Tim Tebow is the most talked about athlete in America right now. With his 80-yard OT touchdown pass in the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week and subsequent 9,420 tweets about him on Twitter per second, Tim Tebow makes news wherever he goes. What fans may not know is that besides football, Tebow's other passion is helping people with disabilities and those who have lost hope due to illnesses like cancer "find a brighter day in their darkest hour of need." That is the mission of the Tim Tebow Foundation. One of the outreach efforts of the Tim Tebow Foundation is a partnership with Dreams Come True in Jacksonville, FL. Together, they formed the "Wish 15" (W15H) program, which fulfills the dreams of those who have life-threatening conditions, whose wish it is to meet Tim Tebow. Each week Tebow selects someone who is suffering due to illness or their disability and flies that person and their family to the Broncos game. He puts them up in a hotel, buys them dinner, gets them pregame passes and visits with them before the kickoff and even after the game. Remember that day when Tebow had just made the Twitter record-breaking, game-winning touchdown pass? He was spending the hour immediately after the game with 16-year-old Bailey Knaub from Loveland, CO. Bailey has had 73 surgeries so far for a rare disorder called Wegener’s granulomatosis, and she calls meeting Tebow "a bright star among very gloomy and difficult days." "He'd just played...

Tim Tebow Foundation aids disabled and ill people, forming wishes like meeting Tebow and creating playrooms worldwide.

Tebow Foundation Helps Those with Disability

Tim Tebow is the most talked about athlete in America right now. With his 80-yard OT touchdown pass in the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week and subsequent 9,420 tweets about him on Twitter per second, Tim Tebow makes news wherever he goes. What fans may not know is that besides football, Tebow's other passion is helping people with disabilities and those who have lost hope due to illnesses like cancer "find a brighter day in their darkest hour of need." That is the mission of the Tim Tebow Foundation. One of the outreach efforts of the Tim Tebow Foundation is a partnership with Dreams Come True in Jacksonville, FL. Together, they formed the "Wish 15" (W15H) program, which fulfills the dreams of those who have life-threatening conditions, whose wish it is to meet Tim Tebow. Each week Tebow selects someone who is suffering due to illness or their disability and flies that person and their family to the Broncos game. He puts them up in a hotel, buys them dinner, gets them pregame passes and visits with them before the kickoff and even after the game. Remember that day when Tebow had just made the Twitter record-breaking, game-winning touchdown pass? He was spending the hour immediately after the game with 16-year-old Bailey Knaub from Loveland, CO. Bailey has had 73 surgeries so far for a rare disorder called Wegener’s granulomatosis, and she calls meeting Tebow "a bright star among very gloomy and difficult days."  "He'd just played...

Tim Tebow Foundation aids disabled and ill people, forming wishes like meeting Tebow and creating playrooms worldwide.

Tebow Foundation Helps Those with Disability

Photo Credit: Freddie B. Photography™ Last but not least, DAY 7 Special Olympics, History is made when Kim Moo Sung, newly elected chairman of the supreme council of the Saenuri Party, attends the Los Angeles Convention Center to meet with Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics, and Patrick McClenahan, President of LA2015. Many officials were among them as was SpecialNeeds.com. Photographer, Freddie B. and I, Robin Flutterby Borakove had a unique opportunity to witness and listen to Tim Shriver, Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Son, explain to the Chairman why his mother started the Special Olympics in her backyard all those years ago. Kim Moo Sung had quite the entourage and when they were done talking, he was escorted to visit some of the sporting events and congratulate the athletes. Soon after, we attended the powerlifting competition, where we watched in amazement as Adam Maresh of Valley City, North Dakota, dead lifted 405 pounds! The audience went wild and the loudest cheers came from his mom and aunt, who were able to make the trip out to Los Angeles to support him. Adam took after his father, Robert Maresh, a national wrestler nicknamed "Swampy." When Adam was in high school wrestling and power lifting came naturally. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child but it did not hold him back. With a strong support system in place from both family and coaches, Adam is able to continue to grow as a major contender in powerlifting. He...

Tim Shriver meets South Korea's Chairman Kim at Special Olympics, where athletes like Adam Maresh impress, and Olivia Quigley inspires.

Tim Shriver Speaks With Moo Sung Kim, South Korea's Chairman of the Supreme Council at Special Olympics

  Photo Credit: Freddie B. Photography™   Last but not least, DAY 7 Special Olympics,  History is made when Kim Moo Sung, newly elected chairman of the supreme council of the Saenuri Party, attends the Los Angeles Convention Center to meet with Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics, and Patrick McClenahan, President of LA2015. Many officials were among them as was SpecialNeeds.com. Photographer, Freddie B. and I, Robin Flutterby Borakove had a unique opportunity to witness and listen to Tim Shriver, Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Son, explain to the Chairman why his mother started the Special Olympics in her backyard all those years ago. Kim Moo Sung had quite the entourage and when they were done talking, he was escorted to visit some of the sporting events and congratulate the athletes. Soon after, we attended the powerlifting competition, where we watched in amazement as Adam Maresh of Valley City, North Dakota, dead lifted 405 pounds! The audience went wild and the loudest cheers came from his mom and aunt, who were able to make the trip out to Los Angeles to support him. Adam took after his father, Robert Maresh, a national wrestler nicknamed "Swampy." When Adam was in high school wrestling and power lifting came naturally. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child but it did not hold him back. With a strong support system in place from both family and coaches, Adam is able to continue to grow as a major contender in powerlifting. He...

Tim Shriver meets South Korea's Chairman Kim at Special Olympics, where athletes like Adam Maresh impress, and Olivia Quigley inspires.

Tim Shriver Speaks With Moo Sung Kim, South Korea's Chairman of the Supreme Council at Special Olympics

This review is courtesy of Wynsum Arts' Every App Has a Story , the stories behind Wynsum Arts' distinguished apps. London-based Therapy Box is a speech and communications services company that offers several apps, including augmentative and alternative communication apps and speech therapy apps. The company originated when speech and language therapist Rebecca Bright decided to create an affordable, easy-to-use AAC app. Click here to read our post on Predictable, a switch-accessible text-to-speech app. After working on Predictable, Bright and her husband, telecommunication expert Swapnil Gadgil, saw the need for more innovative apps in the communications space. With Scene & Heard, Bright and Gadgil capitalize on the multimedia capabilities of the iPad to create a communications tool for people with special needs. Scene & Heard allows users to create "scenes" from photos. Hotspots on the photos can launch audio, video or links to other scenes. You can use your own photos or photos downloaded from the internet to create scenes. Scene & Heard is also switch accessible. The app encourages independence with interactions and communications. For example, users can create a "communication passport." Usually, this is a tool that allows a non-verbal person to introduce himself and explain his method of preferred communication. The user can create a communication passport based on a picture of himself holding an iPad. When he touches an area of the picture, the iPad can play pre-recorded audio: "Hi, I'm Tim...

Scene & Heard app by Therapy Box aids communication for special needs with customizable multimedia scenes that can trigger audio or video.

Special Needs App of the Day: Scene & Heard

   This review is courtesy of Wynsum Arts'   Every App Has a Story  , the stories behind Wynsum Arts' distinguished apps.    London-based Therapy Box is a speech and communications services company that offers several apps, including augmentative and alternative communication apps and speech therapy apps. The company originated when speech and language therapist Rebecca Bright decided to create an affordable, easy-to-use AAC app. Click here to read our post on Predictable, a switch-accessible text-to-speech app.      After working on Predictable, Bright and her husband, telecommunication expert Swapnil Gadgil, saw the need for more innovative apps in the communications space. With Scene & Heard, Bright and Gadgil capitalize on the multimedia capabilities of the iPad to create a communications tool for people with special needs. Scene & Heard allows users to create "scenes" from photos. Hotspots on the photos can launch audio, video or links to other scenes. You can use your own photos or photos downloaded from the internet to create scenes. Scene & Heard is also switch accessible. The app encourages independence with interactions and communications. For example, users can create a "communication passport." Usually, this is a tool that allows a non-verbal person to introduce himself and explain his method of preferred communication. The user can create a communication passport based on a picture of himself holding an iPad. When he touches an area of the picture, the iPad can play pre-recorded audio: "Hi, I'm Tim...

Every so often, there comes an app that completely revolutionizes the way we view mobile technology. The iAlertEM Stop Bullies app from Ap pddiction Studio is that incredible app for 2012 and beyond. iAlertEM is an app that allows students to anonymously send bullying alerts to school administrators and officials. "It is very easy and functional," says Tim Porter, CEO of Appddiction Studio. It works by allowing student to send a picture, message, or video, which is then e-mailed to school administrators. Because the tip is sent anonymously, students do not have to be afraid to speak up, and they feel safer. Porter says he did lots of research and discovered that school administrators were finding out too late about bullying activity, and students were actually posting footage of bullying on YouTube. By the time this information is posted, it's too late to intervene, and students end up getting hurt. "I wanted to create an app to empower schools to get information in real time," says Porter. "The schools need to protect the kids." In the past, schools seemed to have a policy of "if we don't know about it, we don't have to do anything about it." Texas passed anti-bullying legislation, which is mandating the schools to take action. The schools are excited to start implementing the iAlertEM app, and now the school boards are giving support. The app is being implemented in two...

iAlertEM Stop Bullies app lets students anonymously report bullying via media to school officials, promoting safety and education.

Stop Bullies App is Education and Prevention Mechanism

 Every so often, there comes an app that completely revolutionizes the way we view mobile technology. The iAlertEM Stop Bullies app from Ap   pddiction Studio is that incredible app for 2012 and beyond.         iAlertEM is an app that allows students to anonymously send bullying alerts to school administrators and officials. "It is very easy and functional," says Tim Porter, CEO of Appddiction Studio. It works by allowing student to send a picture, message, or video, which is then e-mailed to school administrators. Because the tip is sent anonymously, students do not have to be afraid to speak up, and they feel safer.   Porter says he did lots of research and discovered that school administrators were finding out too late about bullying activity, and students were actually posting footage of bullying on YouTube. By the time this information is posted, it's too late to intervene, and students end up getting hurt. "I wanted to create an app to empower schools to get information in real time," says Porter. "The schools need to protect the kids."   In the past, schools seemed to have a policy of "if we don't know about it, we don't have to do anything about it." Texas passed anti-bullying legislation, which is mandating the schools to take action. The schools are excited to start implementing the iAlertEM app, and now the school boards are giving support. The app is being implemented in two...

Soon to join a growing list of television characters on the autism spectrum is Jake Bohm, an 11-year-old boy with an extreme form of autism who is also nonverbal. Portrayed by David Mazouz, Jake's character is at the center of a new show called Touch on FOX. Jake is the son of Keifer Sutherland's (24) Martin Bohm, a widower and single father who struggles to connect with his son. As characteristic of many children with autism, Jake does not allow himself to be touched and exhibits very little emotion. A social worker assigned to the family tells Martin that his attempts to communicate with Jake are simply attempts at "wish fulfillment." Just when the state is about to intervene, Martin realizes that Jake possesses a gift where he can see things no one else can—mainly the patterns that connect everything in life—and his way of communicating is with numbers. It is up to Martin to decipher the meaning of the numbers and find the people whose lives they affect. The show's creator, Tim Kring (Heroes), may have created Jake's character based on his knowledge and experiences with his own son with autism. The show explores the definition of what autism is, and Kring can be expected to ensure that Touch's fictional aspects are based in scientific fact. Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) plays a professor on Touch who believes that Jake is proof that autism is really a heightened ability and not a disability. Sutherland tells TVLine that "The...

FOX's 'Touch' features Jake, a nonverbal boy with autism who predicts events by numbers, challenging perceptions of communication.

FOX Features Character with Autism on Touch

Soon to join a growing list of television characters on the autism spectrum is Jake Bohm, an 11-year-old boy with an extreme form of autism who is also nonverbal. Portrayed by David Mazouz, Jake's character is at the center of a new show called  Touch  on FOX. Jake is the son of Keifer Sutherland's (24) Martin Bohm, a widower and single father who struggles to connect with his son. As characteristic of many children with autism, Jake does not allow himself to be touched and exhibits very little emotion. A social worker assigned to the family tells Martin that his attempts to communicate with Jake are simply attempts at "wish fulfillment." Just when the state is about to intervene, Martin realizes that Jake possesses a gift where he can see things no one else can—mainly the patterns that connect everything in life—and his way of communicating is with numbers. It is up to Martin to decipher the meaning of the numbers and find the people whose lives they affect. The show's creator, Tim Kring (Heroes), may have created Jake's character based on his knowledge and experiences with his own son with autism. The show explores the definition of what autism is, and Kring can be expected to ensure that Touch's fictional aspects are based in scientific fact. Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) plays a professor on Touch who believes that Jake is proof that autism is really a heightened ability and not a disability. Sutherland tells TVLine that "The...

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Special Needs
Articles

Tebow Foundation Helps Those with Disability

Tim Shriver Speaks With Moo Sung Kim, South Korea's Chairman of the Supreme Council at Special Olympics

Special Needs App of the Day: Scene & Heard

Stop Bullies App is Education and Prevention Mechanism

FOX Features Character with Autism on Touch

Find Providers Near You

Special Needs Articles

Tebow Foundation Helps Those with Disability

Tim Shriver Speaks With Moo Sung Kim, South Korea's Chairman of the Supreme Council at Special Olympics

Special Needs App of the Day: Scene & Heard

Stop Bullies App is Education and Prevention Mechanism

FOX Features Character with Autism on Touch

Find Providers Near You

Special Needs
Articles