The date has been changed for the 7^th Annual Heart & Hope Statewide Family Conference, but that's all that's changed!  The new date is Saturday, September 7, 2013!

The location is STILL Dunedin Highland Middle School (70 Patricia Avenue, Dunedin) Autism rights activist Ari Ne'eman will STILL be the Keynote Speaker.  Mr. Ne'emam co-founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and serves on the National Council on Disability, appointed by President Obama .

Heart & Hope is STILL FREE!  There will STILL be door prizes, FREE childcare, FREE lunch, and FREE information, resources, materials, trainings, and IEP clinics!

Independence Day

We hope that you are your family have a safe and Happy Independence Day Holiday.

We The People - A Perspective on Disability  

© 2007 Family Network on Disabilities

We are your sisters, we are your brothers. We are your mothers, we are your fathers. We are your sons, we are your daughters. We are yourselves.

We.

We are everywhere. Wherever you look. You will find us.

Like in a mirror.

Deny us, curse us, hide us. We are still there.

Fix us, cure us? Yeah, I don't think so. Why?

We.

Here's a question - what is normal, anyway? I don't know. Do you? Can you touch it?  Can you feel it? Do you know it in your soul? I don't think so. I don't think it exists.

Go ahead - put us on buses short and in classrooms apart. Segregate us. Point at us.  Laugh at us. Shall we overcome? Oh, yes, we shall.

We.

We're told we have rights - as long as we're not naïve enough to actually try to use them.

We're told there's no money - for us. But there always seems to be enough money for everything else. Where's that magic lamp? How do we tap into that magic tree?

We.

We - are one out of five persons in the U.S.

We - breathe the same air and share the same small planet.

We - are you.

We. You. Us.

We.