The Cypress Times, TX, reports that on February 21, 2011 at the Reach Unlimited Learning Activity Center, the ribbon will be cut on a special newsroom created for people with special needs.Brittany Adrian, was the driving force behind the REACH2YOU Newsroom. She chose it as her Girl Scout Gold Award Project. The objective of the project was to create a newsroom to be used by clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Here they would videotape the news and broadcast it within the center to other clients. Brittany is a long-standing volunteer at Reach Unlimited. Its mission is to provide quality support services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reach is the most comprehensive service provider in the greater Houston northwest region.
Advocates for the rights of people with developmental disabilities focus their efforts on gaining acceptance in the workforce and in everyday activities and events from which they might have been excluded in the past. Unlike many of the leaders in the physical disability rights community, self-advocacy has been slow in developing for people with developmental disabilities. Public awareness of the civil rights movement for this population remains limited, and the stereotyping of people with developmental disabilities as non-contributing citizens who are dependent on others remains common.
Kudos to Brittany Adrian! Do you have any Girl Scout Gold Award stories you'd like to share?