Peri Gilpin Issue

Peri Gilpin ABILITY Magazine CoverArticles in the Peri Gilpin Issue; Senator Harkin — Remembering Eunice Kennedy; Ashley’s Column — Perfecting My Poker Face; Humor — I’m Okay, You’re Okay; Blue Cross — Protecting Our Patients; David Radcliff — Still Standing (Kind Of); Advocacy Award — Lacy’s Legacy; Justin Dart — Disability Pioneer Continues to “Lead On”; Celebrating the ADA — Reflections From Tom Harkin; ADA Crossword Puzzle — Now With More Puzzle!; Methamphetamine — Making it Crystal Clear; Borderline Personality — Stop Walking on Eggshells; ABILITY Awards — We Like You, We Really Like You; Iraq And Back — Wounded Warriors Revisit the Past; Self-Defense Clinic — The Best Offense; MS Drug — AMPYRA: A New Gait For Independence; Peri Gilpin — Sitcoms, Sarcoma and Stewardship; Spud — Not Exactly Small Potatoes; Randy Pierce — The Blind Leading Himself; Fuller Center — Volunteers With Disabilities; ABILITY’s Crossword Puzzle; Events and Conferences

Justin Dart — Disability Pioneer Continues To “Lead On”

Circa 2010 PUPPET PULLS STUDENTS TO THE ADA “When a good dream comes true you want to shout it out to the world,” said Matrix Theatre Company partner and volunteer Janice Fialka. After two years of planning, the Matrix Theatre Company and volunteers in its surrounding community of Southwest Detroit began construction of a ... Read more

Methamphetamine — Making It Crystal Clear

Circa 2010 Batu, Biker’s Coffee, Black Beauties, Blade, Chalk, Chiken Feed , Crank, Christy, Crystal, Crystal Glass, Glass, Go-Fast, Hanyak, Hiropon, Hot Ice, Ice , Kaksonjae, LA Glass, LA Ice, Methlies Quick, Poor Man’s Cocaine, Quartz, Shabu, Shard’s Speed, Stove Top, Super Ice, Tina, Trash, Tweak, Uppers, Ventana, Vedria, Yaba, Yellow Bam… Did you ... Read more

ABILITY Awards — We Like You, We Really Like You

Circa 2010 In our continued effort to recognize corporations that share in the core philosophies that drive this publication, ABILITY Magazine is pleased to single out two businesses that show a high dedication to inclusion of people with disabilities as both clients and employees. With this issue, we bestow our Best Practices Award on ... Read more

Borderline Personality — Stop Walking on Eggshells

Circa 2010 CHAPTER 7 Asserting your needs with confidence and clarity I told my borderline wife over and over again how much I loved her, that I would never leave her, that she was a beautiful and intelligent person. But it was never enough. If a female salesclerk’s fingers brushed mine as she was ... Read more

Peri Gilpin — Sitcoms, Sarcoma and Stewardship

Circa 2010 Best known for her role as wise-cracking radio show producer Roz Doyle in the Emmy Award-winning series Fraiser, actress Peri Gilpin has lent her recognizable face and voice to the fight against sarcoma by way of The Sarcoma Foundation. After losing her mother to leimyosarcoma in 1997, Gilpin has become an advocate ... Read more

MS Drug — Ampyra: A New Gait For Independence

Circa 2010 In January 2010, the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved AMPRYA (dalfampridine) extended release tablets to improve walking capabilities for patients with multiple schlerosis (MS). In clinical trials, patients who took AMPYRA had faster walking speeds than those who received a placebo. AMPYRA is the first drug that the FDA has approved ... Read more

SPUD — Not Exactly Small Potatoes

Circa 2010 In his new short film Spud, 25-year-old filmmaker Tyler Norman makes use of bullies, Barbie dolls, and a burning building to create something entirely his own: a 1980s comedy for the 21st century. “It’s really inspired by a lot of the movies I watched growing up,” Norman said. “Films like Home Alone ... Read more

Sarcoma

Circa 2010 We at ABILITY Magazine have reported on various cancers from time to time, most of which have been fairly familiar to our readership. Sarcoma, however, is a less well-known type of cancer that is nevertheless worthy of serious discussion. Put simply, sarcoma is cancer of the body’s connective tissues. As their name ... Read more

Randy Pierce — The Blind Leading Himself

Circa 2010 Randy Pierce says it best: “You can’t choose to be someone’s inspiration.” His plan to climb the 48 tallest peaks in New Hampshire by the year 2020 isn’t motivated by a desire to be viewed as a hero. Rather, he plans to use the attention as a means to honor those people ... Read more

Fuller Center — Volunteers With Disabilities

Circa 2010 In 2001, construction worker Thaddeus Harris was thrown from a moving truck and sustained injuries that left him unable to walk. “For about nine years, I had just been existing,” Harris said of his life after the accident. Last year, however, Harris found a glimmer of hope and increased independence via an ... Read more

Self-Defense Clinic — The Best Offense

Circa 2010 Amaster in Tae Kwon Do with belts in Jujitsu and Aikido and experience as senior instructor in hand-to-hand combat at the Secret Service Academy, Mark Copanzzi knows a thing or two about self-defense. Today he heads the Secret Service’s Information and Resource Management Office, but takes a week each year to teach ... Read more

Iraq And Back — Wounded Warriors Revisit The Past

Circa 2010 The scene is quiet. A few dust clouds drift up, and the sun breaks through them as a blurry haze against the horizon. It’s different from the last time. The last time, there were bombs. There were bullets. There were cries. There were aches and pains and memories that these black and ... Read more

David Radcliff — Still Standing (Kind Of)

Circa 2010 Sometimes the stories we cover at ABILITY Magazine hit a little too close to home. In this interview with ABILITY editor David Radcliff, and ABILITY health editor, neurosurgeon Thomas Chappell gets to the heart of an accident that nearly cost Radcliff his life. Dr. Thomas Chappell: Tell me about this head injury ... Read more

Celebrating the ADA — Reflections From Tom Harkin

As we all know, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As chief sponsor of the ADA in the Senate, I will always remember the day it was signed into law—July 26, 1990—as one of the proudest in my legislative career. We have come a long way in ... Read more

Ashley’s Column — Perfecting My Poker Face

Circa 2010 The last couple of months have been pretty busy ones for me. I have been getting ready for my season to start while launching my new book, Kicking Up Dirt. As if that weren’t enough, I’ve also had to fulfill some sponsorship agreements. It is never dull around my house!   I ... Read more

Senator Harkin — Remembering Eunice Kennedy

Circa 2010 WE NEED THE EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER ACT Dear ABILITY readers, This summer, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Despite enormous progress over the last two decades, individuals with intellectual disabilities still face challenges on many fronts. They have health problems that many physicians are reluctant to ... Read more

Humor — I’m Okay, You’re Okay

Circa 2010 It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since the ADA was put into law. I remember the day when George Bush signed the legislation. Wow, that was 20 years ago? This milestone gave me cause to look back on how far I’ve come as a person with a disability and ... Read more