My brother Mark......

Hi there everyone, it's Michael here.  Today I want to introduce you to and tell you more about my twin brother Mark.  Here's a picture of us together.

As I have told you, Mark is my twin brother, except he has something called Cerebral Palsy (CP for short).  CP is a developmental disability that affects Mark's ability to control his movement.   The muscles in Mark's mouth, hands, and legs are affected.  He has to use a wheelchair to get around, and he just loves the freedom it gives him.   He calls it his "cruiser!"


In addition to muscle stiffness, the kind of Cerebral Palsy Mark has can cause muscle seizures.  That's why he wears a helmet.  During a seizure, he might fall out of his chair and hit his head.  Mark say, "I wear this helmet to protect my great brains!"


For Mark, one of the hardest parts of having cerebral palsy is talking, because the muscles in his mouth and throat are stiff.  His words come out slowly and sound slurred, and it is sometimes hard for people to understand what he is saying.  Mark is working with a speech-language pathologist, Ms. J, who helps him learn how to better control his muscles so he can swallow more easily and is able to speak more clearly.


So when I sat down to tell Mark all about the Spread the Word movement and special day (which is tomorrow 3/7/2012) he wanted to hear all about it!

Mark got really excited when I told him about the r-word day.  You see, I've heard people call Mark the r-word, either to him or behind his back.  I know how bad this makes him feel.  Sometimes students do this, sometimes people out in public.  Sometimes it's because they don't know better, but worse sometimes they do!


In fact, I asked Mark about this, and he told me how sad it makes  him feel when someone uses the r-word when talking to him or about him. He said sometimes people are just being plain mean too!


Here he is telling me all about how he feels.  You can see how excited he is!

So please, don't ever use the r-word.  Also, nicely correct anyone you may hear using it too.  Do this for not only Mark, but everyone who had a developmental disability.  It would be one of the best things you could ever do to help them.


Check back again soon.  -Michael

Spread the Word to End the Word (again)......

Happy Monday everyone, it's Michael here.  This week, is the Spread the Word to End the Word day.  March 7, 2012 to be specific.  If you haven't checked out their website yet, the please do check it out.  It is full of great stories, news, activities, downloads and bunches of other stuff.


I told you about Mrs. Jane getting an end the r-word t-shirt the other day.  Here's a picture for you.  I even got to be in the picture!

It's a great shirt, and Mrs. Jane told me she was so very proud to get one for her very own.   Here's Mr. Jay the teacher at the Adult Compensatory Education class at RCCC, showing us the back of the shirt.  Thanks, Mr. Jay for all you do!

If you remember, Mrs. Jane let me model her new t-shirt, but she didn't let me have it.  Bummer!!  Oh well that's all for today.  I'm going to post again this week, to tell you all about my brother Mark, so be looking for that.  Also, Mrs. Jane says this will be a very busy week because some people from CARF are coming to visit us.  They are going to help us with something called "Accreditation."  I know Mr. Rob has been busy helping to get ready, and Mrs. Jane has been really busy with this, so I hope all goes well.  Take care and check back soon.  -Michael.