 Welcome to this edition of Abled in an Air, the one and only program in Vermont and beyond that focuses on the needs, concerns and achievements of the dip in the able. I'm Lauren Seiler. I'm Arlene Seiler. And on this exciting edition, we speak to James Kavanaugh, the creator of the third annual Vermont Civil Policy Conference as part of Green Mountain Support Services. We have Casey Dewey, the development coordinator of Green Mountain Support Services of Vermont. And James or Jim, tell us a little bit about you and your story and why you decided to create the Civil Policy Conference of Vermont. Well, I was born February 20th, 1940, and I'm 75. Wow, you're going to look it. And obviously, well, besides myself, Babric Civil Policy, obviously back in the 40s or during that time, you know, there weren't very many services for people with disabilities. And my mother and father wanted to put me away, but they said no. And thank God they said, but I cannot read, so I have to read books. Okay, go on. So, and I came up here. You came to Vermont from where you were born and from where you were born? I was born in Connecticut. You were born in Connecticut? Yeah. At first, I could not talk, but my grandfather said, let the kids talk. And they were quite surprised because he said, let the kids talk. And I've been talking ever since, but I think it was very good to be an advocate because I like to help people. How does Green Mountain Services help you? They help me write my own story. They help me speak very clearly, okay? Do they help you become more of an advocate? Yeah. They teach you advocacy skills? Yeah, I know about that. They think they can help me out. What are some of the things the agency does? What are some of the things that they help you with? Well, that we just talked about. They help me get out into the community. So what type of services do they help you in the community with? Well, I get out. And I feed myself. So they teach you daily living skills? Yeah. And I live with my friends. Oh, so you live in an independent living facility? Yeah. I live with him. Do you live in an apartment? I live in an apartment with him. So does Green Mountain Support Services, they teach you daily living skills? Or they teach you how to live on your own? Yeah. Okay. Thanks to Casey. As a matter of fact, I have a book on it. Okay. So we're going to see a little bit about your story. Let's take a look at James Cavanaugh's inspiring story. Let's take a look at this. My name is James Cavanaugh. I was born February 28, 1943. Yeah, I got that one. I need to take over. At this day and age, the mentally disabled were severely overlooked. Jim dealt with a lot of discrimination through his younger years. He never let that get him down, though. This has encouraged Jim to advocate for those with his disability and other disabilities that exist today. In 2014, I wanted to start a survival party. This conference was going to be specifically designated to advocate for those living with cerebral palsy. He reached out to his case manager, Casey Dewey, and explained to her what he would like to do. She started to try to locate where one of these meetings were held. She expanded her search, but still the closest one she could locate were in California and England. She explained this to Jim, and she traveled to Massachusetts where the United Cerebral Palsy Association is located, but no conferences are held there. To meet with one of the groups to see what it would take to start a new conference in their area. I gathered a group of my peers, and I said that I wanted to start a survival palsy conference. They started meeting weekly to discuss the challenges that they were going to have to overcome. The group consisted of other members that have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy also, and other disabilities as well. They brainstormed and planned for about a year, and finally held their first annual cerebral palsy conference. It was a great success, tons of information. And resources, from different doctors to different types of physical and emotional therapy. They also showcased a comedian whom herself lives with cerebral palsy. After the first conference was held, it was agreed that this would be an annual event. Jim has managed to join the many other groups that advocate for cerebral palsy now. The event continues to grow year by year, with it starting at an open local venue, and it has now required larger venues with breakout rooms and meals. I'd like to thank my team for helping me to start my first conference. Living Vermont with the case, his name is Josh Bowles. He's not here right now. Okay, so does the agency help you with support services? Yeah. Okay, so what type of support services do they help you with? Jimmy's very lucky. He has a young man that is his shared living provider. Yeah, would you. And they're really close. Yeah. They have a bachelor pad in town. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. All kinds of parties. Yeah. Well, sometimes he brings his dog. I have to live with somebody in the city. John Cook. What? So does the shared living provider, do you cook for yourself? No, he does all the cooking. He does all the cooking. Well, I'm watching TV. You watch TV? What type of programs do you like to watch? I like the media. I was watching that today. Oh, wow. And sometimes I listen to the news on the TV. I know this is Jim's interview, but in terms of the conference. Oh, yeah. What type of activities usually happen at the conference? So maybe it would be helpful to know how the conference started. Yeah, exactly. Okay. So Jimmy came to me one day, and he shared with me that one of his lifelong goals was to attend a CP conference and share his story. Yes. And after some significant research, we found that there weren't any CP conferences. No. The closest one I found was in California, and the second closest was in London, England, which I was voting for, but Jim didn't want to go. He didn't want to go on the airplane. I would have gone if somebody had picked me on the plane, and somebody had to go with me. Right. No, I was volunteering for that. But so we decided that we couldn't find a conference close by, but Jim still had a dream to share his story at a conference for cerebral palsy. So we decided to create our own, right? Yep. How long of a time did it take you to research? I mean, I'm sure there was a lot of research involved with that. For which piece? Trying to search out a conference? Yeah, to see, well, in terms of doing venues, like which venue would host you guys? So we did not have a budget for the first conference. A lot of it was generous donations, right? From local businesses. And the first two conferences were held at our local VFW, and they donated the space. VFW is what? Veterans of Foreign Wars. So they donated their space, so that made choosing a venue very easy. And then it's a great space, but it does not have different sections or rooms, so it didn't allow for breakout sessions. And the police made calls. So what we did was we had some presenters come in, but everyone at the conference participated in all of the same breakout sessions, so to speak. And the breakout session is in different workshops that happened during the day. Yep, so the workshops were sort of there for everyone because it's one large room. Now is the conference, is it mainly for staff, providers, or people with cerebral palsy? How is the conference set up? The conference is actually geared toward everyone. Community members interested in learning more about individuals with cerebral palsy. People who have CP, professionals who are helping individuals with CP. It's really for everyone. Anyone could come in. What made you get on board with this? I was Jimmy's service coordinator at the time. And the one thing that we did find was between the first and second conference, we actually tripled in size. Which means what? We went from about 40 people attending the conference to about 120. Wow, that's a lot of people. And that's why this year it's at a bigger venue. So that's why this year we have chosen to go to the Stoflake Resort. Not London, England? No, not London, England. We have a lot, sorry, we have ten breakout session options with spaces. Including ours, because we're going to be doing... Including yours, yep. And we have a lot of exhibitors coming to display different things. Yeah, it's looking like it's going to be a pretty big event. Is it going to be like technology? In other words, like you said exhibitors. So is it going to be like tables with information? And products and that type of thing? Yep. I do have cats in my hair. So do we hope after this conference, of course, there's going to be more conferences scheduled? Is this going to be a yearly? It's an annual event. Yep, it's an annual event. So you... I mean it's not strange, because people start from basically nothing. You started with no budget. Correct. The first one. And then just got an outpouring of support. Yep. From other agencies? Yes, we had a lot of service coordinators coming from other agencies the second year. Other agencies sending people that they serve within their agency to attend. Okay. So it's a Stoleflate Resort, which is a much bigger venue. Yes. It's the third annual Cerebral Palsy Conference. To learn more about the Cerebral Palsy Conference, you can contact Green Mountain Support Services Incorporated. It was GMSSI, right? Support Services Incorporated.org. So that's www.gmssi.org slash CP 2018. It's hosted by Green Mountain Support Services. And it's October 5th. We will be there with camera. We will be having a workshop there. It's located at the Stoleflate Mountain Resort in Stole. It's from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Stoleflate Resort in Stole, Vermont. And it is also sponsored by the Morrisville Cerebral Palsy Group. Again, go to www.gmssi.org forward slash CP 2018. Empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community. Yeah. We would like to thank you for joining us on this edition of Ableton on Air. But I have two more questions to ask you. One. Obviously there's going to be more Cerebral Palsy Conference. Every year. How do you see, in terms of future Cerebral Palsy Conference? It's going to be as long. Is it going to be just, I mean, will it be more throughout the year, or is it going to be only once a year? Once a year. It'll be in one year. Okay. Well, thank you for sharing your story. It's a wonderful story because you're a very powerful person to know. Yeah. Any questions you want to ask? Okay. We would like to thank you. Thank you, Casey, for joining us on this edition. You're more than welcome to come back. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And again, more information on the third annual Cerebral Palsy Conference. You can learn more at www.gmssi.org, CP 2018. Again, April, October 5th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Stove Lake Resort. Host of the Baji M. Green Mountain Support Services and the Morris Bill Cerebral Palsy Group. Thank you for joining me on this edition of Abledon On Air. See you next time. Welcome back to Abledon Air. I'm Lauren Seiler. I'm Armin Seiler. Over the last 22 and a half years, I've had the pleasure of being a humanistic journalist focusing on issues of importance to the special needs community, both in New York and in other states. And I've interviewed organizations that are superheroes in their own right. Let's take a look at a culinary segment of superhero proportions. Let's take a look at this. That puts an end to this superhero edition of Abledon On Air. I'm Lauren Seiler. I'm Armin Seiler. See you next time.