This week Toys r Us unveiled their annual TOY GUIDE for DIFFERENTLY ABLED CHILDREN.  I love this catalog! It is by far the best one catalog I receive all year long! Included are great fine and gross motor activities, as well as games to stimulate language and overall cognitive skills.  Wonderful for families and educators.  Nancy O’Dell promotes this inclusion catalog and wishes all to “create magical play moments”  on a video that you can watch (captioned) here:   BRAVO to Toys R Us!   GO RICKI! GO RICKI! GO RICKI!   Once again I must give a shout-out to the staff at the new RICKI LAKE SHOW!  Again, they “get it”.  Bryan Moore, director of social media is meticulous at making sure that the content is inclusive.  The team was uber positive and excited when I filmed a number of ASL and captioned videos for them as their FRIEND OF THE WEEK for #FriendsofRicki . To view the videos click here:  RICKI VIDEOS

“THE MOUSE” aka Disney once again celebrated the deaf community  by opening their original Disneyland to thousands who live and love within the deaf community. This year they added another great element- the cast of SWITCHED AT BIRTH (via ABCFAmily). This was a brilliant  pairing of a beloved theme park with a “hot” show which highlights families with both deaf and hearing members. Equipped with many interpreters and staff, the day was deemed a wild success and much enjoyed by young and more “mature” lovers of all things Disney.   Check out one of their blogs which helps to frame the endeavor.CLICK HERE

So a warm THANK YOU to Toys R Us, Ricki Lake and Staff, Disney and ABCFAMILY for “getting it” when it comes to setting an environment and tone for inclusion!