Wendy Chisholm

Here are a few brief glimpses of memories; they don’t do justice to the awesomeness that is John Slatin.

I went to dinner with Anna and John then we went to Body Choir. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was blown away. At first, I felt a little awkward, but I started moving to the music then realized that I was connecting with people without words. Through movement, eye contact, I was interacting with people in ways I never had before. In the car afterwards, I had many questions and we had a wonderful discussion about intimacy – something I’ve always struggled with. That was a pinnacle discussion for me – one that caused me to question how I think. I’m still growing as a result of that discussion and still have further to grow. As I’ve read Leukemia Letters over the last 2 years and about all the people surrounding Anna and John, I see that the wisdom and the openness we talked about that night is the strength behind the love and the connections.

June 2005: We were in Brussels for a WCAG WG face-to-face meeting that was to start the following day. John and I were sitting on a bench in a park, Dillon at our feet. I had told family and a couple friends that I was two months pregnant and decided to share the news with John. I had slept every afternoon for the two weeks leading up to the trip and was anxious about how I would manage 8-12 hour days in meetings. “I can’t leave the meetings every afternoon. What will I do?” He replied, “If you need to leave, then do it. If people ask, then tell them.” I could always count on John for calm and clarity. I could talk with him about things that I couldn’t with other people. I didn’t know it at the time – but we were both tired. John would return home from that trip and begin the first of many hospital stays.

I wish I could be in Austin this weekend. I want to be part of the energy of the amazing people that surround John and Anna. You both have been influential with your wisdom and your love, your energy and your calm. Thank you. I love you.

Pepsi ad to give Super Bowl viewers a moment of silence

The pregame advertisement features a joke that originates from the deaf community and will play out on screen over 60 seconds of total silence, a veritable eternity when it comes to the noisiness of Super Bowl ads.

The joke goes like this: Two guys are driving to their friend Bob’s house to watch the Super Bowl. Once they get to Bob’s street, neither knows which house is his. They sit in the car, arguing, until one of them has an idea. He starts laying on the horn, and one by one, the houses light up and dogs start barking.

One house stays dark: It’s Bob’s.

Pepsi worked with National Association of the Deaf on this commercial and will sponsor captioning of the Super Bowl. The commercial came about because of an employee’s interest that stemmed from attending a church where the services are held in ASL – he is not deaf. Many people volunteered their services to make the commercial happen and it includes two Pepsi employees who are deaf.

It’s super exciting to see awareness raised in a humorous way in such a large venue! I really hope it makes people stop, listen, and think.

You can watch the commercial online (but don’t press the “play” button, select the commercial – to the right). While I applaud their effort to raise awareness about accessibility and am very excited about their work, their web site is not accessible. Too bad.

Hey, Pepsi! Please add labels to each of the buttons in the Flash app. Thanks!

I love tattoos. I love inclusion. I love futuristic ideas.

The haptic tattoo is all three.

From the L.A. Times: A new film about a troupe of disabled performers delivers a message of empowerment.

As I read the first paragraphs of the story, I dreaded that the director, Liu Xiao Cheng, was using disadvantaged people for his personal gain. But, as I read further, it seems he genuinely wants to change how people think about abilities.

“It wasn’t enough for this troupe to arouse people’s mercies,” he said. “We wanted their respect.”

As I reread the article, it is the columnist’s use of language that triggers feelings of bias, “blind dancers,” “deaf dancers,” “blind singers.” By saying, “blind dancer” he focuses on the disability, rather than the person. By removing “hearing-impaired” from “host” in the following paragraph, the theme can sing:

At each performance, a host uses sign language to express the troupe’s theme — that it does not take sight or hearing or full physical faculties to produce gorgeous art.

Beautiful.

From the L.A. Times: A new film about a troupe of disabled performers delivers a message of empowerment.

Coming soon to a theater near you, “My Dream” about a troupe of Chinese performers with disabilities. As I read the first paragraphs of the story, I assumed it was like many others that I’ve read; that the director, Liu Xiao Cheng, was using disadvantaged people for his personal gain. But, as I read further, I think he may genuinely want to change how the non-disabled view people with disabilities.

“It wasn’t enough for this troupe to arouse people’s mercies,” he said. “We wanted their respect.”

As I reread the article, it is the columnist’s use of language that triggers feelings of bias, “blind dancers,” “deaf dancers,” “blind singers.” By saying, “blind dancer” you are making the disability primary rather than the person – you see the disability before the person creating a box around them. By removing “hearing-impaired” from the host in the following paragraph, the theme can sing:

At each performance, a host uses sign language to express the troupe’s theme — that it does not take sight or hearing or full physical faculties to produce gorgeous art.

Beautiful.

I am finally breaking free from blogger.   I have much work to do on the design, but will use this to get me up and rolling until I’m more familiar with WordPress and have a better idea of where I’m going with all of this…