Father’s Day

Allow me to join the vast majority and say “Happy Father’s Day” to all the Dads out there. Earlier this week I received an email from Dick’s Sporting Goods’ PR department, suggesting since I’m such a big Cleveland Indians fan I checkout the following video.

Nick Swisher really knocked one out of the park there with his insights.

“The greatest gift I can give my Dad is just spend the time with him.” 

My brothers and I with our father. (circa 2010)

When both child and father enjoy athletic abilities spending time together seems easy. Swisher played PIG with his pops. My two brothers playing little league each experienced the chance to be coached and managed by our father. Seeing how I grew up in America loving the Cleveland Indians and baseball in general I saw little league as ultimately the traditional father-son bonding opportunity. Considering my cerebral palsy though, my parents prohibited me from playing.

In situations like mine seeking other ways to spend time together becomes important. During my preteen/early teenage years my father took my brothers and I fishing on weekends somewhat regularly. I like to think I thrived the most. My older brother Bill didn’t appear super into the activity, perhaps due to his “I’m a teenager and spending time with family isn’t necessarily cool” mentality. This mentality I mention in Off Balanced we both eventually adopted. Nick, my younger brother, preferred using his fishing rod to “dip” for the small fish swimming around the pier over actually casting out.

Anyways, let me get back to my point. So I viewed little league as the traditional father-son bonding opportunity. Traditional however does not mean exclusive. Discover an activity which will grow the father-child relationship and pursue!

Sales Pitch Time:
Why should fathers, sons, and daughters read Off Balanced?

Fathers, one theme present throughout Off Balanced revolves around parenting decisions to protect your child. Whether your son or daughter has a disability or not the urge to protect your offspring remains universal. Reading Off Balanced will hopefully motivate you to reflect on your own parenting decisions, enabling you to become an even better father.

Sons and daughters specifically current teenagers, another universal theme to the parent-child relationship involves frustration. I felt frustrated amongst other emotions because my parents never signed me up to play little league. Yet in writing Off Balanced I did my best to fairly portray the reasons behind my parents’ decisions. Such an approach could help you learn to respect your own parents’ decisions more.

*Purchase Off Balanced for your Kindle or Nook.

Relieving Cerebral Palsy Related Pain and Discomfort

To start today’s post, I want to give a shout out to fellow author John W. Quinn (Someone Like Me: An Unlikely Story of Challenge and Triumph Over Cerebral Palsy) for discussing cerebral palsy and pain management in his most recent vlog post. Watch below!

Now the reason I’m recognizing John deals with the fact since Saturday, April 13th this post titled “Relieving Cerebral Palsy Related Pain and Discomfort” remained dormant in my blog’s “Drafts” folder. Watching John’s video blog lifted the writer’s block keeping the post under draft status. So to the subject at hand pain/discomfort management and cerebral palsy.

Personally I find pain management falls into two categories, preventive measures and relief. Preventive measures involve battling the pain or discomfort prior to the aches attacking your body. In my opinion frequent stretching and exercising works best at prevention. Exercises I fit into my regular routine include hamstring stretches, ankle stretches, and riding my stationary bike.

Baclofen pills

Additionally I’m on a prescription drug called baclofen, which I guess falls under preventive action. I mean I’m not in pain before taking the pill (three times a day). Baclofen acts as a muscle relaxer, keeping my muscles from tightening and cramping.

Moving forward to pain relief, I often rely on a product named ICYHOT. Whether my shoulder, thigh, or back flares up I can turn to ICYHOT for quick relief. Seriously, I’m so incredibly thankful for the product.

On occasion though, the problem may persist. In these situations I reach for any standard over-the-counter pain medication, preferably Advil. The few times my entire body aches, a hot shower works nicely too.

Your turn! What about you? How do you handle your cerebral palsy related pain and discomfort? Leave your insights with a comment below!

Tracking New Year Resolutions: May ’13 Recap

Well, May and even early June proved a rather lackluster time period for me. Now I must confront my failures with my monthly 2013 New Year resolutions tracking post.

Resolution #1- Utilize My Youtube Channel Via Vlogging
Specific Goal- Vlog Twice a Month
Accomplished? NO

Somehow I managed to fail at a resolution previously accomplished each month from January to April. I only ended up vlogging once last month. The post aimed specifically at aspiring authors discussed book marketing. Looking forward to June, to avoid a second consecutive failure I must go back to releasing my first vlog during the second week of the month.

Resolution #2- Post Here on a Weekly Basis
Specific Goal- Post every Friday
Accomplished? NO

My momentum crashed after succeeding at this second resolution in both March and April. I missed posting on a weekly basis in May by one week. I plan to make up for that absent post with an extra post here in June.

Resolution #3- Keep to Due Dates
Specific Goal- Don’t Receive Any Inquiries About ETAs
Accomplished? NO

Um, I should quote last month’s tracking post for this section.

“Yeah, so this remains a problematic issue for me. Admittedly I do okay when given a set deadline. The trouble occurs with less restrictive due dates. I know where I’m failing but yet I’m slacking off in implementing actions to resolve the situation… Currently both (my sleep and work schedule) prove chaotic, making time management challenging.”

 

Three Tips to Project Confidence

When discussing my teen memoir Off Balanced (available on the Kindle and Nook) I often focus on the disability theme yet Off Balanced maintains a much more universal lesson. The book provides a tale about building self-esteem. My shy, doubting, self-consciousness attitude growing up just happened to stem from my mild cerebral palsy. You might experience a different trigger but I bet we share similarities. Personally I believe shaking poor self-esteem involves a lesson taught to me back in sixth grade.

“For other people to like you, you first must like you.”

Today I hope the following three tips help you like you, ultimately allowing you to project confidence.

Remember It’s Not Personal

Sometime schedules conflict. If someone can’t spend time with you on a particular occasion, do not take it personally! A “Sorry, I’m busy then” does not necessarily translate to “I don’t like you.” Admittedly a few select individuals may not enjoy your presence and they will lean on excuses to avoid telling you the harsh truth “I don’t want to spend time with you.”

Note the word “few,” a key term in the previous sentence. How can you identify those few from the masses? Pay attention to behavior. Do you always instigate the communication? Does the other person act detached when around you? Forget those people! Why let someone with obvious bad taste (I mean they don’t like you, right? ) bring you down?

Using my cane to play “air guitar” at Tim McGraw’s concert Friday, May 31st.

Focus on Accomplishing Your Goals

Accomplishment breeds self-confidence. I know publishing Off Balanced unexpectedly improved my self-esteem. So set a goal meaningful to you, draw up a plan to reach said goal, and execute that plan. Incorporate short-term goals within your bigger long-term goals to increase your ability to succeed and reasons to feel good about you.

Remain Honest

Perhaps the most important tip here revolves around honesty. By remaining honest through both your actions and words you can establish a strong identity, a critical element to building confidence. For example, Friday night I saw Tim McGraw in concert at Blossom Music Center. I debated internally during the week about whether I should bring my cane to help me handle the steep grassy hill area known as “lawn seating.” Bringing the cane won the debate inside my head and I’m glad I stayed honest with myself. The cane allowed me to exert less energy physically, enabling me to fully enjoy the show confidently.

Checking In

Call off the search parties! I’m here, I’m here. Yes I missed my last two Friday/early morning Saturday posts.  To partially compensate for my absence please entertain this sporadic Wednesday one. In fairness to me I did start two drafts but I found them uninspiring. You, my readers, deserve my best and not simply words released on a regularly scheduled basis.

I’m working on some interesting articles for The Mobility Resource.

Anyways over the past two weeks I kept busy. Monday and Friday last week (May 20th and May 24th) I conducted interviews for The Mobility Resource (TMR). First I interviewed prolific disability advocate Anita Cameron, who TMR initially profiled back in December during the Top 25 Mobility Movers and Shakers series. Friday I talked to Vanderbilt University professor Michael Goldfarb, the birth brain behind the wearable robot (exoskeleton) Indego. Both discussions remain in the transcribing process. Within the next week-and-a-half the articles should go live at The Mobility Resource website.

On another note, I’m refocusing on my Off Balanced marketing efforts. The response from readers so far provides me such pride and reconfirms my original mission to convince others with cerebral palsy to positively embrace the disability. Yet the influence Off Balanced possesses additionally extends to family members, friends, and classmates. I know I targeted my latest guest blog post towards parents, “Exploring the Parent-Child Dynamic within the IEP Team” published at Think Inclusive Thursday, May 9th.

Returning to my main point though I’m refocusing my Off Balanced marketing efforts because I believe in my book and I want to maximize my readership. To discover new opportunities to promote my teen memoir I picked up Marketing Your Book on a Budget by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones. Right now I’m working towards lining up new guest posts, hopefully some more book reviews, podcast or radio appearances, whatever I can arrange.

Why isn’t There a Disability Channel on Television?

Earlier this week fellow author John W. Quinn (Someone Like Me: An Unlikely Story of Challenge and Triumph Over Cerebral Palsy) proposed an interesting question during his weekly video blog. Why isn’t there a disability channel on television? He notes such a channel could help raise disability awareness. Now rather than relying on me to recount Quinn’s points, perhaps you should watch the video blog post.

Personally I prefer to see an entertainment company dedicated to disability programming versus an actual disability channel. The latter I feel risks segregation. Certainly people with disabilities and those closest to them will tune into a disability channel. Yet does this really work to spread disability awareness? After all, most likely these individuals already maintain knowledge about handicaps.

Instead I suggest an entertainment company dedicated to increasing disability awareness through an inclusive programming approach, distributing shows to already existing channels. Travel Channel’s Armed & Ready offers a model. People interested in travel will tune into the show. When they see Kevin Michael Connolly embarking on his many adventures despite having no legs, they will hopefully rethink what living with a disability means.

So imagine a group of individuals focused on taking the Armed & Ready strategy to new heights. Maybe the organization could find a chef who uses a wheelchair and pitch a cooking show to the Cooking Channel featuring said chef. Or, the group seeks stories involving athletes with disabilities. Record different documentaries on these athletes and pitch them to ESPN or other appropriate sporting networks.

Basically by appealing to a common trait or interest between people with disabilities and their able-bodied counterparts, disability awareness improves in effectiveness. Such a strategy I bet could reach more people than a segregated disability channel buried amongst many other cable channels. What do you think? Sound off with a comment below!

Tracking New Year Resolutions: April ’13 Recap

Yes, I’m still going strong tracking my 2013 New Year resolutions. Hopefully you can say the same. If not, perhaps my continued monthly recaps may inspire you to re-energize and revisit your own resolutions.

Resolution #1- Utilize My Youtube Channel Via Vlogging
Specific Goal- Vlog Twice a Month
Accomplished? YES

In April I did something a little different with my second Youtube video. Rather than a straight up vlog, I tapped into my creativity. The result features my fan take on the Cleveland Indians’ 2013 “This is a Tribe Town” campaign. Those unfamiliar with the ad series, the Indians created radio and television commercials starring Tribe manager Terry Francona, first baseman Nick Swisher, and radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton. Each individual shares his connection to the city and explains why Cleveland is a “Tribe Town.”

Resolution #2- Post Here on a Weekly Basis
Specific Goal- Post every Friday
Accomplished? YES

While I didn’t necessarily meet my Friday deadline every week, I succeeded at posting once a week. Additionally I posted an extra time, compensating for my last missed February blog post. Moving forward through 2013 I will increase my efforts to ensure a regular weekly Friday/early Saturday posting schedule.

Resolution #3- Keep to Due Dates
Specific Goal- Don’t Receive Any Inquiries About ETAs
Accomplished? NO

Yeah, so this remains a problematic issue for me. Admittedly I do okay when given a set deadline. The trouble occurs with less restrictive due dates. I know where I’m failing but yet I’m slacking off in implementing actions to resolve the situation. Maybe the recent change in my age (I’m an April birthday boy ) will offer a solid enough mental push to finally motivate me to establish a better sleep and work schedule. Currently both prove chaotic, making time management challenging.