CSA is a place where people with developmental disabilities go to meet, organize, work and train others on how to improve their quality of life. Our goal is to help and support people with developmental disabilities in becoming empowered, making their own decisions, speaking up for themselves and others, taking control of their own lives, creating awareness about disability issues and achieving maximum independence and quality of life.
Trainings and Other Updates
This month was a month of many unique projects and important collaborations. We definitely kept on presenting and ended up doing presentations at a wide range of schools. This included Jimmy Carter Middle School in Albuquerque, The Southwest Conference on Disability, an APS transition class, Onate High School in Las Cruces and Mayfield High School in Las Cruces. The topics were wide ranging and included self advocacy, disability rights, money management and anti-bullying.
We also collaborated with multiple organizations during this time. Our members have continued to assist a group known as New Mexico Disability Youth Leaders with developing a disability awareness curriculum for elementary school students. We also met with proactive employers from the Army Corps of Engineers and helped answer questions about employment for people with disabilities. We also continued our work with the Advocacy in Action club at Onate High School. This group of students heard our presentations last year and decided to start a self advocacy group within their school. They have already independently attended conferences, held fundraisers and done presentations. They had us talk to them about anti-bullying and they have expressed interest in working on this issue in their school. We are extremely proud of this group and hope they will inspire similar groups throughout high schools in New Mexico.
Finally, we ended the month with a bash. A Halloween bash, that is. Our auxiliary board came through once again and put on a wonderful Halloween party on October 30 at the Marble Brewery in Downtown Albuquerque. There was great live music, food, fun and even a costume contest.
Happening Now!!
With the start of the school year, it is the new beginning for both teachers and students to learn new things. Here at the Center, we offer trainings in a wide variety of areas including self advocacy, leadership skills and independent living skills. Our training are interactive and allow students to learn through their own critical thinking and experiences. We travel throughout the state and have done presentations in areas as diverse as Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Anthony, Cuba and Farmington. If you are interested, please look at the Training Section of our website and call us at (505) 341-0036 to schedule a presentation. We look forward to hearing from you.
We will also be continuing our series of presentations at Jimmy Carter Middle School. We will be focusing primarily on employment and various things that young people need to know about finding a job and keeping a job.
Every Wednesday at 3 pm, we will be continuing the Next Chapter Book Club. Our relaunch has been a resounding success. This book club will take place at the Barnes and Noble at Coronado Mall. Join us for fun, food and good reading. We are currently reading Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Finally, we are starting a new class. One of our interns, Denise Jaffe, will be teaching anyone who is interested how to knit a scarf. This training will take place from 3-5 pm every Thursday and there is already excitement about this new class for us.
