Paralyzed since I was 18 years old, I have spent much of the last 30 years thinking about the reasons why the social life of crippled people is so different from those who ambulate on two feet. After reading about the so called Ashley Treatment earlier this year I decided it was time to write a book about my life as a crippled man. My book, Bad Cripple: A Protest from an Invisible Man, will be published by Counter Punch in 2008.
I am an educator and an assistive technology specialist and trainer. I combine success principles and motivational methods with goal setting, planning and assistive technology to help people overcome barriers. This is my passion. All the best to you!
n my day job, I am the youth leadership coordinator for Access Living in Chicago, where I train and organize youth with disabilities. I am also the co-coordinator for Chicago ADAPT, part of the ADAPT national grassroots network dedicated to getting people out of institutions and into their own homes through direct action and policy making. And, I am also a co-founder and member of Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA), a grassroots group of women with disabilities taking action on issues that affect us since 2005. See www.adapt.org and www.ourfrida.org. I have a severe hearing loss and grew up oral in mainstream schools. At the age of 20 I became involved with the Deaf community and began learning ASL. My first job involving disability rights was in college at the Disability Rights Movement Archive at UC Berkeley.