Volume 1, Number 1
August, 2000
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(C) Crockett Grabbe, August, 2000
The National Speakers Association (NSA) held its summer convention expressing "The Magic of the Moment" in Washington, D.C. August 5-8, and there were definitely some magical moments in the program. It was in many ways a new experience for me, despite having travelled to many conferences over the last 25 years. The majority of those conferences have been scientific ones, and the NSA convention was anything but a scientific one. I almost had a sense that there was an aversion to anything scientific, with the noted exception of one session I attended which was sponsored by the Technology Professional Interest Group of the NSA.
The conference was well set up to capture that magic of everything. The audience experienced several motivational speakers, including the world-renowned Zig Ziglar, humorous speakers such as Jeanne Robertson speaking on her adventures with her "left-brained" husband (many speakers insist that they are "right-brained") and a fantastic pair of jugglers who spoke with a bit of humor while juggling bottles, metal hooks, running chain saws, and people! One phenomenal speakers was Tony Christiansen, a legless man from New Zealand who humorously claimed to be the result of an error the jugglers had made with their running chain saws. There were also many parallel sessions, where audience members had to choose sessions to go to.
The attendance at that meeting was 2,000, a number which well overran the facilities available to handle it. That was a particular problem for me because I have a major balance disability, hence considerable difficuty and pain with crowds, and insipidus (poor bodily regulation of water), which forces me to maneuver my way through the crowds much more often than most, as well as other disabilities which were a problem at times. In short, my experience of the "magic of the moment" was tempered by a few instances of sheer torture. This is certainly not unusual -- it is typical for many conventions for me. However, because of the excellent touting of the efforts that were being made for newcomers, I had reason to expect differently.
I did take notice, however, at how many people with disabilities were in attendance at the meeting. That gives me reason to believe that many (possibly more-seasoned attendees) may have had opportunity to work with the convention management to achieve the conditions they need to actively take part in the meeting.
One is left to wonder, however, if there still are not people out there who might attend a meeting if they had not already given up hope of being able to deal with the situation. I have gathered such a concern from over 15 years of such bad experiences at conventions, motels, work, the county administration and court system, and the years I searched for a suitable home to buy. I believe the general lack of public understanding of disabilities many face is a strong factor in ostracizing far too many from societal functions, in spite of the appearance of progress with all the disabled parking signs.
The 21st-century opens with a vast need for education on disabilities and to assist those with disabilities in integration into our society. Groups interested on a more in-depth presentation of these issues on educating about disabilities and removing barriers, along with a discussion of several very inspiring cases, are welcome to invite me to speak on "Enabling the Future".
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