Subject: DISABILITY OVERCOME
A man born blind and diagnosed with autism at age 5 is proving to the
world that his disabilities will never limit him from achieving
greatness.
Tony DeBlois has an amazing story. At only two years old, Tony played
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on a small organ that his mother
had bought at a yard sale. It shocked his mother, who knew that her
son's mental abilities were affected in some way. It was later
determined that Tony possesses a rare mind and is considered to be a
musical savant.
Tony attended the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts where
he took lessons and learned to play many of the instruments in his
incredible repertoire. Tony's mother noticed that he was having
difficulty with motor skills when doing simple tasks. So she taught
him how to brush his teeth by asking him to pretend that he was
playing the violin. He learned to brush his hair by playing the drums.
Eventually, he was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee School of
Music and later graduated summa cum laude. While he is very humble
about his education and his talents, he is referred to as a prodigious
savant, essentially an autistic genius. Considering the circumstances,
it would be difficult to disagree.
DeBlois, now 36 years old, can play a total of 22 instruments, leads
a jazz band, and has recorded 6 CDs of his work.
To access the original article, please go to
*********
Kim Peek is probably a man that few have heard of before. As obscure
as his name may be, he was actually the inspiration for Dustin
Hoffman's autistic savant character in the award-winning1988 movie,
Rain Man. Mr. Peek recently passed away at the age of 58.
Peek was truly an incredible man. While he himself was not an
autistic savant, his brain harbored abnormalities which made it
function very similarly to someone with that mental condition. Like
many in his position, he possessed a fascinating mind, capable of
operating at very high levels in certain fields. In Mr. Peek's case,
his memory was other worldly.
When he was nine months old, doctors felt that he was so mentally
retarded that he would hardly be able to walk, let alone function in
any normal capacity. However, at just six years old, he had memorized
the first eight volumes of a set of encyclopedias owned by his family.
At fourteen, he had completed a high school curriculum with the help
of a private tutor.
Peek was able to read a book two pages at a time, one with each eye.
With this skill, he reportedly read nearly twelve thousand volumes in
his lifetime. Even more amazing was that he could remember everything
he read. "Mr. Peek had memorized so many Shakespearean plays and
musical compositions and was such a stickler for accuracy, his father
said, that they had to stop attending performances because he would
stand up and correct the actors or the musicians. "He'd stand up
and say: 'Wait a minute! The trombone is two notes off,' " Fran
Peek said."
Peek also knew all of the area and zip codes in the United States and
could recite all of the television stations serving those areas. He
would also memorize the maps in the front of phone books and was able
to give directions in any major U.S. city with staggering detail. He
could also identify hundreds of classical music compositions and give
details about the tonality in each, as well as delving into stunning
detail regarding the biographical information of the composer.
Kim Peek was the definition of amazing. A man who doctors predicted
would hardly walk ended up possessing one of the most amazing minds
for facts and the arts that we've ever known. He is truly an
inspiration to anyone who was dealt a challenge from the start.
To read the original article, please go to
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27peek.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
********
Back in October of 2009, an amazing record was set by Hein Wagner, a
blind motivational speaker. Wagner, a daredevil at heart, has set the
world record for the fastest speed ever driven in an automobile by a
blind person.
In 2005, Wagner set the record in a Maserati Grand Sport and was able
to sustain a speed of 167 miles per hour during that time. However,
not entirely satisfied, Wagner wanted to go bigger and hit that 200
mile per hour milestone that every extreme driver dreams about.
With the help of a brand new Mercedes Benz SL65 Black Series, which
has a twin turbo V12 engine producing a staggering 661 horsepower,
Wagner was able to reach his goal. Representatives from Guinness World
Records were on hand to confirm this momentous occasion. In order to
hold the record, Wagner needed to sustain his speed for no less than
one thousand meters. With his co-driver at his side, Wagner
accomplished this multiple times with a sustained speed of 200.4 miles
per hour on the tarmac of a South African airport. At that speed, his
car was traveling the equivalent of one football field per second.
Traveling at those speeds is no easy task for a sighted person. By
not allowing his disability to hinder his goals, Wagner put his foot
to the floor and raced into the record books.
To read the original article, please go to
*******
Geoff Holt is no ordinary sailor. The 42 year old man just completed
a trip that few people can lay claim to. Geoff sailed solo across the
Atlantic Ocean from Lanzarote to the British Virgin Islands, arriving
on December 10, 2009. Oh, and Geoff is a quadriplegic.
Geoff was paralyzed 25 years ago when diving into shallow water and
has been relegated to a wheelchair ever since. In 2007, he became the
first quadriplegic to sail around Britain. However, having sailed
across the Atlantic prior to his accident, he decided to return,
sailing his now-incorrectly named boat "Impossible Dream". By
using a series of hydraulic winches, Geoff was able to control the
boat as any able bodied person would. Despite the fact that he
experienced engine troubles and terribly light winds during portions
of his trip, he made it to the Virgin Islands unscathed and with an
irremovable smile on his face.
Mr. Holt now holds the record for being the only quadriplegic to
complete this particular journey and his sheer determination and
unwavering drive to complete his goal will serve as an inspiration to
anyone with or without sea legs.
To access the original article, please go to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8445668.stm
*******
SCIENCE
During the summer of 2008, 12 sighted and 12 visually impaired
students with the Grand Canyon Youth program participated in an
acoustic research study done in Grand Canyon National Park to
determine the makeup and possible deterioration of the surrounding
soundscape. Essentially, a soundscape is the combination of natural
and man-made sounds that can be heard in different places throughout
the park. Teamed up in pairs of sighted and visually impaired
students, the groups used a series of hand signals to communicate back
and forth. The visually impaired students would use their heightened
sense of hearing to gather acoustic data and then relay that data to
their sighted partner using those hand signals. The study is the first
of its kind it that area due to the otherwise costly and time
consuming effort it would require.
The blind students reported hearing natural sounds like the river,
thunder storms in the distance, rocks falling, even insect chirps.
They also heard airplane propellers, jets, and helicopters.
While this survey may seem unnecessary to some, it's important to
have this data to measure the amount of noise pollution that is
affecting natural soundscapes. By using visually impaired students,
they can become a seriously important part of the research being done
in the national park and have the opportunity to learn about
soundscape preservation and how much it affects the entire experience
someone would have when going through the park. The project went so
well, that they planned another in the summer of 2009 and will most
likely continue to work with the Grand Canyon Youth again in 2010.
To access the original article, please go to
http://www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience/index.cfm?Page=1
*******
______
Please feel free to pass your comments, feedbacks & new ideas to the below menntioned contact details.
Email:
saravanan.ramadoss1@gmail.com
saravanan_2008@hotmail.com
*******
The harder the conflicts, the more glorious the triumph - Thomas Paine.
True friendship consists not inn multitude of friends, but in their worth and value - Ben Jonson.
######
Adieu.
Saravanan.R
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