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Article 16 year old thankful it's not called Childhood Apraxia of Speech

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(OK that wasn't the name of the article)

Go ! (he is 16 years old -not 6, but still apraxic/dyspraxic)

" According to Ms. Armento, is neurologically impaired, with

an unofficial diagnosis of dyspraxia, which has affected his speech. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Student shares the challenges of his life in essay

By: Audrey Levine, Staff Writer 07/06/2006

Local teen uses personal hardships to inspire award-winning essay

During his 16 years, Armento has been faced with many

challenges — from having a birth mother with cerebral palsy and

dealing with his own neurological disability, to moving from family

to family in the foster care system until finally being adopted in

2001 by Ralph and Debbie Armento of Kendall Park.

used the memories of these challenges in an essay about

courage to win the Major League Baseball Breaking Barriers: In

Sports, In Life essay contest in his age group.

" I am proud that I got recognized, " he said.

The contest — sponsored by Major League Baseball, Scholastic Inc.

and the Major League Baseball Players Trust for Children — was

created by Sharon , daughter of baseball great Jackie

, as a character education program to teach the values that

her father honored throughout his life.

In 1947 Mr. became the first African-American to play

Major League baseball and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of

Fame in 1962.The essay contest is based on the nine character traits

that Mr. maintained to help him through his career —

courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity,

citizenship, justice, commitment and excellence.

Participating students choose one characteristic and write an

essay about it, based on their own experiences.

Although said all nine of the characteristics pertained to

his life in some way, he chose to focus on courage.

" When we talked about the essay, we talked about his life, " Ms.

Armento said. " I said, 'What characteristic helped you survive?' and

he said: 'courage.' "

In his essay, which won the " Breaking Barriers " contest in the

seventh through 12th grade category nationwide, wrote of his

struggles with discrimination because of his disability and finally,

finding a place to call home.

" My courage has been growing just like a child grows, because it

had to begin when I was born, " he wrote in the essay.

's essay won the contest first in New Jersey, and was then

entered into a nationwide competition, where it won again, Mr.

Armento said. , along with the other winners, was honored for

his achievement in a ceremony at Shea Stadium, where he read his

essay aloud and received a Toshiba laptop computer and a $100 gift

certificate for his schoolteacher to purchase books.

said he enjoyed the ceremony, which also featured a speech

by Ms. , and he was able to bring some of his classmates and

his teacher, Maxine Wachsman.

" The class went berserk, " he said.

Ms. Armento said the contest is a good vehicle for students to

connect with others who deal with emotional and physical problems.

" Once the kids realize it is okay to have a disability, it breaks

barriers, " she said. " is just starting to realize this. "

According to Ms. Armento, is neurologically impaired, with

an unofficial diagnosis of dyspraxia, which has affected his speech.

He was removed from his mother when he was 5 years old and began

being moved through a series of foster homes.

In December 1999, Mr. Armento said, arrived at the

Armento's home and, after months of training through the Fost-Adopt

Program in taking care of a foster child and taking time to resolve

legal matters, the family, which includes their 24-year-old daughter

, formerly adopted him in November 2001.

" I had a student who was being adopted through the program, " said

Ms. Armento, a resource center teacher at Cambridge Elementary

School. " I admired the parents and wanted to try to help a child. "

, who attended South Brunswick schools until last year,

spent his ninth grade year at High Road School in Somerset.

The school, which participated in the " Breaking Barriers " program

for the first time this year after seeing how successful it was at

High Road schools in land and Washington D.C., is a private

special education facility for students with learning disabilities

and who are dealing with social and emotional problems.

" It is an incredible place and prepares students for a lifetime

of opportunity, " said Michele Rieman, director of the school in

Somerset.

Ms Rieman said High Road is a private school for students between

the ages of 12 and 21 and offers vocational opportunities for the

students, including certification in computers, childcare and

culinary arts.

" We saw the small-group setting and decided to go that route, "

Ms. Armento said.

Ms. Rieman said she is proud that and two other students

from her school were winners in the competition.

" These kids have obstacles to overcome everyday, " she said. " Just

the challenge of putting the words on paper is rewarding. The fact

that they could write them and read them out loud is courageous. "

Ms. Rieman said she thinks the program allows students to be more

tolerant of their peers because they begin to understand what

everyone is dealing with.

" I still need my courage every day to face life and to try to

keep fixing what was broken from my childhood, " wrote in his

essay. " Having disabilities of my own, I know that my courage will

help me be the best that I can. "

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?

newsid=16884849 & BRD=1091 & PAG=461 & dept_id=425716 & rfi=6

=====

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Guest guest

>

> (OK that wasn't the name of the article)

>

> Go ! (he is 16 years old -not 6, but still

apraxic/dyspraxic)

>

> " According to Ms. Armento, is neurologically impaired, with

> an unofficial diagnosis of dyspraxia, which has affected his

speech. "

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> Student shares the challenges of his life in essay

>

> By: Audrey Levine, Staff Writer 07/06/2006

>

>

> Local teen uses personal hardships to inspire award-winning essay

>

> During his 16 years, Armento has been faced with many

> challenges — from having a birth mother with cerebral palsy and

> dealing with his own neurological disability, to moving from family

> to family in the foster care system until finally being adopted in

> 2001 by Ralph and Debbie Armento of Kendall Park.

> used the memories of these challenges in an essay about

> courage to win the Major League Baseball Breaking Barriers: In

> Sports, In Life essay contest in his age group.

> " I am proud that I got recognized, " he said.

> The contest — sponsored by Major League Baseball, Scholastic

Inc.

> and the Major League Baseball Players Trust for Children — was

> created by Sharon , daughter of baseball great Jackie

> , as a character education program to teach the values that

> her father honored throughout his life.

> In 1947 Mr. became the first African-American to play

> Major League baseball and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of

> Fame in 1962.The essay contest is based on the nine character

traits

> that Mr. maintained to help him through his career —

> courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity,

> citizenship, justice, commitment and excellence.

> Participating students choose one characteristic and write an

> essay about it, based on their own experiences.

> Although said all nine of the characteristics pertained

to

> his life in some way, he chose to focus on courage.

> " When we talked about the essay, we talked about his life, " Ms.

> Armento said. " I said, 'What characteristic helped you survive?'

and

> he said: 'courage.' "

> In his essay, which won the " Breaking Barriers " contest in the

> seventh through 12th grade category nationwide, wrote of his

> struggles with discrimination because of his disability and

finally,

> finding a place to call home.

> " My courage has been growing just like a child grows, because it

> had to begin when I was born, " he wrote in the essay.

> 's essay won the contest first in New Jersey, and was then

> entered into a nationwide competition, where it won again, Mr.

> Armento said. , along with the other winners, was honored for

> his achievement in a ceremony at Shea Stadium, where he read his

> essay aloud and received a Toshiba laptop computer and a $100 gift

> certificate for his schoolteacher to purchase books.

> said he enjoyed the ceremony, which also featured a

speech

> by Ms. , and he was able to bring some of his classmates

and

> his teacher, Maxine Wachsman.

> " The class went berserk, " he said.

> Ms. Armento said the contest is a good vehicle for students to

> connect with others who deal with emotional and physical problems.

> " Once the kids realize it is okay to have a disability, it

breaks

> barriers, " she said. " is just starting to realize this. "

> According to Ms. Armento, is neurologically impaired,

with

> an unofficial diagnosis of dyspraxia, which has affected his

speech.

> He was removed from his mother when he was 5 years old and began

> being moved through a series of foster homes.

> In December 1999, Mr. Armento said, arrived at the

> Armento's home and, after months of training through the Fost-Adopt

> Program in taking care of a foster child and taking time to resolve

> legal matters, the family, which includes their 24-year-old

daughter

> , formerly adopted him in November 2001.

> " I had a student who was being adopted through the program, "

said

> Ms. Armento, a resource center teacher at Cambridge Elementary

> School. " I admired the parents and wanted to try to help a child. "

> , who attended South Brunswick schools until last year,

> spent his ninth grade year at High Road School in Somerset.

> The school, which participated in the " Breaking Barriers "

program

> for the first time this year after seeing how successful it was at

> High Road schools in land and Washington D.C., is a private

> special education facility for students with learning disabilities

> and who are dealing with social and emotional problems.

> " It is an incredible place and prepares students for a lifetime

> of opportunity, " said Michele Rieman, director of the school in

> Somerset.

> Ms Rieman said High Road is a private school for students

between

> the ages of 12 and 21 and offers vocational opportunities for the

> students, including certification in computers, childcare and

> culinary arts.

> " We saw the small-group setting and decided to go that route, "

> Ms. Armento said.

> Ms. Rieman said she is proud that and two other students

> from her school were winners in the competition.

> " These kids have obstacles to overcome everyday, " she

said. " Just

> the challenge of putting the words on paper is rewarding. The fact

> that they could write them and read them out loud is courageous. "

> Ms. Rieman said she thinks the program allows students to be

more

> tolerant of their peers because they begin to understand what

> everyone is dealing with.

> " I still need my courage every day to face life and to try to

> keep fixing what was broken from my childhood, " wrote in his

> essay. " Having disabilities of my own, I know that my courage will

> help me be the best that I can. "

>

>

> http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?

> newsid=16884849 & BRD=1091 & PAG=461 & dept_id=425716 & rfi=6

>

> =====

>

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