Sloan's World

Sloan hit the media big time this week with a photo appearing in the newspaper, and a TV interview this Saturday! The newspaper article appeared in the News and Observer. It was a feature on Reality Ministries. We had a chance to speak to the reporter and photographer at the Reality Center on Monday, and they had the unenviable task of finding just a few things to highlight when they could have potentially done a whole story on every single person they interviewed concerning how Reality Ministries plays a role in their lives. You can find the article here , and there is a great picture of Sloan and Janie in the gallery. On Saturday, Sloan and Cameron went to the Raleigh Television Network studios to tape an interview on Speak Up, Speak Out: Voices in the Community . The host is an old friend of ours named Karen Stallings . Karen, as the Executive Director of the NC Self-Advocate's Association, was a guest at one of Sloan's Common Ground Self-Advocate meetings in Septemb

Everyone who knows Sloan knows that he LOVES music. Most of you know that he mostly enjoys kids/family music, and that he listens to an XM radio station called Kids Place Live . They play great fun music, and the radio is on from the moment Sloan wakes up until he goes to bed, every single day. (You may not know that Sloan's computer can also function as a remote control. Sloan is able to browse around for different music on his radio, and is a big ol' channel flipper.:-) He always goes back to Kids Place Live though.) One of the artists that Sloan hears on the radio 1-2 times an hour in the typical rotation is a musician named Billy Jonas . ALL of Billy's songs are favorites and are very well loved. Sloan has heard Billy's songs, interviews and live performances on the radio, his cds, and even on our local NPR show, The State of Things . (To get an idea of Billy's wonderful personality, soothing voice, and excellent music, we highly recommend this interview!) Bill

Hear ye, Hear ye! Sloan has become very interested (and a little obsessed) in poetry lately. He is building up a nice collection on his computer, and tears through them as soon as they get entered. Sloan is discovering what kinds of poetry he likes, and we thought it might help him if he knew what kinds of poetry his friends and family like to read. If you have a favorite poem, a favorite poet or write your own, please share it with Sloan!! You can email it or post it as a comment here. Also, this is a good resource for finding specific poems that can easily be printed out- Poem Hunter . If you find something, share a link! Thank you! We will all see how this develops...

It is that time of year again! And this year marks Sloan and Wendy's 16th Halloween together! It is our big event of the year, and we always have a great time. This year is our second year including Janie in the fun! We didn't think we could top last year's Barack and Michelle Obama, but this year, Sloan and Janie were the lovely Ogres Shrek and Fiona. They were a big hit at their Reality Ministries TNL costume party Tuesday night, and on Halloween they went to a neighborhood party and then sat in front of the house to hand out treats to the kids in the hood. They both opted out of the green make-up for Halloween night, but they still pulled it off well. Here is a list of all 16 costumes so far (I have to do some more digging to find all the pictures!): 2009- Shrek, with Janie as Fiona 2008- Barack Obama, with Janie as Michelle 2007- Pac Man 2006- Harry Potter 2005- Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas 2004- King Arthur 2003- Julius Caesar- Won first prize at U

On Sunday, Sloan was in Asheville, NC with all of his family to witness the wedding of his mother Suzanne to his new stepdad Random. It was a very joyous event, with all the family, many friends, a massive amount of food, and in a spectacular home nestled into the Blue Ridge mountains with views all the way around of the autumn color show at its peak. Sloan had such a good time visiting with everyone, he loved the spontaneous sing-alongs, and enjoyed the good food. Sloan had some responsibilities during the weekend though. On Saturday, it was his job to pick his Aunt Maxine up at the airport. He and Wendy had a blast putting together the music list from everyone's favorite songs they sent in. Sloan had also been working for months on his own arrangement of the wedding march on Wii Music. He chose all the instruments and practiced until he played them flawlessly so we could get a good recording. His mom walked down the staircase to the ceremony to his song! Kelly, an old friend of

Instead of Sloan and Janie's regularly scheduled Physical Therapy with Chip on Wednesday afternoon, they had their second annual "Fairapy" session with Chip at the State Fair! Sloan, Janie, Chip, Jen, Danicia and Wendy all were in attendance. You name it, they did it! Games! Janie and Sloan each won a ton of stuffed animals playing games. The weight and age guy wowed us all by guessing Sloan's age exactly right. However, he was not able to guess at all that Wendy and Janie were both born in April. Rides! Everyone rode the Ferris Wheel, and loved it! Sloan then rode the Tilt-A-Whirl with Jen and Danicia, and the Haunted House (twice). He is still an adrenalin junkie. Food! Funnel Cakes (Sloan's favorite), Corn Dogs, onion rings, Caramel apples, and to top it off- Fried Oreos!!! (They are as good and dangerous as they sound.:-) It was a great experience for all, and everyone at the fair was very helpful to us. Thanks so much to Chip for changing his schedule so h

That was definitely the theme of Sloan's last week. It all started with us figuring out a new microphone stand for Sloan and his Wii. He has wanted to play Guitar Hero everyday since. The singing is really helping him strengthen his voice up, and he is consistently getting over 50% accuracy. Rock on Sloan!! Sloan even had a chance to participate in a Guitar Hero competition at the Reality Center for their Chick 'N Chill. (An event hosted by Reality Ministries for students in Durham schools on their early release days. It was awesome! Sloan mingled with over 250 students.) Sloan didn't win, so that may also be why he is wanting to practice so much, but he had a great time listening to the students who made the top. Those kids are awesome!!! And no rock 'n roll experience is complete without staying out all night at a club listening to a rock show! That is exactly what Sloan did on Saturday. His friend Jen invited him and Wendy to a show at the very cool Cat's Cradle

Last week was a fun week of learning and culture for Sloan. He has two new History pages on his computer to study; one about Picasso and another about Shakespeare. Sloan has enjoyed these as he does all of his history, but he was actually able to go out and learn more about these famous artists in person. (almost) The Nasher Museum at Duke had a free Community Day last Tuesday, and Sloan and Wendy went to see their Picasso: The Allure of Language special exhibit. The audio guide they had available was wonderful, and it explained a lot about Picasso's paintings and why he was important, reinforcing what Sloan was already learning on his computer. Sloan and Noah took a trip to the Museum of Life and Science on Wednesday. After learning, there is nothing better than a ride on the train and a good scream in the tunnel! Sloan and Jen went out for barbecue at the Q-Shack, and listened to some live Bluegrass music Wednesday evening. They wrapped up their night with some yummy f

On Friday night, Sloan had another Dude Night! Adam and David came over for loads of fun; eating pizza, snacks and playing the Wii. David is good at Wii boxing, and Adam is "right on the money" with Guitar Hero. Ewan wasn't able to make it this time, and he was very missed. The next Dude Night will be Friday, November 13th. Saturday was for the Ladies. Janie and Amy came over to hang out. Last week was Amy's nineteenth birthday, but she was out of town, so Sloan wanted to do a little party for her. There was a lot of singing involved; High School Musical on the Wii (Janie rocked it!), and of course, Happy Birthday. Sloan had a great time both nights and laughed and talked a lot!

Sloan is a member of a self-advocates group called Common Ground . It is sponsored by the Arc of Durham County. Common Ground meets twice a month for business meetings where Sloan and other self-advocates discuss issues that are important to them, where they can listen to guest speakers, and learn how to be stronger self-advocates. Common Ground also sponsors several social events during the month including a dance (which Janie and Sloan attend frequently), a pizza and game night, and a dinner and movie night. Sloan loves attending all the meetings, and has made a lot of new friends in the group. He especially likes going out to dinner with his friends after the meetings! On October 24th, 2009, Common Ground will be having their own fundraiser to support the good things they do throughout the year, and Sloan is pitching in to help. The Fundraiser is a huge event, coordinated by Sloan's friend Sharon Youse who has put in a tremendous amount of work organizing the fundraiser and who

We all know Sloan has MANY friends, but there are two special friends Sloan would like to feature here. These friends help Sloan have a great time every day, giving Wendy and Sloan a break to do different things on their own. Thank you Noah and Jen!!! Jen Wilde- Jen entered into Sloan's world this past summer and they became fast friends. She and Sloan hung out every day. When they weren't sneaking off to Mapleview Farms for ice cream, they were hitting the museums or other cool places around town always having an awesome time. Jen also helped Sloan out at the Reality Ministries Summer Day Camp, and everyone involved with the camp was very impressed with her. Sloan had an excellent camp experience. Jen is a Junior at UNC-Chapel Hill, double majoring in Exercise and Sports Science and Sociology. This coming spring, she is planning on a study abroad trip to Australia! She continues hanging out with Sloan at least once a week. For the weekend of the Nation's Triathlon, Jen fle

On September 19th it was talk like a Pirate Day. ARRGGHH! Sloan and Wendy went to see They Might Be Giants , a very cool band who Wendy listened to when she was young, and who Sloan now enjoys on his XM radio . It was a beautiful day for an outdoor concert and picnic at the NC Museum of Art. TMBG rocked out to many of our favorites and Sloan got a cool band shirt! Good day! Aye Matey!

On September 13th, 2009, Cameron and Sloan were in Washington DC for the Nation's Triathlon. It was an Olympic sized Triathlon with over 6000 people registered. We all had to wake up bright and early to get there in time. AAAHHH!!! Sloan and Cameron had a goal to finish the race in four hours. The swimming was one mile, the bike ride was 24 miles, and it was a 10K run. Their official time was 3 hours and 47 minutes!!! And the whole time, Cameron was feeling the pain from a broken ankle! Cameron's Superhero feat, as well as Sloan's stamina and encouragement, inspired many people. They both had the support of many family members and friends who traveled to Washington to cheer them on. Cameron's wife Megan, his parents, and friends were there. Sloan's mom Suzanne, Random, and Wendy, travelled with him to Washington where we met up with Uncle Cary who took a bus from NYC, Jen who flew in from Chapel Hill, and Jackie and Jeannie who drove up to DC. It was amazing!!! Sloa