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.
My named is Michael Wilson and I have been involved with a Touch of Understanding (ATOU) since 1997 and I am privileged to continue to serve on the board. I met Leslie DeDora and her dad, Ed Ennis (our founders) when they made a presentation to my Rotary Club and Leslie invited me to a Workshop. After attending the workshop I was hooked and never looked back! ATOU provides a message of empathy, acceptance and mutual respect - qualities that resonate now more than ever.
Both the school workshops and the adult presentation (Spirit of Inclusion) provide a 2-part program. One part of the program provides the students with a chance to actually walk a mile in someone else's shoes. The students are introduced to the various tools that enable a person with a disability to function in daily life, including maneuvering a wheelchair and using white canes while blindfolded, as well as trying their hand at writing in Braille and experiencing what it is like to have autism, to name a few of the exercises. In the second part of the program the students get to meet our disabled volunteers who provide the students an overview of what is like to live their life with their particular disability. This is followed by a question and answer session with the students. This question and answer session often exposes the most poignant part of the program as no question is off-limits to the students and the atmosphere is open to a free exchange of ideas without the fear of embarrassment! In fact, this is where the program becomes real to the students, especially those of the younger ages, as their questions are open an honest and the answers provided by our volunteers serve as life-long messages to the students.
The value of ATOU is to instill the message of empathy at a young age in our younger students and to provide a heartfelt and compassionate message of empathy to our older students in a positive and respectful manner.
As ATOU has now served over 100,000 students since incorporation I have had a chance to witness first-hand the life altering message ATOU provides to our students and I have also witnessed the profound positive impact that it has made for our volunteers as well. Offshoots of our program include the Youth Force which provides an opportunity for disabled and able-bodied children to meet each other at various functions (Christmas and Halloween parties, dances, etc.) and make life-long friends, as well as our Youth Force Club in several area High Schools; the mom's chat group which allows moms of disabled children a forum and resource; and our Friends of ATOU, who are a group of dedicated volunteers who work together to help raise funds to continue this amazing mission.
If you are seeking a non-profit that continues to make an incredible, positive impact in our society, look no further! We are always on the lookout for compassionate volunteers and donors who are seeking to make our world a better place!
I became acquainted with ATOU over 16 years ago when Leslie DeDora and her father, Ed Ennis, made a presentation to our newly formed foundation at PASCO Scientific, where I happened to work and serve as foundation chair. I have had some personal experiences with children having physical and/or developmental disabilities. What I heard from Leslie and Ed really touched my heart. Their program not only addressed the issues of those with disabilities but also issues non-disabled kids have in interacting with those different from them. The message transcends disabilities and levels the field for all kids to acknowledge with compassion those deemed "different" because, in fact, we all have differences. Over the years the program has grown and prospered on its own mission values because the message is universal and is transmitted with credible clarity and loving insight. ATOU is a special place and a special advocate for universal compassion and respect at a time when such attributes are sorely needed in a critical world.
The organization, the mission and the people have changed my life in ways I cannot put into words. It is an honor to serve as a volunteer board member along side some of the best human beings I will ever meet. - Stanford H.
Fifteen years ago I was new to the Eureka Union School District and was told that I had to go see a program for disability awareness at one of our schools. I saw the program, now called A Touch of Understanding, in action and saw the immediate positive impact it had on not only students with disabilities, but all students and adults on campus. Over 50,000 students later, it has only grown stronger and when I retired it was the only non-profit that I said yes to when it was time to get involved. ATOU changes lives.
Previous Stories
I first saw this organization in action in 1998 at a school in a district where I served as the Assistant Superintendent. The impact on students was immediate and longterm as I watched students befriend students with disabilities and back away from fear and bullying. After watching the program in action for ten years, including four when I served as Superintendent, I have watched the program grow and expand. When I retired, many groups asked me to join their boards, but this was the group that hit me in the heart, so it was the only one I joined. Now I'm working to get the program into as many schools as possible as ATOU reaches beyond the 50,000 students we will have reached as of this year.
Review from Guidestar