Overcoming Disabilties Team Room

[brotherjim]

Be a Fan of Courage
Kevin Erickson, 21, was already a celebrity golfer when he took to the course with PGA pro David Duval for the televised CBS Sports special, “A Tee Time Like No Other.” By age 20, he had broken a record in 18-hole golf, won numerous Special Olympics medals and scored a famous hole in one. Over the years, his mettle, skill and unflappable focus on the course had been proven many times over.

But Kevin’s game had proven something else as well – his courage. Kevin was born with a brain tumor. When he was four months old, doctors removed one-third of his brain to save his life. When he was 18 and at the peak of his golf career, the cancer returned. But throughout radiation and chemotherapy, in his weakened condition, Kevin practiced his sport as often as he could – sometimes only 24 hours after treatment. His love of golf kept him positive and sped up his recovery. As soon as he was well, he was back on the course, playing four to five times a week and winning medals in the Special Olympics U.S. Golf National Invitational.

So when Kevin showed up to play alongside the 2001 British Open champion, David Duval could not help but feel impressed. "As frustrating and maddening as my struggles have been, this makes you realize how small they are. I've always believed that people's burdens are what they can manage. I've always felt I was a strong guy. But I'm not as strong as these two men,” Duval said, in reference to Kevin and another member of the foursome, Special Olympics Ireland golf champion Oliver Doherty.

CBS Sports aired the results of their foursome that day in the United States, in a special entitled "A Tee Time Like No Other” – bringing Kevin’s courageous story to millions of sports fans across the nation.

Every Special Olympics athlete is an inspiring story about bravery and courage as they face day-to-day challenges due to their disability and rejection by society. Yet, empowered through their love of sport, Special Olympics athletes show the rest of the world how to fight for a chance, how to train against the odds and how to persevere.

Every day, 365 days a year, on playing fields across the world, through sports training and competition, Special Olympics fosters the growth of athletes who are examples of drive, determination and sportsmanship. Some, like Kevin, surprise the world with their skill, shattering longstanding stereotypes of inability that persist about people with intellectual disabilities. Other athletes overwhelm us with their courage and determination as they strive to cross the finish line of the 50-meter walk.

Like David Duval, thousands of people come to volunteer, compete with or to coach Special Olympics athletes thinking they’ll spend an afternoon or weekend helping people with intellectual disabilities. What they find instead is that they are the ones inspired. They are the ones who leave having learned what it is to achieve greatness and discover one’s humanity. And it was the athletes who were their teachers.

Sports, like intellectual disabilities, transcend boundaries of ethnicity, gender, social or economic status and religion. Because sports easily unite so many in a world where people are so different, Special Olympics is humanity’s greatest classroom, where lessons of acceptance and inclusion are taught on the fields of competition by our greatest teachers – the athletes.

[brotherjim]

This is an article taken from the Disaboom website
jim

Fighting Back 1: Blind Athlete Mark Pollock Shares His Adventure Story

by Karen Darke





“The shock of going blind was almost unbearable. One moment I was on the crest of a wave with everything going my way; the next I went blind, and my life changed forever. I thought my life was over.”

Mark Pollock became blind in 1998. Having to adapt to his sudden change in circumstances has powered him through a series of ever-increasing challenges. This year, the 10th anniversary of his blindness, Mark is part of a team taking part in the South Pole Race, where rowing teams from all over the world will race 800km to the Pole.

Becoming Blind at 22
Mark hadn’t been able to see with one eye since the age of 5, and he also had a series of detached retinas in his good eye due to football impacts as a youngster. The final detachment occurred at age 22, when he was about to sit for University final exams. He expected after an operation that his sight would return, as it always had. Only this time, things were different.

The medics said there was nothing else to be done. Mark felt detached from his identity—he couldn’t take his finals, had to turn down the offer of a banking job in the city of London, and saw no way to live the life he’d planned for. Mark found himself facing a giant mismatch between what he’d wanted to happen with his life, and the reality. He felt bitter, angry, frustrated, and hung his hopes for a while on a quick-fix.

Adapting with Assistive Technology and a Guide Dog
Gradually, though, he began to find a new way forward. He discovered he could use a computer with voice-technology software; he got a guide dog; and he was offered his first job. As his confidence built, he took up rowing again. Within just a few years, he competed at the Commonwealth Games, winning silver and bronze medals.

This was in many ways a steppingstone to a series of increasingly challenging events. In 2003, he completed six marathons in one week, in China’s Gobi Desert. Six years after becoming blind, he completed the world’s most extreme marathon at the North Pole. Since then he has participated in a host of other adventure races—not least, the South Pole Race, planned for November 2008.

Mark says the two biggest triggers for him turning things around were going on a computer course and gaining skills that could give him access to the workplace, and having role models—hearing of other blind people doing things that he aspired to.

Mark’s Advice

1. Face up to facts. Focus on what is, not on what might have been, could have been, or should have been. Get onto the start line and face up to reality.
2. Get your own attitude right. Decide you’ll take some action.
3. Reach out and ask for help. Allow people to help you, and be the type of person that people want to help.

You can read all about Mark’s adventures, his work as a motivational speaker, and the South Pole Race at www.markpollock.com.

[brotherjim]

Congrats to Benny for passing 100K
Congrats to Anita for passing 700K
Congrats to Rosita for passing 1.2 million meters

Stats for 1/12

Benny-------------------------8888
Christa------------------------30347
Michelle-----------------------30111
Bobbie-------------------------4555
Sarah---------------------------21458
Rivka---------------------------22625
Ronnie--------------------------23825
Elton----------------------------23125
Samuel--------------------------29147
Anita----------------------------29361
Zander--------------------------36102
Harold--------------------------15000
Andy-----------------------------10200
Rosi------------------------------31000
Jim-------------------------------33520

Great rowing team!!!!!!!!!
jim

[brotherjim]

Two rowing teams out in the Atlantic

Posted: Jan 10, 2011 02:51 pm EST
(By Jon Amtrup) While Angela Madsen an her crew on Big Blue have been working overtime to get ready for their Atlantic rowing record attempt, Matt Craughwell and his team on the more conventional mono hull Sara G has gotten a head start from Morocco. They started five days ago, and they are going for the record.

The current record for rowing the Atlantic Ocean is 33 days 7 hours and 3 on a 3140 miles distance. This year two crews have set their mind in breaking Leven Brown’s 2008 record.

Explorersweb has previously reported on Angela Madsen and her 16 big crew on board the rowing catamaran Big Blue. They where to cast of from Morocco January 8th but last minute preparations dragged out. The Big Blue is going to leave for the high seas 11th January 0600 GMT, according to Margaret Bowling's, one of the crew, homepage.

The race is most definitely on with two teams out on the same quest. The question is if the 16 person crew on a multi hull is faster than a mono hull rowed by a crew of six. But pure muscle is almost never enough on such record attempts. Crew morale, gear breakdown and boat durability is also a big factor. So is the getting in to the right weather - and not to get trapped in the bad stuff.

The Sara G is currently just west of Ad Dakhla in southern Morocco after rowing for five days. They left on a good weather window and got in to the following trade winds and wave pattern after only two days. That knocked up their speed, and on their last tracking position they have 4,7 knots of boat speed.

Matt Craughwell (32) is the owner and skipper of the Sara G. In January 2009, he was part of the 14 man La Mondiale crew that set out to be the first crew to row the Atlantic E-W in less than 30 days. A rudder break down made them abandon the race, but Matt was hooked on ocean rowing

He started World Ocean Rowing with Peter William in 2010 and the same year he skippered Sara G over the Atlantic.

Now he is on his way again with paying crew of five. They all want to break the world record. The crew consists of the keen sportsman Dr Graham Carlin (36), Rob Byrne (32) who also rowed on La Mondiale, former soccer, rugby and bungy jumping instructor Adam Langton Burke (28), Thomas Cremona (22) who is rowing to raise awareness that there is life after cancer, and martial arts expert and photographer Fiann Paul.

[rosita]

Jim, we lost 3 teammates What happened?
Rosita

[brotherjim]

Jim, we lost 3 teammates What happened?
Rosita

Don't cry Rosi, as Celine says, "My heart will go on." People have free will and can change their mind whenever they choose.Good luck and God bless to Elton, Rivka, and Sarah. I wish you all the best. Keep rowing those fantastic meter amounts.
jim

[brotherjim]

VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!!!! DO NOT FAIL TO READ THIS

Celebrating 161 years of kazoo playing in America, National Kazoo Day will be celebrated on January 28, 2011.

Of course, kazoo players are not known to be perfectly precise, so feel free to celebrate National Kazoo Day on January 26, 27, or 29th if you so desire.

In fact, most people will agree that we should consider January 24-30, 2011, National Kazoo WEEK! So celebrate all week long.

National Kazoo Day occurs annually (although in some regions, more often) on or about January 28 - or whenever it is convenient to the kazooist. As stated by founder Chaplin Willard Rahn of the Joyful Noise Kazoo Band at the Homewood Retirement Home in Williamsport, Maryland, "After all, we have to be flexible." Many kazooists choose the fourth Thursday in January because it's handy.

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[brotherjim]

Congrats to Sam for passing 700K
Congrats to Michelle for passing 400K

We rowed 286605 meters since last post!!! Awesome kiddos! 18 days left in the challenge. Let's do it!

Stats for 1/13

Allie----------------555
Benny--------------5555 very funny guys
Christa-------------22222 Ok , what's up?
Michelle-----------27000 3-0's
Bobbie-------------4777 hmmm
Ronnie--------------18701
Sam-----------------42000
Anita----------------24555 3-5's
Zander--------------27111 3-1's
Harold--------------14250
Andy----------------12050
Rosita---------------23242 3-2's Did you kiddos all get together?
Jim------------------64587 in 5 separate rows, trying to keep up with my boy!

Keep up the consistant effort, this team is amazing!
jim

[brotherjim]

This is a story from the Disaboom website

Deaf Swimmer Terrence Parkin (1980- )
Born deaf, sport enthusiast Terrence Parkin hopped in the water at age 12 to begin a career that took him to the Olympics. Using sign language to communicate with his swimming coach, he set the African records for both the 200 and 400 meters individual medley.

When he began swimming, he couldn’t hear the starting tone for his races, so his coach would stand on the sidelines and sign “Go!” (Technology today uses the flash of lights to signal the start.)
At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Parkin finished the 200 meter breaststroke and looked up to see a “2” on the scoreboard next to his name. He’d been swimming in lane 2 and didn’t realize for a moment that he had just won a silver medal against hearing competitors!

Parkin managed to stay in top shape and finish even stronger in the 2005 Deaflympics, where he brought home two gold medals.

Today, Parkin is married and enjoys painting when he isn’t coaching both deaf and hearing kids in swimming at the Parkin-Widex swimming academy, a venture he founded with the hearing aid manufacturer.

[Izzzmeister]

Celebrating 161 years of kazoo playing in America, National Kazoo Day will be celebrated on January 28, 2011...Many kazooists choose the fourth Thursday in January because it's handy.

I grew up hearing almost-Chicagoan humorist Jean Sheppard play the kazoo & the Jew's Harp on his night-owl show, to classic songs like "The Bear Missed the Train" & "Six-foot-two, Eyes of Blue."
I feel bad that the only off-beat instruments I can play are the shoe horn & the ear drum!

[brotherjim]

Reprinted from the Disaboom website
CFS is a very real disease
jim


“I went from being aworld championship canoeist, to having such extreme exhaustion that I couldn’t lift my arms up enough to wash my hair.”

Anna Hemmings is Britain’s leading female marathon canoeist and the current world champion. In 2003, after years of training and competing at the highest level, she was told she might never race again. This is the story of how she fought back chronic fatigue syndrome, and regained her health to be selected for the Beijing Olympics.

The Beginning of a Canoeing Career
Hemmings began canoeing at the age of 8, when her mom booked her onto a week-long canoeing course for the school holidays. She joined the local canoe club, and canoeing became her passion over everything else.

“There’s nothing quite like the feeling of canoeing down a river—it’s such a liberating feeling," she says. "I’ve always been a strong and competitive person, and when I started to win canoeing races, it drove me further.”

By her late teens and early 20s, Hemmings was devoting a lot of her time to training. She socialized a little, but getting up the next day to train or race was always in her mind. She competed at the World Championships several times, and at the Sydney Olympics.

“I loved it, and was totally focused," she says. "A couple of times though, I had to stop training because of extreme exhaustion, and I assumed that I had just over-trained.”

In 2003, Hemmings went to the doctor with symptoms of exhaustion. By that time, even with light training, she was utterly exhausted.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diagnosis Provides Answers
“I tried absolutely everything to find out what was wrong," Hemmings recalls. "I saw sports doctors, an acupuncturist, a nutritionist, changed my diet, cut out certain foods, had blood tests, and even went down the spiritual path and saw a shaman. I’m normally a positive person, but I became increasingly frustrated, as nothing seemed to help.”

Hemmings was finally diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is still not well understood.

Chronic Fatigue has different symptoms, which may include exhaustion, aching muscles, migraines, and extreme tiredness, affecting work, social, and family life significantly. Anna was finding even easy tasks a struggle, feeling fatigued after just 20 minutes of canoeing.

Reverse Therapy: New CFS Treatment
Hemmings was introduced to Reverse Therapy by an employee of her sponsors, Pindar. Reverse Therapy is an innovative treatment that addresses the imbalance in the mind-body environment, which is one of the triggers that causes the symptoms of chronic fatigue.

“Reverse Therapy was a complete revelation for me," Hemmings says. "I had to keep a detailed journal and write down everything I was doing and feeling to help identify patterns and triggers for my symptoms.

I realized I didn’t have enough balance in my life. I had been too single-minded, hadn’t expressed emotion, and always put on a brave face, isolating myself from other people. It was hard to change at first, show weakness, cry sometimes, and learn to do things differently.”

After starting Reverse Therapy, it took Anna about six months to get her confidence and health back, and to build her fitness again without fearing the symptoms would come back. She returned to competition in 2005 and has since gone on to win the world marathon canoeing championships three consecutive times and has been selected for the Beijing Olympics. However, Anna tries to have more balance and awareness throughout her training.

Anna says the things that helped her through chronic fatigue were her family and friends, and that she never gave up hope that she’d find a way back. She also discovered the importance of surrounding herself with positive people.

This article is based on an interview carried out for BBC Radio Scotland series, "Fighting Back." The interview is available for a short time at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes. You can also find out more about Anna, and her battle with chronic fatigue syndrome at http://www.annahemmings.co.uk.

[ronnie1]

Congratulations Jim on passing 6 million meters! You are having a very good season. Keep up the great effort.
Ronnie

[brotherjim]

Thank you Ronnie. In May, I never would have dreamed this possible.
jim

[brotherjim]

Congrats to Christa for passing 400K
Congrats to Zander for passing 800K

Great rowing!!

Stats for 1/14

Benny---------------------------7067
Christa--------------------------26222
Michelle------------------------30202
Bobbie--------------------------3003
Ronnie--------------------------19545
Sam-----------------------------17700
Anita----------------------------19761
Zander--------------------------28020
Harold--------------------------13300
Andy----------------------------8035
Rosi-----------------------------26588
Jim------------------------------32794

The team is looking awesome!!! Keep up the super rowing
jim

[brotherjim]

Welcome to the team Gene Glad to have another swimmer on board as the seas can get rough sometimes. You join 3 other team members who are medalists, Ronnie, Zander, and Benny. It is great to have you with us.
jim