Most people would agree that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has opened many plausible doors to those of us with physical limitations, doors that were at first firmly closed to some.  Now, we need to open our own mental doors.

    With todayís computers, the disabled can open those doors. The many advantages of the computer age and the freedom that the Internet has to offer us all are astounding to say the least.  And make no mistake, that small word ìallî is most important in a disabled persons world.  To be thought of as one is of the utmost importance to anyone.  Read and understand how the thoughts of the noted psychologist Abraham Maslow apply to every one of us.  His hierarchy of basic survival needs describes the inclusionary needs of all people, all people that are disabled or not.

    My wife and I were a little leery of buying a computer just for our sake but we started to think of our daughters needs first.  Technology is constantly advancing in todayís world so we knew that our daughter would need it to progress, we just didn't know that it would also help us to progress as well.  The out of pocket expense of a computer is at first a sizable amount but, the benefits to our daughter in her schoolwork and what we have learned to do with our computer, makes the cost seem smaller every day.

    Being thought of as included can now be said of every one of us.  The many doors that were once closed to the disabled can now be opened by anyone with access to a computer and the Internet.  Now, the whole world is available and much can be accomplished with an open world and an open mind!

    A disabled person can use a computer to regain some of the respect he/she has lost because of their disabilities.  Most people wont understand what I mean with that last statement, they're the ones who consider themselves to be normal.  They donít consider themselves as having any kind of disability but their segregationist attitudes towards those with disabilities, is a disability they have to learn to deal with.  To have to live with disabilities and the constant amount of segregation associated with them, can produce a jaundiced view in any of us.  I have a button given to me years ago that says ìDisabled still means ableî.  I wasnít sure that I understood exactly what that meant then but now because of people that try to help me live my life, those that make me feel as if I contribute and the ways that I can use my computer to live my life.   I now understand that that small button was saying that those with the segregationist attitudes towards the disabled, those of us with the jaundiced views and closed minds are the ones that are disabled.

    Everyone has an equal chance to live our lives as we want to on the ìNetî.  Can you see my disabilities from where you are?  No, but I can see my ability to regain some sense of being included and in touch with the world again.  And again the early theories of Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs apply.  I first learned of Maslow many years ago in the Air Force when I entered the world of the supervisor and was learning of how to make the people I would be supervising feel that they mattered.  I learned how to show them where they fit into the big picture and how they could help the Air Force achieve its mission.  I also learned something very important to a supervisor and how that something is very important to us all, I learned how to show others that the Air Force can help them acquire and achieve their own missions in life.  How weíre all necessary to each other, I learned how important it was to know that we all matter.  Never did I know that I would later use my skills as a supervisor to supervise myself.

    In 1991 I was diagnosed with Olivo Ponto Spinocellabellar Degeneration (Ataxia) and was Medically Retired from the Air Force in September of that year.  Iíve had jobs since then but none, that even came close to giving me that feeling of ìallî that the career I had started while in the Air Force gave me.  I have even created my own business in an attempt to fit in.  I started a photograph framing business and I thought that I had found a niche for myself, even if I did have to create it myself.  As time went on and my disability progressed I had to stop my business.  This was really painful to me because I had lost my niche and my sense of inclusion, but I knew that to continue my business would not be fair to the ones that I love.

    Nobody can sit and do nothing creative or their brains will atrophy from non-use.  I knew this and I also knew that I sure as hell was not ready to be shut out from the rest of the world.  And the Internet has opened that world to me again.  The Internet can give us all wonderful opportunities, if we choose wisely.  The ìNetî is that tool that we can all use to further ourselves.

    There are many advantages to the Internet that can be used to enhance the life of a disabled person.  Every time there is an election in my town the media reports on an estimated percentage of expected voter turn out.  The low numbers are always attributed to either voter apathy or inconvenience.  How about the impossibility that the handicapped face in getting to the voting booth?   The handicapped still vote.  Yes, the ADA has compelled all federal buildings to be accessible to the disabled but I wonder what percentage of those ìapatheticî voters were handicapped and how much that percentage would decrease because of the advent of on-line voting?  Getting into a building is one thing, getting a handicapped person into the voting booth is another.  The computer would allow the physically handicapped more accessibility to governmental policies that some of us donít have because of our disabilities.  Again with the Maslow and yet again the handicapped are saying that we want to be included.  There is no greater feeling than being included, feeling as if we all matter.

    With all the free time I now have because I had to stop my business, I took up bass fishing as a hobby and to prove to myself that I could still do something useful.  A small step for some but any step can be just what a disabled person needs to gain confidence in himself again.  Any hobby will cost money and having run my own business, I tried to find ways to cut back on expenses and still enjoy myself.  I bought a small Jon boat, outfitted myself with rods, reels, lures and what-knot and started to enjoy my new hobby.  Lures and rods are expensive to replace when they wear out or break. I mentioned this to a local angler and he told me that he saved money by making his own fishing lures.  He showed me how to fashion a lure so, I thought that Iíd give it a try.  I knew that I could save even more by buying my lure components through lure warehouses.  Buying through a warehouse, you buy in bulk.  4 years later and the workroom that I used for my past business is now full of different lure components and lures in various stages of completion.  My wife isn't too happy that I seem to be continually ordering lure parts but, I still keep to a budget with my new found ìbusinessî which pleases her and I have found out how therapeutic accomplishing something is which pleases me so everyone is satisfied.  Iíve sold some of my lures and last year I was asked to help teach a class on lure building at the campground that my parents and friends stay at during the summer.  I was asked to bring some of my own lures to put on display during the class ìHey Mister, want to sell those lures?î  The feeling of actually accomplishing something again is something we can ìallî understand.

    My wife was actually the one to get me started.  ìHoney, maybe you should look into selling your lures on-line.î  When I started to investigate how to sell on-line, my mind exploded!  The possibilities are endless!  I'm having a lot of fun making my own fishing lures and getting some money for my lures so, who knows?  Maybe I will sell my lures on-line, its just nice to know that the possibility exists for this disabled person to be included with the rest of the world.  And with Ebay open to the world, my lures could turn up anywhere and everywhere!  Maybe I can somehow change the segregationist attitudes of someone with my fishing lures by helping that person catch a lunker.  Who knows what can happen, all I know is that now with my computer I can matter again.