Last weekend, I started drafting an email to a couple local representatives, sharing a bit of my story, and ask them what they would do about disability services, and the lack thereof, if they should be elected.
It's a pretty depressing affair, and brings back memories of five years ago when I broke down after a month of this garbage which, incidentally, is partially referenced in the email.
The Internet, though, came to my aid with two disability-related pick-me-ups.
First was a short article about a young college graduate, autistic and non-verbal, who was asked to deliver the valedictorian speech, and did so via a text-to-speech program. This time of the year, there always seems to be a story like this and some, in my opinion, can be pretty sappy. Which is why I appreciated how some articles mentioned this young woman's high grade point average, her field of study and the professor who was mentoring her, and her work as a writer and advocate for people using assistive communication devices.
Story number two came to me thanks to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the franchise's newest series, which is seriously awesome already! A legally blind actor from Calgary has been cast as an Andorian crewmember of The Enterprise. He appeared very briefly in the premiere episode, but figured quite prominently in the second, his blindness being incorporated perfectly, and the actor himself working well with the main cast.
Some much needed positivity to get my mind away from guttery-type areas.
Cheers!
