The Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Luncheon was held on Wednesday, 3/6.

Brittany Coon, Public Outreach Coordinator for the Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities visited The Morning Thing to celebrate this year’s award winners.

March is Developmental Disabilities Month. Brittany shared some facts about this special month.

• In 1987, President Ronald Reagan declared the month of March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.
• Developmental Disabilities are defined as impairments in physical, learning, language or behavior areas and include Autism, Cerebral Palsy, ADHD, Intellectual Disabilities, Down Syndrome, and many other developmental delays.

Brittany also shared a list of special events that are happening this month.

• The DD Awareness Month Luncheon was on Wednesday, 3/6. Community leaders, providers, families, and people in the local program gather to highlight  different parts of the Knox County Developmental Disabilities program and the annual awards are given out! 
• Thursday, March 21 – A fun partnership event with Knox County Special Olympics!  There will be a basketball skills and team competition in Bladensburg!
• MTV Arts is going to hold their first ever sensory friendly showing of Honk Jr. this month
• Annual coloring and essay contest for all the children in public schools across Knox County. They usually have over one thousand participants representing all the different public elementary schools in Knox County. Winners will be announced soon and there will be displays up around the county showcasing their beautiful artwork!

Brittany shared highlights from this year’s luncheon.

• A few essay submissions from the coloring and essay contest were shared.
• A panel of different people in the program shared their experiences with the program.
• Sarah and Bryce Maners shared how their family has been involved in the Early Intervention program for their daughter.
• Amber Lavin shared her story of how her youngest child was born with Down Syndrome and how they have been involved with the program since he was born.
• Tarynn Ball is a young lady who graduated from high school and went through the Summer Youth Career Exploration program in 2020 and did the summer youth work experience program in 2021.  She began working at Half Baked Café in September of 2021 and started selling her original artwork at The Treasure Chest in Fredericktown in July of 2023!
• Dave Chopson had been working for the County Highway Garage for 30 years and just retired in October of last year!  He shared some of his most memorable parts of working and what he’s been up to since retirement.

Congratulations to the 2024 Knox County Developmental Disabilities Award Winners:

Congratulations to the Individual Spotlight Award Recipient.

• The Individual Spotlight Award recognizes a person with a developmental disability who has overcome adversity to achieve or go beyond their goal. This year two Individual Spotlight Awards were given.
  • Darian Decamp.  Darian has been working with the KCH kitchen since 2016.  One of her supervisors said, “Darian Decamp has worked here in the Knox Community Hospital Kitchen since 2016. She is one of our longest-serving employees in the Porter position and is a great asset to our team. When we see her name on the schedule, we can relax because we know that she will be here on time and ready to work! She very rarely misses work and is always in a good mood. Her laugh and big smile really light up our kitchen when she is here. Over the course of the last 7 years, she has been a dependable, hardworking, ray of light in our department. We don’t know what we would do without her!”
  • Tarynn Ball.  Tarynn was on the panel and she was able to speak about her journey to employment with everyone that was there!  She has been working at Half Baked Café since 2021 and has been such a wonderful addition to their team.

Congratulations to the Community Partner Winner.

• The Community Partner Award recognizes an individual, family member, staff person, volunteer or organization that has worked diligently to create partnerships and alliances within Knox County. This organization helps with creating an inclusive culture and environment for everyone to live, work and grow.  This year two awards were given out for this category. 
• The first Community Partner Award for 2024 goes to Kenyon College Athletics.  The Kenyon Student Athlete Advisory Council has partnered with Knox County Special Olympics for the past 5 plus years to provide volunteers and support to athletes who use the Lowry Center to practice and compete.  They host practices, games, swim meets and regional skills tournaments. 
• The Second Community Partner Award goes to the Centerburg Church of Christ.  The Centerburg Church of Christ has hosted the Tim Tebow Night to Shine for the past two years.  This provides a wonderful opportunity for people in our program to get dressed up and have a wonderful evening with their friends.  This event is a massive undertaking that includes planning, sponsorship, volunteers and more! 

Congratulations to the Employer of the Year.

• The Employer Award recognizes a community employer who employs people with a developmental disability. This employer always goes above and beyond the expectation to help the employee not only be successful in the workplace but thrive.
  • The Knox County Engineer’s Office is the recipient of the Employment Award.  As you heard just a bit ago, Dave Chopson worked there for 30 years before he retired.  Dave was a valuable member of their team, and they always went above and beyond to ensure Dave was fitting in and getting all the support he needed to be successful.

Congratulations to the Dedication Award Winner.

• The Dedication Award recognizes a person, direct care staff, or group of people who are extraordinary in giving their time to help others who have a developmental disability. They are selfless leaders and are always working towards promoting independence and making positive changes. The recipients of this award will showcase a passion for making advances in individual’s lives. 
• The recipient of the 2024 Dedication Award is Colleen Frazee.  Colleen is an independent provider who continues to go above and beyond to ensure the people she supports have everything they need.  She has made sure the people she supports have friends, get to do the things they want to do and so much more.  With Colleen’s support, “Impossible” is not an option and we are so appreciative of everything she does!

Congratulations to the Local Hero Award winners.

• The Local Hero Award recognizes someone from the community whose basic nature is to give without expecting anything in return. This person is a visionary; they promote healthy ideas, offer support and guidance to create improvements in the lives of people with developmental disabilities.
  • The Local Hero Award Winner for 2024 is Tanner Cooper-Risser with the OSU Extension of Knox County.  While all of our interactions with anyone from the OSU Extension has been wonderful, Tanner has a way of making everything easy and simple.  Through our partnership with Tanner, he has been able to provide fun and interactive cooking classes for people in our program to make healthy and affordable meals.  He has been a great resource for our Early Childhood Newsletter. 

Brittany also shared the main goals for 2024 for the Knox County Developmental Disabilities

• Create more sensory inclusive opportunities in Knox County like at the movies, SPI Spot, the YMCA, and maybe even at our local festivals.
  • Develop a local Ohio SIBS to increase support offered to siblings of children with disabilities.
  • They are working with MVNU to develop some programming for those with disabilities to participate academically and socially in a college experience. 

You can stay connected with the Knox County Developmental Disabilities office.
The office is open Monday through Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm.
Phone – 740-397-4656
Website – http://www.knoxdd.com
They are also on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!