I have been a volunteer with A Touch of Understanding since 2016 as a speaker and lead instructor at the activity stations. I am totally blind, have CP, and have a learning disability. It is a luxury to be able to speak to students and to hear their responses, knowing they are taking in everything that they are learning and will apply to their lives. Volunteering with ATOU has helped me to grow and has given me a passion for something that I always tried to avoid and now love to talk about and share with others. It is true magic as students get to see how someone with a disability can accomplish their goals. I can also see how this program has caused disability awareness to spread amongst our community. I look forward to seeing the continuous impact this program makes.
As Superintendent of the Buckeye Union Elementary School District, I have personally witnessed the positive power A Touch of Understanding provides. The program is delivered by skilled individuals who instill upon our student body a sense of perspective, empathy, and admiration for individuals with disabilities. This program is among our most important community building experiences each year.
One only needs to read the letters from school kids who have been fortunate enough to have ATOU visit their classroom for a workshop to realize the impact that this organization has on the hearts of area youth. These letters written by students as young as fourth grade make clear the positive impact of ATOU's presentations. Over the years, our family has personally experienced many of the programs that ATOU offers, from school workshops, to Youth Force activities, to community education and in all instances the excellence of this organization and importance of the work that they do has been consistent. In a gentle and respectful way, ATOU offers students insight into the experiences of others with visible and invisible disabilities, guiding them to the opportunity to realize all people share hopes, dreams and struggles. From this realization blooms empathy, and the chance to "choose to be kind" to all. Our family supports and will continue to support this organization because we are grateful for the way ATOU plants the seeds of empathy, respect and kindness in all members of our region, most especially the young people who will grow to become our future community leaders. Five stars for a great organization that continues to deliver important and life-changing service. Thank you ATOU!
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In 2002, I was a pediatric physical therapist who had spent the better part of the past decade working with young children with developmental disabilities, helping them to achieve maximal strength and physical function. I was also a young mother, and that year I gave birth to my second child, who suffered a perinatal stroke and was ultimately diagnosed with cerebral palsy. At that time, I realized that everything I thought I knew about disability would not be enough to provide him with the things that I most hoped he would have in life. What I most wanted was for him to live in a kinder world, and to be surrounded by people who loved and valued him, no matter the path his development followed.
When I discovered A Touch of Understanding and learned about their work a few years later, I was brought back to those early days when all I wished for was a world that would value my child and all people with different abilities. What I wished for is EXACTLY what ATOU is working to create! One child, one family, one school and one community at a time, in a way that is gentle and respectful, they teach everyone lucky enough to attend a workshop that all people are mostly the same, with the same feelings, hopes and dreams. Through their school workshops they demystify disability for students at a time in their development when they are learning who they are and how they will interact with those around them. In a world that can seem increasingly noisy and disagreeable, ATOU plants the seeds of empathy, respect and kindness in the youngest members of our community.
Today, I continue to be thankful to work as a pediatric PT, and with a team of dedicated and passionate doctors, nurses and therapists I work to strengthen and heal the bodies of children with disabilities. I am equally thankful however for the work of ATOU, and for my children's opportunity to participate in ATOU's Youth Force program. Together their programs are bettering the world that children with disabilities live in, whether we're able to "fix" their bodies or not.
Thank you ATOU for your tireless work to create a young generation with great compassion and understanding for all people, who will go on to create kind and inclusive communities to the benefit of all.
ATOU's workshops influence developing minds and hearts. Without preaching, their workshops and speakers allow students to learn and experience how other people thrive in this life.
ATOU's "Disability Awareness" trainings become a way to see how ALL of us learn and experience life using tools to accommodate our challenges, while enjoying our strengths, abilities, and passions.
ATOU opens our eyes to seeing the world as others might. And it opens our hearts to be more compassionate, patient, and accepting. It's ANTI bullying education in disguise
A Touch of Understanding is first class all around. When COVID hit, they were the first nonprofit in our area to host a virtual fundraising event. Then when schools didn't reopen they quickly turned their entire in-person education to an online format. ATOU has impacted thousands of lives and continues to bring disability awareness to our world in a huge way. In addition, they are very well organized and run a very sound nonprofit. Kudos to the entire ATOU team and supporters for the difference they are making in our region!
mail 08/04/2021
Thanks Freddie for your awesome review. You were instrumental in helping us with our first Virtual Fundraiser that ended up being a huge success. It is Community Partners like you that also make a significant difference in the lives of others. You help so many nonprofits keep their doors open with your fundraising expertise. Huge Kudos to you! RPS
Testimony from Ali Goff:
"ATOU is a wonderful local charity that helps students with compassion and understanding of people with disabilities. They are hard-working and very prudent with their resources. They partner with other businesses and schools to bring their wonderful programs to thousands of children each year." - Ali Goff, donor
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I spent 30 years working with adults with disabilities and had recently retired when I came across A Touch of Understanding. After years of working in a couple different careers, I found myself asking…”What do I want to do now? What could I do that would provide a sense of purpose while making a difference in the lives of others?” There was still the burning desire to use my work and life experiences in a manner that would be a value add with any organization I might team up with.
Enter ATOU… As I prepared for my interview with Leslie I reviewed the ATOU website and read all the testimonies of teachers, volunteers, staff and students that had participated in one of more of the ATOU programs. Over and over you could sense the genuine passion that everyone had about A Touch of Understanding and how the program(s) had changed and/or impacted their lives. The more I read about ATOU’s mission to encourage the acceptance and respect for all individuals I knew this was an organization I could get behind and make a contribution.
Today I am so grateful to be part of this wonderful organization that makes a difference in the lives of children every day, with and without disabilities. The transformation that occurs is priceless and has the potential to be life altering. It is an honor and blessing to part of something larger than ourselves. There is no greater gift than to help others. I am proud and humbled to be a part of ATOU.
ATOU provides a great opportunity for children and adults throughout our region to learn about various disabilities, gain insight, empathy, and passion about helping all people be their best selves. Their work significantly increases compassion and reduces bullying and discrimination. Their work is making a difference for acceptance in school and later in the community.
I supported a client of mine who volunteered once a week with A Touch of Understanding as a speaker for their workshops. This was always my volunteer's, as well as mine, favorite engagement for the week. As a speaker, my client was able to tell her story and talk to the children about her disability, as well as share all that she has accomplished in life. My client's message was always powerful and would break down any barriers that the children may have had concerning her disability. The children connected with her and friendships were always made. This was not only empowering for the children but for my client as well. I am in love with this organization and the message they are helping to spread in our communities - "Building Empathy and Igniting Respect."
A Touch of Understanding is breaking barriers between social classes; those with disabilities and those without. A Touch of Understanding enter our schools with the tools needed to give young people a more intimate impression of what dealing with a disadvantage might be like. This leaves the audience a greater understanding of the similarities between all of us verses the differences. They succeed in bringing about a greater connection to all social classes rather then a potential divide.
Foresthill Union School District has been scheduling the interactive Touch of Understanding for almost ten years. District staff and students have found the program insightfully informative. We all feel that the program has enabled our district/community to be more aware and accepting of each other.
A Touch of Understanding is a unique and much needed disability awareness program. I was so very impressed with both the volunteers and the staff. Leslie DeDora, co-founder, holds ATOU to the highest standards of excellence. The students that participate in the ATOU program are forever changed by the presentations as well as the activity areas. I have seen first hand how they come in thinking those with disabilities are "weird" or "different" but through the compassionate way the program is presented, they come away with a whole new "understanding" of what those with disabilities are capable of in their daily lives.