{"id":132256,"date":"2021-02-25T13:28:56","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T19:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/?p=132256"},"modified":"2021-02-26T11:59:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T17:59:56","slug":"self-advocate-committee-brings-great-perspectives-to-the-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/self-advocate-committee-brings-great-perspectives-to-the-playhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Advocate Committee Brings Great Perspectives to the Playhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advocates Lead<\/span><\/b>ing the Way<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

Two\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>GiGi\u2019s\u00a0Playhouse\u00a0<\/span>volunteers\u00a0<\/span>and self-advocates, Maya\u00a0Greengus\u00a0and Sadler Bell, have set out on a mission to use their voices\u00a0<\/span>in our community\u00a0<\/span>to advocate for\u00a0<\/span>individuals\u00a0<\/span>with Down syndrome.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In October of 2020, Maya and Sadler suggested<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>starting an advocacy group, and\u00a0<\/span>they\u00a0<\/span>have since bec<\/span>o<\/span>me the Co-Leaders of the first Advocate Committee at\u00a0GiGi\u2019s\u00a0Playhouse<\/span>\u00a0Madison<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Maya first became connected with\u00a0GiGi\u2019<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0as a teenager\u00a0<\/span>when she and her mom would volunteer<\/span>\u00a0at\u00a0GiGi\u2019s<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Now as a college student, Maya is looking to give back to\u00a0<\/span>our<\/span>\u00a0community.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI think it\u2019s cool to be an advocate for\u00a0<\/span>people with Down syndrome.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>An advocate is someone who helps others fit into the world, someone who stands up and gets involved to help other<\/span>s.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sadler<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>comes from a family of<\/span>\u00a0advoca<\/span>tes<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Growing up in the\u00a0<\/span>South in the\u00a0<\/span>90\u2019s, Sadler remembers attending\u00a0<\/span>middle\u00a0<\/span>school when individuals with disabilities were segregated\u00a0<\/span>into different classrooms.\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>All the kids with disabilities, no matter what they had, they would be in one classroom all together all day long.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>His parents strongly advocated for\u00a0<\/span>inclusion on behalf of\u00a0<\/span>Sadler\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>was one of the first in his community to\u00a0<\/span>attend\u00a0<\/span>general<\/span>\u00a0education high school classes with his peers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Together,\u00a0<\/span>Maya and Sadler<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>developed the\u00a0<\/span>important<\/span>\u00a0mission of the\u00a0<\/span>Advocate Committee<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>To collaborate and advocate for inclusiveness and acceptance, making sure all voices are valued so we can make a difference for families in our community.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>Their top three goals\u00a0<\/span>to accomplish\u00a0<\/span>this year include talking to volunteers and others in the community to share experiences about Down syndrome, to\u00a0<\/span>spread\u00a0<\/span>GiGi\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0and the Advocate Committee\u2019s mission<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>via<\/span>\u00a0social media, and\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>promot<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>special days and events<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>such as World Down Syndrome Day coming up on March 21<\/span>st<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maya and Sadler recently attended a Board\u00a0<\/span>meeting and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>inspired our directors by\u00a0<\/span>shar<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0their\u00a0<\/span>enthusiasm and commitment to their\u00a0<\/span>mission and goals<\/span>. Keep your eye out for\u00a0<\/span>many more great things to come\u00a0<\/span>from\u00a0<\/span>our advocates,\u00a0<\/span>Sadler and Maya<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as\u00a0<\/span>they lead the way<\/span>\u00a0in this exciting new venture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advocates Leading the Way\u00a0\u00a0 Two\u00a0of\u00a0GiGi\u2019s\u00a0Playhouse\u00a0volunteers\u00a0and self-advocates, Maya\u00a0Greengus\u00a0and Sadler Bell, have set out on a mission to use their voices\u00a0in our community\u00a0to advocate for\u00a0individuals\u00a0with Down syndrome.\u00a0In October of 2020, Maya and Sadler suggested\u00a0starting an advocacy group, and\u00a0they\u00a0have since become the Co-Leaders of the first Advocate Committee at\u00a0GiGi\u2019s\u00a0Playhouse\u00a0Madison.\u00a0 \u00a0 Maya first became connected with\u00a0GiGi\u2019s\u00a0as a teenager\u00a0when she…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1487,1489,1499],"tags":[905,23,1195,22,21],"class_list":["post-132256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-down-syndrome","category-gigis-playhouse","category-self-advocacy","tag-community","tag-down-syndrome","tag-downsyndrome","tag-madison","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}