OMOD Conference Season & Other Happenings – Part 1

Greetings devoted blog readers! It's Eric here, and I'd like to share some recent happenings in my life as OMOD project coordinator and self-taught, DIY musician/songwriter:

At the start of each summer, while many Austinites prepare themselves for three months of near-suffocating heat with a full Netflix instant watch list and prayers that the A/C doesn't break, we here at OMOD ready ourselves for a jam-packed conference season. We call it “conference season” because many of the conferences where we regularly present occur within a month-long period of time, starting in the second half of July and ending in the middle of August. During this time, we literally organize one conference session after another. Before we have a chance to breathe and reflect on the success of one conference session, we are all ready preparing for the next one.

This is also an exciting time when we begin to see our speakers' hard work and training truly pay off. New speakers, who were painfully shy only months earlier, find themselves commanding attention from audiences of between 40 and 60 total strangers while older speakers, who have been with OMOD for over a year, assume greater responsibilities as session emcees and mentors to newer, less experienced speakers.

 OMOD speaker Renee kicks off our session,
"Getting Real about Getting Out," at the
Texas Advocates Conference in Dallas.

At San Japan, OMOD speaker Jessica facilitated her own panel without any assistance from OMOD staff for an audience of almost 50 conference attendees. She navigated the entire process from drafting a panel proposal through the actual conference session independently.

In addition to San Japan, OMOD speakers also presented at the Texas Advocates Conference in Dallas, the Texas Association of Vocational Adjustment Coordinators (TAVAC) Conference in Houston, the Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) Conference in San Antonio, and an artists’ panel at DARS’ Celebration for the 25th Anniversary of the ADA here in Austin.

Of course, OMOD conference season is not completely chaos-free. The occasional snafu does occur, as when we plan a session for 30 people and then more than 60 people show up or when we plan to break a session up into multiple groups in the same room and it gets far noisier than expected, but each mistake gives us the opportunity to learn, improve, and make our future sessions stronger. Perhaps the most important lesson we have learned is to be flexible and to think on our feet when our best-laid plans are not working. In the end, seeing our speakers' personal growth and increased independence is what makes this one of the more rewarding seasons of my job.

Stay tuned for Part 2 with recent happenings in my music life!

Arts and Special Education

Hello Friends,

I am writing from the Dog Days of summer – (why do dogs get blamed for the heat, I wonder). Anyway, I just returned from DC where I attended the VSA Intersections conference on Arts and Special Education. I saw a lot of friends there and took some opportunities to get caught up on what is happening in the VSA Network. I am happy to report that things are really percolating along as we celebrate our 40^th anniversary. Yes, 40 years of challenging stereotypes and breaking barriers. And we do this with paintbrushes, dancing shoes, poetry, soliloquies and more!

Emma Goldman, 1869-1940

We presented a track on UDL – Universal Design for Learning – and helped teaching artists, researchers, and arts administrators gain new insights into the flexible curricular options available through the principles of UDL. It is always nice when you see people’s faces light up when they make the connection between what they are doing in the classroom and how these principles support their efforts to engage all students in meaningful learning experiences. Jeannine from VSA arts Rhode Island and I had fun introducing folks to Symbaloo and Voki, two online resources that can help teachers utilize digital formats to engage their media-savvy students in academic lessons.

I learned some wonderfully creative adaptive tool-making strategies to include all students in music and visual art classes from Elena Carnevali and Irene Savage, teachers at Henry Viscardi School in NY. I especially loved the “switch generated” concert, which enables students who use electronic switches to communicate to play music and the lazy Susan that gives students in visual art classes more independence in selecting their own materials.

Examples of adaptive tools

Art@Work, a collaboration between Michigan State University and Peckham (a vocational rehab center in Lansing), reminded me of the video “For Once in My Life” about the music program and Miami Dade Goodwill. However, Art@Work brings students at MSU and workers at Peckham together to make art and share stories. And then there was the Sounds of Intent presentation, where I learned that in Haiti they still have abandonment wards in their hospitals where children born with disabilities are left to die. But, there are advocates who rescue these children, and through music exploration and other education and life supports, help them to survive and thrive. We Skype'd with the children (see the video below), and that was fun!

Thanks for reading! There are people all around the world who are catching the wave of inclusion and the arts for all learners, and people with disabilities are helping to lead the charge.

Until next time, happy 25^th anniversary ADA and happy 40^th anniversary VSA!

Celia

Back in My Hometown of Houston

Hi VSA Texas friends! It’s your Artworks Director April Sullivan here, and I will be traveling to Houston this week to host the Artist Market at the annual Abilities Expo. This is one of my favorite events of the year because we get a chance to serve our Houston artists with disabilities on their home turf… and mine!

I was born in Houston and grew up there until I moved to Austin to go to UT. And you know how that goes – once you move to Austin, you stay! But I still really love Houston and the art scene there. So it is always a pleasure to travel back and visit the galleries and museums. But I will only have a little bit of time for that this week, as I will be spending most of my time at the NRG Center July 31-Aug 2 with six wonderful artists, showing and selling their work to a crowd of people, learning all about the latest and greatest in accessible vehicles, software, tools, and gadgets.

Visit the VSA Texas Artist Market at Booths 436 & 437

We have a great group of artists this year. Back with new work and prints of their all-time favorites are Grant Manier, teenage Eco-Artist, and Brian Dodd of Doddman Gallery. While their art is very different in style, these artists have a few things in common: both have autism and dedicated mothers who help them market their art.

"Night and Day" by Grant Manier  

"General Train Arms Jim" by Brian Dodd

Also joining us this year, after a short hiatus, is author Ron Hull. He will practically be giving his books away this year! So don’t miss his great works of science fiction and his newest work, an autobiography. All signed by Ron in person.

Two women artists, who debuted at the Abilities Expo last year, are back: Lesa Jackson and Una Lau. Lesa paints fun colorful images of peace and love. Una, however, will be selling unique wooden boxes and prints of her poetry paired with her brother’s photographs of Hawaii.

And new to the Artist Market this year is David Sulak from Louise, TX. His autism and OCD make it hard for him to travel, so he has entrusted me with his drawings and construction pieces. Prepare to be wowed by his simple yet detailed style (see below).

“Cars and Trucks” by David Sulak

To learn more about these artists, visit the Artist Market page on the Abilities Expo website here: http://www.abilities.com/houston/pavilions_artist.html

We look forward to seeing you at the Abilities Expo this year!