------------------------------------ COPING WITH DISABILITIES THROUGH PONY[/u]
Vision:[/i] Forward Awareness, Acceptance, Understanding, Empowerment, and Inclusion of Individuals with Special Needs through the Arts
Mission:[/i] Actively pursue our vision either directly or indirectly within various social groups and professions to address the following:
1. Everyone is equal at some level.
2. As equals we can work towards mutually beneficial goals.
3. Define people by their talents, interests, and accomplishments instead of by their special needs.
HISTORY:[/u] Coping with Disabilities Through the Arts (CWDTA) is a non-profit cause founded in December 2013 by Matthew S. Palumbo. Born with a congenital, degenerative, eye disease, Matthew turned to his love for writing as an outlet for expressing himself and his ideas. This eventually lead him to discover other people who, like him, have used the arts to cope with their special needs while finding acceptance, understanding, empowerment, and validation through the feedback of others who share their work. Noticing how so many people with special needs were being seen for their talents instead of their particular special need, CWDTA was born.
Since its inception, Matthew and his growing team have reached out to various social networking sites and organizations. Their goal being to spread the message of how participating in the arts allows individuals with special needs to acquire self-acceptance, understanding, empowerment, and validation. All of which are often recognized before their special need(s).
These efforts lead us to become recognized by the largest, international convention focused around the ideals of love and tolerance, BronyCon.
BronyCon is an annual convention in which takes place in Baltimore, MD within the Baltimore Convention Center. Our invitation to present in 2014 was well received and we have been invited back to present again in August of 2015.
Between our presentation at BronyCon 2014 and our upcoming event in 2015, our team has diligently worked to see our advocacy movement shared across a broad spectrum of social events and multimedia outlets. As we have grown, we have also made strategic partnerships with companies, such as Enterplay LLC, to benefit a local school for autism in Carlisle, PA.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP:[/u] Our goal is to make freely accessible educational and self-empowering resources to the largest possible audience. These include, but are not limited to, screen reader friendly web sites and electronic documents.
Our team is currently comprised largely of aspiring high school and college students. Most of which have special needs and are in need of financial assistance to do the work they do to help fund their educations as they work towards our cause. Most of our team plans to attend the convention to help share our message and resources, but require some financial assistance to attend and present their hard work at the convention.
