The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking en-us Fri, 04 May 2012 17:14:02 GMT http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/04/28/lyenas-hollywood-shuffle Lyena's Hollywood Shuffle http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/04/28/lyenas-hollywood-shuffle Getting a job when you have a disability is no doubt a hurdle no matter the category or specialty, but getting a job as an actor with a disability is often its own special kind of hell. It's like opening one door only to stare at another one, shut tight.

The first door is everyone from your mother to your best friend telling you it’s a fool’s errand, “You will only get hurt, dear, Hollywood is a bad roll of the dice, even if you weren’t , ah, challenged…” Read More]]> Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:17:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/04/18/the-joy-of-movement The Joy of Movement http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/04/18/the-joy-of-movement
I wrote the attached blog about something I experienced at the last Abilities Expo here, but because of my association with the company mentioned, you might not want to run it, even with a disclaimer. I'm not trying to pitch the product. I'm pitching the joy of movement itself. Read More]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:57:00 GMT Gerthro http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/03/30/six-degrees-of-disability Six Degrees of Disability http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/03/30/six-degrees-of-disability This whole disability thing is a psychological conundrum, or maybe just a rhetorical conundrum. To define yourself as disabled is an unhealthy way of thinking. It tends to give your condition too much weight in your life or play to other people’s perceptions. On the other hand, to not define yourself as disabled could be an unhealthy form of denial, especially if you haven’t worked through the reality of your situation. Read More]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:41:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/03/06/the-comedy-of-discomfort The Comedy of Discomfort http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/03/06/the-comedy-of-discomfort Read More]]> Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:45:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/02/29/dont-follow-leaders-watch-the-parking-meters "Don't Follow Leaders, Watch The Parking Meters" http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/02/29/dont-follow-leaders-watch-the-parking-meters I swear, if it wasn’t for that little blue placard most of us have hanging from our rearview mirrors, the ambulatory world out there would never give us a second thought. For some reason, it boils the blood of many an average burgher to see one of us zip into that choice spot in front of Home Depot or Ikea while they have to park maybe 20 feet further from the front door and lug their tired bodies all that way. The very common response, at least in California: weasel one of those placards by hook or crook and grab that spot before you do. Read More]]> Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:23:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/02/07/the-way-we-were The Way We Were http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/02/07/the-way-we-were If you haven’t checked out “Downton Abbey,” the smash English drawing room drama now in its second season on PBS, you might want to give it a look. Set in and around a humungous country manor house in the early decades of last century, it is what you might call British upper-class porn. Tune in and indulge in a luxurious existence where lords and ladies dress for dinner served by a staff of solicitous servants and life is just one refined pleasure and which-pearls-to-wear quandary after another. If the Great Depression had Busby Berkeley movies as escapist entertainment, The Great Recession of today has “Downton Abbey.” Read More]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:26:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/01/26/lets-hear-it-for-some-actual-diversity Let's Hear It For Some Actual Diversity http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2012/01/26/lets-hear-it-for-some-actual-diversity Since the day I became paralyzed for life fifteen years ago last month, I, like you, have railed against the stereotypes more or less thrusted on my new, now old, self. Obviously the ones I saw first grew out of my immediate experience. Out in the world, I was either ignored like an outcast or patronized and talked down to like an feeble-minded octogenarian. “Oh, dearie, let me hold that door for you?...Is that book too heavy for you? Let me carry it… You know, God only gives us what we can handle…By the way, you are doing a super job with this horrible thing!” Read More]]> Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:12:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/11/29/take-a-pil-and-call-me-in-the-morning Take a PIL and call me in the morning http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/11/29/take-a-pil-and-call-me-in-the-morning In my dotage, I’ve come to enjoy reading peer-review medical research papers with titles like “Psychologic Factors and Risk of Mortality After Spinal Cord Injury” or “Comparison of the influence of different rehabilitation programmes on clinical, spirometric, and spiroergometric parameters in patients with multiple sclerosis.”

Okay, these titles don’t shout, “Read me now!” nor is the prose the heart-pounding John Grisham variety. Read More]]> Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:55:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/11/15/new-york-state-of-mind New York State of Mind http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/11/15/new-york-state-of-mind You may have read about this – it made the news about three weeks ago – but I found it to be a very telling story about disability in our times and I can’t stop thinking about it. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he was rabidly opposed to more taxi cabs in his city that are equipped to handle disabled passengers. They’re too expensive, he said, too heavy, and have crappy suspension. Ergo, “the average person riding in them finds them really uncomfortable.” Read More]]> Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:32:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/10/16/we-will-win-this-battle We Will Win This Battle! http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/10/16/we-will-win-this-battle Media Access Awards, held this year in front of an SRO crowd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and hosted by Marlee Matlin,  is one of the few occasions when the Hollywood disability community gathers, hands out a few well-deserved awards, and celebrates its growing presence in film and TV. And its presence is growing. Despite what you might have read in the newspapers lately, there is solid progress to report. Read More]]> Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:31:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/10/06/the-hollywood-quad-checks-out The Hollywood Quad Checks Out http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/10/06/the-hollywood-quad-checks-out "I take some of the scariness out of the word, quadriplegic..."
- Jim Troesh  1956 -- 2011

Jim Troesh, a C-3/4 quadriplegic who worked as an actor and writer in the vineyards of Hollywood for 30-some years, died peacefully last Saturday night in Los Angeles.Read More]]> Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:08:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/09/14/looking-to-be-insulted Looking To Be Insulted http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/09/14/looking-to-be-insulted In the September issue of New Mobility magazine, I wrote a long piece on a subject that's intrigued me for years – wheelchair pretenders. If you're not aware of this very active subculture, these are perfectly able-bodied people who love to roll around in wheelchairs, in private, and if bold enough, in public. Read More]]> Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:11:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/08/26/how-long-am-i-here How Long Am I Here? http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/08/26/how-long-am-i-here The purpose of a personal blog like this is to write about what’s on your mind. What’s been on my mind lately is the rest of my life. From the moment I became paralyzed via transverse myelitis fifteen years ago this December, I asked the question: does this mean that my life will be automatically – or statistically -- shorter than the ambulatory bloke next door? Read More]]> Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:25:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/07/21/sitting-while-sitting- Sitting While Sitting http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/07/21/sitting-while-sitting- Read More]]> Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:44:00 GMT The Myth of Walking http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/07/13/the-race The Race http://www.spinalcordinjury-paralysis.org/MythofWalking/2011/07/13/the-race We live in an era of perpetual distraction. Between Arnold’s indiscretions and Weiner-gate and Casey Anthony’s poor mothering skills and “Carmageddon,” the closure of an LA freeway for 52 hours, and sports TV and lurid cable offerings and Face Book and Twitter and, hell, even blogs like this, it’s like the whole world is a fascinating train wreck and we are all rubberneckers at the scene. Read More]]> Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:22:00 GMT The Myth of Walking