Last year, several BOCES 2 Transition students in the Roberts Wesleyan College Bridge to Earning, Living and Learning (BELL) program participated in the making of a new movie for the organization Positive Exposure. Focused on people with intellectual disabilities, the film was part of a project called FRAME (Faces Redefining the Art of Medical Education) https://positiveexposure.org/frame/. FRAME’s goal is to change how medical information is presented to healthcare providers-in-training, clinicians, families and communities. By highlighting people living with these conditions and their families, the individuality and humanity of patients becomes key, alongside the standard medical information.
The filmmaker and Positive Exposure founder, Rick Guidotti premiered his work at the Little Theatre on May 12 as part of the 2019 American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry annual conference. Many of the student stars, including BOCES 2 students Haley Wentworth and Samantha Majchzrak, were in attendance, along with friends and families. After the movie, they volunteered to take the stage and answer questions from the audience about their experiences — good and bad — with medical professionals. All of these young people are clearly strong self-advocates and committed to working to support the needs of others.
Feature photo: Filmmaker Rick Guidotti with recent BELL graduates Haley Wentworth (Spencerport) and Samantha Majchzrak (Churchville-Chili).
This page: AADMD conference goers addressed a number of questions about the challenges of advocating for yourself to student panelists, including Majchzrak (l) and Wentworth (r).