Intelligent Lives: Event Recap
On February 25, around 30 community members attended the viewing and engaged in a discussion about how we can create a Wilsonville that is welcoming and honoring neurologically diverse people.
Chelsea King, West Linn-Wilsonville School Board member and Wilsonville Alliance co-founder, provided a welcome and opening comments.
Dr. Jennifer Spencer-IIams, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, highlighted the work of the school system to close opportunity gaps by the removal of self-contained, segregated classrooms, as one example. She talked about how inclusion in a process.
Cassaundra Edwards, a Wilsonville parent and Wilsonville Alliance co-founder, talked about her experience as a mother to a son who is on the autism spectrum. She highlighted the important need for advocacy to open up resources in place to support a neuro-diverse community.
After viewing the Intelligent Lives movie, small breakout groups were formed to discuss the following questions:
What do you consider to be positive life outcomes for individuals with a label of developmental disability?
How can families, schools, adult service systems, and communities support individuals with a label of developmental disability?