Reflections On The Road To Respect

In July 2007, my 11 year old daughter Abee and I went to San Diego where I attended a National Speakers Association event while my daughter took part in a Youth Leadership Conference. At the end of each day, my daughter was bubbling over with news about the exciting speakers she had heard.One of these presenters, Canadian motivational speaker Alvin Law, had made a huge impression on Abee. Born without arms in the early 1960’s, Alvin was one of the unfortunate group of “Thalidomide” babies. Doctors advised his birth parents that Alvin, being so severely deformed, was doomed to a life of hardship and limitation. Alvin was given up for adoption. Happily for him, his first foster family took a different perspective on Alvin’s potential. They chose to focus on the “ability” in disability - long before that concept became mainstream. Alvin’s foster parents encouraged him to use his feet as hands. That first night, my daughter couldn’t wait to recount all the amazing things Alvin can do that we can’t. See ac