Disability Dialogue with Bill

How One Super-Store is Saving the Disabled

Hello everyone,

I just listened to a video I think you will enjoy very much.

ABC News: How One Super-Store is Saving the Disabled
At first glance, the Walgreens distribution center in Anderson, S.C., seems ordinary enough. But upon closer inspection, it's anything but. More than 40 percent of the 700 workers here are disabled.

Walgreens employee Julia Turner has Down's Syndrome. Derrill Perry, who works right next to her, is mentally retarded. Garrick Tada has autism. Luann Bannister, one of their training supervisors, is in a wheelchair.

Learn more about how happy and valued Walgreens disabled employees are by watching the video and reading the rest of the story on ABC News.

What did you think of the story and video? Do you know of other companies that value their disabled employees like Walgreens does? Why are these employees so happy? Why do you think it is so hard for some companies to see the value and benefits of hiring the disabled? We all look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Celebrating Charlotte & Others with Down's syndrome

Hello Angela and all,

Angela, thanks so very much for sharing your story with all of us. Charlotte sounds so beautiful and very well loved by everyone from your description in your story.

Your complete family sounds very caring and supportive from your descriptions. I felt like I was there with you and your family as you got married, got pregnant and then gave birth to your lovely daughter, Charlotte.

I was feeling your nervousness when you gave birth to Charlotte and you noticed she was blue. I was feeling anxious when you told your Mum that Charlotte had Down's syndrome. I remember how anxious I was and how I was at a loss for words when I had to tell my friends over the phone after my illness that I was now completely blind. These friends did not even know I was in hospital since it was not a planned event; so it was a big shock for them to say the least.

Your story did so much to help educate me on Down's syndrome. I ride with people with Down's syndrome often when I ride in our local Paratransit. I had no idea there was 3 types of Down's syndrome.

I hope you all read Angela and Charlotte’s story at Down's Syndrome is Not the End of the World. I am so very glad that Charlotte has such loving and caring parents as you and Chris.

Does Angela‘s story of Charlotte bring up any thoughts from other parents of children with Down's syndrome? What about any other parents with children with any other challenges?

This story sure enlightened me and I appreciate hearing about such a loving and caring family.

We all look forward to hearing from others.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Disabled - Ideas for Retaining or Seeking a Job

Hello everyone,

Since National Disability Awareness Month and Disability Mentoring Day is this month, or coming soon for many countries, I thought we could talk about how the disabled can be successful at work. Can talk about finding meaningful work as well. We can share what has worked, and what has not. These ideas and resources we will share are not only for the disabled; all can use to be successful.

I have to admit others might have better ideas than I do and always welcome your thoughts. I went completely blind instantly in 1999, lost the ability to walk for one year, have diabetes in which I need to take insulin twice daily, neuropathy in both legs and other complications from the illness which took away my eyesight one day after work instantly, and forever.

I was working at the time of my illness. After leaving the hospital 7 months later, I was delayed because I was in a coma for 3 of those long months and had to have 4 surgeries , I immediately immersed myself in all of the blindness related training I could find to be a successful productive employee again. I started this process of reskilling myself while still in a wheel chair. I did not want to wait until I had many hours of physical rehabilitation and orientation and mobility training and was able to walk again.

I immediately began to build my network of people to help me make the connections needed to reskill myself as this new person without eyesight as quickly as possible. I found local organizations’ like the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Sensory Access Foundation and the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind to help with my blindness skills, assistive technology and interpersonal relationship and networking skills.

Because I desired to return to work as quickly as possible, I did not go away to a blind school where I could get around the clock training. Because of this I am not an expert in all blindness related skills.

Some things I did to help me return to work
You can use this same set of skills if you are trying to retain your job or find a new job like some of the students that will be participating at the many disability mentoring day events around the world.

1. Build and maintain a network of people who are knowledgeable in the areas you are interested in; or people you can learn from. Read Networking Forum: Tapping Your Network in Time of Need to get some ideas on how to build your network.

Once you have built this network you need to nourish this resource or it will go away. Maintaining a network is like growing a rose; if you do not provide water your rose will not be healthy and will eventually die. Read Best Ways to Reciprocate for Help to learn how to keep your network healthy

2. Make sure you have all the training and tools you will need to be productive and successful. Put in the time to learn your assistive technology thoroughly. Read Accommodations to learn more about what might make your working environment, just a bit easier.

3. Learn to adapt and figure out what works best for you. Nothing is easy. Sometimes you have to use your ingenuity to solve your own problems instead of waiting for help from others. You can get some ideas of some workarounds that have worked for me by reading Working Remotely- Challenges.

4. Have a good attitude. When solving your problems think in the bigger picture. If by solving your own problem; think how can you help others with your same resolution who might be in your same situation? Even though you might be having a really bad day because the tool you are supposed to use to do your job does not work with your assistive technology because that tool was not designed following accessibility guidelines like the ones at Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Do not get discouraged. You will have better days; usually very soon. Read Living Positively to get encouraged to have a better attitude

What has not worked for me
1. Do not try to force things to happen. At times if things are not going exactly the way you want; take a break; and come back later to take another look with a fresh mind. At times your ideas are not ready to be accepted by others; do not give up. Just look for the correct opportunity to present yourself.

2. You might have to alter your style of engagement to get the results you are looking for. Look at the personalities you are working with and make adjustments for best results.

3. Try not to make enemies along your paths to accomplish your goals. They might be your allies in future.

4. Put in the hard work and effort. Most things do not come easy. It takes a lot of hard work and time to succeed. You may need to get additional training to accomplish your goals. Get that training so you can be the best you can be.

5. Have faith in yourself. Never, ever give up! You can do it if you give yourself the chance!

Does anyone else have any helpful tips to help the students? Any tips that will help others looking for work or changing jobs? Any ideas to help retain your current job or get a promotion?

We all, very much, look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Disability Mentoring Day

Hello everyone,

Are you a student with a disability preparing to go into the workforce? Do you have a relative or friend who has a disability; minor or major? Are you an employer looking to hire talented employees? Are you a disabled person who is successfully working? Are you interested in volunteering some of your time to make a Differnce in the life’s of others, helping your community or employers in your area?

If any of the above sound like something you are interested in; or fits your situation I think you will be interested to know in the United States Disability Mentoring Day is October 17, 2007.

What is Disability Mentoring Day(DMD) from DMD web page.
Job Shadowing and Hands-On Career Exploration

Empowering Students and Job Seekers

Promoting a Diverse Workplace

Recruiting New Talent

International Efforts
In addition to helping Disability Mentoring Day to take root in all 50 states and all US territories, AAPD is pleased to lead in international efforts to
help transplant DMD around the world.

DMD Participating Nations and DMD Coordinators
http://www.dmd-aapd.org/docs/international.php

Do any of you have any plans to attend any Disability Mentoring Day events? Is your company planning on holding events for this day? If you have attended such events in past how did you like it; what did it mean to you; how did it help you?

To learn more about Disability Mentoring Day and get access to many related resources look on below URL.
http://www.dmd-aapd.org/

We would all love to hear how you are connected with Disability Mentoring Day.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Balancing Your Team for Innovation

Hello everyone,

I hope you have enjoyed and found useful the following two articles/ messages:
1. Collective Intelligence: Include The Disabled for Success

2. Meet the Professionals - Shawn Henry- Web accessibility

We have been talking about the importance to include everyone without external limitations for positive results. Talked about the value of collective intelligence and swarm behavior. I think the following article from eSight Careers Network
will add to our discussion of this very important topic.

Balancing Your Team for Innovation by Jim Hasse.

Just a few highlights from article
Technology has broken down the walls between jobs in companies and between businesses on a global scale. Survivors in today's competitive business climate have learned how to harness teamwork among people to produce products and services at a better, faster and cheaper clip than their competitors.
Fostering diversity and valuing differences have become so crucial to innovation, the engine of economic growth in the U.S. and many parts of the world.

What has changed is that teams and diversity on those teams have come into their own. Yet, diversity initiatives are still among the first "frills" to get cut as a variable cost in corporate budgets during economic downturns because they're considered not critical.

The C.A.R.E. Profile approach introduced me to the concept that successful team members do the right thing at the right time -- not the same thing at the same time. While team members work together toward a common goal, individuals still must play their individual parts in the process.

Fahden and Namakkal's instrument identifies an individual's most natural team role so he can work from his strengths. Here's how Innovate with C.A.R.E. Profile describes those strengths:

As an employer, recognizing the value of this "hand-off" process and the diversity it requires at the team level will help you avoid getting stuck with too many team members playing the same role at the same time. It means valuing differences -- instead of the sameness -- in people and how they help your team approach a problem and find a solution for it.

That means diversity in thought processes is a key to innovation. Since innovation is crucial to being competitive in today's marketplace, it makes ethnicity, gender, sexual preference -- and physical ability -- not relevant.

Read the complete article, Balancing Your Team for Innovation to learn more at below URL.
http://www.esight.org/view.cfm?x=472

Do you see any limitations which prevents diversity in thought processes? Has anyone seen any obstacles which prevents balancing your teams for innovation? Do you have any success stories you want to share about how you best harnessed teamwork by reducing external limitations, like inaccessible tools to help you produce products and services at a better, faster and cheaper clip than you’re competitors? How are you fostering diversity and valuing differences?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Meet the Professionals - Shawn Henry- Web accessibility

Hello everyone,

I hope you had a chance to read Collective Intelligence: Include The Disabled for Success.

We talked about how collective intelligence can facilitate increased productivity if all can have equal access to the tools needed to do his or her job efficiently and effectively. We talked about why it is essential to develop, maintain and procure accessible and usable applications, including web pages with universal design following such standards like the ones that are available at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Maybe you are new to accessibility and usability and want to learn more about this topic. Perhaps you are looking to improve your knowledge in this aspect of technology. You want to fully embrace the benefits of Collective Intelligence so you can take full advantage of your skilled workforce to allow you to better compete in your local or global marketplace. I went completely blind one day after work in 1999 because of a critical illness that hit without warning. I have used computers with eyesight for many years as a application programmer, systems administrator and network engineer and now without eyesight as a project manager using screen readers and truly know the importance of usable and accessible tools. If any of that sounds like you; I think you will find the following video useful.

The Professionals" video series, Shawn Henry of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) from World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) talked with Kazuhito Kidachi about:
• Shared responsibilities between web site developers, browsers, and assistive technologies.

• The importance of authoring tools supporting accessibility.

• Different types of authoring tools, including content management systems.

• How WCAG 2.0 and WAI-ARIA address the more difficult aspects of Web accessibility.

• WAI's outreach resources.

• What led Shawn to accessibility?

The video has English audio (after a short Japanese introduction) and Japanese subtitles. Text transcripts are available in Japanese and English. To watch video open URL below.
http://videocast.mitsue.co.jp/english/archives/2007/000056.html

Did you learn anything new from video? Do you feel you have more tools to aid in allowing all to participate so you can take full advantage of Collective Intelligence? Do you have any success stories you want to share about implementing usability and accessibility programs for your internal tools? Any other thoughts or comments. We all look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Collective Intelligence: Include The Disabled for Success

Hello everyone,

Want to be more productive at solving complex problems in groups? Work better in teams? Utilize all of your resources at their fullest potential, no matter how different some individuals might be perceived to be? Maybe you should study the way some ants bury their dead, ways fireflies in some parts of the world light up in synchronization, or the way field honey bees fly from flower to flower, collecting pollen and sweet juices, or nectar to produce honey. Read on; I am serious!

Have you ever been in a meeting and hardly anyone talked? Maybe the few outgoing people were the only ones voicing their opinions. As you might be sitting back in the meeting and listening and thinking to yourself, my thought is not valuable because it is quite different than all the other ideas that are being brought up; so I do not speak up in fear of being different.

I’ll bet you do not know how much your different point of view helps to make the outcome better for all! Without your different perspective the complete group may fail because you followed the opinions of only a few in the group; right or wrong.

If you have a disability or other unique viewpoints on the topic in discussion, or project, or program you are working on, it makes your input even more crucial to produce the very best output possible. I might even argue that if you are disabled, or have other challenges your thoughts are more important, since others do not have your unique viewpoint to offer such help or guidance.

This is true with software or hardware development as well. You would not want to develop inferior software or hardware products that are not accessible or usable by all people. In this highly competitive global market it is best to not limit your customer base to only a portion of the world’s population allowing your competitors to gain an advantage in which you may never have the opportunity to catch up. Include people with disabilities, we are brimming with innovative ideas!

With so much room for improvements in the current approach to working together, some groups and organizations have started to look at nature for resolutions and new ideas. Nature has done well when many members interact with each other with no one person directing, like the ants, fireflies and bees I mentioned

Do you wonder how such positive collaboration can happen?

Have you ever heard of swarm, or collective intelligence?

Swarm, or collective intelligence in one definition; is interacting as one large, self-organized group of computers or groups of people with all individuals fully participating, without infrastructure limitations. This is an emergent behavior, where complex group actions arise from simple local rules.

From Stephen Strogatz: Who Cares About Fireflies? We see fantastic examples of synchrony in the natural world all around us. To give an example, there were persistent reports when the first Western travelers went to South East Asia, back to the time of Sir Francis Drake in the 1500s, of spectacular scenes along riverbanks, where thousands upon thousands of fireflies in the trees would all light up and go off simultaneously. These kinds of reports kept coming back to the West, and were published in scientific journals, and people who hadn't seen it couldn't believe it. Scientists said that this is a case of human misperception, that we're seeing patterns that don't exist, or that it's an optical illusion. How could the fireflies, which are not very intelligent creatures, manage to coordinate their flashings in such a spectacular and vast way?

The answer on how this can happen is swarm, or collective intelligence.

In the May 1, 2001, Harvard Business Review, Swarm Intelligence: A Whole New Way to Think about Business by Eric Bonabeau and Christopher Meyer talks about the following.

What do ants and bees have to do with business? A great deal, it turns out. Individually, social insects are only minimally intelligent, and their work together is largely self-organized and unsupervised. Yet collectively they're capable of finding highly efficient solutions to difficult problems and can adapt automatically to changing environments. Over the past 20 years, the authors and other researchers have developed rigorous mathematical models to describe this phenomenon, which has been dubbed "swarm intelligence," and they are now applying them to business. Their research has already helped several companies develop more efficient ways to schedule factory equipment, divide tasks among workers, organize people, and even plot strategy. Emulating the way ants find the shortest path to a new food supply, for example, has led researchers at Hewlett-Packard to develop software programs that can find the most efficient way to route phone traffic over a telecommunications network. Southwest Airlines has used a similar model to efficiently route cargo. To allocate labor, honeybees appear to follow one simple but powerful rule--they seem to specialize in a particular activity unless they perceive an important need to perform another function. Using that model, researchers at Northwestern University have devised a system for painting trucks that can automatically adapt to changing conditions. In the future, the authors speculate, a company might structure its entire business using the principles of swarm intelligence. The result, they believe, would be the ultimate self-organizing enterprise--one that could adapt quickly and instinctively to fast-changing markets.

Listen to NPR: How Ants Bury Their Dead by John Nielsen - All Things Considered, December 9, 2006, the weekly Science Out of the Box segment considers the well-ordered world of ants. Their knack for carefully stacking their dead has sent researchers scurrying to see if humans can learn lessons in efficiency from them.

Ants work together in large groups performing very complicated task with no one leader. They fight battles find food and stack their dead in intricate precise patterns; and re-stack them sorting them as they do so. This research is helping to build robots that have intelligence like ants, among many other very exciting projects.

At the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence they are bringing together faculty from across MIT to conduct research on how new communications technologies are changing the way people work together. They are collaborating with other educational institutions, organizations and individuals to better understand and find new ways to leverage collective intelligence.

Just a few of the factors that facilitate collective intelligence from MIT’s Handbook of Collective Intelligence.

• Diversity

• Shared vocabulary and other infrastructure

• Awareness

Some of the factors that inhibit collective intelligence from MIT’s handbook.

• Biases

• Implementation issues

As you have read or listened, swarm or collective intelligence can be interactions between computer to computer, computer to people or people to people just to name a few of the possible interactions. I would like to focus our discussion on improving collective intelligence between people to people and people to computer.

Collective intelligence can facilitate increased productivity in community, global (multiple organizations and individuals) and corporate project, or program teams. Can aid if you do work in Diversity, looking to leverage all employees uniqueness’s effectively or work in Human Resources and you desire your highly skilled and valued workforce to be agile to allow your employees to use their talents when and where best needed at any particular moment. Explaining why it is essential to develop, maintain and procure accessible and usable applications with universal design following such standards as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and leveraging resources like the ones at Trace Research and Development Center and Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) special Interest Group on Accessible Computing to facilitate and allow all people to contribute equally and effectively. Such standards can leverage IT investments, save time, money and reduce duplication of efforts. It is best to leverage what nature has already perfected. People are just starting to understand and utilize techniques to improve outdated processes. Focus your efforts on actions that will facilitate collective intelligence and resolve any barriers which will inhibit your positive results!

If all people cannot equally participate fully with accessible and usable tools you are inhibiting collective intelligence. You need to create ways to facilitate collective intelligence so you can more easily find highly efficient solutions to your most difficult problems. Then you can adapt automatically to changing markets and environments with agility and grace. Make sure the disabled, or others with challenges can fully participate like all others efficiently. These individuals are your most valued path to your success in fully utilizing the benefits of collective intelligence.

Is anyone seeing results with swarm, or collective intelligence? Are you having implementation issues? What parts of your personal or professional life is this helping with? Do you see how it can help the disabled or others with special needs in their personal or professional life?

I look forward to hearing from you.

To read more about Swarm Behavior look at the excellent resources on Learn More - National Geographic Magazine.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com

Mathematics of Persuasive Communication

Hello all,

Do you need help writing & speaking so others will buy into your ideas, resulting in getting the outcome you planned for? Are you disabled or have other challenges and attending school like we heard and talked about in Disabled in Higher Education? Do you need to go about accomplishing tasks just a little differently then others to be the most effective for you?

If you can benefit from learning other ways to go about writing and giving oral presentations that may fit your style, I think you will find the following article beneficial.

ACM Ubiquity - The Mathematics of Persuasive Communication
The Mathematics of Persuasive Communication by Philip Yaffe
At first glance mathematics and persuasive communication – writing, and particularly public speaking - would seem to have little in common. After all, mathematics is an objective science, whilst speaking involves voice quality, inflection, eye contact, personality, body language, and other subjective components. However, under the surface they are very similar.

Above anything else, the success of an oral presentation depends on the precision of its structure. Mathematics is all about precision. It is therefore not so odd to think that applying some of the concepts of mathematics to oral presentations could make them substantially more effective.

Read the entire paper “The Mathematics of Persuasive Communication” to learn some techniques that might help you.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Reading this paper brought back memories of some of the techniques I used when preparing and delivering my employee of the year award acceptance speech. Not having any eyesight myself, I had to make sure I wrote my speech, studied and delivered my oral presentation with precision so results would flow smoothly and give the message I wanted to convey.

Let me know after reading how this paper might help you. Any other thoughts of how to help us give better oral presentations or write better to get the results we all want?

Look forward to hearing from you.
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Disabled in Higher Education

Hello one and all,

Are any of you who have disabilities or other challenges thinking about going on to higher education? Do you lack self confidence? Are you afraid of the unknown? If so I found the perfect video for us.

ONLINE VIDEO: The Next Step
This 19-minute video from the Texas Developmental Disability Council presents personal stories from five Texans with disabilities who enrolled in colleges, universities or technical schools. The video is well-produced - fun and engaging. It gives first-hand observations of the higher education experience for people with disabilities. Video takes a little while to load; be patient. It is well-worth the wait!
If you use a screen reader, push enter on your computer’s keyboard after waiting a few minutes; will start the video.

To watch The Next Step Higher Ed Video go to http://www.txddc.state.tx.us/resources/publications/NextStepVideo.asp

Those of you who attended classes and could not use standard printed text know it can be a challenge getting the class materials in some accessible format you can completely understand, like all others students in class. After I have passed the class I feel like I achieved something meaningful and worthwhile towards my goals. I was also glad I did not let the obstacles and inconveniences stop me.

We would love to hear your thoughts and comments. After watching video do you have more confidence to overcome the unknown and be successful at whatever you want to achieve? I hope after watching or listening to video you will not give up on your goals and inspirations.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Employee of the Year

Hello everyone,

Want to share an exciting opportunity and honor I recently had. I want to see if this story and message will prompt thoughts about how we might all make differences to help each other. May bring up feelings about the value of having meaningful work. How getting recognized for individual achievement usually takes assistance from others, and the humble and caring acceptance of such help.

I was given the honor of being awarded the Careers & the DisAbled Magazine's 2007 Employee of the Year. I accepted award at the 15th annual awards ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts. Received award and recognition for my professional and advocacy efforts on behalf of people with disabilities in the workplace, community and the world.

This was a very important honor to me, my employer and all who support me. When I stood up in front of audience to accept award I felt the presence of all who support me. Being honored in such a way not only reflects the individual achievement; but all who helped me achieve this honor. I knew I had to give this opportunity my best effort to represent all of these people who were not with me in the physical sense at award ceremony.

I am completely blind since 1999, Became blind instantly after work one day from a very critical illness. I am also diabetic, walk with two canes, one long white cane and one support cane. I have neuropathy in both legs. Planning to accept award took a lot of ingenuity and hard work.

Taking Care of Family and Pets Prior to Trip
My father-in-law had been in and out of hospital for the previous three months with serious heart problems. Just prior to trip my wife’s father was in hospital and he was not going to get better unless he had a valve replaced and a bypass surgery on his heart. We were not sure if he would have surgery prior to our departure or worse yet, while we were away. After days and weeks of stressful anticipation my father-in-law successfully had surgery 1 week prior to our departure.

One of our cats, Tammy, was diagnosed with a thyroid problem a few weeks prior to trip. We had to give Tammy medication by mouth twice a day. We planned on having someone give her the medication in our absence. Just prior to our departure Tammy had reactions to the medication and doctor told us to stop medication until we returned and we could adjust the dosage of medication.

We found a person to water our yard and plants and take care of our five cats while we were away.

Now that all things were safe at home I could have peace of mind things would be taken care of at home so I could put my complete heart and energy into trip and event.

Preparing for Flight
I had not flown in a commercial airplane since going completely blind. Traveling from California, where I live to Boston, MA. was a new challenge for me. I had a plan if I needed to travel by myself if my wife needed to stay home with her dad. I had another plan if my wife Kathy was able to go with me. I wanted to cover all options to help insure a successful trip. I checked with airline and Transportation Security Administration multiple times prior to trip to make sure all things were in place I had requested when purchasing tickets. I brought multiple assistive devices, insulin, and syringes and wanted to be sure I could bring through security. I ordered a special diet because I am diabetic. I found out ordering special food only works in the particular airline I flew in if you are in first class. Coach passengers get no special food and no food unless you pay for it. I brought snacks in my carry on bag. I requested a wheel chair to assist me going to and coming from gates. I need two canes to walk and would have no extra hands to carry any luggage.

Preparation for Acceptance Speech
In preparation for speech I thought about my many options I had.
I could talk about all of my accomplishments, work I do and all the benefits. I thought a more appropriate speech would be to talk about my life experiences, a few key learning points, what this award means to me, the people and organizations who support me and the company I work for. I wanted my audience to get something out of my speech, so I chose this approach. I also had to think about presentation style. Did I want to read braille notes on paper or from my braille note taker. I could listen to speech output from my braille note taker. I could memorize my speech and be holding nothing in my hands and deliver speech from my heart as natural as possible. Since I wanted my speech to be personal I chose to memorize.

Time for Award Ceremony
I am diabetic and made sure I had a good breakfast and lunch. I knew evening would be long and maybe even stressful and wanted my blood sugar levels to be as good as possible. I studied my speech a few more times. I had gone over speech the past few days and on the airplane. I was getting close to memorization; but kept missing some key words. I recorded those key words I seemed to forget on my digital voice recorder so I could focus on those areas. I had my complete speech on my braille note taker for complete reviewing and practicing.

As evening hours started I met three people I worked with, but had never met in person. It was like we had met many times in past. Everyone was so friendly. We all had a great dinner as we listened to inspiring keynote speeches and listened to others receiving awards. After dinner they offered a very delicious smelling dessert. I tasted one very small bight. I was so tempted to eat my dessert. I knew if I did eat this dessert I would forget my speech. Being diabetic, the sugars would have raised my blood glucose level and clouded my mind. As it got closer for my time to accept my award and give my acceptance speech I could feel the anxiety grow in me

Time for My Acceptance Speech
The person who works in the company I work for and nominated me for award, sight guided me up to the front of room. As she moved to podium I stood facing the audience next to her. She gave a great introduction speech telling the audience all I do for the company I work for and the community I live in. She also talked about why I deserved award. As I faced into the darkness looking into the audience I felt very nervous. I could feel myself starting to shake a little. I managed to get under control. I thought to myself, I had better get control and calm down before I gave my speech or it would not go well. I did get back in control as she finished her speech and introduction. She guided me to the podium and microphone. I took a few deep breathes and began speaking after adjusting the microphone the best I could.
I tried to keep my eyes looking at audience during my speech. I could feel the words flowing out of me. I paid attention to my pronunciation and volume. I thought about my pacing of speech so I would not talk too fast and remember to pause at my breaking points. My speech seemed to be flowing well. My mind was racing and it seemed like I could hear the words coming out, as I looked ahead in my mind to what parts were coming up next. I could not hear the crowd to get any feedback; I assumed things were going well and all could hear and understand me. I knew I was getting near the end of my speech, and things were still going smoothly. I got to my closing statement. After I delivered it, I could hear the audience applause loudly. Now I could hear the crowd. As I listened to the applause I felt a hand reach out to mine in the darkness. Soon I was sight guided back to my table. I sat down with a great big smile stretching from ear to ear on my face. I did it, delivered my message and I was very proud my hard work paid off.

After Event - Fun Continued
I was totally energized and wanted to meet all who was in audience. I took out my long cane and walked to where I heard voices. As soon as I was close I started to greet the crowd; so they would see me coming and I would not run into them with my canes. I shook their hands and handed out my braille business cards. Everyone I met told me how much I inspired them from my speech. Everyone was very touched. Actually that is an understatement. People held my hands as they told me how much they loved my story and message. I continued my cheerful networking and enjoyed the wonderful evening wishing it would never end. I stayed to the very end loving every moment and sharing myself with the others.

I want to share below one part and the conclusion to my acceptance speech.

Sometimes, it is easy to take work for granted. Becoming blind helped me to really appreciate what it means to have a job. After long dark nights during my stay in the hospital, I would welcome the roaring sounds of the garbage trucks arriving to pick up the trash. I thought about each of the workers and how much he or she was contributing to society. I wanted so much to contribute again.
I also could hear the passenger jets start their engines with a low rumble at the San Jose International Airport. I pictured the flight crew and the pilot in their uniforms walking to their airplane across the runway, carrying brief cases with flight plans and maps getting ready for their day. I thought about how fortunate they were to have this opportunity and wondered if they realized it as they moved through their daily routine.
At first, I found it hard to imagine what a blind person would do. As I laid in my bed each morning, these productive people outside started me wishing with all of my heart that I would again be able to help others in some meaningful way. I remembered thinking if only some person would let me, I would crawl around on the ground on my hands and knees to pick up trash, using my hand to find the papers I couldn’t see. I promised myself that if I could be useful in this world, I would be so very happy. Those early dreams helped me build bigger dreams. Soon I had a single-minded vision. A mission of reinventing everything about myself, so I could return to work.

I then thanked my supportive employer, the employees from my organization who were in audience and all the organizations that helped me to reinvent myself and start the networking opportunities so I could be a productive blind person. Then I paid ay special tribute to my loving wife Kathy. Her determination, tireless support, belief in me gave me courage I never imagined was inside me. I am here with you because she refused to let anyone pull the plug when I was on life support while in hospital!

In conclusion to my speech, I left audience with three lessons learned that I hoped would inspire new possibilities in their work and life.

First, never ever give up! You can overcome more than you, or others think you can.
Second, go after that goal you’ve want to achieve. Even if everyone tells you it’s impossible, put your heart into it. All the doctors and physical therapists told me I had no hope of ever walking again. My wife was with me as I looked into their eyes with a smirk and told them, I’ll be out of my wheelchair and walking by Christmas! That year, my Christmas present to myself was leaving my wheelchair and leg braces behind forever.
Finally, go out and discover new meaning in your work and your life. It's there waiting for you. Your company and everyone around you will benefit. With hard work and determination, you can make a difference!

Hope you liked that glimpse into my acceptance speech.

Do you have any tips to help others make a difference? Have you found meaning in your work? If you are not working; have you found meaning in your life you want to share with us? Does this experience bring any thoughts to your mind?

We would all love to hear your thoughts. Look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/