Category: Access Advocacy

Get Thee to a Dispensary: Managing Muscular Dystrophy with Medical Marijuana

Support Claire Managing the physical and emotional strains of a chronic condition can be challenging, sometimes in the extreme. Anything that alleviates tension and pain while improving functionality is a welcomed godsend bordering on the miraculous. I speak from experience. As someone living with advanced facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD), I have tried everything to retard and … Continue reading Get Thee to a Dispensary: Managing Muscular Dystrophy with Medical Marijuana →

Managing Muscular Dystrophy with Technology

Support Claire …The new dawn blooms as we free itFor there is always lightIf only we’re brave enough to see itIf only we’re brave enough to be it --Amanda Gorman, US Youth Poet Laureate All the signs were there: a weakening grip, shaky fingers, gnarling knuckles, random palsy…After five years of limited arm and leg … Continue reading Managing Muscular Dystrophy with Technology →

Top Tips When Booking Accessible Travel

Support Claire Traveling differently abled has never been better. ADA legislation coupled with ever growing consumer demand has greatly improved the availability of quality accessible travel in the USA and abroad. That said, as someone who travels as often as possible while managing FSH muscular dystrophy, I find that the following measures best ensure successful … Continue reading Top Tips When Booking Accessible Travel →

How a Musical is Changing Perceptions About Disabilities, Including Mine

Support Claire Caregivers wheeled Luke Hogan Laurenson and me into the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Angus Bowmer Theater: me with muscular dystrophy to my seat; him with cerebral palsy onto the stage for his role in Hairspray. By the musical's finale - an uptempo collective promise for social progress - we would both be assisted onto … Continue reading How a Musical is Changing Perceptions About Disabilities, Including Mine →

Accessibility at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

Support Claire In July 2019, I attended four Utah Shakespeare Festival performances in three different theaters, all via motorized powerchair. Uber-talented actors, gorgeous costumes, and state-of-the-art set design made it clear that "the play's the thing" at this Cedar City based event. Each production was simply jaw dropping fantastic, most notably Twelfth Night. The ADA … Continue reading Accessibility at the Utah Shakespeare Festival →

Scottsdale: Hell on Wheels

Support Claire  Note: Although this post specifies my Scottsdale home base, its cautionary message applies nationwide, urging increased driver awareness of mobility device users sharing the road. Dangerously so, it happened again this morning: Scottsdale drivers came close to hitting my mobility scooter while I was transiting a crosswalk. Many of these chronic traffic violators … Continue reading Scottsdale: Hell on Wheels →

10 Top Tips for Buying a Mobility Scooter

Support Claire Mobility is nobility in any form it takes, including riding a mobility scooter. Whether I'm cruising around the block for some fresh air or scootering the biking trails of a national park, I'm happy to be moving on my own accord. Pride Pursuit To that end, my candy apple red Pride Pursuit mobility … Continue reading 10 Top Tips for Buying a Mobility Scooter →