teen support and teacher support

[arteacher]

I have been doing tons of research today for a student of mine who has CP. She is just awesome! Over the past two semesters I have become very close to her and her family. I need some suggestions for resources in creating a curriculum that she will benefit from. I am having trouble finding someone who has already had experience in this area that can point me in the right direction. I would also like to know if there is a support group for teens with CP. She is looking for friends (and a boyfriend). I would like to help her have a memorable teen life. If you have any suggestions please write. Thanks so much, J

[blackbelt]

Try contacting the local United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) or Easter Seals for support groups.
For curriculum resources try contacting the student's homeroom teacher, special educatio teacher, occupational therapist and/or physical therapist, if applicable.
I teach kids with autism. They are included in the regular elective classes. I just adapt the curriculum to suit the needs of my students. That way, they feel included, but successful. For example, in art, one lesson was a comic strip of a personified inanimate object. Adaptations to the assignment could be: having the student tell someone else what to draw, having the student draw a shorter comic strip than the rest of the class, have the student use adapted art utensils, having the student color a predrawn comic strip, having the student write the conversation/thoughts of the inanimate object, having the student tell someone else the thoughts/conversation of the inanimate object, then the other person would add them to the student's work.
Just please don't give a coloring sheet that would be immature for the student's age, unless everyone is coloring out of coloring books.
The possibilities are endless for adapations.
Blackbelt