Spotlight: Keith L. "I'M POSSIBLE" Brown

Keith L. Brown, who likes to refer to himself as "Mr. I'M POSSIBLE," was considered a special education student because he was a very talkative and hyper child. This didn't stop him from being successful as a consultant and an author. Brown founded the I'M POSSIBLE Institute to teach people how to be effective communicators and leaders. He has made appearances on Showtime at the Apollo, Family Feud, Celebrity Name Game, and radio shows. Married with one son, Brown received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be speaking on the Main Stage of the Simpkins Fine Arts Center at the Cocoa campus of Eastern Florida State College from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. on Thursday, February 28. For more information about Brown, go to keithlbrown.com.

Keith L. "I'M POSSIBLE" Brown

(image via encouragementspeaker.wordpress.com)

Wheeling to the End of the World

To continue with the theme of travel for people with disabilities, this post is about a national park with hiking trails named Torres del Paine in southern Chile. The beauty of the 1,127-square-mile park draws people from all over the world. One of its trails, Base de las Torres (a leg of the W trek), ends with a rocky ascent. With assistance, Álvaro Silberstein became the first person in a wheelchair to make it to the end of the W trek in 2016. He was pushed in an all-terrain wheelchair called Jóelette, which can be used by anyone with reduced mobility for free, but it must be reserved in advance at EcoCamp Patagonia. Silberstein was featured in a short film entitled Adventure Is for All, which won first place in the Adventure in Motion film contest last year. He founded Wheel the World, a travel company for people with disabilities in Chile as well as Peru and Mexico. To read more about hiking in Torres del Paine, go to https://www.ozy.com/good-sht/where-you-can-hike-to-the-end-of-the-world-in-a-wheelchair/91062?fbclid=IwAR09T1bW9aXInyoJbbcZMWHbXBgoA1X_iF6CXFLiPnc7krTI0B5UnwAQWJ0.

Álvaro Silberstein and others during his trek

(image via sfchronicle.com)

Winnebago's New Handicap Accessible Motorhomes

If you don't like cruises, perhaps you prefer road trips. Winnebago displayed three new accessibility-enhanced motorhomes at the 2019 Florida RV SuperShow in Tampa last month. More comfortable for traveling wheelchair users, the RVs include a wheelchair lift; other features include roll-in showers, a ceiling track mobility system, and customized beds. Unfortunately, these RVs cost more than $200,000. (It's fun to dream, right?) For the occasional road trip, renting a handicap accessible RV would be more economical. For photos of and information about Winnebago's handicap accessible motorhomes, you can click on the following links: Intent 30R AE (https://winnebagoind.com/products/accessibility-enhanced/2019/intent-ae/overview), Adventurer 30T AE (https://winnebagoind.com/products/accessibility-enhanced/2019/adventurer-ae/overview), and Forza 34T AE (https://winnebagoind.com/products/accessibility-enhanced/2019/forza-ae/overview). Safe travels!

Winnebago's Intent 30R AE

(image via winnebagoind.com)

Note: Online registration for the 21st Annual Family Café at the Hyatt Regency Orlando taking place June 7-9 opens at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday, February 14. Go to familycafe.net to register for this event, which features disability-related workshops, vendors, guest speakers, and the Governor's Summit on Disabilities.

Nassau and Charlotte Amalie: Accessible Ports of Call?

Nassau and Charlotte Amalie on a map

(image via mackruizai.lt)

Last week, I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise with my family for the second year in a row. I was excited partly because the cruise included two ports of call to which I hadn't been before: Nassau (the capital of the Bahamas) on New Providence Island and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas (the capital of the United States Virgin Islands). Getting off the ship wasn't difficult; the ports themselves were wheelchair accessible with no steps. While they looked aged, the sidewalks were flat enough with cracked curb cuts on street corners. Shopping for souvenirs was a little challenging for me because the aisles in stores were narrow. I didn't stray too far from the ship, so my awareness of the handicap accessibility of Nassau and Charlotte Amalie is limited. For more comprehensive reviews of these two locations, you can go to https://www.accessiblecaribbeanvacations.com/nassau-bahamas-disabled-access#.XFszhPlKh1s and https://www.accessiblecaribbeanvacations.com/st-thomas-usvi-disabled-access#.XFsz3PlKh1s. They make Nassau and Charlotte Amalie sound like good destinations for wheelchair users.

My dad and I in Nassau, Bahamas
(photo by Tracy Jensen-McGrath)

A Review of "The Upside"

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of seeing The Upside with my mother, who is my primary caregiver. A remake of the 2011 French film The Intouchables, The Upside (starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, and Nicole Kidman) is a dramatic comedy about the bond formed between a wealthy quadriplegic named Phillip Lacasse (Cranston) and his new caretaker Dell Scott (Hart), a man recently released from prison. Kidman's role is that of Phillip's executive assistant Yvonne Pendleton. Despite their differences, it doesn't take very long for Phillip and Dell to develop a rapport. By the story's end, it is evident they are changed men for having known each other.

A positive aspect of The Upside is it shows the internal as well as external struggles of people with disabilities. It reminds viewers how wheelchair users like to be treated. Despite being able-bodied, Cranston was convincing as a quadriplegic. Hart provided the comic relief the movie needed, and Kidman (almost unrecognizable with a different hair color) was delightful. The downsides of the film are the reasons it is rated PG-13: marijuana usage, a scene with sex workers, and profanity. Otherwise, I enjoyed and would recommend The Upside, especially to wheelchair users and their caregivers. It made me think about the kind of caretaker I would like to have when my parents are no longer able to take care of me.

The Upside movie poster

(image via IMDb)

Chris Downey: An Architect with a Vision for the Blind

Chris Downey of San Francisco is an architect who lost his sight after a brain tumor removal at age 45 in 2008. A hospital social worker told Downey he should choose a different profession, but he was determined to keep doing what he loved. With a heightened sense of hearing, he went back to work in a month but lost his job less than a year later. However, Downey was soon hired to design a rehabilitation center for veterans with sight loss. So, his disability turned out to be an advantage for this job. Married with an adult son, Downey walks around with a white cane he taps on the ground. At work, he uses a printer that prints embossed architectural drawings so he can "read" them through touch. Surprisingly, Downey believes he is a better architect than he was before losing his sight. A week ago, he was featured on 60 Minutes. To view the segment and read the transcript, go to https://www.cbsnews.com/news/architect-chris-downey-goes-blind-says-hes-actually-gotten-better-at-his-job-60-minutes/. Downey's website is www.arch4blind.com.

Chris Downey (front) "reading" a plan

(image via archdaily.com)

Family Care Council

The Family Care Council (FCC) was formed to educate people with developmental disabilities and their families in each service area of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) in Florida. Formed in 1993, each FCC consists of 10 to 15 members who have been appointed by the governor to inform others of relevant services and resources. The members, who represent their geographical areas, are individuals with developmental handicaps as well as their relatives and guardians. There are 15 FCC's; the Area 7 FCC serves Seminole, Orange, Osceola, and Brevard County, where I live. Meetings of representatives from each FCC are held on a Saturday bimonthly at the Embassy Suites Orlando Airport with the next one scheduled for this Saturday, January 19. For more information, go to http://www.fccflorida.org/.

Family Care Council logo

(image via fccflorida.org)