What a Sunday!

What a great day!  We never want the conference to end.  It's such a great experience and so much FUN!  Here are a few highlights of our morning & afternoon.  I didn't think I'd be able to post, but the finale wrapped up right on time, and we don't need to leave for our flight for another hour and a half.

We started out at the film festival this morning, and (finally) had a chance to see this film.  In all honesty, it moves very slowly, but it does tell a beautiful story.  We had a chance to meet one of the actors with Down syndrome, too!  Three members of our local area participated in this film: Stephen Blum, Race Eberhardt, and Eric Neatrour.  They all did a wonderful job and we're all proud of them!  I grew up in Akron, NY right next to the Reservation, so it was fun to see familiar faces and places during the film.  

Right after Bury My Heart, they also showed the film "Just Like You: Down syndrome", and we were lucky enough to sit right behind miss Rachel, one of the 3 kids from the film.  She is a delightful and bubbly girl, and we had great fun chatting with her and her parents.  She was gracious enough to have her picture taken with us.  Such a sweetheart.  If you have not already seen this video, please do!  You can find it here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M--xOyGUX4  Just to make our day, we received a phone call telling us we had won a copy of the DVD!!!  We're thinking of ways to get this viewed publicly in our area.  

Afterwards, as David attended the D.A.D.S. workshop, I attended a session with information on Apps and iDevices.  It was very informative and the presenter offered lots of titles, recommendations, and tips for maximizing use of your iDevice at home and in school.  There are a few apps that are on sale TODAY (Sunday) only, that she presented.  The titles are: First-Then Task Manager, Flashcards By Me, Sight Words Pro, Bobs Books, and Words That Go.  You can check them out on iTunes, and you can also visit Tracy Churchman's web site for further info at www.tysadventures.com. 

I still haven't worked out how to post a video, but I'll try again.  The grand finale was filled, and again brought me to tears of joy and admiration for all of the self advocates and fellow parents.

So that's this year's conference as we saw it.  We had a wonderful time, made more new friends, met more fabulous people, and generally enjoyed ourselves as we were inspired by self-advocates and professionals alike.  Be sure to follow us and check back for next year's conference.

Did I forget to mention?  Next year's conference is scheduled for July 11-13 in Indianapolis, IN.  Watch the FCDSN FB page or newsletter for when and how to register.  Thanks for following along! :)