#Empowering
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When learning how to be a strong and effective advocate, the first step is to be empowered. The CNIB advocacy team presents an an eight-week series dedicated to empowering participants!
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When learning how to be a strong and effective advocate, the first step is to be empowered. The CNIB advocacy team presents an an eight-week series dedicated to empowering participants!
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When learning how to be a strong and effective advocate, the first step is to be empowered. The CNIB advocacy team presents an an eight-week series dedicated to empowering participants!
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When learning how to be a strong and effective advocate, the first step is to be empowered. The CNIB advocacy team presents an an eight-week series dedicated to empowering participants!
Thirty years since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, awareness of disability rights, advocacy, and visibility has increased, yet there is still a long way to go toward equality and understanding. Examining the complexities of disability issues with wisdom, humor, and honesty, author and disability advocate Rebekah Taussig offers a roadmap for broadening our awareness and expanding our understanding to help build a more inclusive world.
Growing up as a paralyzed girl in the 1990s and early 2000s, Rebekah saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of these depictions felt right because none of them represented her lived experience—complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling. Rebekah seeks to normalize the lived experience of disabled persons while also advocating for improvements and a paradigm shift—something that we all play a necessary part in. Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another.
We need more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity and in Rebekah’s latest book, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, she challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we build a more radically inclusive future together.
Join Rebekah in conversation as she talks about her book, her life and her work, and challenges us to work together to build a more inclusive world.
Rebekah Taussig, PhD, is a Kansas City writer and teacher with her doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She runs the Instagram platform @sitting_pretty, where she crafts “mini-memoirs” to contribute nuance to the collective narratives being told about disability. Released by HarperOne in August 2020, her memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body provides a nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. Rebekah and her partner Micah are the new parents of baby Otto. You can follow her work at www.rebekahtaussig.com.
We are grateful to our Bookstore Partner:
Marcus Books is the nation’s oldest Black-owned independent bookstore celebrating its 60th year. Marcus Books’ mission is to provide opportunities for Black folks and their allies to celebrate and learn about Black people everywhere
At the age of 6, ArtMitch was diagnosed with an eye disease called Keratoconus. Keratoconus is an eye disease that presses on your pupil causing blurriness to your vision. When most children's only concern at that age was playing, he was trying to make sure he could see the world as normal. Growing up with this disease was not an easy task. Art Mitch dealt with being bullied because nobody knew of this disease that he was dealing with. As the years passed he was introduced to a procedure that could possibly help his vision called Corneal Transplants. Art Mitch had 7 eye surgeries to correct his vision.
Art took his pain and turned it into purpose. For nearly a decade Art's passion for working with the youth increased tremendously. He has worked with various organizations helping give youth direction and support as they accomplished their goals.
Art's greatest accomplishments are being a husband to his beautiful wife and father to their 3 beautiful children, which is the acronym to his company ZAJ Inspirations. His motto is family first which he implements in all he does.
Art created the I AM brand to provide support and coping strategies for children and young adults who are being bullied because of their disabilities and to decrease the pipeline of young black males from school to prison. He accomplishes this by inspiring hope for a brighter future and instilling confidence in one's self. Art understands the strategies that empowered him to overcome his own disabilities have allowed him to become the father, husband, and entrepreneur he is today.
We're Okay Fam is teaming up with the founders of a Place for Us to have an empowering conversation about disabled body and minds.
About this Event
How well do you know your body? How connected do you feel to it and to others?
At this collaborative healing- circle event, A Place For Us will lead us in a conversation about disability and its connection to the body and mind. Participants will have a free space to hear from a myriad of unique perspectives and discuss people with disabilities’ connection with their bodies. Attendees will be asked to connect with their bodies, minds and souls.
We will also discuss some of the discomfort people endure because disability or pain is so stigmatized in our society. We will navigate the imporance of self-care and reflect on ways we can acknowledge something to change the discomfort we may feel. Our healing cirlce will connect you futher to those parts of you you most need to explore, and the experience will be sure to leave you feeling uplifted and encouraged!
We hope that this event will leave you better informed and more in tune with your body ❤ - WOF x A Place For US
ABOUT A PLACE FOR US
A Place A Place For Us, a national student led organization that aims to unify students with disabilities and their allies across the country. We have created a digital network of students with disabilities and their allies across the nation, connect the high school students with disabilities college student mentors with disabilities, and empower students with disabilities to succeed in higher education and become disability activists. We wanted to create this organization because we have realized through our own experiences that as people with disabilities, we experience the world differently and thus have different challenges in college that many people without disabilities do not understand. Thus we wanted to create a space where students with disabilities can connect and have people to talk to about their unique experiences in college
ABOUT WE'RE OKAY FAM
We’re Okay Fam is a collective which gives women both physical and digital spaces in which they can talk about trauma and/ or obstacles they've overcome in their personal journeys with the intention of informing another woman’s struggles. Our city-wide healing circle pop-ups and our blog provide women opportunities for daily encouragement and support. We want women to hype other women up through their struggles and to exchange dialogue/perspectives in healthy and respectful ways. Come chat with us and join our sisterhood today!
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Spotlight is a monthly storytelling show where our featured presenters will share their story of the challenges they have faced and how they have overcome them to lead the life they want for themselves, while helping others. An evening of fun, laughter and inspiration awaits you.
Tickets are $5 in advance or $10 at the door.
Our presenters are:
Christina Ranieri - Doing What You are Told Can't Be Done
As a child, many people told her parents that Christina wouldn't accomplish much due to her learning disabilities and other issues. She would prove the naysayers wrong, creating her own program, Ability First Ottawa, to assist people with disabilities reach their own goals and dreams, while supporting their families.
David Humphries - Dreamers Walk For Cerebral Palsy
David has been leading a successful, and busy life while dealing with Cerebral Palsy. He advocates for the rights of people with disabilities while working a variety of jobs and volunteering. This incredible young man will share with us his vision for the Dreamers Walk for Cerebral Palsy, a fundraiser coming to Ottawa May 2, 2020 to raise awareness and funds for research and support.
Angela Ashawasegai - Sometimes The Only Choice We Have Is To Become Our Own Hero
Angela hit rock bottom in 2009 after decades of battling Complex PTSD caused by childhood trauma. She has since made a remarkable come back to become a mental health advocate and entrepreneur. Angela attributes her success to having willpower and a vision to INSPIRE,EMPOWER,TRANSFORM lives adversely affected by trauma. Angela is now a trauma coach, speaker and an emerging author. She will share her lessons learned about the struggle of never giving up.
Jennifer Ferrante - Walking in Balance
Living with cerebral palsy & the intergenerational trauma of being the child of
a 60s scoop survivor would have been challenging enough, but imagine
having 6 month old twins, losing her job after maternity while on maternity leave and a shocking discovery that leads to financial ruin & divorce. Hard work & determination led Jennifer to overcome her challenges and go from social housing to completing her Masters and buying her own home. Join us
to hear her inspiring story.
6:00PM-7:00PM Drinks & dinner before the show.
7:00PM-8:15PM Presenters share their stories
8:15PM-9:00PM Dessert, coffee and socializing
Australian Story: A different approach to the challenges of autism
Sydney father James Best took his son on a six-month backpacking tour of Africa in an experiment to help him overcome some of the challenges of autism. ABC News (Australia)
Is Asperger's syndrome the next stage of human evolution? - Australian Story
Professor Tony Attwood believes the "out of the box" thought processes of people on the autism spectrum will solve the world's big problems. He is credited with being the first clinical psychologist to present Asperger's syndrome not as something to be "fixed " but as a gift, evidenced in many of the great inventors and artists throughout history.
But while Professor Attwood has reached the top of his field, he reveals in this episode of Australian Story the personal cost of a missed diagnosis in his own family. Early in his career, he didn't see the signs of Asperger's in his son Will. The consequences were devastating for everyone.
Humanitarian award recognizes contributions to those with disabilities
A Niagara resident is being recognized for his contributions to improve life for those with disabilities.
Tribute to Jonathan Pitre, Butterfly Boy
Extremely courageous in his daily battle with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) - a painful skin disease - Jonathan Pitre died Wednesday in Minnesota where he had been receiving treatment for the last few years. A native of Russell, Ontario he followed his dream and used his voice to educate many on the disease.
He inspired us to follow our dreams no matter the challenges or difficulties because in his words “dreams push us to do more, be more and achieve more. The only true limits in life” he said, “are the ones we create for ourselves and the ones that are forced on us.” Jonathan encouraged us to always move forward.
Check out Jonathan’s empowering WE Day message in video below.
