What every parent of a kid with learning issues needs to hear

This blog post is dedicated to every parent or ally of a kid with a disability who didn’t think their advocacy was working.  Watch the video or read the transcript below.

Watch the video here!

The schools oftentimes told my  parents that Catholic school was not for me, that it wasn’t a place that I belonged and that they only served the “typical” kids. And the one story that I really wanted to share with you was when I first got diagnosed, the schools kinda tried to push me out. My mom tried to educate them about what a learning disability was.

And so she called up Cal at the time, and they had a disability office. And they specifically had a program for students who had LD. And she got a letter from the school and presented it to the teachers and said, “Look at  this! You think she’s only gonna fry French fries. I think that  was your exact term, McDonalds.”

So she said, “She’s only gonna work there,” which by the way, if they increase the minimum wage, that would be awesome. [ laughs ] You wouldn’t have any loans. And showed that letter to the teachers. And the teachers just kind of ignored it, and it didn’t really work.

But she folded it up and put it in the drawer next to my savings bonds from my first Communion and a lot of other really important things like my Social Security card. And it sat there, and for me, even though it didn’t help with the teacher, it helped that I saw her actually do that.

And I eventually went to Cal, and I think it was a big part because I knew that that was a school that they had accommodations.

And so sometimes the interventions and the activism and the advocacy that you do as  a parent, it may not work on the person that you’re trying to direct it at. But it may work because of the impact on your kid.

#activism #advocacy #specialed #catholicschool #disability #dyslexia

 

What’s so Funny After 50?

Event Date:

Friday, February 7, 2014 – 20:00 to 22:00

Dan St. Paul’s “What’s So Funny After 50?” comes to the Pacific Pinball Museum for one night only!   Friday February 7th at 8pm

Aging happens to everybody, but when it happens to comic Dan St. Paul, it’s hilarious. Upon reaching the half century mark, St. Paul had a series of revelations about his body (“I’m a cylinder now. I can wear a belt anywhere on my body.”); his faulty memory (“I have eight pairs of reading glasses and I have no idea where they are.”); and dealing with his teenage son (“I have a bumper sticker that says ‘My Son’s Just Getting By At Hillsdale High’).

Now he has packed his cleverest reflections on going gray into “What’s Funny After 50?” Turns out, getting old has given this former opener for Jerry Seinfeld some of his best material ever. Comedy-lovers from their teens to their golden years will enjoy this solo show.

Dan is a veteran of San Francisco comedy.  After a seven year stint of headlining San Francisco clubs in the comedy duo Murphy-St. Paul, Dan launched his own solo act that was to land him in the finals of the nation’s toughest comedy competition, The San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition.

Soon after, Dan moved to Los Angles and appeared on several episodes of “An Evening at the Improv.” Plus numerous shows on VH-1, MTV and Comedy Central.  Since then, he has opened for such superstars as Jerry Seinfeld, Natalie Cole, and Smokey Robinson.

Comedy and Pinball for a Cause, a show produced by comedian Nina G, brings Dan St. Paul to Alameda for a special one night only performance at the Pacific Pinball Museum on Friday, February 7.  Proceeds from the show will go to the Pacific Pinball Museum, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.  Learn more about the museum and its mission and cultural events at www.Pacificpinball.org.

The shows begins at 8 p.m..  Show will contain adult content. Tickets are $15 and available at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-so-funny-after-50-comedy-at-ppm-tickets-10044161357