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Showing posts from 2014
Books by Rob J. Quinn
Cover for Reach Past Your Limits Cover of The Birth of Super Crip Cover for Reach Past Your Limits

New Article: A Voice of Disability Lost

It’s been a while, but here’s my latest article just published on the Huffington Post Impact section: A Voice of Disability Lost http://huff.to/1qrMNQO . Thanks for checking it out.

Sorry to read this morning that Stella Young has passed. I learned of her when a couple people sent me her talk, which had a similar message to my book. I believe she died at age 32. Too young, of course, but she made her voice heard.

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My Wheelchair-incorporating Halloween Costumes

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There’s not much to say while editing what I hope will be my first published fiction—progress is being made—but I’ve seen so many pictures of wheelchair or disability-related Halloween costumes on social media that I thought I’d share my own. The below are from the early 1980s. I went trick-or-treating as a golfer after I got my first power wheelchair scooter, which was a very new thing and I felt like everyone in the world wanted to tell me that it looked like a golf cart. I think it was Halloween 1983. The injured Philadelphia Eagle picture is dated 1980 on the back, and clearly before I had the good sense to become  a  fan  of the Steelers! Happy Halloween!

My Latest Article: The Ice Bucket Challenge and a Cold Dose of Reality

My most recent article is now on the Huffington Post Impact Section: The Ice Bucket Challenge and a Cold Dose of Reality http://huff.to/1wMNbIC ; hope you’ll give it a read.

Latest article: Self-Defense Breeds Confidence, Strength for Instructor and Students With Disabilities

My latest article is on The Huffington Post  Impact section: Self-Defense Breeds Confidence, Strength for Instructor and Students With Disabilities  http://huff.to/1l9SRuz .  Hope you will give it a read.

My latest article, “Writing and Disability: Powerful Together”

I was glad to have the opportunity to reach some new readers with a guest post on “Blogging It Up with Marfi.” It’s been great connecting with someone with so much experience and wisdom (and equally strong opinions) on living with a disability. I hope you will check out my latest article, “Writing and Disability: Powerful Together.” Click here to read it. Update 7/22/14: The article is now on the Huffington Post Impact section, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-j-quinn/writing-and-disability-po_b_5602527.html .

Just Play

  Originally published July 2, 2014, on disABLE The Brand . I recently posted a picture from my graduation from Old Forge School—a school for kids with disabilities—as part of the Throwback Thursday fad on social media. My niece was graduating sixth grade. Graduating to regular school and the seventh grade felt like a somewhat equivalent abuse of the word “graduation,” and it seemed like a fun thing to throw out there. Posting the picture reminded me that the concept of a school specifically for kids with disabilities is all but dead as I understand it with “inclusion” now the model for educating kids with physical disabilities. Overall, that’s the way it should be—kids with physical disabilities being educated alongside everyone else. But in traveling down the road of trying to keep up with everyone else, I think we lost a little bit of the importance of kids with disabilities being together. Old Forge had many shortcomings, but one of its greatest accomplishments was providing a plac

My latest article for The Mobility Resource is available . . .

Click here to read Doin' Disney with a Disability (and Why I'll Never Go Again).

5 Things I Would Say to My Younger Self

I’m not a fan of top 10 lists unless David Letterman is rattling off a good one sometime around midnight. But after an editor suggested writing a blog post in a “Top 10” style, I thought it could work as a way to offer some thoughts to young people with disabilities. Here are the Top 5 Things I Would Say to My Younger Self: 1) Build lasting peer relationships. The most recent statistic I’ve read indicated that the unemployment rate among people with disabilities is 80 percent. The absolute best opportunity you will have to build relationships with peers will be while you’re in school. In 2014 social media makes connecting outside of the school environment easier. Kids use Facebook and Twitter to connect with friends, and that’s great. But finding ways to actually be with friends outside of class is still crucial. This may take some real effort in different ways with able-bodied friends and friends with disabilities. Try to organize a monthly movie night, go to events at school even if

Thinking Big (My lifetime goal)

It’s a new year, a time when many people will take at least a few minutes to resolve to somehow do better in their lives. Whether it’s the ever-popular goal of losing weight, going back to school, or spending more time on a favorite hobby, turning the calendar to 2014 will once again offer the chance to start anew. By the middle of January, if not sooner, every late-night talk show host will take his turn at making a crack about new year’s resolutions already being forgotten. Yet, I generally choose to join the resolvers. In fact, last year I took the step of posting my 2013 resolutions right on my computer. No, I didn’t tweet them or post them on Facebook. I did write a blog post around them. I guess when you’re a writer, that’s what you do. But primarily, I printed them out and used a magnet to stick them on my computer tower. If you’re wondering what a computer tower is, ask your parents. Finally taking them down in the last week of December, I’d say I did pretty well. I finished wr