An Inclusive Colouring Book

 Hello everyone,

I have some pretty cool news! About a month ago, my cousin told me that her half sister and her partner were opening up an inclusive ranch, called "Wild Embrace Farm" for  children with diverse abilities.  I'm always happy to hear stories of people who have taken the initiative to make their communities more inclusive , and, everything they do in "Wild Embrace Farm's "project is all about inclusion, right down to  the fundrasing.  To raise money for this ranch to open, they asked people who have any kind of neurodiversity to write them a short story about a time when they felt fully included and valued.  They took these stories, and used them to make a colouring book for children. I am so excited that I got the oppourtinity to do this. People with diverse abilities need to  be shown more in the media, and in things like this, especially where they can be shown to young children who colour in colouring books. When they are,  young children  can see  that people who have  diverse abilitiesas are  part of our society. It makes me feel hope for the future when I see, or hear about it. 

My inclusive adventure I wrote about was my journey learning how to ski at our beautiful, local ski hill, Panorama. I will paste it below, as well as linkk to the colouring page that was inspired by it

Skiing has become such a special part of my life as a young woman with Cerebral Palsy. It’s amazing to think of how far some  incredible, kind hearted volunteers have helped me grow in the sport, especially since my family and I never even considered it a possibility while I was growing upI was in grade seven when I was first introduced to a sit ski, which is basically a sled, on skis for people who have mobility challenges. I got to spend  five Fridays up at our magnificent Panorama Mountain Village ski hill, getting lessons from ski instructors, just like my classmates.After the first Friday on Panorama Mountain, I remember being excited about getting to share an experience with other kids in my school. We were all on the same playing field, it felt like, and it was SO much fun.   After day one , I so badly wanted the next week of school to be over, so that another fun filled Friday of skiing would be here. I had found my sport; there was no question about it.

 After  my first year of skiing, the family of volunteers who helped me decided to start a program  called PASS (Panorama Adaptive Snowsports). Because of that,  I was able to ski with my sister, graduate from  being a sit sikier to stand up skier,  and even win the 2019 Canadian Adaptive Skier of the Year at the Kimberly CADS(Canadian Adaptive Disabled Skiers Association) festival.  Not bad for someone who never thought they’d never point a foot down a ski hill, hey?  The biggest lesson I have learned from skiing is that anything is possible, and with determination, and the help of good friends who believe in your goal as much as you do, you can achieve anything you set your mind to!

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Comments

  1. katers95September 18, 2022 at 4:02 PM

    Click on the link posted under todays blog entry to view the colouring page

    ReplyDelete

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