Life Lessons My Kids Are Learing From Having a Disabled Mom: People Can Be Ignorant

By Annae Jones
Reprinted with permission from The Mobility Resource

Most of us have had an unkind word thrown at us or have been the recipient of an ignorant comment. I have had people tell me how disgusting it was when I picked something up with my foot at the grocery store and once, a man insist my mother had taken drugs while she was pregnant with me – a far cry from the truth.

Then while being denied special needs transportation for our daughter, a kindergartener, when my son was only two and it was difficult for me to get him in a car seat; my husband and I had a public service worker tell us we should have thought about that before we had children.  These examples are on the extreme side and I usually tune out “ignorant” comments, but now that my children are getting older I worry about them being exposed to this cruel side of human nature.

I am not delusional. I know my kids will experience ignorance. It is a part of life-learning to understand where these comments come from and what to do about them.  My real worry is if my children will think less of me when they hear something about their mom. Will they be embarrassed? Will they begin to think that something is wrong with me?

Phamaly Theatre Company Shines the Spotlight on Performers with Disabilities

Phamaly Theatre Company produces professional scale plays and musicals year-round throughout the Denver Metro region, cast entirely of performers with disabilities across the spectrum (physical, cognitive, emotional, blindness, deafness…etc.). Phamaly was formed in 1989 when five students of the Boettcher School in Denver, Colorado, grew frustrated with the lack of theatrical opportunities for people living with disabilities, and decided to create a theatre company that would provide individuals with disabilities the opportunity to perform. Four of these five founding members remain active as actors in Phamaly productions today (Kevin Ahl, Kathleen Traylor, Gregg Vigil, and Teri Westerman).



For its first show in 1990, the founders of Phamaly produced the musical Guys & Dolls, directed by Gregg Vigil. With massive community support and interest from performers with disabilities, the following year Phamaly presented the musical Oklahoma!, bringing in Mark Dissette to direct. Mark remains heavily involved with Phamaly as an actor today, and has performed in almost every production by Phamaly. That year, Phamaly also began its tradition of performing in the Space Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, thanks to the support of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.



Phamaly actress Ashley Kelashian

Future Fashion Designers Address Apparel Barriers for Consumers with Physical Challenges

by Amy Saffell

Being a wheelchair user brings about many obvious challenges, but often these challenges are only obvious to chair users themselves and not the rest of society. One such challenge is that of clothing. Chair users want their clothes to be both functional and fashionable, but much of the clothing found in stores doesn’t have the desired look for someone living life sitting down, doesn’t give the wearer easy access to handle personal care needs, or includes features difficult for someone with limited hand function. While not often considered by clothing manufacturers, clothing that takes into consideration the needs of people with disabilities may soon be more widely available thanks to professors and students at the University of Missouri.

In 2011, School of Health professor Allison Kabel attended a meeting to address curriculum changes on campus. As a social scientist with a research background in the area of illness, disability, and culture, Kabel had built an interest in how disability and culture merges and had studied how people who had sustained spinal cord injuries rebuilt their lives, often making their own personal adaptations in the world around them because a product that could assist them didn’t exist.