Dying is easy, dating is hard; pretending that you’re always happy, keeping up that easy-going facade, coming up with lies that everything is great in your life, trying to take off wrinkles with sandpaper, etc. The nuisances are endless. It’s almost not worth the trouble to find someone special. Now throw on top of ... Read more
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Marilee Talkington Issue
Winnebago’s Accessible Road Trip
Watching travel shows, or reading articles on vacation destinations can’t take the place of being out in the real world. For many the open road has been an accessible challenge. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 report, there are around 3.6 million people over the age of 15 who use a wheelchair, with ... Read more
400,000 Miles Chasing the Cure
Drizzly, cold and dark was never my favorite way to embark on a thousand mile day on the bike, even when I was riding to an event I had been looking forward to. I was heading to Newnan, Georgia to share my Ural in the Iron Butt Rally story to a large group of ... Read more
Wang Lu and Her “Upper Hand” in Talk Shows
“Because no matter what script I came up with, the audience would cast an eye over my right hand.” So Lu changed her strategy: “Instead of having them wonder about my hand, it would be better just to ‘wave it off’ with a few explanations. Only then could I get their attention back to ... Read more
Toby Forrest — the Man
In 2010, ABILITY Magazine interviewed Tobias Forrest. The article started: “I was twenty-two, and I was diving off of a waterfall in the Grand Canyon,” Forrest said. “The water was too shallow where I had jumped, I shattered my fifth vertebrae—and I realized I was going under. I thanked God for my life, and ... Read more
Marilee Talkington — A Clear Vision to Advocate
Marilee Talkington is one of just a very few legally blind actors in the country to earn an M.F.A. in acting. She earned her M.F.A at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). She has worked professionally in the theater for over 2 decades. Her break out TV role was Annie Barth, a blind woman, ... Read more
Karah Behrend and the Rebelle Rally
Karah Behrend is all about breaking down barriers. She’s an adaptive athlete who not only completed the grueling eight-day, off-road Rebelle Rally—her first time ever—but the medically retired Air Force veteran placed second. With Behrend behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, made accessible with hand controls to accommodate her, and her teammate ... Read more
John Robison — Neurodiversity in the Real World
Looking at John, you might not peg him for someone who built flaming guitars for the rock group, KISS. The buttoned up shirt and bowtie are more in line with Bill Nye the Science Guy. John Elder Robison is certainly someone with multiple layers who will never fit into one box. The opening Keynote ... Read more
John Williams — Gathering the Change Agents
During a recent, historical news maker’s event at the National Press Club, former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Vinton Cerf, Rob Wong, Chet Cooper, Kim Charlson and Gregg Vanderheiden discussed “Driving Economic Growth Through Assistive Technology and Workplace Inclusivity.” The country must find a way to significantly reduce the 11 million unemployed adults with ... Read more
Pulling Back the Curtain with Judy Heumann
When I was five years old, I was deemed a fire hazard. Like millions of American children that year, I was entering kindergarten. It was 1952 in Brooklyn, NY and my mother was taking me to my neighborhood school to make sure everything would go smoothly on the big first day. It didn’t. The ... Read more
