LifeMyWay: video - Teresa: Being able to live the life you were intended to live: Community, Advocacy & Disability life in Illinois

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Uploaded by lifemywayil on Jun 2, 2010

Teresa: Last seen: with the kids
My story:
I'm parent of a 17-year old with Down Syndrome and a 13-year old daughter, who's really involved in her brother's scenario. He receives Special Education services in high school. I work at the Illinois Advocacy & Guardianship Commission, which is an agency that provides those services for people throughout the state. Our responsibility is to inspect allegations of rights violations committed against people with disabilities. My personal and professional life kind of intermix.

Why I advocate:
It's a necessary component of being a parent of a child with a disability. It's so often the parents who are the impetus to change, improvement and success. There are wonderful service providers out there who are willing to do the right thing and they see the importance of providing services but it takes advocacy to keep that ball rolling and ensure that people's rights are respected. I want my son to be part of his community, be able to do as much as he can and take advantage of as many opportunitites as he can.

LifeMyWay means:
It's being able to live the life that you were intended to live. I want my son to be able to have services and be a part of his community as much as possible, to shop, work and live in his community and have the supports he needs to do those things successfully. As a professional, we advocate so people can live the life that they are entitled to live.