Hi my name is Maggie Stone and I’m 21 years old. When I was little, I didn’t know how to read unlike most of the kids in my class. Finally, my mom, at the last meeting with Yonkers school district, was given a parent advocate who said that most children like me never learn to read! Well, that was the last straw!! It was recommended that I be placed out of district, which was the best thing that ever happened to me. I would not have been who I am today if my mom hadn’t spoken up for me and now I can read!I got involved with self-advocacy when I was seeing someone at ARC of Westchester who then introduced me to Jordan Jankus (Regional Coordinator for the Hudson Valley of SANYS). At that time, I had recently graduated from Eastchester High School in summer of 2012. When we talked Jordan said he was interested in my help in trying to modify the SANYS U course to make it a better fit for high school students. From that work, SANYS High was born!
Self-Advocacy means to me that even though I have a disability, it doesn’t define me and there is a group of people that are here to help me. I now want to get some of my other friends involved because they have a voice as well! |