Paul Page leads a pretty normal life. The 51-year-old Napan has held a steady job at the Napa Valley Register for the past 31 years. He enjoys spending time with his family, has his own apartment, pays his bills on time and manages to get around town, mostly on foot.

“I’m a good guy,” Page said.

There’s just one difference. Page is developmentally disabled. Living independently was never a given for Page. He can’t read very well and doesn’t drive, he said. Page also needs some assistance with managing his finances, going to doctor appointments, shopping and other support.

Read more.

The Department of Developmental Services joins Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and First Lady Anne Gust Brown as they kick off the holiday season at the 83rd Annual State Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, at 4:30 p.m. on the West Steps of the State Capitol. The event is open to the public.

Kimie Metcalf of Chino, California, was chosen to help the Governor and First Lady light the tree and hang a special ornament created by a person with a developmental disability. Read more.

Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities act – which turns 25 next year – and a demanding and aging baby boom generation, the nation has fewer limits for those with physical impairments. When New York City announced 30 years ago that it was spending more than $50 million for buses with wheelchair lifts, Ronnie Raymond rolled her eyes. The founder of a reinsurance brokerage firm, she commuted by bus “and I never saw anyone in a wheelchair, anywhere,” she says. “So why spend all that money?”
The city had already invested in 1,362 accessible buses, and only 10 to 20 people citywide a day boarded in a wheelchair.
“The reason I didn’t see anyone in wheelchairs,” Ms. Raymond later realized when she herself developed multiple sclerosis and had to use a wheelchair, “was because they couldn’t get anywhere.” Read more.

A New York service provider, Your Autism Coach, is offering a free booklet for parents of children with autism and other special needs, to help manage the holidays with your children, family, and friends.
“The holiday season may be one of the most stressful times of the year for families dealing with the lifelong challenges of autism. However, it does not always have to be that way.

Read more and download the free booklet here.

Uniform Holiday Schedule FY15 – Attached is the 2014/2015 Uniform Holiday Schedule.

Invoice – Contact scheduleThe new Invoice & Payment schedule is attached for your convenience. Please note, EFT/Auto Deposit dates have been included. This document also provides Fiscal Department Contact information.

October is Employment for People with Disabilities Month, reminding us that people with disabilities create a more inclusive workplace. As Sonoma County  Supervisor Shirlee Zane said at the Annual Best Practices Awards ceremony in Santa Rosa, it is important for businesses to “expect, employ and empower.” By building stronger bridges to employment for people with disabilities our whole community benefits.