Librarian's Word

March is Disability Awareness Month in Indiana, and this year CeDIR would like to highlight families. In this issue you will find out about the Family Involvement Fund, resources about sibling relationships and a few exciting services available online.

Are you interested in hosting your own disability awareness event? Need ideas? Check out our blog (http://cedir.blogspot.com/ ) throughout the month of March where we will highlight one disability awareness resource each day!

Spotlight On: the Family Involvement Fund

The Family Involvement Fund (FIF) provides financial support for family members of children with disabilities to help increase knowledge and understanding of their child’s disability and/or the systems that provide services.

This may include attending conferences, conventions, seminars, public forums and hearings, task force meetings, online trainings, teleconferences, webinars, etc. The FIF provides financial support for the purchase of some print materials, and electronic media such as CDs/DVDs, and videos. Separate funding within the FIF is available for parents who participate officially as members on the LPCC-Local Planning and Coordinating Council, its committees, and sponsored activities. Intersted in applying? Visit:

http://www.inf2f.org/F2F-FIF.htm

Reference Service in an Instant

Spring is nearly here, and what better time is there to start new endeavors? Beginning March 3, 2008, CeDIR will be expanding our services by offering online chat reference! Do you have a quick question that you want answered but don’t feel like emailing or calling about? Now you can instantly get in touch with our reference staff by instant messaging cediriub using google talk, yahoo, msn or aol. Don’t have an instant message account? No problem! Visit:

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/cedir/ask.html

From this page you can chat live with our reference staff, you don’t even need sign in. Reference chat services will be available Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. We look forward to chatting with you!

Books

These books are available to Indiana residents from the Center for Disability Information & Referral.

Videorecordings

These videos are available to Indiana residents from the Center for Disability Information & Referral.

Web Resources

These websites provide information including medical information, resources, research, support groups, and message boards about Down syndrome.

Home of SibShops, here you will find resources to meet and speak with other siblings, links to resources and information about the Sibling Support Project.

This article gives a great overview of the issues siblings may encounter and includes personal stories from siblings.

Book Review:

Karasik, J., & Karasik, P. (2003). The ride together: A brother and sister’s memoir of autism in the family. New York: Washington Square Press. (Call Number: 54 .K363)

This unique book by Paul Karasik and Judy Karasik tells the story of their brother David who has autism and the challenges and joys that brought to their family. The book is separated into chapters written from Judy’s perspective and series of comics by Paul. This allows the reader to see two different perspectives of the situation and shows how different siblings feel about their brother. As children Paul and Judy don’t understand why he gets special treatment and why he is allowed to constantly recite the dialogue from his favorite television shows. As they get older they grow to understand David’s diagnosis and feel a sense of responsibility toward ensuring his well-being.

Born in 1948, David was diagnosed with many different conditions as the medical community and his family struggled to figure out what was going on inside his brain. Throughout the book, David moves through a variety of treatment options including living at home, living in a residential facility, and attending a day program. This story is painfully honest at points as it deals with the abuse that occurred in one of David’s facilities. The Ride Together is Paul and Judy’s story of the strength of families, but it’s also David’s story about how happy and fulfilling his life can be under the right circumstances.

Sarah Junk
CeDIR Library Assistant