Spotlight: Agency for Life Transformations

Last month, I met Diane Dickson, a job coach and co-founder of Agency for Life Transformations (ALT) in Titusville. ALT is a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities reach their full potential in life. The agency's programs introduces participants to small business management and teaches them independent living skills. There is a training class for parents on how to help their children become self-advocates. ALT also provides employment, transition, and nutritional counseling services. The organization sells Inspira Spirulina, a superfood in the form of blue-green algae full of nutrients. Proceeds go to self-development and employment programs for people with disabilities. For more information about Agency for Life Transformations, go to https://www.altsuccess.org/.

As shown on its website, one of ALT's success stories is Candace Whiting, a motivational speaker, Special Olympics reporter, and dancer with Down syndrome. My mother and I had the pleasure of meeting her and her parents Stephen and Carol last Thursday; Diane was also present. Candace said she'd like to write a book about her life, so I gave her some advice about that. (Copies of my autobiography UnabASHed by Disability, which was published five years ago, can still be purchased at Amazon; click on the link in the right column of this web page.) Candace and Stephen, a personal trainer with an education background, run Great Life Unlimited, a lifestyle consulting company that also seeks to assist people with disabilities in leading fulfilling lives. To learn more about the Whitings' company, go to https://www.greatlifeunlimited.com.

Agency for Life Transformations logo

(image via altsuccess.org)

Exposing Invisible Disabilities

Last week (October 13-19) was Invisible Disabilities Week. An invisible disability is an impairment that isn't obvious upon looking at a person with one. Just because the person doesn't use an assistive device like a wheelchair or walker doesn't mean he or she isn't limited in movements or senses. A hidden disability sometimes leads to misunderstandings or premature judgments by others. For example, a woman might be puzzled after seeing a man park in a handicap accessible parking space and get out of his car without a problem. It's possible the man parked in the handicap spot because he has a medical condition that makes walking long distances difficult, if not impossible. (Of course, a driver with a disability should have a handicap placard or license plate.) Invisible disabilities include symptoms such as severe pain, fatigue, or a mental disorder. For more information, go to the Invisible Disabilities Association website at invisibledisabilities.org.

2019 Invisible Disabilities Week logo

(image via invisibledisabilities.org)

Becoming Familiar with FPIES

Besides being Columbus Day, today is Global Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES) Day, which falls on October 14 every year. FPIES is a rare kind of food allergy that occurs mainly in young children. Taking place two or more hours after eating a certain food, symptoms include excessive vomiting and diarrhea with the possibility of going into shock. Medical attention, including an IV of fluids, is needed when this happens. The foods that most commonly cause these reactions are cow's milk protein formula, rice, and oats. Most children outgrow FPIES by age three. Because it is different from an Immunoglobulin E (IgE) food allergy resulting from the production of antibodies, FPIES is harder to detect. The best test for FPIES is an oral food challenge in which the child attempts to eat food in a clinical setting to determine if it causes a bad reaction. For more information, go to http://fpiesfoundation.org/.

The FPIES Foundation logo

(image via fpiesfoundation.org)

Spotlight: Zack Gottsagen

October, among other things, is Down Syndrome (DS) Awareness Month. Zack Gottsagen, who is 34 years old and has DS, recently starred with Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson in The Peanut Butter Falcon. The movie is about a young man with DS who leaves the North Carolina nursing home where he has been living to find the wrestling school he wants to attend in Georgia. Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, the film's co-directors, met Gottsagen years ago at Zeno Mountain Farm, a camp for performers with and without disabilities in Los Angeles. Gottsagen of Boynton Beach, Florida, was the first student with DS to be placed in classes with non-disabled students in the Palm Beach County school district. He graduated from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2004 and performed for years with the SpotLighters and Southern Dance Theatre. Gottsagen previously appeared in the short film Bulletproof (2012) and will be in Ready to Ride: A Musical Homecoming. For more information about this inspirational actor, go to https://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/theater-and-arts/fl-et-zack-gottsagen-boynton-beach-down-syndrome-actor-peanut-butter-f-20190807-lk3gl7pxlvfczhgxga5k2yb7ti-story.html.

Zack Gottsagen

(image via imdb.com)