January 2018

There is no greater feeling of anticipation than sitting in a ready position at the starting line of a dragon boat race. Our paddlers are leaning forward, eyes locked straight ahead, paddles deep in the water waiting for the sound of the air horn to ring through the air. Our steersman is crouched and ready to steer a straight line. Our drummer waits for the signal. "We have alignment! Sterns ready! Attention!"

As a parent to a child who uses a wheelchair, I was honored to be asked to write a blog for LiveQuickie. I asked a few times what I should write about? Some of the suggestions included advice to other parents, Talia's story, traveling, traditions, basically anything I wanted. I agreed that telling my daughter Talia's story was the best way to begin.

I've walked across Death Valley, biked in three Los Angeles marathons, and pedaled my way across the country twice. These athletic feats would be considered amazing accomplishments for most people. But for me? I was told by doctors that I had a one-in-a-million chance of ever feeding myself after a motocross accident left me paralyzed with a severe spinal cord injury at the age of 20. These accomplishments take on a whole new meaning and, in reflection, are mind-blowing to think about.

I've been fortunate to try quite a few adaptive sports over years, but none have made a larger impact than wheelchair rugby. Rugby is so much more than just a sport to me. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely the typical sport aspects such as conditioning, practicing, training, and the inherent ups and downs of playing a team sport, but there's so much more that I initially didn't realize existed.

How have films influenced public perception of the disabled community? The truth is, people with disabilities have been vastly underrepresented in film. We know that the movie industry has shied away from the topic on the whole: while nearly 20% of the U.S. population has a disability, the proportion of disabled characters in movies is estimated to be only around 1%. We also know that virtually all roles of characters with disabilities are played by able-bodied actors.