Tom Tuohy

Recent Activity

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  Tom signed the petition | over 2 years ago

  Protect Federal Funding for Homeless Children and Families
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  Tom commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  "Disabilities" vs. "Special Needs"

  The organization I founded 20 years ago, Dreams for Kids, http://www.dreamsforkids.org has made it our mission to eliminate the issue being discussed.

  
  

  Every single one of us has several disabilities. If our disability is not physical or otherwise apparent, it isn’t part of the label given to us when we are introduced. How would you like to be introduced by your disability? Why would we do that to anyone else? I would introduce your son just like we introduce every kid in our program, by his name and his ability.

  
  

  The reality is, when describing a program or education system, it has to called something. We lost the battle to eliminate the word disability. It is tied to a community and to laws, and many members of the community have taken ownership and a certain sense of pride in it. The distinction to be made with language is to always put the person first. A car can be disabled, not a person. And, yes, we all have disabilities.

  
  

  Our vision is to unite a generation of young people to each other, so they can grow up like most of us could not – together. Not segregated by class, race, religion, or any other distinction. It will be this generation which will see past skin color, religious beliefs and wheelchairs, because they will have grown up together, united by a common purpose of service and understanding. They will understand each other, and by extension, understand the world. They will celebrate their differences, acknowledge each other for their abilities, and embrace the humanity we all share.

  
  

   

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  Tom commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Youth Taking Action: Empowering At-Risk Youth Through Sport

  We applaud the efforts to embrace sport as empowerment. For each of us, choice is determined by opportunity. When presented with healthy opportunities which expand the possibilities of life, the odds increase we would choose in a way which advances our life.  For many underprivileged youth, especially those in developing countries and the poorest areas in the United States, there simply are fewer opportunities. Young people want to belong. They desperately are seeking to be recognized as valuable, and many are poor children who have suffered great loss in their young lives. Sport provides them with activity and provides teammates and a coach. It is family to many and it is hope.

  
  

  We encourage all programs to remember the most isolated of our children, those who live a disability. Embrace them as well, bring them from the sidelines of life into the activities of their dreams. Remind them of the great value of their lives and open their world to the joy of sport. Our Extreme Recess program (so named by our kids) was created for this very purpose, http://dreamsforkids.org/extreme-recess . We encourage all programs to open their activities and their hearts to all of our kids, especially those who have been forgotten.