Traveling Bears

Do you know a child who would love a visit from a cute and cuddly teddybear who just so happens to have the same disability as they do? These friendly bears are on a very special journey spreading awareness, encouragement and love by visiting families all over the world. This mission was brought to life by a very young 7 year old boy named Elijah and his mom. They wanted to raise awareness for his diagnosis Pediatric Stroke, and thus the Traveling Awareness Bears were born.The effort took off and was even more successful than they could have ever imagined, bringing along the conception of multiple bears with varying diagnosis’s known as the Bearowicz family. The bears are allowed to visit the home of a very special little girl or boy for 1 week, and for individual circumstances up to 2 weeks.They arrive with a journal and a passport in tow. Each child gets to stamp the passport and marvel at how far and wide their bear has traveled to be with them. (pretty awesome huh)?The bears hate that they have to leave after just 1 week but they are mindful that their job is very important and they have friends around the world that need them too.The bear is allowed to go almost everywhere, to schools, Dr.s appointments, surgeries and even while they are attending horseback therapy lessons. The organization is to taking suggestions on other disorders, diseases,syndromes, and disabilities but for now the bears that are making the rounds are...Pediatric Stroke, Autism, Congenital Heart Defect and Rare Chromosome Disorders, lymphatic malformation, Chiari malformation, cerebral cavernous malformation, EA/TEF and they are also working on diabetes, epilepsy, leukemia, hearing impairment, ADHD/ADD.. Their goal is to eventually have bears for all of the things that affect our children. If you would like a member of the Bearowicz family to come visit your home for a week Click Here . The organization is currently in the process of becoming a non-profit 501c3 but in the meantime has a WISH LIST Please take a moment to see if you can help out with any of the items on their wishlist. They are not expensive items and some of you may have things around the house that would be helpful to them. Traveling Awareness Bears P.O. Box 1513 O’fallon, MO 63366

I am the child

I have posted this one in the past, but since I have so many new readers, I thought I would repost. It is so important for everyone to understand. I only wish I knew the author so that I could give proper credit. I AM THE CHILD (Author Unknown) I am the child who cannot talk. You often pity me, I see it in your eyes. You wonder how much I am aware of -- I see that as well. I am aware of much, whether you are happy or sad or fearful, patient or impatient, full of love and desire, or if you are just doing your duty by me. I marvel at your frustration, knowing mine to be far greater, for I cannot express myself or my needs as you do. You cannot conceive my isolation, so complete it is at times. I do not gift you with clever conversation, cute remarks to be laughed over and repeated. I do not give you answers to your everyday questions, responses over my well-being, sharing my needs, or comments about the world about me. I do not give you rewards as defined by the world's standards -- great strides in development that you can credit yourself; I do not give you understanding as you know it. What I give you is so much more valuable -- I give you instead opportunities. Opportunities to discover the depth of your character, not mine; the depth of your love, your commitment, your patience, your abilities; the opportunity to explore your spirit more deeply than you imagined possible. I drive you further than you would ever go on your own, working harder, seeking answers to your many questions with no answers. I am the child who cannot talk. I am the child who cannot walk. The world seems to pass me by. You see the longing in my eyes to get out of this chair, to run and play like other children. There is much you take for granted. I want the toys on the shelf, I need to go to the bathroom, oh I've dropped my fork again. I am dependent on you in these ways. My gift to you is to make you more aware of your great fortune, your healthy back and legs, your ability to do for yourself. Sometimes people appear not to notice me; I always notice them. I feel not so much envy as desire, desire to stand upright, to put one foot in front of the other, to be independent. I give you awareness. I am the child who cannot walk. I am the child who is mentally impaired. I don't learn easily, if you judge me by the world's measuring stick, what I do know is infinite joy in simple things. I am not burdened as you are with the strife's and conflicts of a more complicated life. My gift to you is to grant you the freedom to enjoy things as a child, to teach you how much your arms around me mean, to give you love. I give you the gift of simplicity. I am the child who is mentally impaired. I am the disabled child. I am your teacher. If you allow me, I will teach you what is really important in life. I will give you and teach you unconditional love. I gift you with my innocent trust, my dependency upon you. I teach you about how precious this life is and about not taking things for granted. I teach you about forgetting your own needs and desires and dreams. I teach you giving. Most of all I teach you hope and faith. I am the disabled child.

The world needs art!

Today's post was brought to you by Jewels, she wrote this lovely post after meeting Hailey at the Dance Studio... I am a dancer of IMPACT dance company, located just outside of Boston Massachuesttes. The companies founder/choreographer/most amazing woman ever is evolving a evening length work right now based on the movement of Hailey, a beautiful bright four year old with Cerebral Palsy. Hailey's Grandmother has a beautiful blog that documents their families journey, please read about this remarkable family here. Working on this piece has been emotional since day one for me. Working to promote Autism Spectrum Disorder Awareness has opened my eyes to the struggles so many children with special needs face, especially in social situations such as schools. It was wonderful to meet Hailey and hear her parents speak about how much she has opened up with children at school, and to witness her be completely open with a room full of strong dancers - not say in the least - was so heart warming. We all fell in love with Hailey the second she entered the room. Her sparkling eyes lit up and she went straight to the mirrors, admiring her beautiful face. We preformed a part of our peice for her, and she watched with rapt attention, smiling and giggling the whole time. The joy in her face is something I will never forget. It made me think about how much I take for granted - the fact I can move and have a body that is suited for dancing, I can walk I can run, I am weight training, I can articulately speak my mind- things she will not be able to accomplish because of her body and her brain. She is extraordinarily intelligent. After watching us she copied our movements exactly and picked a favorite part of the dance. I truly believe she will do great things with her life, she is too intelligent not to. Please follow her story at the link above and stay tuned for the progression of this piece. Todays post was written by Jewels She is one of the Dancers over at Impact Dance Company Boston

Child model with Down syndrome inspires thousands

To see a video of Ryan Langston, Click on the link below. He is the young boy that everyone has been blogging about! Child model with Down syndrome inspires thousands

Best Grandparenting Blog!

About.com is looking to give the 2012 Readers Choice Award to the best grandparent blog and “Painting For Hailey” has been nominated! This is the category that we are nominated in. Best Grandparenting Blog by an Individual Blogger

If you enjoy reading my blog and learning about Hailey and our families journey, please go over to the nomination page and nominate us. The five blogs that get the most nominations will make it into the voting phase. Nomination: Best Grandparenting Blog by an Individual Blogger All you have to do is write in 3 pieces of information as follows: Name of Blog* “Painting For Hailey” Blogger Name (Real or Blogging Name)*Janet “Grammy” Harrold Blog URL/web address* www.janetharrold.blogspot.com So head on over to About.com Thank you for your continued support and if you want to see our profile on About.com you can see it here

Mary Clare and Luke

I just realized that I haven't been posting all of my latest paintings on the blog. I have been painting, just not posting them. Here is my latest, I hope you enjoy! Oh and head on over to my painting for Hailey fb page to see more. The shirt in my painting is different per moms request Mary Clare and Luke... so precious

The Photo

Who's next??? inbox me www.harrold.janet@gmail.com and thank you for sharing my paintings with your family and friends

"Inclusion Infusion"

Inclusion infusion, that is what comes to my mind when I see this ad. The buzz around the special needs blogosphere is that Nordstroms and Target have really hit a bulls eye with their ads featuring this handsome young man Ryan. Ryan (who just so happens to have Down Syndrome) is included in both of these ads.

Often times our society excludes children with disabilities, too many times they are separated, stared at and picked on. It does my heart good to see these retail giants support and include Ryan. After all...he is adorable, just as cute as any of the other children in the ad. I shamely admit, that before Hailey was born, I had no idea that the special needs community is as large as it is, I not only had no idea, I never took the time to find out, or to care. It wasn’t my issue, After all, I was too busy, and it didn’t concern me. SHAME ON ME! But the reason I had no idea, is that I was never taught or educated about how or why people with disabilities were born, or how they should be treated. When I went to school the children with disabilities were in a separate classroom, away from everyone else, they did not participate in recess as we did, they didn’t have lunch when we had lunch, they took a different bus than we took to school. I thought they were someone to fear! After all, alot of the children in the special ed class couldn’t speak and they sometimes made loud noises and that scared me. I thought, they were behind closed doors for a reason, and I should be afraid of them. SHAME ON THE SCHOOL SYSTEM! But now that I am grown up and I have a beautiful granddaughter with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy. I know that people with disabilities are just beautiful members of this society just as you and I. They deserve respect, love, patience, understanding, acceptance and they deserve to be included in everything that you would want to be included in. I believe that if we see more often in the media children who have special needs (such as an ad with a child in a wheelchair, or leg braces, maybe someone with a therapy dog, or a child with a walker) If it becomes more commonly viewed, then it will become more accepted or more “the norm” and others will understand that people with disabilities are not people to be pitied but accepted, respect and included. As a granddmother who supports and loves her grandchild just as anyone else supports and loves their grandchildren, I have made several small attempts to try and make inclusion a priority. A few recent attempts that I have done to raise awareness. Some have been successful, others, not so much. But with these two retail stores putting there best efforts forward, I will continue to try and maybe, just maybe one of my efforts will catch on. One small effort that I make to raise awareness is this blog, it is a pretty well read blog, so I have to say that this effort has been successful. Another successful effort for raising awareness for C.P. is hiding a green Cerebral Palsy Awareness ribbon in my paintings, this has been sort of successful, I have many people who view my work as about it, and this gives me a chance to explain. Another successful feat was this years “Christmas Card Project” It was my hope to design a Christmas card that featured a child in a wheelchair opening up a present and enjoying Christmas just as any child enjoys the act of opening up a present.

These cards were sent and received by so many people across the world, thanks to the Cox family for allowing me to paint their handsome boy Carter and for sending these cards to soo many people. This idea came to me after writing a letter to “Blue Mountain” greeting card company and a couple of other companies suggesting they come out with a line that featured cards appropriate for and featuring the special needs community, this effort was rejected and makes me want to start my own line. I really want to do this and have been working on it, but I don’t have the necessary resources. Another effort that was rejected was my letter to Susan Lordi (Willow Tree Figurines) You have all heard of or seen these beautiful figurines. They claim to have a figurine for everyone or just about any occasion. I beg to differ, I love these figurines, I love the art, sculpture and the painting so much of these beautiful simple works of art that I contacted the owner and asked them to sculpt a child in a wheelchair, or in leg braces etc. They sent me a nice response but were unwilling to fill my request. This is an example of one of their figures, depicting a perfect family,

however it doesn’t look like my family. I would love for Hailey to see things that she can relate to. Not that she can’t relate to every other little girl that loves to play with dolls and watch cartoons, but it would be great to see a large company support everyone, just as Nordstroms and Target are doing. They are saying that our kids are just as adorable as other kids and they are treating our kids as equals and that goes along way with me! A big thank you to Target and to Nordstroms for the support!