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Youth Empowerment Center News

By Pat Sherman
UNION-TRIBUNE COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER

RANCHO BERNARDO – November 26, 2004 - While public schools provide for developmentally disabled students during the day, the youngsters often are segregated from the rest of the student body after school.

While their peers participate in sports or other activities, students with disabilities often find themselves left behind to watch television or pursue a solitary interest.

That is where Kids Included Together enters the picture. The Carmel Valley-based nonprofit group works to support recreational and social programs that include children with and without disabilities.

The organization will hold its annual holiday tea and boutique from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, 17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, Rancho Bernardo. Tickets to the fund-raiser are $45.

Guests will hear holiday music while perusing gift items such as art, stationery, candy, handbags and pet accessories. Refreshments, pastries and a raffle for a gingerbread house also are included.

What: Kids Included Together holiday tea and boutique
When: 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Rancho Bernardo Inn, 17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, Rancho Bernardo
Cost: $45 per person; $35 each for groups of five or more
Information: (858) 794-8154

The fund-raiser is the seventh annual event for the organization, which provides training and technical assistance to youth-based organizations throughout the county, such as Boys & Girls Clubs, the YMCA and the San Diego Park and Recreation Department.

Kids Included Together helps these groups adjust their programs to foster an inclusive environment for children with challenges.

Executive director Jan Giacinti said she is often disconcerted when approaching youth-based organizations for the first time.

"About 80 percent of the time they say, 'No, I'm sorry, we don't have the time; we don't have the training or the money; we're afraid of it,' " Giacinti said.

Many nonprofits suffer from a misunderstanding of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and how it should be applied, she said.

"Most of these nonprofit organizations have limited staff already to service the kids they have," Giacinti said. "We understand that, but once we come in and provide them with the necessary training, they understand that it's not rocket science. These kids can be included and participating right alongside their typically developing peers."

Torrie Dunlap, the organization's program coordinator, said adjustments can be as expensive as a lift for a swimming pool or a van, or as minor as ear plugs for children with autism, who may be sensitive to loud noise in a gymnasium.

"I tell them that there are no two typically developing children that are alike, and there are no two children with disabilities that are alike," Dunlap said.

The Boys & Girls Club of San Dieguito is among more than 130 county groups that have received assistance from Kids Included Together. The club serves about 20 disabled children with conditions ranging from Asperger's syndrome to cerebral palsy.

Adriana Herrera, the club's inclusion coordinator, said Kids Included Together has been a great source of support.

"They have provided us with staff training, from behavioral support to child-specific accommodations," Herrera said. "We can pick up the phone at any time if we have a question and have them help us out."

For more information on Kids Included Together, call (858) 794-8154.

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Youth Empowerment
Lorraine Bowman, President
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, California 92105
info@empowering-youth.org