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Clay Aiken Issue

ABILITY Magazine cover Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken – An Interview with an American Idol

Circa 2003 Imagine beaming lights, intrusive cameras and the roaring applause of fans. Imagine the anticipation, the butterflies Lin your stomach and the racing thoughts reminding you to hit the right mark. Imagine going onstage to sing and dance in front of a live television audience, competing for the opportunity of a lifetime. Imagine beating … Read more

WLCDR – Promoting the Rights of People with Disabilities

Circa 2003 There are few better ways to promote the rights of T people with disabilities than to honor those leading the cause. On November 12, 2003, the West ern Law Center for Disability Rights (WLCDR) held its annual gala and fundraiser to award people, governments and corporations for their continued support of providing legal … Read more

USGA – Paralympic Gold Medalist Takes on Game of Golf

Circa 2003 Because of its perceived difficulty, golf is a game that many are hesitant to pick up, but with the right instruction, it can become fun to learn and provide a great challenge at any level of play. For Larry Hughes, a golfer who hasn’t touched a club in more than forty years, relearning … Read more

Art – Mouth and Foot Painters

In many ways, 49 year-old Robert Thome is your ideal success story. He has worked hard at his craft. networked with the right people and fulfilled his dream of becoming a successful painter and sculptor while making a very good living from it. Yet Thome is not your traditional overachiever. At age 15, Thome … Read more

Dr. Robert Liberman – An Interview, Part II

Circa 2003 Robert P. Liberman, M.D. is one of the fathers of the rehabilitation movement in psychiatry For the past twenty five years he has directed the UCLA Center for Research on Treatment and Rehabilitation of Psychosis, where he studies skills training and other treatments for individuals with severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Diagnosed with … Read more

ABILITY House – Building Homes and Awareness

Circa 2003 Would someone bring the cripples over here, please!” the volunteer called out. My mouth dropped and my heart began racing. Cripples? Did he really just say cripples? You don’t have to be the most politically correct to know this is about the worst way to refer to people with disabilities. Heck, why didn’t … Read more

Autism – From the Heart of a Woman with Autism

Circa 2003 In recent years. I have had to frequently remind myself that the sweetest flowers are never the first to bloom. How many times have I come to the edge of a cliff, gazing outward over an abyss? Whether the canyon below holds catastrophe or deliverance, it is still a change, which always terrifies … Read more

An Elite Model – Taking Notice of Brenda Costa

Circa 2003 When you model for Elite, a top New York modeling agency, you’ve got it made. All eyes are on you. Your life is an adventure; you may be doing the runway in Paris tomorrow or appearing in a photo shoot in Milan. Perhaps there’s an ad campaign being filmed in Los Angeles, or … Read more

Singin’ Sam – A Cowboy Folksinger and Poet

Circa 2003 Best known as a cowboy folksinger and poet. Singin’ Sam Agins dedicated his life to the cowboy way and to the preservation of the songs, stories, humor, poetry and crafts that define the cowboy and the True American West. Singin’ Sam celebrated the common folk in the songs he wrote, collected and performed, … Read more

Media Access Awards – 2003 Gala Event

Circa 2003 At the 21st Annual Media Access Awards, Hollywood entertainers were on hand to help celebrate the accomplishments of the media and entertainment industry. The ceremony, which used to honor one media and entertainment industry professional who accurately portrayed a person with a disability, has blossomed into an event that also recognizes performances by … Read more

Technology- Federal Research Benefits the Private Sector

Circa 2003 Joe Martin has authored two books and edited a third. He wrote silly songs for his daughter’s wedding and plays games with his grandchildren. Nothing unusual until you consider that Martin was diagnosed in 1994 with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and is paralyzed. Martin’s profound … Read more

Afraid To Look Down: A One-Man Play

Circa 2003 “We’re at places.” Three words that often send the most seasoned of actors into a panic. Three words that mean it’s time for them to take to the stage and breathe life into the role the playwright has fashioned to tell the story. In the case of actor Cullen Douglas, hearing those words … Read more

Humor Therapy – Up a Tree

Circa 2003 One of the traits men are presumed to be endowed with is the ability to exercise dominion and control over all manner of household repairs. As usual, the source of this presumption lies not in anthropology, but rather in mass media culture. Commercials generally depict husband-types who look as if they tum bled … Read more