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The JJs List Blog

Meet Our New ComEd Energy Force Ambassador, Abby S

The Energy Force Ambassador Program, currently in its 11th year, provides individuals with developmental disabilities the opportunity to work on skills needed for employment and empowers them to teach the public about energy efficiency. We are so excited to introduce Abby S as the new…

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Growing Up With “Boot,” A Sister Just Like Any Other

Joe Luzadder with his younger siblings, Jack and “Boot”

By Joe Luzadder, Guest Blogger and Sibling

To me, growing up with a little sister with Down syndrome was a blessing. It was also typical, however, because I did not know what it was like to grow up…

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My Sister’s Positive Impact

By Jack Luzadder, Guest Blogger & Sibling

Anna and Jack

Sympathy is almost always the feeling people express when they find out you have a sibling with a disability. Oftentimes they’ll try to relate by giving a hardship they faced while growing up. While the good intentions…

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What Inclusion Means to Us

To mark National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (DDAM), JJ’s List joined Down Syndrome International’s inclusion campaign, a global conversation to empower people around the world to advocate for the full inclusion of all people with disabilities in their communities.

Courtesy of Down Syndrome International

We asked several…

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NeuroDIVERSED 2022: Self-Care and Being Kind to Your Mind

Happy, upbeat music and dancing can have a positive effect on your mood!

Thanks to a generous grant from the Evanston Arts Council in 2021, NeurodiVERSED was created to address the misconceptions and misinformation surrounding those who identify as neurodiverse, as well as the damaging narrative…

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Embracing Disability in the Workplace: Tips to Make Your Workplace Disability-Inclusive

By Diane Royanto, Guest Blogger

Did you know that more than one billion people live with some form of disability? That’s a lot of potential employees! Unfortunately, many businesses have yet to embrace disability inclusion in their workplace. This is despite the fact that doing so…

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Two Visibility Artists Showing in the Visible Invisible Art Exhibition in Evanston

Evanston community leaders, Indira Freitas Johnson, Fran Joy, and Lisa Degliantoni, are curating Visibly Invisible, an art exhibition that highlights the violence that many in our community deal with on a day-to-day basis. The exhibit runs from February 4th to March 14th at Evanston’s Noyes…

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Self-Advocates University – a New Self-Advocacy Initiative

By Jennifer Gledhill, Community Inclusion Coordinator, Search Inc.

Courtesy of pixabay.com

Back in 2016, Search, Inc. (Search) adopted the principles of the Council on Quality Leadership (CQL), an accreditation body that uses several principles to guide agencies like ours further towards person-centered services. CQL put into words…

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Grateful for the Partnership Between Search and Oak Point University

By Jackie Rovner, Division Director of Clinical Services, Search Inc.

Oak Point University Nursing Students

Search staff and individuals are incredibly grateful for the partnership we have established with Oak Point University! Nursing students from the university participate in a six-week, hands-on, clinical rotation at our Adult Learning…

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End of Year Musings by the Disability Awareness Players

Disability Awareness Players Michaela M, Billy C, Sarah A, Sarah ST, Bring R, and Henry

The end of the year is a time of reflection, so we asked the Disability Awareness Players a question for reflection. Below are some of their thoughts.

“What was your favorite thing…

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