Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

I’d like to welcome attendees of the Plain Talk Conference held today in Alexandria, Virginia.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences about “Living with Cerebral Palsy in the Web 2.0 Era”.

I’ve put together a short list of my favourite blog posts to offer as a starting point in exploring blogs:

• Don’t believe everything you read, write your own truth
• Making it as an entrepreneur – 3 important lessons
• Climbing unimaginable heights to zip above Robson Square
• Can’t is a four-letter word
• Verbal communication – More than the written spoken aloud
• Ten tips for communicating with people with disabilities

And a few of the bloggers with disabilities or with loved ones with disabilities whom I follow include:

• Deaf mom Karen Putz shares her world
• Ricky Buchanan may be confined to bed, but she isn’t done living
• Norman Perrin advocates for his adult daughter with cerebral palsy
• Disability consultant Dave Hingsburger provides another perspective on living with a disability
• Leslie Kammerdiener chronicles her son’s journey after being critically injured in Afghanistan

Finally, in case you’re wondering, here’s how I added talking captions to my PowerPoint presentation.

Thanks again for stopping by. Be sure to subscribe to my blog posts via email.

I’m sitting in my hotel room at Westin Alexandria in Virginia, after spending a rather hot day wheeling around Washington, DC. I had a fantastic day seeing lots in a short time! I’ll post pictures once I get home and can download them from my camera.

My iPad battery is about to die and my Internet access is about end unless I pay another $9.95 for 24 hours, so I will keep this short. I just wanted to see what it’s like to write a post on my iPad and to see what it looks like after hitting publish.

Somewhere in my possession I have a letter from a medical specialist, written when I was young, stating my diagnosis – quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy, that I am functionally non-verbal and that I require 24-hour nursing care.

That letter surfaced to consciousness while I have been feverishly working on my presentation for the Plain Talk Conference – a conference on communicating plainly and clearly in the health industry – to be held in Alexandria, Virginia, next week!

I have also been making arrangements for the four-day trip. A tour of Washington, DC, may also be on my itinerary! I’ll be traveling alone; without a nurse attached.

Why am I sharing this?

Letters are written, notes are made in files. Sometimes these words are necessary to “play the game” to get the service, the equipment or the medication necessary when living with a disability.

But, those written words do not define who you – or a loved one with a disability – are. Leave those words on the paper, in the file. Only you can choose the words that define and describe who you truly are, your own truth.

The words I’m choosing to define myself today, at this moment, include:

I am a creative and innovative solopreneur who happens to have cerebral palsy and uses an electric scooter for mobility. I do have a significant speech impairment and, because of that, I have developed a unique way to deliver riveting presentations. At times I do require assistance; my virtual assistant and editor have been invaluable these last few weeks. Today I am too busy to be disabled.

What words do you choose to define and describe yourself today?

I received this email from Jason Teitelman at BlogCatalog about an exciting upcoming event:

Hello Friend,

I just wanted to take a second and let you know about an upcoming BloggersUnite event, People First: Empowering People with Disabilities. It is taking place on July 24, 2010 and the goal of this event is to raise awareness about the challenges that face people with disabilities every day and how we can help eliminate these challenges.

By sharing stories of how you, a friend, a colleague, or maybe a family member have dealt with the challenges of living with a disability, we can raise awareness about this issue and bring down some of the barriers to equal accessibility and participation that exist today for people with disabilities.

If you don’t have a personal story to share, you can still help! Write about an organization that provides support to people with disabilities or that is helping to provide equal access. Let you readers know some facts about the number of people living with disabilities, the challenges they face, and how each of us can work towards creating a society that provides equal access to everyone regardless of our physical or mental abilities.

Whatever you choose to write about, we’d be thrilled to have you write a post as part of this event. Read more information about the event.

Thanks for reading and have a great day,

Jason Teitelman

I hope you can join me and fellow bloggers on July 24th to empower people with disabilities. Together we can raise awareness and make changes happen!

Thanks,
Glenda