Local Video
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| Busting down the barriers for all |
By: SUZANNE ROOK, Managing Editor
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Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010 10:21 pm
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As the clock at the hockey game starts to wind down: 8-year-old Bryce Malecha knows it’s time to clamp his hands over his ears.
The sound of the buzzer, while loud to the rest of us, can send Bryce, a second-grader with an autism spectrum disorder, into sensory overload.
Life with a child with autism — or any other disability — is a daily challenge for parents, says Lisa Malecha, Bryce’s mom and a co-founder of Parents Meeting Parents, a support group designed to let local parents of children with special needs know that they’re not alone.
Too often, Malecha said, families dealing with these issues become isolated and caught up in the reams of paperwork schools, governments and insurance companies require.
And while the support group helps, Parents Meeting Parents is looking outside itself, showing the documentary “Including Samuel” Jan. 28 in hopes that the viewers — and the community — will begin to understand what’s going on in their friends and neighbors’ lives.
The film, by photojournalist Dan Habib, documents how Habib and his family worked to include his son, Samuel, who has cerebral palsy, in every part of their lives. Several other families are also portrayed in the film.
Listening to Malecha talk about being a more inclusive society, it was hard not to think of what I’ve witnessed in my own life. The first time my son, a quadriplegic, went out in public it was a challenge for the then 24-year-old to ignore the stares and deal with people who foolishly walked in front of his moving 300-pound wheelchair.
As an adult and one with a pretty thick skin, he got used to the funny looks and those who speak loudly and slowly to him as if his paralysis indicates a brain injury. For a child, those looks can be hurtful. To parents, the judgments can be frustrating when all you want is understanding.
Malecha wants all community members to see the film — about an hour long — and encourages business owners to attend. It isn’t just about handicap accessibility, it’s about knowing that lights or sounds in the store can trigger unpleasant reactions in those with special needs, it’s about the products in some shops which make fun of the disabled or those with mental health issues. It’s also about getting businesses to offer job shadowing or work experiences to those who may be seen as different.
“An event like this could spark a community,” said Malecha.
Following the showing, attendees will break into small groups to discuss the film. Malecha said she’s hoping for some action steps to come out of the discussion.
The film begins at 7 p.m. on Jan. 28 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 500 Third St. W. Free child care is available during the screening. To register for child care, visit northfieldymca.org or call 645-0088 by Jan. 25.
For more information, contact Malecha at lmalecha@artech.k12.mn.us or Kim Rohr at kim.rohr@nfld.k12.mn.us.
And if you can’t make the film’s showing, Parents Meeting Parents meets once a month during the school year (except in December) at St. John’s. Maelcha says the meetings are typically at 7 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month and are listed in our What’s Going On? calendar.
—Reach Suzanne Rook at srook@northfieldnews.com or at 507-645-1113. |
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