DREAMS Foundation Provides Activities for Individuals with Special Needs
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The DREAMS Foundation of Acadiana was created to provide activities and programs for individuals with special needs and their families after the founders' son asked to play soccer but found few accommodating options. It started with founding a special Cub Scout pack and has since expanded to offer many sports programs as well as art, dance, and more through learning the needs of each child and accommodating disabilities. The foundation has had a positive impact by providing numerous year-round programs that eliminate the question of how children can participate and creating community awareness and assistance networks. Its future goals are to continue developing new programs and expand efforts to include adults with special needs.
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DREAMS Foundation Provides Activities for Individuals with Special Needs
- 2. Disability Resources Education Activity Management Services
- 3. Our foundation was created to help open doors and provide activities and programs for individuals with special needs and their families.
- 4. How it began… Our son Logan began to ask WHEN he would get to play soccer like his older sister. We didn’t have the answer, but refused to tell him he couldn’t.
- 5. First attempt at finding an activity The Boy Scouts of America were open and do invite children with special needs to participate. The problem we encountered was that we found the leaders and other parents were not prepared to work with Logan.
- 7. Became 1 of 8 Cubscout packs in the United States focused on boys with special needs.
- 9. The children wanted more programs
- 11. Soccer
- 12. Baseball
- 13. Basketball
- 14. Bowling
- 15. Dancing
- 16. Cheerleading
- 17. Art ClassesWe are currently working on Karate, Ice Skating, and many more programs to add to the list.
- 18. Positive Impact Numerous programs and activities year round for individuals with special needs Parents and families no longer have to accept that there is nothing available for their children. Elimination of the question of “How can my child participate?” Financial assistance available through the foundation. Created awareness in out local community. Communication between non-profits has increased.
- 19. Bonus Impact Fun, Safe and Enjoyable activities for the entire family!
- 20. Future Goals Continue to create, establish, and run existing and additional activities and programs. Expand efforts to include adults with special needs. Continue to create and maintain a communication network. Develop a resource site for families.
- 21. Long Term Goals Building and establishing our own facility. Expansion to other communities within the state.
- 22. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Editor's Notes
- The D.R.E.A.M.S. Foundation of Acadiana
- DREAMS is an acronym which stands for Disability, Resources, Education, Activity, Management, Services.
- Our foundation was created to help open doors and provide activities and programs for individuals with special needs and their families
- The idea began because of our son, Logan, who has spina bifida.He began to ask When he would get to play sports like his older sister. We didn’t have the answers to give him, but we refused to tell him he couldn’t play. We had many questions on how he could play because of his limitations, but we also understood that he has many abilities and that is where we would need to focus our energy. This became sort of a philosophy for us, to focus on the abilities and not the disability.
- Our first attempt at finding Logan an outside activity to participate in was through the Boy Scouts of America in a local Cub Scout pack. This was exciting because the Boy Scouts are very open to diversity and do invite children with special needs to participate. Unfortunately we found after a number of meetings, that the pack and den leaders were not prepared to work with Logan. This was not because they didn’t want to work with him, but because they just didn’t have the knowledge and understanding of the numerous challenges he faced.
- In the fall of 2006, along with 4 other families with children with special needs, we petitioned the Boy Scouts of America to allow the formation of a cub scout pack designed for children with disabilities. Pack 296 was formed and designed to work with each boys exceptionality and provide accommodations for them so that they could fully participate in the scouting programs. Our motto is a Special Pack of Special kids. We became 1 of only 8 cubscout packs in the United States designed for children with special needs. We did not want ot separate ourselves from the other scouts, but we knew we had to design a program around each of the boys needs and not around the program itself. Today, after 5 years, we now have 19 boys with various disabilites participating, including spina bifida, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, and many with some form of the autism spectrum of disorders.
- Our next step was working in conjunction with LYSA to form the TOPSoccer program. For the first time, children with special needs had a sporting program to call their own. While the children enjoyeed soccer, they still wanted more to do, which led to working in conjunction with Lafayette Little League to form the Challenger division of little league baseball in 2007. Words can not describe the joy these children now experienced. The more we did, the more we saw that needed to be done. This led to the creation of our foundation which received it’s non-profit status in 2009.
- We have now grown to offer year round activities for children with special needs, and are always on the look out to add more programs to our ever growing list. Our goal is to give these children and their families choices with different types of activities throughout the year.
- There have been several positive effects since the establishment of our programs.The obvious, there was a need to establish programs for individuals with special needs, and now we offer year round activities for them.Parents and family members no longer have to accept that there is nothing available for their children.Even after parents learned of our programs and what we were trying to do, there was still a little apprehension because of two main concerns: How will my child be able to participate and How can we afford it? We have eliminated the question of How by focusing on the children’s abilities and working with them on what they could do. Costs of the programs were also a concern, as many families that are raising children with special needs, are forced to become one income families with the addition of large medical bills. We helped eliminate this concern by offering financial assitance to these parents, making sure that their child could participate if they desired to participate.The programs have increased public awareness about the need for programs for individuals with special needs. The community has been very supportive and helpful with establishing and funding the programs created.Communication links between the different non-profit groups that help individuals with disabilities has increased and several are now working together to make it better for their clients they represent.
- The programs are not only enjoyable by the children, but also to the parents, family members, and anyone who is involved. In some cases, the programs and activities have become one of the only outlets for these families.
- Our short term goals include:Continuing to create, establish, and run existing and additional activities and programs. We want to provide as many options as possible.We want to expand our efforts into the Adults with special needs community and establish activities there including job placement.We want to continue to create and maintain a communication network for individuals and families, so that they know what is offered, where it is offered, and who to contact.We would like to develop a resource site for families with complete contact listings and descriptions that would include:SpecialistsTherapistsSpecialty equipment (orthapedic, wheelchairs, etc.,)Grant/loan programs (covering costs not approved through medicaid or private insurance)Medicaid information
- Our long term goals include:Building and establishing our own facility which would include:A recreation centerEducation/library support centerPossible housingJob creation within the communityDaycare for special needs2. Once established in the Acadiana Area, possible expansion to other communities within the state and possibly other states.