Thank you Ann.

 

 

 

Hello all –

 

For those of you relatively new to DD Council world, the former director of the Connecticut Council always entertained us and provoked thought on Friday afternoons – especially during State Plan and PPR season.  So here goes….

 

I’m catching up on some web research today and have just followed-up with two groups that I think could really support our work and the people/families for whom we advocate.

 

Some months ago, NBC News did a story on a woman with MS who had designed and developed a website that could (a) host blogs from people who had MS; (b) allow people who blogged to “track” their emotional state from post to post; (c) allow bloggers to connect with other bloggers to provide some peer support.  Now, in addition to MS, the site serves people with mental health diagnoses and veterans.  It’s called MyCounterpane.org and the website invites people who represent “other” communities to make a pitch to add new populations on the site. I’ve officially asked.  Take a look- it seems easy to use and pretty cool. 

 

The other site is Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. It targets youth and young adults. Like My Counterpane, you can blog there.  It also is currently conducting research about youth and young adults with “issues” (and I’ll just use that word broadly) and they are actively seeking youth and young adult input into this survey.  I’ve seen blogs and resources for people who experience body image issues, bullying, mental health diagnoses, LGBTQ issues, abuse, etc.

 

I don’t have a full vision for either website, but Oklahoma is part of the Community of Practice on Supporting Families – and we’ve been talking amongst ourselves about engaging youth, so I think there might be something here for us.

 

Take a look!

 

Ann Trudgeon

Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council

2401 N.W. 23^rd Street, suite 74

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73107

xxxxxx@okdhs.org

405-521-4966

405-521-4910 (fax)