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Ray Romano Issue
Hans — Museum of the Mind
ABILITY caught up with Hans Looijen, who heads up Het Dolhuys, the museum of the mind in Haarlem, Netherlands, when he was attending an Integrated Art Exhibition in Wuhan, China. His museum explores the boundaries between what they consider to be normal, abnormal, as well as deviant behavior. Looijen is also chairman of the ... Read more
Cornell — Talent Acquisition Professionals
Talent Acquisition Professionals” (TAPs), who place people with disabilities in jobs, are charged with understanding and supporting the needs of not one customer, but two. They’re responsible to those people with disabilities, whom they aid in finding a career, and they also answer to businesses that do the hiring. The ability of TAPs to ... Read more
Year After Year
This year, while visiting the family in Florida for my annual holiday vacation, I ventured over to The Miami Project to get an evaluation and see if there was anything new in the world of spinal cord injury (SCI) research. The Miami Project began in 1985 when Marc, the son of Miami Dolphin’s player ... Read more
Wide Awake
It is 3:30 am, and I am still wide awake. I went to bed around 11, but my mind won’t turn off. I’ve thought of everything from my deadline for this column, which I have yet to finish, to my ex-husband, who popped up in my dream last night. Did I remember everyone in ... Read more
Yosemite — Bear Necesseties
The majesty of Yosemite Valley beckons me every summer. My husband and I make the long winding drive from Marin County, across the Central Valley and up into the hills and down again, to hang out with friends by the lazy Tuolomne River, surrounded by trees, and gaze at the astounding glacier-cut granite. I’m ... Read more
Time to Shred!
Happy New Year everyone! I’m finally back home after a very busy end to 2015. At the beginning of November, I flew to Florida and stayed at my mom and dad’s for two months. It was nice to be back in Florida riding, training, and teaching Motocross. One weekend, Mom and I went up ... Read more
Ray Romano — Cancer and 70’s Music
Ray Romano looks a lot different these days. Gone is the clean-cut image from his hit TV show, “Everybody Loves Raymond”. On this day, his hair and beard are grown out for his latest role on Vinyl, a new HBO series about the skeevy record industry in the 70s. ABILITY caught up with Romano ... Read more
RAATH — Life with Ménière’s Disease
Sooner or later everyone faces an unexpected challenge that tests the foundations on which their lives are built. My test was sudden, overwhelming and catastrophic. I woke up one morning to discover I was almost totally deaf. Here’s my story. I knew something was seriously wrong. I couldn’t hear anything more than a few ... Read more
At Least I Wasn’t Rat Food
You would think meeting racing legends and top corporate executives in the motorcycle industry would warrant a good story, but, unfortunately, this adventure is about surviving a lodging experience at what will herein be referred to as “The Resort.” The AIMExpo is an international trade show, held once a year in Orlando, Florida, for ... Read more
China — Love and Albinism
Hunted in East Africa for their body parts and portrayed as scoundrels by Hollywood, people with albinism are often deeply misunderstood around the world. A rare genetic disorder, albinism is the absence of pigment in the skin, hair and iris of the eyes. And with it comes a host of physical hurdles—low vision, rapid ... Read more
Charles — Genius of the Soul (Archives)
If you’re looking for Ray Charles on an evening where he plays two 55 minute shows, you can probably find him in one of two places: seated in front of a piano or chessboard, In fact, the trim, 5’9” legendary “Genius of Soul” feels at home in front of either board, regardless of how ... Read more
Bulgaria — Parents Take Charge
On a recent visit to Sofia, Bulgaria as an occupational therapist, I participated in several parent group meetings where parents with children with disabilities shared their ideas and needs in focus group settings. Several areas of need were identified and parents expressed needs that were especially important to them in parenting specially abled children. ... Read more
