabilities.

Our Programs:

• Friends First? Program was developed to help bridge the social gap between students with disabilities and those without by providing a social structure for students to come together, form a club, and work together on service learning projects that will benefit their schools and community. This program is intended to support schools with the social inclusion component of inclusive education. Many school districts have been very successful at implementing inclusion programs at an academic level but may still experience challenges when it comes to assisting students with disabilities to experience a fully inclusive social life among their non-disabled peers in the school environment.
• ?Everyday Courage? The Workshop: We explore many different meanings of courage and facilitate participant?s reflection on the obstacles in their own lives and how they have found the courage to overcome such obstacles. Through drama activities participants learn how to make good choices in their daily lives and our arts activities assist them to visualize overcoming life?s challenging situations. Karen believes that ,?This workshop will also help participants reach out and show other people that being courageous towards others is the most important thing we need to work on in our lives.?
• We will be offering the ?Everyday Courage? Workshop four times a year for participants in the greater Portland area. Please check our Speaking Engagements Calendar for next upcoming ?Everyday Courage? Workshop.
• ?Get Moving?! Karen, along with her co-facilitators, conduct ?Get Moving? workshops in both the Greater Portland area and at conferences and self-advocate workshops all across the country.Our inclusive Portland area workshops span six weeks and are taught in collaboration with Phillip Summers, an Iron Man tri-athlete and local fitness trainer/educator. This fitness workshop includes an introduction to a variety of physical fitness activities for youth and young adults that are adaptive in nature, including yoga, strength training, dance, cardio, and sports/games. In addition to learning new exercise techniques, students spend a class on cooking together to learn the importance of nutrition and we end the workshop with a session devoted to creating a personal exercise plan to accomplish future fitness goals. Karen also loves to bring the ?Get Moving? program to self-advocates and families nationwide, presenting a shortened version of the workshop at conferences. Karen discusses her swims and the need for everyone to make physical fitness a priority in their daily lives to maintain optimum health, mental focus and a positive attitude. Through hands-on fitness activities and guided exploration Karen assists self-advocates and families in creating realistic fitness plans that are enjoyable, adaptive and fit into everyone?s daily lives.
• Life Quest? is a seven week workshop (one day per week for seven weeks) for young adults with developmental disabilities who are making the transition from the world of high school to the adult world of work and higher education. We created the ?Life Quest? curriculum to assist young adults in learning more about themselves and the path they would like to create for their own future. Through ?Life Quest? young people learn to trust themselves, their own desires, and begin to plan for a life of greater independence and self-determination. This workshop is structured to provide a mixture or drama, arts, and skill building activities that assist young people in planning for their future as independent young adults. Whether its an interest in attending a college transition program, an associates degree, finding a rewarding career, or learning to take mass transit the ?Life Quest? workshop will help participants focus on developing a life plan that will offer concrete steps to help participants accomplish their dreams.
• We All want to Belong-Every child wishes to feel like they belong at their schools and that their classrooms are safe spaces where they can learn, laugh and grow, but not every child experiences this sense of belonging. In response to this issue, over the years, Karen has been giving presentations to students of every grade level, teaching students about the fact that on the inside all people are more alike than different and that all people want to belong!

Source: http://ucedd.uoregon.edu/?p=2617

fright night jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars autonomy west memphis three immigration news chili