I heard about this site through Social Media and had to check it out.

Sign with Robert uses GIFs to teach a word or phase in ASL. It's short, clear and simple. It's categorized in Topic groups so it's easy to look up.

I like this as it'll help with my ASL Tutoring in case I don't know a phrase or sign a client wants to know, I can look it up right then.
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Like the ASL shown...I'm impressed.

There's also an entire series of DVDs of over 15 hours of sign language & Deaf Culture material.

So if you want to learn ASL or need to look up a word or two to refresh yourself, check Robert DeMayo  out!

There's a new movie out now called "Me Before You" with the tagline - "A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of".

Just that tagline alone irked me. Just great, another "oh poor disabled person needs taking care of" crap.

Then of course I had to read more about it. It's based on Jojo Moyes novel of the same name and is basically a "love story" between a wealthy former playboy, Will, who becomes involved with a small town girl, Lou.

Fine, I don't like romances in the first place, but what got my hackles up was that Will has been quadriplegic since a road accident several years earlier and had decided he wanted to kill himself.

Are you shitting me?!? More deception that disabled people's lives are worthless? The movie studio tried promoting the movie with a hashtag #LiveBoldly which backfired because as one person commented "the hashtag only applied to the able-bodied at the cost of a disabled man's life". (As Lou was able to live well after Will died and left a lot of money to her).

So you can imagine the backlash among the disabled community. They started a hashtag #MeBeforeAbleism 
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It's hard enough dealing with people every day that doubt or belittle your abilities and you have Hollywood perpetrating it even more.

So knock off the bullshit Hollywood!! I don't need your patronizing and false portrayal of me as a disabled person for your inspiration porn! 

I'm Deafblind and I am a wife, mother of two teenagers and work from home and guess what? I'm HAPPY!

So for you moviegoers - skip this movie and tell Hollywood that this crap needs to stop!

I came across this website while researching prizes for a future contest I'll be hosting.

I think it's a great site! Whether you're getting something for family on the holidays, or need a promotional item for your company, Giftcards.com has a huge variety to choose from.

Visa and MasterCard gift cards can be personalized with a personal photo or image. They have plastic or electronic ones that can come with a personalized or pre-designed greeting card.

So if you're short on gift ideas or need a quick reward to send someone, this is a great go-to site for anyone.

If you ever need Health and Nutrition products, high quality skin care and cosmetics, I recommend CamFormulas.

CamFormulas stands for "Complementary And Alternative Medicine Formulas"". Their website is so easy to navigate and see, which as a low vision user, is saying a lot! Their Customer Service is quick, helpful & replies quickly to email inquiries which as a Deaf user, is a real boon!

They've got everything from Body Care, Skin Care, Immune System Support, Herbal Supplements, Homeopathic remedies, Vitamins of all kinds and they offer Coupons and discounts too. I received a bottle of NAC (n-acetyl cysteine) which is hard to find in regular drug stores. I got this as it's supposed to help lessen the cravings of dermatillomania which I've suffered for the past 30 some years. So far it's working!

Since I've ordered, customer service has followed up and made sure everything was alright with my order and have offered discounts for upcoming orders.

I don't remember an online company being so user-friendly and hassle-free website navigation in a long time. Even Amazon is a hassle to navigate sometimes!

So for any  of your vitamin needs, check out CamFormulas!

Tracy,
"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

Last night I was scrolling through the TV Guide and saw that "Survivor" was on and I remember reading about Nina Poersch, a new contestant that has hearing loss. I switched channels to watch the show. It was good timing because there was Nina and a few others talking in the dark. (Now this isn't per verbatim, but close enough)   

"I know you all want to vote me out"
"What?"
"I'll do my best to win the challenges but I know you all want me out"
"Why do you think that?"
"Because I'm deaf"

Then the screen cuts to a private camera interview with another survivor,

"I know you're deaf, we get that! But stop using it as an excuse"

EXACTLY!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Now my C.I. is still broken so I can't tell if Nina was whining, angry, or what? But I do know that short two minute exposure last night just pissed the hell out of me!

Nina, it's called "Survivor" dammit, start acting like one! You don't deserve to use the title "Hearing Advocate" and I feel you've done the deaf/Deaf/Hard of Hearing Community a disservice last night!

There's always been two ends of the spectrum that I can't stand, first those who are all "inspired" and "melt my heart" moments by people with disabilities "overcoming their challenges"; and those with disabilities who milk it and use it for an excuse and pity.

So maybe I should give the benefit of the doubt and have just caught Nina in a bad moment? Who knows, who cares, the damage is done as far as I'm concerned.

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

As a mother of two teenagers who are starting more extracurricular activities and outings; how do you know they will be safe? One bonus of living in a small rural town is that "everybody knows everybody". My husband and I usually just ask an acquaintance "Do you know so-n-so" and most of the time they do. Then we can access if it's O.K. to let one of the kids go on a sleepover, an outing, or activity.

But if you don't have the incentive of living in a small town, how do you know if your children will be safe? If you don't have kids, how about how do you know if that handyman coming to work on the house is safe?

That's why I love Instant Checkmate, a public records search service. Run a background check on anybody for police records!

So keep your kids and family safe and run background checks on people hanging around your kids, the handyman, or the kids teachers.

Stay safe!
Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon