I receive a newsletter called eSight NetWork News every week or so from a wonderful group called Lighthouse International.
This week I received a wonderful link to a set of guidelines released by U.S. Department of Justice regarding accessibility in business meetings. Click here for the whole article. This is the kind of thing that no one thinks about until a request is put in for it. I think we need to understand these guidelines and make them available for everyone, whether someone self-identifies their need or not.
Part of accepting physical changes in your body is learning how to advocate for yourself. It becomes a normal part of your lifestyle, conversation and mindset. How wonderful would it be if someone thought ahead and put in place "accessibility" to the best of their knowledge before being asked? Wouldn't it be great to come to a public venue that was welcoming? I hope that others will look at these and see how to incorporate them without waiting for a request.
Incorporate these ideas into event plans. In conference set-ups. In convention meeting rooms.
Welcome me and the other 45 million people who are currently disabled in America.
When I started this last week, I thought to myself, "Why did I do this to myself!?!" But I wanted a challenge and that was the first thought in my mind. But, as life has it, when you make a decision, something moves in to meet you and fulfill it.
One of my blogs I read called Media dis&dat covered a story, which originally ran in the San Francisco Chronicle. It was about Chris Downey, who continued to study and work as an architect, even as he lost his sight.
There is the obvious incongruous idea of an architect who cannot see. But what I love about this story is again, the odd connections he makes. At the end of the article, he decides his fear of speaking in front of people will be easier now he can't see. LOL!! As a person who faces blindness, I completely understand and get it!
Seriously, here again, someone is confronted by a challenge. How do they overcome that challenge? What connections do they make to overcome it. Read how Chris makes what seems like a stubborn choice that becomes the fulfillment of his life's goals.
Read the Story of Chris Downey here or there.
Today, I received disturbing news from one of the bloggers I follow.
Michael Buckholtz is the blogger for the non-profit organization he founded called Aid For Autistic Children Foundation, Inc. As usual, I stumbled across his blog as I perused the many Twitter posts for autism. As a person who was not diagnosed with his spectrum disorder until grown, he brings a unique perspective to the world of autism and Asperger's. As my son grows into manhood, I appreciate that perspective.
However, Michael is going on a fast to bring awareness to the plight of those families that deal with autism, but who do not have bankrolls (or even houses to mortgage) to pay for their child's care.
He is on a 30-day hunger strike.
I am not here to judge, but I still don't like the idea of having to fast to get the attention of people. I don't know if he is being followed by a doctor to monitor his health as he does this. And, with over 900 friends on his page, some of them doctors, I am appalled at the lack of response.
Does the autism community need hunger strikes? Do we need to get grass-roots and sit-in on some senators or insurance companies to get attention to the needs of our children? Have we really come to that?
Michael thinks so.
Earlier, he asked people to write the publicist he hired in support of his book. I wrote a lengthy email. There was not even an autoresponder from Ms. Barnett.
I want awareness, but I don't want our children or even our adults with autism to have to go to such extremes to get attention. Of course, he is free to do whatever he wants, but I hope by my writing this up in two of my blogs, that people will become aware of his journey.
I know April was Autism Awareness Month, but autism doesn't take a vacation or only show up once a year. It is a disorder that families go bankrupt over, marriages fall apart over, and mother after mother (and plenty of dads!) work from dawn until dusk, caring for their children. There are elderly parents still caring and truly worrying about what happens when they are gone.
I am not sure what I want to ask my readers to do. I do want you to click through to his pages. I do want you to support him. But, most of all, I want to open the dialogue. Is it time for the community of people whose lives are touched by autism to go to more radical ways. Is it time to go past petitions and walks?
What do you think?
I am going to start a series, called Unique Person of the Week. Every Wednesday, "Hump Day," I will showcase someone who is getting over the hump in their life. I don't want to sound syrupy or anything like that, but at the same time, it is my mission to show people living with challenges who accomplish their goals in unique ways.
This is not just about overcoming obstacles and being inspirational. While that may be true, the real deal is that these people have to do what they do. They have no choice. They either figure out a way to do what they want or they fail. Something about the human spirit just doesn't want to do that.
This week's person is a girl who flies planes with no arms. I love her story. Not because she flies planes with her feet, but because the connection she made between her fear and her success. It wasn't her goal to fly planes. It was her goal to get over the fear of flying. She could have just been a passenger over and over again to do that. Why go the extra step? Why become a pilot to overcome a fear of flying?
That is the power of connections. We never know what is going to come out of it and where they will lead us.
Well, it is the 2nd month since I have hung out my shingle and said "Hey, I am in business!" And, of course, I am listening to crickets.
No, I shouldn't be so cynical. Actually, I have two customers already and have been able to find two sites that gave me have free advertising...for as long as I like. I think that is pretty good. The buzz is being created on Twitter about Send Out Cards, from me and several dozen other distributors. As far as Tweetrail is concerned, this month I took the top two spots for tweets about Send Out Cards as you can see below.
I am doing the work. Behind the Twitter scene, I am sending cards to people and following up. This is where the real work begins.
Everyone knows the sale comes in the follow-up. So, the plan is to mail a card, then follow up with a phone call and then launch a campaign that stays flexible to what the responses are.
People don't like to write about this, but getting new business is not easy. It takes a lot of work and determination. You repeat yourself a lot. You hear "no, thank you" a lot.
That is why you have to LOVE your product. I implore anyone who is selling anything, if you don't LOVE (and you need to be able to use those CAPS) your product, get out and do something else.
All the social media, web squeeze pages and social communities in the world will not keep you going when it gets down to the trenches. All the e-books, new and old gurus won't help you get up in the morning and talk about your product one more time.
Only passion about what you have to offer will see you through. Do you have passion about what you sell? What helps you keep going even though the phones haven't started ringing yet?
Picture credit: B Lauren
It has taken a while for me to write this post. I am not really sure why. I knew the two different blogs that moved me to write made wonderful points, and yet, my post remained unwritten. Until today. Until the title came to me.
In two different posts, the concept of speech confronted me. How do we define it? How does it define us? What are the boundaries of it and how can we break down those barriers?
So many questions and I don't have answers, but the discussion intrigues me.
In post #1, a fellow Tweeter, Glenda Watson Hyatt talks about her new business cards and the journey to put the title "speaker" on it. Having been labeled non-verbal from an early point in her life, in this post , she decides that she is going to change that label. She will walk in her speaking ability, even if it comes from a computer-generated voice.
In post #2, written by BA Haller, the story of Tiffany Hill is told. She is a Oregon finalist for the Poetry Out Loud Contest, held in Washington, D.C. She received the nomination to represent Oregon by signing her poetry entry. The very title of the contest is incongruent with her abilities, and yet, I mull over what these two posts mean to me and to us all.
Certainly, these two women are not trying to redefine anyone's opinion. They are just trying to express themselves. And, it is up to us to understand that. But, by that very act, they pound upon the boundaries of our concepts of speech.
From the fluid movement of the body as it expresses American Sign Language to the robotic and often misaligned pronunciation of a computer-generated voice, speech is being redefined.
And, I am happy about this. These steps remind me we have so far to go. There are so many others that will move the boundaries yet again.
Today, a woman was proud enough of the accomplishments she has made that she no longer defined herself as silent. And, a young girl, still a tomboy in her mind, put forward the idea that silence could indeed speak. Out Loud.
How do you feel?
I have finished it!
Sorry if I have a sense of accomplishment about this, but I have finally brought over all my posts from a hopelessly bogged down WordPress blog to this new Blogger site. It has been a really eye-opening experience.
First of all, I am not a techie. I am learning some of the technical knowledge of HTML and CSS code, but I am far from being an expert in any way shape or form. Secondly, I am on such a tight budget that I could not afford a web guy, even when the web guy was TheWorkingDad, who connected with me through Twitter. He is fantastic and tried to help as much as he and my wallet would allow. But, it was just not meant to be.
Between taking care of my family, school, two other blogs and promoting Send Out Cards, I just didn't have the time. Okay, I also didn't have the patience.
This blog languished for six weeks. Finally, I have it all in one place and can let people know.
How, ironic, though that, just as I finish bringing over the last post, I find I have a follower!
Thank you for following this blog! It is very new and is still getting its bloglegs. Feel free to comment! After all, this is about connections, and a blog without commenters is a one-sided and lonely conversation.
