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Sue Scheff recently interviewed the great Jaylen Arnold for examiner.com. Their conversation was so engaging (and so important) that we are reprinting it here in its entirety.
Enjoy!
Quoting Elyse Bruce:
Recently, the news carried an item about Canadian Blood Services. In light of the H1N1 flu and vaccines, blood donors have been shying away from donating blood. Blood donations are important all year round however they are even more important at this time of year. In some areas, blood donations are half of the required weekly minimum for hospitals in their region.
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After hearing the news, 14-year-old Lewis “Codeboy” Schofield decided to do what he could to help get the word out that blood donations are greatly needed, after having undergone IVIg treatments in 2008 and 2009. So he scripted, filmed and produced this 55 second PSA currently uploaded to YouTube.
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Please forward the link to this video to friends, family, colleagues and the media in your area. It doesn’t matter if you live in Canada or live in another country … blood donations save lives!
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Thanks!
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Elyse Bruce
Lewis Schofield’s mom
Peterborough, Ontario
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To buy Lewis’ beautiful art cards (with 20% of the proceeds going to autism organizations) CLICK HERE.
And then…
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Buy Howie’s wonderful (and candid!) book:
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Quoting Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian, U.S.-based disability and civil rights lawyers:
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“Dear members of the blind community:
As we approach the end of the year, we are asking for your help in making sure the settlement agreements negotiated by ACB and its affiliates are working well. Feedback from individuals about Talking ATMs, accessible credit reports, tactile Point of Sale devices, accessible pedestrian signals, and accessible websites is critical to the success of Structured negotiations. Please take a minute to read this email and send us feedback on any of the issues raised here. We can be reached through Lainey’s email at: LF@LFLegal.com or by calling toll-free to Linda’s office at 1-800-822-5000. Thanks in advance for your help, and wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season.
Feedback needed about the following:
(1) Accessible Credit Reports: Credit reports are available in Braille, Large Print, Audio CD, and on-line in an accessible format. Each person is entitled to three free credit reports per year, one from each national credit reporting company. If you haven’t received your free reports for this year, you can go on-line to www.annualcreditreport.com, or call toll free 877-322-8228 (you will be offered the chance to choose your format towards the end of the phone tree. More information available at: http://lflegal.com/2008/12/credit-announce/
(2) Tactile Keypads: Ten national retailers have signed agreements with ACB, CCB, AFB and BSCB to install and maintain tactile keypads so that customers with visual impairments can privately enter their PIN and other confidential information. The stores have trained staff on these issues, but if blind shoppers don’t use the devices, this training is often forgotten. If you are able in the next month or so to shop at any of the following retailers and can use a debit or other PIN-based card, we’d appreciate hearing from you: 7-Eleven, CVS, Target, Rite-Aid, RadioShack, Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart, Staples and Dollar General. (Please recognize that the full roll-out has not yet been completed at all these chains.)
When blind customers use a PIN-based card at these retailers it helps all of us to monitor the settlements reached as a result of Structured Negotiations and lets the companies know that these changes are important. A short summary of all the POS settlement agreements with links to the full agreement is available on Lainey’s website at http://lflegal.com/category/settlements/point-of-sale-settlements/. You can read all the press releases issued about these settlements at: http://lflegal.com/category/articles/settlement-agreement-press-releases/press-releases-point-of-sale/
(3) Accessible Websites: Blind community advocacy has been instrumental in making the internet more accessible to people with visual impairments. We are currently monitoring the following websites as a result of Structured Negotiations settlements, and would welcome feedback: Staples (www.staples.com); CVS (www.cvs.com); Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com); Rite-Aid (www.riteaid.com) and RadioShack (www.radioshack.com). We are also interested in hearing about other websites, particularly health-care and health insurance related, with accessibility barriers.
(4) Talking ATMs: Ten years after the first Talking ATM was installed in the United States we continue to monitor Talking ATM progress. In particular, Bank of America, with the most Talking ATMs of any bank in the country has Talking ATMs at over 90% of its locations nationwide. Please let us know if you encounter any issues at any Bank of America Talking ATM, or with Talking ATMs at other institutions around the country.
(3) Accessible Pedestrian Signals in San Francisco As a result of the settlement with CCB, the LightHouse and the Independent Living Resource Center, San Francisco has installed Accessible Pedestrian Signals at close to 80 intersections throughout the City. Feedback on the devices is critical to ensuring effective implementation of the agreement.
Thanks for everyone’s continuing advocacy on these issues. Of course, if you have new issues about accessible information and technology you would like to bring to our attention, we’re always happy to hear about those too.
Lainey and Linda
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Lainey Feingold
Law Office of Lainey Feingold
http://LFLegal.com
510.548.5062
LF@LFLegal.com
Linda Dardarian
Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian
www.gdblegal.com
510.763.9800
LDardarian@gdblegal.com”
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Buy Stevie’s groove-tastic music:
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And buy The Beatles: Rock Band video game:
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(And he's got an awesome sense of humour too)
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“On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God; ‘Why did you permit this? Why don’t you do something about it?’ For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly: ‘I certainly did something about it. I made you.’”
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This year I fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a published novelist. The whole process of getting my book “Migration Songs” ready for print was a daunting one. My jewel of an editor saw me through the ups and downs, delivering endless pep talks to get me over the hurdles of insecurity. One minute I’d be fine, the next, sunk, but she always knew how to keep me moving from sunk to relieved. I felt like I never depended so much on another person for my mental health.
The novel is published and selling well. After a long lean stretch, I am bringing in some money from a project or two that I’ve been waiting on. And I have the support of my family and friends. But somehow I seem to be struggling with feelings of emptiness and futility.
On the surface, I have nothing to be depressed about. But does depression have to be “about” something?
We have been taught that the propensity for depression can be partly genetic and partly attributable to early life experiences, and it is well-recognized that the condition is not always situation-based. But for a long time I have believed that if I were able to change my thinking, I would be able to avoid depression.
I have consciously attempted to exchange negative thoughts for positive ones, successfully navigating a trip to Russia in 2006 on the basis of encouraging self-talk. It also helped that I was taking my medication as prescribed, as I continue to do today. But the feelings of spiritual loss have not abated.
I know I have been stressed-out lately, from dealing with certain people in my life, and because of money woes. I have also been feeling lost because of not having a clear work schedule. I shouldn’t be surprised… these are familiar feelings, and familiar scenarios. But I suppose I thought publishing my novel might just create a new kind of happiness that would not easily disperse.
Just as depression is not necessarily situation-based, neither is happiness. There may be nothing in the world that can make me happy, and only one person in the world who can—myself. And maybe, there will be times when even I, however much I work on thinking positively, may not be able to pull myself up out of the muck.
I once thought gratitude was the answer, and that if I could be grateful for what I have, the good things in my life, that I would magically be happier. It’s possible that I have forgotten to act on that lesson. But it’s also possible that there is no magic bullet, that there will be times when we just can’t seem to turn our dark moods around.
I’m going to keep trying the things that have worked in the past to increase my happiness, and the things that seem promising. But now that I am older, I am also prepared to live with a certain amount of darkness and pain.
The quest for happiness seemed like a worthwhile one, when I was young. It still seems reasonable to hope for happiness, but perhaps it is not so reasonable to expect feelings of happiness to be the inevitable and lasting conclusion of getting something “right” (whether it be thinking or attitude or being good or living a certain way).
Happiness may well be the by-product of seeing beauty in the world and other people. It may be something which must pass, the way anger and sadness do. It may be that some people have a natural talent for happiness, while others have to work at it. And it may be that our memories of happiness can feed our souls with as much light as actual moments of happiness do.
I have been happy, and have no doubt that I will be again. I also know that the times in between will not kill me, and perhaps most importantly, that they are not a punishment for having done something wrong. I am open to the idea that I can change something in order to be happier but I will refuse to assign blame to myself if I don’t achieve the kind of happiness we all hope for. Happiness, after all, is not a test, but a state of being that I believe we are all born to recognize, enjoy and long for.
My editor probably doesn’t realize she was also a kind of happiness coach for me while I was revising my novel. I got by on her kind and enthusiastic words until the next wave of despair hit. Maybe I can learn to be my own shrink and cheerleader, or maybe I can simply take what comes and deal with it then.
I’ve never liked unhappiness, but maybe I can learn to endure it a little, while waiting for the next batch of happiness to wash up.
Like shells on the beach of my life.
Anna Quon is a Nova Scotia-based writer, and a much-cherished ongoing contributor to Irked Magazine. To purchase her critically-acclaimed debut novel click here.
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Most of you have probably heard about Grammy-winning deaf composer & percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie (who lost nearly all her hearing by age 12, and who is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist). She gives more than 100 performances a year, has been on The David Letterman Show and on Sesame Street, and has shared stages with the likes of Bela Fleck, Bjork, Bobby McFerrin, and Sting. She’s also a best-selling author (her 1990 autobiography is called Good Vibrations).
Some of you may even have seen her extraordinary 2007 TED Talk.
But if you haven’t… we thought we’d share it with you.
It’s phenomenal. A “soaring” demonstration. A “must-watch” video.
Enjoy!
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And…
Then…
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Here’s an AWESOME YouTube video—a Trent University-produced “vignette” starring the multiple-award-winning Mr. Lewis “Codeboy” Schofield:
