From ABC Good Morning America:

A father’s vision for his own daughter has led to the creation of a 25-acre theme park tailored to serve people with disabilities.

Opening Saturday in San Antonio, Texas, Morgan’s Wonderland features high-tech attractions designed to suit a wide range of cognitive and physical needs, rides that accommodate wheelchairs, and special bracelets with microchips that allow parents to keep track of wandering kids.

Former real estate developer Gordon Hartman said his 16-year-old daughter Morgan inspired him to create a fully accessible and inclusive place where the words ‘couldn’t', ‘shouldn’t’ and ‘can’t’ weren’t part of the vocabulary.

From the [Morris County, NJ] Daily Record:

A group of Northern New Jersey high school students is organizing to encourage more effective integration of students with disabilities alongside their typical peers.

Even though federal law encourages the inclusion of students with disabilities, members of the group say they often see missed opportunities in both academic and social settings throughout the school day.

The two dozen teenagers are planning a rally this spring and have spoken to the state’s Board of Education, calling for better integration as well as a statewide curriculum focusing on disability rights.

Students need to learn to work and play together in school in order to help tackle the reality of the adult world — a 70 percent unemployment rate in New Jersey for people with disabilities, said … Stephanie Jennis, a Montville eighth-grader.

“If we’re taught from kindergarten awareness of disabilities, by the time we’re adults and become employers we will know how to modify things to employ people with disabilities,” Stephanie Jennis said.

From Examiner.com:

This week’s episode of  the Fox series Glee, which chronicled a high school team’s effort to raise money for an accessible bus, ranked as the third most popular video on Hulu.com. The ‘Wheels’ episode explored questions about human diversity, and featured Kevin McHale’s character Artie Abrams, who uses a wheelchair on the show, and Lauren Potter (left) and Robin Trocki, two actresses with Down syndrome.

The full episode is available on Hulu.com here.

Writing on the New York Times Arts Beat blog, Mike Hale said he felt the show’s take on diversity delivered “a mixed message at best.” An excerpt:

Also problematic was the way Lauren Potter, a 19-year-old actress with Down syndrome, was used as a prop in the continuing humanization of [character] Sue Sylvester [played by Jane Lynch]. Forced by the principal to hold open auditions for the cheerleading squad, Sue chose Ms. Potter’s character, the cheerfully determined but not very skilled Becky Johnson… When the big reveal came, we discovered that Sue’s motives were pure: her own older sister has Down syndrome. This development is being praised throughout the Gleeverse, but the view from here is that it felt smarmy and artificial (and not artificial in a good way).

Entertainment Weekly’s Dan Snierson (on MSNBC.com) has a different view of Lynch’s tender scene with Trocki, in which Lynch’s character read “Little Red Riding Hood” to her older sister.

A little manipulative? Probably. But I didn’t care in that glorious moment.

Earlier posts here. and here.

(Photo from the Riverside [CA] Press-Enterprise).

From ABC News (with Person of the Week video by Charles Gibson):

Varsity cheerleaders at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, expanded their team by inviting athletes with disabilities to join them.

The Sparkles Squad now practices and performs at games with the varsity girls. The squad is comprised of ten girls aged 8 to 15 with conditions ranging from autism to Down syndrome.

“The big thing is that when we started we thought we’d be teaching them cheers,” said [Sarah] Herr. “But we didn’t think they’d be teaching us. They’ve taught us so many things about life and it’s really amazing.”

… “I think that it’s really given them a feeling of belonging and acceptance. Usually when someone has a disability, society can only see what they can’t do, but through the sparkle effect, we’ve really exposed what they can do,” said [Sarah] Cronk.

(ABC News photo)

Related posts here.

Foes of a planned group home for people with developmental disabilities in Virginia are acting out of ignorance, prejudice and fear, Colleen Miller writes in the [Harrisonburg, VA], News-Record , adding that their actions are illegal under the federal Fair Housing Act. She says people with developmental disabilities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. An excerpt:

The arguments made by the opponents of this home are old and patently false. Homes for people with disabilities have existed in communities just like Pleasant View, for many decades, with no negative effect on property values, no increase in crime, and no increase in traffic. These false fears arise from the fact that people with intellectual disabilities have been segregated from society for too long. Simply put, it is a fear borne of the unfamiliar.

The law is unambiguous that individuals with disabilities have the right to live in the community, but awareness of the law alone will not resolve the protests of those who have preconceived notions of individuals with disabilities. Only time, experience and knowledge will overcome those notions. Individuals with intellectual disabilities have been denied their rights for too long. We must continue to break down the barriers between them and their right to freedom and inclusion.

Colleen Miller is director of the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy in Richmond.

See also:

A chance to live the good life, By Jeremy Hunt — Harrisonburg [VA] News-Record

Deed restrictions vs. fair housing, By Jeremy Hunt — Harrisonburg [VA] News-Record

Adam Crisp writes in the Chattanooga Times Free Press (with video) that Anna Frierson, 12, who has Down syndrome, has been embraced as a member of the cheerleading squad at Red Bank Middle School in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

“When we first heard that she wanted to be a cheerleader, we were so excited,” said head team captain Hanna Holmes, 13. “She came to our first practice, and she was so sweet. We loved her. She was doing all the cheers, and then she said ‘I’m a cheerleader!’”

Later, the girls voted unanimously to have Anna as a permanent part of the team.

… “This group of girls has the biggest hearts of any girls I’ve seen,” [coach Kimberly Elbakidze] said. “They embrace everyone. They are gentle and kind. They try to coach her to her maximum ability, but they don’t push or and they don’t get frustrated. It works beautifully because they are very understanding and embracing of differences.”

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

A ruling by an arbitrator in response to a teacher complaint could force the Cleveland school district to hire hundreds more special education teachers.

Cleveland’s union contract requires that each inclusion classroom be team taught full-time by a general education teacher and a special education teacher. Presently, the district more often pulls students with disabilities out of their classrooms and sends them to a central location for extra help. The arbitrator’s decision could force the district to hire up to six new teachers per school.

A compromise agreement is expected.