Special Needs Event

See GLEE Super Star, Lauren Potter, AKA 'Becky Jackson' from 2 - 5pm!

BE EXCEPTIONAL!  Lauren Potter's incredible story of perseverance will inspire audiences of ALL AGES. This is an event not to miss!

November 15, 2014 at Bellevue College, in the Student Union Building - Cafeteria (click here for a map)

Tickets: $10 individual ticket, $20 family ticket 

Please note this event has passed. 

Thanks to all those who helped make this day possible! Here are the fabulous vendor resources that were present at this event.

AtWork! AtWork! is a highly supportive and innovative conduit between people with disabilities and employers that designs customized jobs and provides ongoing support to create mutually beneficial work relationships. We approach our mission of empowering people with disabilities be productive, integrated and contributing members of their communities by focusing on both client and employer needs to strategize, design and create jobs that are valuable, meaningful and deliver a measurable benefit to everyone involved.

Autism Navigators: Autism Spectrum Navigators provides access services for autistic students at Bellevue College pursuing their choice of degree. Through peer mentoring and cohort classes in addition to their chosen program of study, student gain self-knowledge in four program areas: Self-Advocacy, Self-Regulation, Social Interaction and Executive Functioning; increasing their personal ability to access academics, campus services, and community and career options.

Camp Fire Central Puget Sound: A leader in youth-development, we serve more than 8,000 youth annually in a variety of programs including summer camp at Camp Sealth, day camps through the Central Puget Sound and our year-round Camp Fire groups. All of our programs focus on connecting kids to nature and are fully inclusive welcoming kids of all ages & abilities.

Down Syndrome Community: The Down Syndrome Community is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a culture that values, accepts and includes all people with Down syndrome. We offer programs, resources and events that benefit individuals with Down syndrome in the Puget Sound area including: new parent support, the Puget Sound Buddy Walk, age-based social groups, regional conferences, the Learning Program, and much more.

Eastside Catholic: "Options Program: Integrated Special Education Established in 1981, the nationally recognized, integrated special education Options Program at Eastside Catholic School offers an inclusive learning environment for high school students with mild-to-moderate developmental disabilities. With a small student-to-teacher ratio and an inclusive philosophy, the Options Program aims to meet the needs of high school-age students who wish to grow and learn in a supportive, faith-based community."

Emerald City School: Providing children with learning disabilities the support, care, and instruction they need to reach their full potential and become life-long learners. Offering individualized, evidence-based instruction starting at the elementary level in a nurturing and inclusive instructional setting. Located between the vibrant Seattle Center and South Lake Union neighborhoods, we prepare your child for their next academic steps.

Life Enrichment Options: Life Enrichment Options (LEO) is a community based non-profit organization that advocates for and works to support individuals with developmental disabilities to achieve their goals through supportive housing, recreation, employment opportunities and community education.

Mosaic Children's Therapy: "MOSAIC Children’s Therapy Clinics, located in Bellevue, Issaquah and Seattle provide Pediatric Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy, Behavioral, Educational and Child Psychology Services, Nutrition and Feeding Therapy from Birth to Adolescent. MOSAIC also offers: Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA); Aquatic therapy; Autism Evaluations; Behavioral consulting; Counseling: individual & family; Developmental preschool programs; Handwriting classes; Psychological evaluations; Sensory integration programs; Social skills"

Occupational Life Skills: OLS at Bellevue College is an innovative 90 credit associate degree program unlike any program in the nation. This program gives adults with cognitive disabilities the opportunity to obtain an accredited college degree in occupational and life skills. OLS students create a career pathway that is specific to their skills, strengths, and passions. An internship is completed during their last two quarters. More information is available at www.OLSatBellevueCollege.com.

Sammamish Children's Therapy: We are a dedicated team of speech-language pathologists serving children from birth through 18 years. SCT offers evaluations, individual therapy and socialization groups. Our strategies build upon your child's strengths for overall improvements. We strive to help our kids make consistent progress and develop the confidence and skills necessary to lead happy, successful and communicative lives.

Seattle Children's: Consistently ranked as one of the best children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s serves as the pediatric and adolescent academic medical referral center for the largest landmass of any children’s hospital in the country (Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho). For more than 100 years, Children’s has been delivering superior patient care and advancing new treatments through pediatric research. Children’s serves as the primary teaching, clinical and research site for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The hospital works in partnership with Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Special Education Advocacy: Special Education Advocacy has been successfully helping parents navigate the special education and gifted maze through intuitive consultation and direct negotiation since 1998. Our success is guided by mutual understanding, collaboration and strength-based interventions; as a result, we are nationally recognized as one of the leading advocacy resources in the country. And we reside right here in the Puget Sound!

The Arc of King County: The Arc of King County are advocates for the right of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to live, learn, work, and play in the community, improving the quality of life for all of us. Founded in 1936, we are passionate for inclusion, opportunity, and choice because what we want for ourselves, we want for everyone.

The Tavon Center: Tavon Center provides an integrated, community-based experience for young adults with disabilities. The core values of Tavon Center are connection with community, work and nature. We place an emphasis on what clients can do, rather than what their disabilities prevent them from doing. Tavon Center gives our clients a sense of purpose, giving, gratitude, and most of all of belonging.

Vital Kids Medicine: Vital Kids Medicine is a naturopathic clinic that offers comprehensive integrative treatment options for the management of childrens' health care needs. Our clinicians treat a variety of behavioral and developmental, immune and allergy, gastrointestinal and sleep disorders. Our mission is to encourage wellness, optimize health, and create joy in the children, families and communities we serve.

Schedule for the Day

2:00 pm - Doors Open

2:00 - 4:00 pm - Resource fair for special needs families, and speakers Steven Ferreira and Ben Wahl

4:00 - 5:00 pm - Lauren Potter, speech and Q&A

This is an ALL AGES event, and we encourage you to bring your family. 

More about Steve Ferreira, Beyond Disabilities

Steve Ferreira was born with cerebral palsy in Taipei Taiwan in 1988. Steve graduated from Bellevue College in 2013 with an Associates Degree with a concentration in Communications. When he was 15 years old, Steve decided he wanted to try to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. He now has spoken over 150 times at more than 20 different regional high schools about what its like to live with a disability.

In November 2011, he started a non-profit called Beyond Disabilities to further his goal of disability awareness.

Ben Wahl, "Where's the Start Button?"

Ben Wahl, MSW has worked with children, teens and young adults for the last twenty years in a variety of capacities. In 2004, he started Ryther's Aspiring Youth Program, which serves young people with Autism, ADHD and other neurological differences.

Ben holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MSW from the University of Washington. Ben offers ideas for school-aged kids and their parents to promote independence skills.

More about Lauren Potter

When professionals told Lauren that she “couldn’t” or “wouldn’t, she worked harder. Barriers put before her became a personal challenge to let people know what she was capable of.

Lauren is now thrilled to be able to use the public “voice” that Glee has given her, to speak out for other people with disabilities who may not have the same opportunities. She works on the Abilitypath.org campaign against bullying, as a World Games Ambassador for the Special Olympics and a spokesperson for the Best Buddies programs in their “End the Word” campaign.

Lauren also lends her name to national organizations, including the Arc, Down Syndrome Association and the AAPD.  She has received numerous awards for her inclusion and diversity work. 

Check out the rest of this year's ParentMap Lecture Series

 Special Thanks to our Sponsors