DonorsChoose autism challenge

[celticdragonfly]

Ooh, look what came up on my flist: You can request a $30 gift certificate payable to Donors Choose from SixApart by 5 PM Pacific time on Monday, October 1. Donors Choose is a non-profit website where you search through proposed classroom projects and donate to them as you choose.

I think this is a marvelous idea. We get to help a good cause FOR FREE? Just for sending an email? JUMP on this, people!

I've been wandering the Donors Choose site a bit, to see what they have open. Nothing in my school district. Nothing in Brendan's current school district. However, I looked for proposals for autistic kids.

Autistic and other special ed children often have needs that are quite different from other children their age. As a mother of one autistic child and one speech delayed child, I've learned so much about how hard special ed teachers work for these kids. I've created a challenge - a group of proposals I'm asking people to help - with a few unusual projects that will help autistic kids here in Texas - little things that can make a huge difference for them. One in Arlington, three in a special needs classroom down in San Antonio.



I've gotten various people set up on LJ - yes, family, I'm looking at you specifically - and I want you all to go email them for this and donate to my challenge! And I hope a lot of the rest of my flist will, too. Go take a look and read about the 4 proposals on my challenge. And get that email off to SixApart RIGHT AWAY, even if you give it to a different proposal, just do it!

Comments

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I just picked up a manga at Borders that you might find of interest - its title is With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child, which won an award in Japan, and was made into a TV drama that won all sorts of awards, according to the back cover copy. The story is apparently still being serialized (up to volume 10 in Japan, according to Amazon), and this edition contains volumes 1 and 2 of the Japanese edition. With a very quick glance at the end, it looks to come to some sort of conclusion so you shouldn't be left hanging at the end. :)

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I think I should mention this to my ex, who is the parent currently with Brendan, and who gets manga. I don't - I've had friends recommend stuff, and tried the things that sounded most suited to appeal to me, and was totally turned off by it, so I think I'm going to give up, but the ex might want to know about it.

And I left a comment on the lj biz post asking for clarification.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yeah, manga's like genre fiction - if the conventions don't work for you, then they just don't work for you. I've got to give a presentation on manga to school librarians next weekend, and I think I'm going to bring this along as a concrete example of manga that isn't for children, just to blow the minds that need blowing about how picture books can tell stories that are meant for adults.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a good idea.

If it helps any with clarification - I'm good with picture books that tell adult stories - graphic novels, no problem, we have a number of them. It just seems to be manga and anime.

Pity - it seems to be getting harder to find any good graphic novels that *aren't* manga.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I get what you're saying - I know that (most) manga is deliberately designed to push the reader through the page as fast as possible - the average reading time for a tankoubon (the collected volume) is right around 20 minutes. So the visual language is designed to speed you along, unlike American-style comics which are really designed to slow you down a bit and to look at the art, and I think that's part of what makes people not get it; that just doesn't work with their ... brainstyle? reading style? enjoyment?

Of course, there's other reasons, too - I know people who just can't read right-to-left because the left-to-right is so ingrained, and then there are people who can't get past the character designs and really prefer more realistic art.

(Sorry, I can start lecturing on manga at the slightest provocation. I should have a warning sticker. XD)

[phoenixsinger.livejournal.com]

I sent the email, but only apparently just in time (it's Sunday.) Now what?

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Good for you. First, pass this on to anyone else who has an LJ. It is possible that anybody else with an email address can do this - that hasn't been clarified, but hey, if you know people who want to try it, yay. Then wait for the reply - dunno when we'll get that - and then follow whatever directions you get to donate it. Hopefully to my challenge!

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

Donors Choose has been one of my favorite charities for a long time. I got gift certificates as family xmas gifts last year, so they could shop for a project to fund.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

So did you guys all go request yours?

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

Nah, not for SixApart--I was away all weekend, so I may as well just do it on my own and not worry about their deadline. I might donate to one of your special needs projects, though.

Isn't it appalling what some of these teachers need? A rug, for god's sake. A bookshelf.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

The deadline is not until 5 pm Pacific today. So just drop them an email, to donorschoose@sixapart.com

[archangelbeth]

I tried to get one of the thingies, but I have not found it in my in-box, even today. O:(

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

There's quite a lag between requesting and getting them. So hang in there, you may get it later, especially if you requested near the deadline.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Donation made to carpet project.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Thank you, love!

Did you ask for one in libertarianhawk's name, too?

[libertarianhawk.livejournal.com]

Did now.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

Requested and got my gift certificate code. Applied to the Reading Rods project. Cool, thanks for pointing this out.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[xinef.livejournal.com]

Got two more gift cert codes for my other two LJs!! So another $60 to the reading rods project.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Oh YAY!

[hopeevey.livejournal.com]

Do you know, offhand, how to donate the gift certificate without having to register with Donors Choose? I don't seem to be wakeful enough to find it tonight.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Well, what my mom did was forward her certificate to me and tell me to apply it to my challenge. So I did, and it just put it under my registration. That's the only way I know of doing it. There may be others.

[hopeevey.livejournal.com]

What would be a good email address for you, then :)

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

The LJ username at gmail dot com. :-)

[hopeevey.livejournal.com]

Just sent it to you :)

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!

I'm so excited about this challenge!

[xinef.livejournal.com]

I just got an email from DonorsChoose with a $100 gift certificate code. Applied it to the last project which still needed money. Cool!