Thisislewis.net has been updated in a major way…
According to Monsieur Lewis, “there’s lots of new and interesting links and some files you can download such as Famous People with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Famous People with Myasthenia Gravis.”
.
So…
.
Then…
.
The 2009 Projections Film Forum “presents feature films, documentaries and shorts written, produced, directed or starring artists with disabilities.”
Judging by their official blurbs, this year’s selections are truly extraordinary.
So if you’re free tonight (Thursday, Oct. 8th) and/or this coming Saturday (Oct. 10th), definitely head down to Innis Town Hall in Toronto. An event not to be missed!!
.
.
Previously on Irked:
CALLING ALL DISABLED FILMMAKERS: Toronto’s Abilities Arts Festival is accepting submissions until July 1st
.
CBC.ca:
A 14-year-old Regina native, now living in Ontario, is earning recognition for his efforts in dispelling myths about autism, a general term for neurological disorders that can impair development. Lewis Schofield is a Grade 9 student in Peterborough, where Trent University is honouring him with a Community Leader Award for Youth. Schofield is often online, using blogs, artwork, videos and podcasts, providing information about his health issues including Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. He also participates in a Family Autism Forum on Yahoo. ”I was just doing what I always do,” Schofield said in an interview with CBC News. “I always do my best. It’s just how I was raised.” ”He was very surprised and very shocked that he had been nominated, never mind had actually won this honour,” Elyse Bruce, Schofield’s mother, told CBC news.
.
Then…
.
Here’s our favourite shot from Karen Stuebing’s recent photo gallery, titled Home of the White Tail Deer. Karen, your work is utterly magnificent! Keep the incredible photographs coming:
Then…
.
Quoting artist Ben Blais, posting to the Planet Cancer message boards on September 20th:
Hey all, I am an art student at Vanderbilt University and I wanted to do an art project about the lack of focus on young adults with cancer in the medical profession, and about the people who have a lot to share about their interests or their stories. I know it sounds broad, but here’s what I am thinking: to talk to some cool people age 18 to 30 about really anything they want to tell me, and I will interpret their ideas into a drawing. The drawings will be auctioned through planet cancer for fund raising, and I can even make copies for those who gave me their stories. Thank you to everyone for your help! If you would like to check out my work you can see it on facebook here (friend me!).
.
Then…
.
***
Quoting trentu.ca:
The Trent University Award for Youth Leadership recognizes individuals under the age of 25 who play a leading role in their community. Lewis Schofield educates youth and adults globally about Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and Myasthenia Gravis, a rare and complex neuromuscular autoimmune disease for which there is no cure. Mr. Schofield raises money for Autism organizations in Canada and the United States while promoting awareness, tolerance and acceptance of difference through his artwork, writings and videos in the classroom, in the community and on the internet. Mr. Schofield is 14 years old and has Asperger Syndrome and Myasthenia Gravis. To accelerate the establishment of the student bursaries in honour of the Community Leaders Award winners, donors can take advantage of the Ontario Trust for Student Support Program (OTSS). Established by the Government of Ontario in 2005, OTSS matches endowed donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis to provide bursaries and awards to Ontario students. On October 26 2009, Trent University will host a gala event to pay tribute to the 2009 winners.
.
Quoting a recent article about Lewis, also on trentu.ca:
[Lewis] raises money for autism organizations in Canada and the U.S. by selling his Art Cards online. He is also a junior moderator on FAM Family Autism Forum on Yahoo groups, providing parents with insight and understanding from a kid’s perspective on living with what he calls “an alphabet soup of diagnoses.” Lewis is also a “SouperIntendent” and regular contributor to Irked Magazine, where he has attracted readers globally since 2006 for his writings, interviews, information and currently a series of humourous videos, “Wisecrackin’ with Lewis Schofield.” “I guess I’m just not afraid to say what I’m thinking when it really matters to me,” he explains. In his interview with the International Best-Seller, Donna Williams, Lewis is asked about the “extras” that he has been diagnosed with. “I understand that you’re a kind of burger with the lot, that your AS includes added extras,” Williams asks. To this Lewis replies, “Boy oh boy–do I ever have extras and it’s ketchup for sure. I have Anxiety Disorder, Sensory Integration Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Learning Disabilities, Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities, Severe Allergies and Asthma. That’s a lot of things to have on a burger, don’t you think?” Lewis was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis in 2008, a rare autoimmune disorder and neuro-muscular disease usually found in seniors that causes extreme fatigue and muscle weakness, slack jaw, semi-closed eye lids, face droop and trouble breathing. He created a video called, “Tell Me What Time It Is,” on You Tube describing his experience with the diagnosis and explaining the procedure of Intravenous Hemo Globulin (IVIG) treatment. The video includes text with facts about the disease, narrated with original music composed by Lewis. “He exhibits a startling and rare ability to take his pain and play with it, to communicate it to others and have them learn from it,” writes Sacha Vais, Managing Editor of Irked Magazine . . . Lewis describes how being the way he is makes him strive harder to get things right: “It makes me want to change things in the world so kids and babies feel safe almost all the time. It’s not enough to want to make things better for people. You have to really make things better…You don’t have to do something really big to make a difference. You just have to do something. Otherwise, nothing changes or gets better.”
.
Learn more >>
Article in The Peterborough Examiner
News segment on CHEX Television
.
If you are in New York on September 10th (i.e. Thursday from 6-8 pm), please join award-winning photographer Jed Fielding at Andrea Meislin Gallery for the opening of his new exhibition Look at me: Photographs from Mexico City—a fascinating, stunning, in-depth pictorial study of blind schoolchildren in Mexico (running until October 17th, 2009).
According to his blog, Jed will be there signing copies of his book Look at me, published by the University of Chicago Press.
.
.
Peabody
by Jane Goetzee
The votes have all been tallied, and AXIS Dance Company has won Diablo Magazine’s “Best of the East Bay: Best Dance Troupe” award! AXIS wishes to extend a giant thank you to all those who voted…
Quoting diablomag.com:
First-time winner Axis Dance Company is no stranger to East Bay arts fans. Founded in 1987 and earning seven Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, Axis has been dazzling audiences with its unique mission of integrating dancers with disabilities. The artistry is stunning: a woman twirling, stretched horizontally on a tipped-over wheelchair; a man in a handstand on the back of an upright wheelchair; and lines and imagery that push the boundaries of contemporary dance. Axis is working with New York choreographer David Dorfman on a world-premiere piece to open in November — 1428 Alice St., Oakland, CA, (510) 625-0110, axisdance.org.
-
