Today I delivered a motivational speech at the Speaking Out Retreat for Self Advocates in Burlington, ON geared towards adults with intellectual disabilities. This is the second Speaking Out retreat I have spoken at and it was a ton of fun. I met some awesome advocates and made some new friends. Thank you to everyone involved in organizing this event and a special thank you to Duane for inviting me.
Earlier today I was invited to speak at the New Vision Advocates meeting, a group created by Community Living London to encourage and train individuals with disabilities to become self advocates. It was a great group of highly engaged people of all ages hoping to share their experiences of disability with others while fighting to make London a better place to live. The group even spent a bit of time after my presentation brain storming some ideas how to improve access on the local city busses as a response to a recent change in LTC policy that limits access to accessible seating on adapted busses. Made some great new friends today and I look forward to seeing the work they do in the near future.
Although not a “speaking engagement” so to speak, tonight I was asked to be a part of Community Living London’s “Night of Heroes” fundraiser. I was teamed up with my old friend Mark Anderson (who I met on the London Accessibility Advisory Committee at City Hall many moons ago) to strut down the runway in a pseudo fashion show that was more about dancing then being particularly fashionable…which is a good thing because we all know I’m not the most fashionable gent out there. Unfortunately, I’m not much of a dancer either and was definitely shown up by the Mayor of Sarnia, Mike Bradley. That guy can really cut a rug.
A great night, through and through, with a ton of money raised for a great cause.