Hey guys! So with FYSOP right around the corner I’ve been thinking about all the CRAZY AWESOME-NESS that comes with it. I decided to throw in a little home video of my Super Sweet FYSOP and show all of you what I’m the most excited for. Check it out y’all (I’ve been watching a lot of Paula Deen).

Peace, love, & FYSOP

Adam

                        what am I most excited for?

Since that’s basically an impossible question to answer, I’ll answer it by saying I’m so incredibly excited for FYSOP that I already can’t sleep at night and have butterflies all day long.

I’m also going to make a vague, unexplained list of why I’m this excited because I obvi don’t want to give too much away!

1. We have monkeys.

2. I may or may not be able to shimmy excessively during our dance.

3. Seeing all you pretty people attend the sweet social events Alys and I have planned.

4. Adam and I becoming straight up besties with our incredible #fysopABLE staff.

5. 2 words- DINING HALL.

6. Seeing the madness of Opening Ceremonies and having the Ed Day Opener blow not only my mind, but everyone else’s as well.

7. Being able to actually volunteer and go on one of our sites, which will remain anonymous, during one of the service days with a group of freshmen!

8. My blood being Red Bull.

9. FYSOP 22 being 100000% different than my FYSOP 21 and FYSOP 20 experiences.

10. Being a teeny tiny part of the reason FYSOP is the best and most memorable thing some of you will ever do at BU like the past 2 have been for me.

SEE YOU SOON!!!

Chrissy

… I figured I’d post some info about 3 of our sites we’re going to this year!

T.H.E. Farm- Founded in September 1998 with a mission to provide a public, self sustaining, agriculturally based equine program. It was created in order to meet the needs of the Tewksbury Hospital community and fosters a regional environment for education, research and the integration of members of the disabled and the able bodied community. http://www.t-h-e-farm.org

Walnut Street Center- a nonprofit human service agency that provides support services for adults who have developmental disabilities, as well as for their families. Their mission is to offer a variety of opportunities to work, volunteer and socialize in the community. Their services include employment training programs, social and clinical support and assisted living. The goal of these services is “to provide the resources and support that will enable the people we serve to live rewarding and productive lives in the community.” http://www.wscinc.org/

Ivy Street School- founded 1993 to provide residential and educational treatment to the growing number of adolescents with brain injuries and other neurological difficulties. Ivy Street is a place for learning, providing young men and women from the ages of 13 to 22 with academic plans tailored to their education level, life skills and vocational raining, individual and group therapy, adaptive physical education, and restorative therapies such as physical, speech and occupational therapy. http://www.mabcommunity.org/ivy-street-school.html

Smooches!

Chrissy

The article stated that “due to so much local in-breeding, Boston suffers from a kind of Style Down Syndrome.” GQ had no comment on this statement.

One advocate said- “This is vile. It sets us back as having to work so hard to eliminate the stereotypes that people with any kind of disabilities have had to live with for hundreds of years.”

Melanie McLaughlin, whose 3-year-old daughter, Gracie, has Down syndrome, said, “It makes you feel like somebody really stabbed you in the heart. It’s the only way you can put it. It hurts. It really hurts.”

There have been many responses to this article but the most interesting I’ve found is by an MD from Children’s Hospital in Boston who has a sister with Down Syndrome.

In his response article titled- Mock my pants, not my sister, Brian Skotko said- “Go ahead, GQ, and mock my blue whale-emblemed Nantucket-red pants. Laugh if you want at the loud argyles that I prefer to wear with my black suit. I don’t even care if you dismiss the sexy pink polka-dotted tie that I like to wear with my blue-checkered shirt in clinic. But, whatever you do, do not mess with my sister.”

BOOM. Get it Brian.

That’s all for now. More posts with info on our sites coming soon!

DEUCES <3 Chrissy and Adam

We’re a little over a month away from the start of FYSOP and we’re getting crazy excited. The phones are ringing off the hook and everyone’s putting their stress pants on but still having a great time planning the ridiculousness.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve stumbled upon a ton of great articles about disabilities in the recent news. For example, on our fave website disabilityscoop.com, there was a recent article titled TV Show To Tackle Dating With Disabilities about a British TV show called the “Undateables”. The show will follow people with a wide range of disabilities who say their disabilities have affected their relationships. In the show, a dating agency will actually set some of these contestants up with potential matches!

On a less light-hearted note, we also found this article in the NY Times  A Disabled Boy’s Death, and a System in Disarray about the death of a young boy with autism due to the failing of a Developmental Center in Albany, NY and the lack of sufficient staff members there.

We would LOVE it if you guys could send us some cool disability-related articles that you’ve found and any feedback you have for these ones! We want to keep our blog up and coming and want to post your articles on here as well.

ALSO, almost as important here, please send us your fave throwback song. We’ve basically been solely bumpin’ 90′s/early 00′s throwbacks this summer and we’d love some suggestions.

For example…

EMAIL US- fysopdisabilities22@gmail.com

TWEET AT US- @BUCSC #fysopABLE

Chrissy & Adam

BU class of 2015 incoming freshman with a hearing impairment signs/performs to “I Believe I Can Fly” at the CSC’s karaoke night during orientation

Thank you to the wonderful GF Coordinator Sam Smith for this find!

We get a bit more surrrious and talk about our vision for FYSOP Disabilities this year

On a commercial break of a episode of Glee this past season, this PSA called “Not Acceptable” premiered. It promotes a similar message to the People First initiative in that we need to make an effort to really think first before we use potentially offensive labels when speaking about someone.

“Not Acceptable” is a powerful and compelling 30 second television PSA which gives voice to a variety of diverse communities each of whom expresses that it is not acceptable to call them by what were once common words, but are now recognized as offensive slurs. It culminates in actress and self-advocate Lauren Potter from “Glee” stating that it is not acceptable to use the word ‘retard’ and she and “Glee” co-star Jane Lynch make a call to action to stop using the word and to make their pledge online at http://r-word.org.

The PSA was launched by the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign- an on-going initiative from Special Olympics and Best Buddies to eradicate the derogatory use of the word “retard(ed)” from everyday use and promote the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The PSA is supported by several national advocacy organization including the Anti-Defamation League, Special Olympics, Best Buddies, GLAAD, The Hispanic Federation, National Puerto Rican Coalition, The Asian-American Foundation, AbilityPath.org and the NAACP.