Challenging the able-bodied to a new understanding

I am a freelance writer continually focused on prodding and encouraging (even demanding) the able-bodied to reach a new understanding in regards to people with disabilities. I write Disability 101, a disability awareness and etiquette column published by the Summit Daily News (Summit County, Colorado including Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Dillon, Frisco, and Silverthorne) every other week. I have additional articles out in other publications.

I have multiple sclerosis and use a manual wheelchair for mobility. Professionally, I am an the Director of Technical Assistance at Meeting the Challenge, Inc. , a private disability consulting firm which operates the the DBTAC Rocky Mountain ADA Center, one of 10 regional technical assistance centers disseminating information about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In this role, I share information about the ADA and other disability laws and about disability etiquette. (However, none of my columns or articles are authorized nor endorsed by Meeting the Challenge or the Rocky Mountain ADA Center. I write as a private citizen with a disability.) I previously worked as a licensed special education teacher for many years.

I am also an adaptive athlete. I monoski and was awarded the 2007 Colorado Ski Country USA's Adaptive Athlete of the Year Award. I am an avid handcycler. I am starting to explore wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball.

This home page of my website will always contain links to my most recently published articles. To review all of my published articles, please go to my page entitled  Published Writing.

The final Disability 101 column in the Summit Daily News:
Disability 101 was in the Summit Daily News for almost three years. I made the decision to end its run in the Summit Daily because three years is enough for a small town newspaper. I'll be taking a break for a couple months and will then pursue new writing projects. Keep checking back here for more information. Here's my final Disability 101:

"One last column" on-line and in print October 18, 2010. My farewell column which evaluates my purpose with Disability 101, educating people who don't have disabiliies about disability. Did I achieve my goal?

Invisible Voices: New Perspectives on Disability

 The DVD is out and available for purchase!  "Invisible Voices: New Perspectives on Disability" premiered on June 21, 2010 in Denver. Six individuals (including myself) with differing disabilities tell their stories in this stage production turned film which was written by famed New York director, Ping Chong, and Sara Zatz. For more information and for details on how to order, see the Invisible Voices website at www.invisiblevoices.org .