When I started this blog, it was supposed to be a forum for all of the members of the Salem County Office for the Disabled Advisory Board. It wasn’t intended to be my blog. We were frustrated that there was so little money available for residents that were “disabled” that it was rolled into the Office of Aging because there was money available for senior services. It made sense in a practical and financial sense.
It didn’t make sense when programming was concerned. Imagine that you are a college aged person that is in a wheelchair, and you are included in on the events that are designed for our senior citizens. Maybe your choice of music and movies are Hip Hop and the Fast and Furious, and the music selected is Frank Sinatra and the movie is the Sound of Music? The blog was designed for discussion and suggestions. Unfortunately, it didn’t go in that direction and our advisory board is no longer in existence.
Our plan was to use the blog to get involvement and discussion on ideas and strategies that could be utilized to add value to a journey toward independence. We were hoping for stories and ideas that could be shared and an on-line discussion that would create opportunities. As an example, I do get a lot of emails and comments on a blog that I wrote on how to get a ramp built. This works really well in Salem County, New Jersey because of a group of very committed retired union electricians that install the ramps and the support of our local Habitat for Humanity. However, that isn’t available in most communities.
At this point, I really don’t want to get involved with social media even though I know it is a more powerful strategy. That may be the next step.
I do want to encourage anyone that wants to contribute ideas and stories that can be part of this blog by contacting me at fhentz@hotmail.com. I hope this can be a vehicle to hear the voices and journeys of anyone that is able, not disabled and how they navigate their journey.
Abilities Not Disabilities 