{"id":84275,"date":"2017-09-03T11:35:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-03T15:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=84275"},"modified":"2017-09-02T00:20:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T04:20:01","slug":"self-advocates-with-developmental-disabilities-to-attend-state-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=84275","title":{"rendered":"Self-advocates with developmental disabilities to attend state conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?attachment_id=84276\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-84276\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-84276\" src=\"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_4719-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_4719-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_4719-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_4719-900x675.jpg 900w, https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_4719-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The Madison County Motivators will attend the Self Advocacy Association of New York State\u2019s Annual State Conference\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_82538341\">Friday, September 8<\/span>, and\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_82538342\">Saturday, September 9, 2017<\/span>.\u00a0 This conference will take place in Albany with the message\u00a0<em>Our Voices Count: Nothing About Us &#8211; Without Us!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Madison Cortland Motivators is a self-advocacy group comprised of people with developmental disabilities. In 2005, MCM began with only five self-advocates; however, through the years the number of self-advocates has grown to more than 40 members. Their goal is to teach others about the importance of self-advocacy and how to advocate for themselves and others.<\/p>\n<p>Changes are constantly being determined at the national, state, and local levels and because of that, it is extremely important that those with disabilities have a say in the laws that impact their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Robin Collins, an advisor with the Madison County Motivators, said, \u201cThis is the group\u2019s eighth year attending this conference. Nearly 1,000 people attend and participate in workshops that focus on empowerment, rights, relationships and more. This is an inspirational conference that is fully run by and for people with developmental and physical disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince MCM\u2019s first year attending this conference, they have created a group of unity, a group that will speak out and self-advocate. \u00a0The active involvement of the Madison County Motivators underlines the fact that people with developmental and physical abilities aren\u2019t standing on the sidelines waiting for decisions to be made. They are actively taking a stand and fighting for what they need and believe in,\u201d said Collins.<\/p>\n<p>The workshops and focus groups the Motivators will attend provide great opportunities for learning and networking.\u00a0 Together they will rally and carry a message to be brought home and put into action.<\/p>\n<p>The Madison County Motivators fundraise to attend conferences and events. For more information about MCM or to make a donation to the Madison County Motivators, contact Robin Collins at\u00a0<a href=\"tel:(315)%20363-3389\">315-363-3389 ext. 7310<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Madison County Motivators will attend the Self Advocacy Association of New York State\u2019s Annual State Conference\u00a0Friday, September 8, and\u00a0Saturday, September 9, 2017.\u00a0 This conference will take place in Albany with the message\u00a0Our Voices Count: Nothing About Us &#8211; Without Us!\u00a0 The Madison Cortland Motivators is a self-advocacy group comprised of people with developmental disabilities. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}