I just met 2 people who may be able to offer me ideas for growing infobility. One friend sat with me for 2 hours and designed a beautiful website with me. The only problem is we can't get it online so nobody will know it exists. My interest has been re-ignited so I will seek additonal paths to get this topic going again, someday I may even make it a non-profit. That's what I'll always want.

It's time to choose another path and see where that one will lead- growing infobility by disabling disability for the moment. I will create a class, or group, teaching people concrete ways to become more happy and that should make me more happy. I already met a professor of English who teaches the topic and published 16 of her own books. I will send her my pamphlet and manuscript after we discuss my "happiness project." It's all in the attitude and mine really needs and really will improve. Onward and upward in 2013!!

The autistic girl, with whom I do potholders, has finally begun to understand the process. She is now able to do the second part of the process instead of randomly say "over" and "under" while I weave the yarns through. I was very excited for her and made sure to let her know how happy I am with her. My constant reminders after each and every stitch payed off and now she can grab the yarns from underneath and pull them through. This is such a breakthrough and it goes to show that repetition and consistency does result in progress eventually.

I'm going to try yet another angle. I can earn $25 for signing up people to get Connect America Alert Button. I wrote a note and sent flyers to local senior centers. One asked me to speak about it and so I will offer this to other groups as well. In conjunction to the product I will share my pamphlet called "Tenacity of Hope" which deals with managing independently at home. The two products are on the same issue- empowerment. At least I can make an effort to make this work.

I just read a book called " My Miracle Marine" which follows the recovery of a seriously injured soldier. I wrote to the author, who is the mother, and shared my very frustrating pursuit of reaching injured veterans with my manuscript. I only want to empower others to manage daily challenges a person with a physical disability may have. I hope this is finally the end of my challenge and it gets into the correct people's hands.

Indirectly I may get infobility moving. A friend wants to start a catering business and so I've been doing a lot of reading on marketing ideas. A very obvious point is the unique selling position, it's a must in every business cause there's so much competition. Money going to help a charity is a good angle since improving the price point, food quality, food items, etc is nothing everyone hasn't done before. Therefore, every piece of marketing Art does will include his Infobility contributions. It may be just what he needs- now it's time to get started.

I worked with Becky while being observed by the reporter. We were supposed to be doing typical things, that would mean cleaning and weaving. Since there would be too many distractions in the mall and it was a beautiful day outside we worked in the corner of the mall parking lot. We were away from most of the people in a remote area but not hauled up inside a house. She swept my van rug a bit then we woorked on the potholder. She's mostly non-verbal but she spoke volumes and the reporter got a feel for what our experiences are like. He planned to stay 30 minutes but he chose to remain for 2 hours- a good sign. I hope others see that from reading his article.

I spent 1 1/2 hours with a reporter, on a human interest story for the newspaper, I hope it generates interest. It helped to have Becky's mom present since she had some initial concerns that other mother's would. When asked why I chose to work with individuals who have developmental rather than physical disabilities I hesitated. I did not want to sound offensive but I am less effective and tolerant with people who have my brand of challenges. I clearly stated that I enjoyed educating people about all disabilities and that there are similar threads regardless of the disability. At this point it's out of my hands.

I just returned from taking care of an expensive vehicular problem. As always my biggest fear is these mechanics driving it because of the extensive hand controls. I asked if I could at least drive it right up to the bay, I was told yes. Then I asked if the mechanic who'd be working on it would come with me and watch from the passenger's seat, he did. As I approached the bay, the mechanic said I could take it inside. I was quite reieved but worried since he was admiting to his fear of the controls. Two hours later I saw the mechanic drive it into a parking spot up front! Wow- was I suprised. I guess it IS drivable by some non-disabled people.

Parents of kids with challenges have such a hard job to know when to protect and know when to let go... just a little. The kids must have a little freedom to discover themselves and the world. There are so many kids with special abilities that often go unnoticed because the parents are so busy managing their lives day by day. As a person with a disability who had protective parents who did not let go, I know what I'm talking about. They are doing a disservice because in the long run the kid will never get the chance to self-discover. How does one express this without angering the parent?

Until now I was convinced that reaching the community at large, with educational programs, was the way to go. I saw so many people with challenges as unmotivated and apathetic. I'm deciding to shift gears beause I may soon have a unique opportunity for people with disabilities. I am interested in finding people who are skilled at crafts and similar skills and to have a store featuring their things. There are many talented people who are either unaware of a venue, not taken seriously, don't see their skill as worthy but now this can all change. My other love is marketing so I'm going to succeed from this angle instead.

Last week I attended the Mount Joy Chamber of Commerce Meeting and this week I will attend a meeting regarding economic development in Mount Joy. I shared information on October being Disability Employment Month and distributed flyers. I met a local marketer who would like to help me. I also met a local man who runs a personal care business. I told him I could help him market and I'd like to meet with him. I'll see.

I just met with a Mount Joy program director and she was very receptive to my ideas to add the disability component to econmic development. I also hope to attend the meeting with the Chamber of commerce on Wednesday. I would like to offer literature on this topic and get businesses excited about some of the projects I would like to implement. It would be more successful if I had a joint venture with them. Hopefully other towns will follow; I must do this here first.

I met with the Program Director of the James Street Improvement District. This is an entity that works with business and other employers in the Lancaster area to improve the quality of life for the residents. My idea was to include the disability component by creating a booklet of accessible places for people who have physical challenges. I'd also consider applying for a quality of life grant from the Christopher Reeve Foundation. I would love to have a joint venture going with this program, I would finally be able to implement some of my accessibility ideas.

I was going into a CVS and was wheeling in the parking lot seeking a ramp. I noticed a car backing up and I knew they couldn't see me since I was too low for the car mirror. I wheeled all the way to the back of the parking lot till the driver was done. I started to turn left to continue my search for the ramp to get inside the store and suddenly the driver was 2 inches away from me, clearly not looking. I started to yell. Some stupid girl with a baby starts to yell at me and asked when my ride was coming. I informaed her that I drove here but when I back up I look before I move my van. She disliked like my tone and continued to reprimand me! She was the typical stigmating person totally clueless because there was certainly a point in whcih I was visible to the driver. Wow was that upsetting- I haven't had THAT in awhile.

I attended the Pennsylvania Disability Employment Summit. It was very inspirational to listen to CEO's of Walgreens, CVS, and Lowes talk about their hiring practices. It is hoped that other companies will follow suit. I reworked my employment presentation and sent copies to everyone who I met Friday. I will make efforts to meet with Lancaster companys and then request some testimonials to include in a brochure. October really is my business launch I must start somewhere. This is just like I did with the public school presentations in Lehigh Valley.

At this point most of the local libraries who belong to the Lancaster system have my information. I requested that the flyer on page 1 is posted. I contacted a reporter who has a disability and has written articles on the subject. I have written to a large orthopedic center in Lancaster requesting that I leave some booklets in their waiting room. I hope that the Commnity Exchange program that I'm bringing to Lancaster will somehow join with my disability program.

Every day this month I am going to actively do something regarding disability awareness. Yesterday I wrote to 5 of the Greater Lancaster Chambers of Commerce to send a manuscript I wrote on the topic and a flyer. I asked each person to print the flyer and share it with others. If I do that in enough places, I should eventually get a response. I discovered that a Women's Business Expo will be held on October 11 in Manheim and there is a ames Street Community Development Project in downtown Lancaster in which many many local businesses are involved. I have a meeting about getting involved with that next week. I really want to help businesses reach out to customers who can't come in due to steps at the enterances. I'm on the right track.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and I'm going to honor it with a "toolkit" for employers based on a compilation of a variety of information. I've been waiting to work on the vocational aspect of disability. Waiting for what? No longer. My new motto is "Just Do It." Something will work out and lead to referral$. Part 1)Introduction & Working statistics; Part 2)What ADA means to employers; Part 3)Communicating with People who have Disabilities; Part 4)Examples of common reasonable accommodations; Part 5) How my program "Windows Shopping" can help.

I have my speech organized for next Monday at the Lancaster Library. I hope that people attend, I'm going to the Lancaster Nursing School with flyers. I think it would be really appropriate for those students to attend and do my "Working on Wheels" program. I want to meet some of the staff from the school, this past summer I contacted them but they were all on vacation. I'm still trying to get my therapeutic respite program out there. I expect to meet many people on Tuesday at the rally in Harrisburg. I will report the reaction to people in the area who did not attend. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from that and meet a lot of good people.

I attended a meeting of the Autism Society, on budget cuts and the future of services. No matter how bad it for people who have physical disabilities, it's much worse for those who have autism. The people who make the big decisions do not have a clue what it's like to care for a child this disability. Nor do they see the ramifications of these horrible decisions. The end result will be costing the taxpayers so much more than if they let things alone and just continued to implement the laws such as Act 62. This is the Autism Insurance Act which deals with payment of services. Really unfair!

"Helping someone else helps oneself." I've said that and read that but now it's coming truer than ever. I'm filling a resource table for my temple's Special Education Forum. I've been contacting and meeting with a number of local agencies requesting brochures about their programs. In return I've discovered an autism resource center and met 3 different people who were thrilled to hear about my therepeutic respite program and they insisted that people have asked for this type of service. I can't wait to pursue this further.

Rather than trying and trying to create a new disability program in order to make some money I will consider a different angle. Why should I re-create the wheel? I should just grow what I already know and am good at. I have been working with a girl who has autism for weeks now. I decided to try loom loopers with her in order to get her interested in a specail "talent." It's worked wonders. Everything about what we do while making the potholders is therapeutic. The therapeutic skills include these components: Concentration, differentiating colors, counting, following directions, improving speech, learning patterns and learning patience, comprehension, confidence self-esteem. Many partents don't have the time or energy to discover "Specialness" in their kids who have special needs, I do. The "Working on Wheels" program will also become more frequent.

I must always consider other ways in which to get my disability programs sponsored so I'm working on a few. One will be to reach out to some local physical therapy facilities. There are two just up the road from me in Mount Joy. The other idea is to meet with a representative from the agencies who will be sending literature for the special needs forum at my temple. Everything is a potential opportunity but I must first make a brochure to share with people.

The most upsetting thing is when people don't believe me due to my physical disability. Here are 2 examples: An alert button hangs from my wheelchair for emergencies. Two times I hit it by accident and despite my stating that I'm fine the police were dispatched anyway. The second time my boyfriend told the operator at the call center and she had immediately believed it was an unnecessary call. Another time my van was hit by another driver and even though the police report totally exonerated me from the accident OVR insisted I had to relearn and retest my driving skills. Furthermore, I was tested on an Econoline Van even though I clearly was never going to be using that type.

Today I meet with the director of a camp for kids who have special needs. I am interested in helping them secure more funding. I would be great at it but someone already does that so I hope the person doesn't feel like I'm trying to replace her. Also I started filling out an application to work as a Therapeutic Support Staff in a public school for a local agency. The application has physical job requirements I asked if they can be waived and the lady did not understand my request. People who use wheelchairs to ambulate rarely work in the human services field!

"Working on Wheels" went well. The participants really gave the experience a lot of thought both sitting in the wheelchairs and responing to the thought provoking questions afterwards. I will now have the chance to grow Infobility after numerous starts and stops over the years. What I needed, and now have, is connections that will help generate interest. A professor from Millersville University was present at the discussion and seemed to believe in the program. I also have a connection with a fraternity at Franklin and Marshall University because of a fundraiser for Aaron's Acres, I got them involved with last year. There's also Lancaster Nursing School, which I hope to have a connection after Friday's program.

I always said that independence is a characteristic I admire in people with disabilities. I have a hard time with people who pretend to be more impaired than they are just to get a "free ride." Recently, I began to like someone but I knew something didn't sit right with me. I realized what it was- he was unnecessarily sitting in a wheeelchair and he said it was fun. Later he qualified his statement but it didn't matter, he already set it. This lack of motivation to be independent really bothers me. Although part of his negative attitude is due to his surround-ings, however, if he was a true fighter, he wouldn't allow an environment to change anything. Am I being too harsh? Maybe but learned helplessness is not an endearing quality to me.

My friend who fell has been in a nursing home and it's horrible. He's physically doing better than he was before the accident but (as he says) "he's become his environment." I was so upset cause he waits up to 30 minutes to go to the bathroom and sometimes just can't wait and goes in his pants. His pain pills take an extra 30 minutes to arrive and he's told to stay in a wheelchair, which he does not need. I want him to come home with me so he could recover mentally as well as physically. I just told his mother who was horrified. She insists I'm not capable of handling the job becasue I am in a wheelchair. That's precisely why I'm advocating so strongly that he leaves there.

I realize there could be all sorts of legal ramifications to this but I just can't let Stewart stew in the nursing home till the doctor decides it's okay to go home. I realize I'm disabled too but I'm a lot more capable than I may seem to people. His 83 year old mother is worried sick about him coming home. He spent much of his life taing care of her and now the roles are reversed but she definitely cab't do it. I can help Stewart (and I know I can)I WILL.

I was watching "Sunday Morning" and there was a segment about a fire station that adopted a guy with mental illness. He was treated like one of the gang and the guys even did his laundry for him- since 1952! If only others were like that. My Camp for kids with challenges went to a local ambulance/fire station and there was a man who took kindly to a guy with mental challenges. I really saw this "camper" as the man in the story. If only...

Rehabilitation when you already have a disability. That must be the ultimate in frustration. A professional is telling you how to manage even though you've spent a lifetime figuring it out. So, in this case, who would be the real expert? I always tell people with challenges that they are the experts on their bodies regardless of how many letters they have after their names (professsional degrees). My friend with arm and leg weakness due to a previous injury then recently fell, has been doing physical therapy for weeks. He's got the patience of Job.

I'm volunteering as a counselor for a camp with kids who have special needs. It's interesting how some of the kids with disabilities shy away from me due to my own physical disability. I try to make an extra effort to be useful and I'm very aware of things that would not be best for me. For example, they all went swimming today and I can't be in the pool watching the kids so instead I arranged the snacks and collected the floaties once swim time was over. There's usually always another task, just as useful, that I can do. That's a lesson in life too.

I just scheduled a presentation for October 2 at the Lancaster Library. That feels like a lifetime from now but at least it will happen. I have to come up with a good title, one that is not too "disabilityish" I want this to be heard by the general public who does not have much contact with this topic. Bt then we will have done a few sensitivity programs and had a few stories to tell. It should be interesteing. I won't be doing it alone so that's good, Joyce will be a good co-presenter.

This weekend I attended a disability conference and at night I went out with a friend. He had an unsteady gait and eventually fell. I accompanied him to the emergency where he had stitches and x-rays, eventually they sent him home. The next day he was in terrible shape so I told the director I wasn't returning to the conference. The lady was livid, I couldn't believe it! She's an educator on disability and couldn't have been less sesnitive. I couldn't imagine turning my back of my friend in his time of need to attennd her conference. At the conclusion of the two days the conference participants are always asked to complete a form on what they learned from the presenttions. This time I learned the lack of understanding there is among healthcare educators.

I'm working with a friend on developing a homeschooling program for kids. We want it to be for kids with any background. Traditionally it's for Christians kids who are considered "normal." I want to reach kids with learning disabilities and those from families whose parents work during the day. If the requirements are actually only 4 hours a day at home with books and parents perhaps they can come to the group during the day and learn their studies then reinforce them at home in the eveniing. I am marketing to Jewish populations also.

At a conference on "Leadership and Disability" we had a brainstorm session on how to get to know the person who is leading you. We talked about ways we all came to the conclusion that there are many more similarities than differences between most people. Taking that a step further we should remember that in our advocacy efforts in order to work be effectively, it shouldn't matter what your age, disability, race, gender, religion, residence, financial status, (etc.). What we have in common is huge - budget cuts that will impact receiving anything disability related such as (attendant care, wheelchairs, medical assistance etc.)

If the entire disabiliy population and the aging population worked together we'd be the most powerful and largest minority in America. It makes no sense that we don't.

My editorial was published! I didn't recognize it because it had a different title and it appeared as a skinny little column but it was front and ceter on page A9. The only problem was that it was supposed to be taken as a role reversal, instead people took it as a cry for pity. One man said how sorry he felt for me. However 2 other people with challenges contacted me and I have a very good feeling about the second man. I also sent letters to Senator Brubaker and Representatve Sturla's office and requesting that I continue my advocacy project there. It would hold much more weight if I got their stamp of approval than if I did it alone. I was/am determined to develop this advocacy project regardless and now I am confident that I can/will.

My advocacy project is likely to happen even though it is without agency support. Originally it was supposed to be part of a grant through the Pennsylvania Developmental Disability Planning Council. I wrote to a number of agencies requesting that they work with me and in retun they would receive the money.

The deadline came and went and there were no takers. However, that did not mean the project would die. I made some changes and decided to do it myself eventually I'd find people with disabilities who may be willing to join me. I just wrote a letter to Senator Brubaker requesting that I develop the project through his office. That would lend a major amount of credibility to the project and to myself. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Advocacy is so important and not enough people do it so I am going ahead with my work whether I have an agency backing me for the grant or not. I tried Liberty Resources and the CIL in Bucks County and now I'm trying the one called Visions for Equality in Philly. I need consumers who are willing to share their stories about how their lives affected by fewer hours of attendant care. I also want to learn about the accessibility of polling places in Pennsylania.

Window Shopping on Wheels

I created a perfectly good solution. It would show people with disabilities that the shop owners care and hopefully turn them into customers. I called the Chamber of Commerce in Lancaster, City Hall, WGAL and the Intellligencer. No one seemed to care at all but since it's warmer out today, I will go to a business today in person. I can't imagine store owners would want the chance to increase their revenues, my idea costs almost nothing.

I would create a webpage that would include shot summaries on the inaccessible stores with their indiidual websites. Once I meet with a dozen stores and get them interested the cost of the webpage would be almost nothing. Furthermore, I would do all the initial marketing so it would be hassle free for them and more than likely increase their revenue. I know places waste thousands of dollars on unsuccessful marketing techniques so I can't imagine there would be nobody interested.

Once I get my project going I will ask a store owner, to contact the media and get this idea to spread. I probably won't have to ask, they'll do it on their own. Not only will I do this all on my own but with resistance from the media. New Approach!

Window Shopping on Wheels

Last week my friend suggested they enjoy downtown's "First Friday" activities. Since the weather was so mild and had never roamed around since just moving here in July, I was eager for the experience. Well after a few minutes my eagerness turned to disappointment. Not because I didn't like the things I saw in the stores but because I couldn't get in the store so I couldn't see much of anything that was beyond the windows. I use a motorized wheelchair to get around. Even though I am quick to assure people that I can find ways to keep the wheelchair from getting in the way, this doesn't work when faced with steps.

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted twenty - two years ago, and that's supposed to ensure that public places are accessible to people who use wheelchairs, but that is not always the answer. In today's economy cost is the bottom line and people think it is too costly to do that and if the building was built prior to the law or the business is so small that it would cause an "undue hardship" (i.e too costly) the ADA says that is an acceptable reason to leave things as they are. Business owners often hide behind these exceptions to the rule. This is unfortunate because they could increase their revenues- people with disabilities are customers too. There is a flip side to the issue.

The flip side is that people with disabilities have money to spend that is just as good as that of the customers who walk it inside the stores and some store owners find ways to accommodate. The one store Susan did enter was "Mommalicious." Once she got help to lift her chair inside, Alicia Byler, the owner apologized for the entrance and asked her if I'd like to use her portable ramp when I am ready to leave. I would never have known this had I not made the effort to get inside. I believes that many employers want to accommodate but do not know how or feel threatened by the law. The way one approach I have is to start a dialog with business owners, at a convenient time and in a neutral location of their choice, to find out what their needs actually are. I want to publish a one page website summarizing the businesses and giving their own websites. Once that happens and you show your efforts to these businesses, people with disabilities who would not normally look twice, just may become customers.