About Us - Mission Statement - Who We Are - Highlights

Press Contact:
Leonard Grossman, MD - Chairman
P.O. Box 1164
Maplewood, NJ 07040

A First in the Nation

Maplewood, NJ -- July 14, 2005 -- Just imagine turning on a computer and accessing online, or on CD/DVD, an interactive film presentation fitted with critical information that will assist families throughout the United States, and perhaps, in the future, the world. This model project began two years ago with small presentations made at the suggestion of Nanette Courtine a Post Polio retired executive. Ms. Courtine has spent her life overcoming the stigma and prejudices often associated with disabilities. Her knowledge, experiences, and overall acumen serve as a basis for the program.

This year we plan to purchase 2 LCD projectors. One projector will be used primarily by the Newark Beth Israel Children's Hospital Pediatric Hemophilia /Oncology Center in the patient outreach program to train the parents of children with Hemophilia, Leukemia, and other blood disorders. This department has already received computer video cameras from CEMF. Once parents know what to do in an emergency they will be able to link up with the Center and CEMF. Time is always of the essence with these children, education and immediate access to trained personnel can be life saving.

The second projector will float between agencies and sister organizations. We plan to burn CD's/ DVD's that wilt focus on coping with disaster and handicapped accessability. Needless to say, many of our children who are wheel chair bound and their parents have expressed fear and disillusionment with their schools and public buildings, since September 11, 2001. We are aware of children who have been left behind during fire drills in their schools and children who have been stuck in elevators. One of our "Truste Kids" has been left in a classroom three times when bomb scares required evacuation of her school. We have an ongoing battle with the state over this issue.* We plan to distribute CD's/DVD's to "Truste Families, "community groups, and schools. Microsoft Power Point is the program we have chosen to put the slide shows together. The slide shows wilt be coupled with actual film clips. The projector wilt be used at lectures planned throughout the state in an effort to teach parents and professionals strategies for coping in a time of conflict and disaster as welt as everyday life. The Tri State area wilt serve as a jump off. We plan to make this program a part of a national initiative. We believe that creating a model will stimulate interest among numerous groups to reproduce this concept on a broad range of topics. The first lecture was presented November 7, 2001 to the New Jersey Pediatric Society. A projector was rented for this meeting. We receive regular requests for additional programs.

Future film projects are on the drawing board including interviews with wheelchair chair bound youngsters in a relaxed format to discuss their feelings, fears, and hopes for the future. In addition, we are planning to produce a documentary that wilt focus on the lives from childhood to maturity of wheelchair bound persons specifically with paralysis, transverse myelitis, and post polio syndrome.

It Is not common knowledge that in small school districts where there are only a few disabled children, the schools only have to make limited arrangements for the evacuation of these students. The parents are told that the children can be transferred out of district to larger schools with better accommodations. This, obviously, does not take into "count that a child is being singled out and extricated from familiar surroundings and friends. We believe that this is outright discrimination, yet we have failed to convince the state that this abhorrent practice must be stopped.