Our 2012 book launch  was a huge success. Thanks to all who braved the torrential rain to come and help us celebrate the release of 3 great new Spectrum Press books. 

Self advocate musician and singer Peter Bourne came over from Vancouver Island to entertain us with three lovely sets.

Special thanks to Dana Putnam from the Vancouver Public Library. She hosted a VPL table, assisting people to sign up for library cards and showing folks how to navigate the VPL website. The Vancouver Public Library now carries all of our Spectrum Press books. Look for our three new titles coming soon to the library shelves and to www.vpl.ca!

David Pitonyak, whose work is included in our new Anthology From Institutions to Individuals - On Becoming Person Centred, started the day with a wonderful opening speech, and later, pulled the group in close to share a story about the importance of story-telling.

Judy, as usual, was an amazing host, providing nourishment and refreshments for all of our guests. A big thank you to Judy!

Most of the authors were in attendance to chat with folks and sign their books. The ABC's of Ability group had their own book signing table with a long line-up of people waiting to get their copies signed by the whole team.

Susan Stanfield took to the stage and talked a bit about her new book Getting to Community: supporting people with developmental disabilities in their pursuit of the good life. Self advocate Barb Westfield, who is a huge inspiration for anyone who aspires to a good life of self determination and a strong network of family and friends (and who is one of the cover models for Susan's new book) was in attendance and posed for some awesome photos with Susan.

More exciting news -- Through a reciprocal agreement we are now proudly featuring some great books from Inclusion Press on our website and at our book tables. We are thrilled to be affiliated with this historical leader in our field. Check our website for more information about any of these 6 books and feel free to include them in your orders!  For more information and more books from Inclusion Press, go to their website -- www.inclusion.com.

Look for an article about our book launch in the October edition of The CLBC Citizen Newsletter, followed up in November with a story and interviews with some of The ABC's of Ability team.

Our inaugural book launch last year was a huge success, bringing together over 200 people to help celebrate our new social enterprise publishing house, specializing in books and media by, for, and about people with disabilities.

This year we are releasing 3 exciting new books and a set of 6 fun and motivational posters by artist, author and Spectrum Society director, Aaron Johannes.

Come and help us launch our new titles on October 13th, 2012 at the Bonsor Recreation Centre (near the Metrotown Skytrain Station) from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Meet the authors and have your books signed. Meet David Pitonyak and hear him speak. It will be a great way to wind up your Community Living Days week!

Here is some information about our upcoming books:

Getting to Community: supporting people with developmental disabilities in their pursuit of the good life by Susan Stanfield. Susan, noted educator, author and Spectrum Society founding director has written an important new book of best practices in community support, focusing on self determination and great lives for people with disabilities. Click here to order Susan's book now at a pre-publication savings. (Pre-orders will be shipped the week of October 15th)

This early review sums up Susan's work nicely:

"Susan offers an elegant and precise voice to a new era of supporting interdependence and authentic roles for people with disabilities as they make their own choices in in their homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods and associational lives. This is an informative and practical book that would be an excellent addition to the libraries of teachers in inclusive classrooms, parents, and those working in the field. We expect a great deal from those who support our citizens with disabilities in their daily lives, and this book is a welcome and respectful addition to the field."

Barbara R. Trader, MS,   Executive Director,  TASH: Equity, Opportunity, and Inclusion

The ABC's of Ability  Dr Susan Powell, creator, and Larry Wells, photographer, along with an amazing team of self advocate collaborators and models have put together a unique and thought-provoking ABC book for children of all ages, showing images of people with disabilities making valued contributions to their communities.

"From Ability to Zest, join six adults with developmental disabilities as they explain what is important to them about being part of every day life. Discover how they use words and photos to illustrate the many ways they participate in and contribute to community."

From Institutions to Individuals: On Becoming Person-Centred is an academic anthology which will be directed to college  students in Community Support Worker, Education Assistant, and Disability Studies programs, and new or experienced community support workers. The anthology is based on Susan Stanfield's popular essay of the same title. The list of authors is a who's who of some of the most influential thinkers in today's community living movement, including Michael Kendrick, David Pitonyak, Bill Gaventa, Susan Stanfield, and Aaron Johannes, among others.

Jim Reynolds

**We believe we are surrounded by evidence of kindness, sharing and abundance. If you’d like to share any of the articles or illustrations (not photographs of people or works which are obviously by individuals, who have only given us permission for here) from the Spectrum Press blog  you are welcome to do so for the uses of non-profits or social justice organizations, giving credit to www.spectrumpress.ca - a note letting us know either in the comments or by email or twitter (@101friendsbc) would be great! Copies of our books, posters and media works for use by groups are available at www.spectrumpress.ca  Inquiries about workshops or facilitation can be made to aaron@spectrumsociety.org  Spectrum is a charity, although Spectrum Press and Learning are Social Enterprises, and donations to our work can be made here – specify Literacy, or Research Training and Development if it matters to you, otherwise it’ll be used where it’s most needed. You can subscribe to Spectrum Society's monthly newsletter at www.101friends.ca.

 First off, keep Saturday, October 13th open. Our second annual book launch will be held on that day. Our team is working on the details as we speak. Keep watching our blog for more details. Watch our facebook page, our 101 Friends blog (101friends.ca) and our Twitter account (@101friendsbc) too!

Cheryl Fryfield, one of the ABC Book self advocate models and collaborators told me recently that their team will be taking the last photo this week for their upcoming October book release. Next week, I will be meeting with the ABC Book creator, Susan Powell, to discuss next steps for the completion of the project. It's all very exciting, and the finished product will be a unique and valuable addition to our catalogue.

Susan Stanfield is putting the finishing touches on her book Getting to Community: supporting people with disabilities in their pursuit of the good life. You can find out more about this book by clicking on our home page or our products page. We are offering a special price if you purchase Susan's book before October 14th.

Lots more is happening, so stay tuned...