Jeffrey McConnell 39, was born with Down Syndrome. His mom Marlene has been his advocate and coach since day one. After Jeffrey was born, it seemed like everyone was telling Marlene about all the things they thought he would never…
College is a time of getting to know yourself and stretching out of your comfort zone. For Patrick who sustained a SCI in 2006 when he was 21, returning to college was an exercise in knowing both himself and what…
Introduction Every day people have to make millions of decisions like, what do I eat for breakfast? What do I wear to school? What project to work on next? For individuals with disabilities they could ask a lot of the same…
Gaelynn Lea is not here to inspire. The musician has genetic disability Osteogenesis Imperfecta aka Brittle Bone Disease. She discovered her love of music in the fourth grade. “I really wanted to play the cello at the beginning,” Gaelynn shares.…
Julie Hill is a volunteer, skills trainer, and mentor to fellow people who have sustained spinal cord injuries. In 1990, Julie herself was paralyzed from the waist down from a car crash. She says that having a strong support system of…
Glenn Hartz knows what it means to experience deep loss. After a period of general decline in health, in 2006 he lost much of his strength and right-side mobility to transverse myelitis. As he worked through the dynamic changes in his life,…
Breakfast is an essential meal of the day, as it provides you with fuel to take on the day! Paul, a C6-C7 quadriplegic, shows step by step how he independently makes an omelette. “A lot of times when you’re a…
Having the ability to stand and look someone in the eye is an action that Michael Powell will never take for granted. Michael, born with cerebral palsy, has raised money for his very own standing wheelchair. He proclaims that the…
Mason, a C5/C6/C7 quadriplegic, demonstrates his daily morning routine which includes applying deodorant, brushing his teeth, shaving, using mouthwash, and washing his hands. Applying Deodorant The first step in Mason’s routine is applying deodorant. Mason says that while he was in…
Advocacy runs deep within Drew Cumpson. In 2011, Drew was involved in a body surfing accident while on break during a humanitarian trip, Project Serve International, in Peru. The accident resulted in a spinal cord injury at the C4 vertebrae,…