voiceability

Adam Lavender and his dog. photo by Annie Uyehara MODS4QUADS By Annie Uyehara “I knew it before I hit the ground,” says Adam Lavender, recalling the day he became a quadriplegic 8 years ago. He was mountain biking with friends, happy, but tired. He negotiated a turn wrong on the course and found himself vertical in the air. His head hit the ground like a hammer to a nail. The impact broke the C4 in his neck. The only thing that kept him alive was thinking of his wife and two daughters. “I began working to live right then,” he says. His goal is to be bodily fully functional.  Susan Leety, a healing science friend of Lavender, saw his passion, not only to recover himself, but to help others as well. One day, she watched Adam talking to another person with a spinal cord injury (SCI). “I saw an instant connection, like they were long lost friends [sharing] such a rich ex-change of information, comparing their experience and recovery, teaching and learning so much from each other. I kne...

Norma and Louis Teran photo by Annie Uyehara La Esperanza de Emily and COVID-19 Aid By Annie Uyehara Coronavirus can be a bit too much to handle while contending with online schooling, childcare and jobs. But for parents with special needs children, it can compound the hardship. That’s why La Esperanza de Emily  (LEE) is so needed during this time. LEE is an organization designed to support Spanish-speaking families whose children have special needs. Its motto is to “Inspire, Educate, Change.” Its founder, Cecilia Rios, whose daughter Emily inspired her to start La Esperanza de Emily, has collaborated with the Roaring Fork School District to help families during the coronavirus crisis. Norma Teran, along with Rios and several other parents, is a LEE volunteer. “We work with the school district by giving out resources to understand the importance of wearing masks and social distancing,” says Teran, whose 21-year-old son, Louis, has autism. LEE also helps families cope with the chall...

Tammy Nordstrand photo by Annie Uyehara Tammy Nordstrand By Annie Uyehara It goes without saying that no two people are alike. Yet when it comes to deaf people, there’s an assumption that all deaf people are alike. That’s simply not so, says Tammy Nordstrand. She was diagnosed as profoundly deaf when she was a year old. “Everyone is different,” Tammy says. “It’s like with eyeglasses, we all wear different prescriptions, we all see differently. It is the same with deaf people, we all have different needs and do things differently---some people only sign, others write on paper to communicate, others speak.” Those with profound hearing loss can hear nothing at all. However, Tammy, 48, had speech therapy throughout her life and speaks as well as signs and hearing aids help her hear loud sounds. “I grew up with a hearing family,” says Tammy over a Zoom interview with the aid of Erin Gallimore, an interpreter and a teacher with credentials to work with those with hearing challenges. Tammy’s ...

David Moya and Eleanor Baker photo by Annie Uyehara David Moya and ADA Anniversary By Annie Uyehara The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is fully appreciated by David Moya, a quadriplegic who experiences freedoms even while confined to his wheelchair. ADA’s 30th anniversary on July 26th celebrates a law that prohibits discrimination of disabilities in all areas of life and ensures the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. Moya was 24 years old when he was four-wheeling up Cottonwood Pass and rolled his vehicle. “I immediately knew I was paralyzed when I couldn’t move my legs,” he recalls. “I was just happy I was alive, though. I was given a second chance. I’m not wasting it, I’m living life to the fullest.” The ADA makes Moya’s goal possible by ensuring public buildings and public transportation is accessible to all people with disabilities. “The ADA makes it more accessible to get into doorways and stuff, but I also think it’s made people more c...

Josh Chavez running the  Strawberry  Shortcut in 2017 Running Down Memory Lane with The Strawberry Shortcut By Annie Uyehara There is no shortcut when it comes to the impact COVID-19 has had on our nation and the annual Strawberry Shortcut race is no exception. This summer would have been the race’s 43rd year of running the 10K, 5K, and the one mile Family Fun Run, with proceeds going to the Special Olympics. Although it’s been canceled (or postponed, more on that later) along with Strawberry Days, on which day the race is run, it’s good to remember what the Shortcut has done for community members with disabilities and for the Special Olympics. Mike Kishimoto, Glenwood’s high school track coach, who took the reins as race director last year, is currently trying to find a way to make it happen this year “in a lowkey manner.” Until then, we’ll go back a few years, back to 1978 when some 200 racers ran the first Strawberry Shortcut. It was a fun, l...

Kolakanta Darling, a longtime Roaring Fork Valley local, loves the outdoors. One of her  favorite things to do is to hike to the cross on Red Mountain in Glenwood Springs. But  she doesn’t hike up like most people--she gets there on an adapted Segway with a seat.  Kolakanta has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and transverse myelitis, an inflammation in the  spinal cord. Diagnosed in 2002, she struggled with the limits that come with having MS.  “My left leg drags. It’s like having two different legs.”  She went through a grieving stage, which she says is essential to recovery. “When  there’s a significant change to the body, there’s grief with it,” says Kolakanta. But she is  an optimistic woman. “I miss what I used to be able to do, so I learned to focus on what  makes my heart smile. For me, it’s faith that gets me through. My daily mantra is Isaiah  40: 28-31, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, They will soar on...

              Cecilia                                        Corey                                         Camy Lessons for the COVID-19 Challenge written by:  Debbie Wilde, Executive Director If you have tuned in to this monthly column, you will have read story after story of people in our local communities who have met the challenges of physical, cognitive and/or emotional disabilities. They are not new to dealing with a different reality than most of us have faced.   As we all share a new challenge labeled COVID-19, we can learn from our friends and neighbors who have grown strong making their way through a life that has been out-of-the-norm.   In this new reality of challenge, they are the leaders. Yo...