July 2020 Events

July 2 at 10:00am 

Renowned speech language pathologist Uri Schneider (MA, CCC-SLP) will be doing a live video Q&A with us. What questions do you have for him? We want to make sure we use our time with Uri to respond to your needs. Post your questions for him here.

July 3

Interview with Dr. Elliot Kaminezty, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other anxiety disorders in adults and children. He is also the Founder and Clinical Director of My OCD Care. Please submit your questions for Dr. Kaminetzky here.

July 6

We will be speaking with motivational speaker John Quinn (@quinnjo), who has Cerebral Palsy.  John was diagnosed with CP at a young age. His condition resulted in partial paralysis and meant that he did not learn to walk till the age of four. As an adult he served in the United States Navy, all while keeping his CP a secret. He has written a memoir titled, Someone Like Me.  Of it, John says: “My memoir is not a military book, not for people with cerebral palsy. It’s for anyone who wants to read an inspirational story of hard work and hope.” Please ask your questions for John here.

July 7

Interview with Victoria Garrick. Victoria is an athlete as well as a mental health and healthy body-image advocate. She is a former semi-pro volleyball player and knows the stresses that athletes face. She began advocating for student-athlete mental health and in 2019 she founded The Hidden Opponent. The Hidden Opponent raises awareness for the mental health struggles of student athletes and gives them a safe space where they can share their experiences. Victoria has given a Tedx Talk, “Athletes and Mental Health: The Hidden Opponent” and has started a campaign under the hashtag #RealPost, where she encourages people to share unedited photos. Victoria's work helps to de-stigmatize mental health issues among the athlete community. 

July 13

Interview with Mindy Scheier, Founder and CEO of Runway of Dreams Foundation and Gamut Talent Management. Before starting the Runway of Dreams Foundation ​​(RoDF) in 2014, Mindy Scheier spent 20 years working in fashion on the design team for the INC collection and as a stylist for Saks Fifth Avenue.  Mindy was inspired to start RoDF after her son Oliver, who has muscular dystrophy, dreamed of wearing jeans like everyone else. After using her design skills to adapt a pair that met his needs and increased his confidence, she went on to conduct extensive research to develop modifications that would meet the needs of the largest minority in our world- people with disabilities. The clothing modifications she developed include alternate closures, adjustability and alternative ways to get in and out of the clothing. Following its launch, RoDF partnered with Tommy Hilfiger on the first mainstream adaptive clothing line for kids in 2016.  Please ask your questions for Mindy here.  

July 27

Brad and Bryan Manning from Two Blind Brothers will be stopping by to talk with us! At a young age Brad and Bryan were diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, which causes progressive blindness over time. As a result of their condition, they were inspired to start the clothing line Two Blind Brothers, consisting of shirts where all the proceeds go to research to help cure blindness.

Welcome! 

We are proud to launch our first official newsletter! It has been an exciting year. In June, we launched as a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. It was a wonderful event of 100 guests, held at The Empire Rooftop in NYC with a special performance by Mandy Harvey. With your help, we were able to raise $17,426! Since launching, we have been working hard to refine the mission, vision and goals of the organization while simultaneously continuing to gather personal stories and resources.

We also are making changes on our website to make it more user friendly, engaging and interactive.
 
Our goal is to have one newsletter monthly that focuses on a particular disability or medical condition that is being recognized for that month. November was epilepsy awareness month and to help raise awareness  we are showcasing a personal story about accepting life with epilepsy. We have also included a short infographic below that shows you what you can do if someone suffers a seizure in front of you.

For those that have been with us since the beginning, thank you for supporting our endeavors! For those that are new, welcome to the D&A family.

A percentage of donations made to D&A gets disbursed to different medical health organizations and charities. Our goal is to provide funds to help with research as well as finding treatments and possibly a cure for the variety of disorders we support. This year we have chosen to donate to Finding a Cure for Epilepsy & Seizures' (FACES)  College Scholarship Program that provides support to college students affected by epilepsy and seizure disorders.

December 3 is International Day of Disabled Persons

As an organization that supports those with differences, today is an important day.  In 1992  the United Nations called for an international day of celebration for people living with disabilities  and to promote the well-being and welfare of people living with disabilities. This is held on December 3 every year.
 

Two years prior to this, in 1990,  the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) was created. This is arguably the most important legislation in support of people with disabilities signed by the American Government. 

Americans with Disability Act (ADA)

D&A Resource

Our very own Dr. Sherr has written this article on Getting What You Need Out of the Americans with Disability Act.

Read More

For More Information

To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability, which is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.

Read More

Current Events & Updates

#GIVINGTUESDAY

December 3 is #GivingTuesday!  

#GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement  that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity to trans-form communities and the world on December 3, 2019 and every day.

This year Different & Able has joined the cause! With the end of the year approaching quickly, we encourage you to share your generosity with us so we can spread the generosity further! We are still $25,000 away from this year's goal of $45,000.

Shopping for a Cause

On November 4th, Diane B Shoes on the Upper East Side hosted a fundraising event for D&A where 10% of all sales were donated by owner Craig Blattberg.

It was a fun shopping for a cause event where several D&A supporters purchased gorgeous italian made shoes designed by Craig!

D&A would like to thank Craig and everyone who came out to shop and support us. Together with Diane B Shoes and individual donations, $1600 was raised!

Goals For Years End

A percentage of donations made to D&A gets disbursed to different medical health organizations and charities that have a common goal with us. Our goal is to provide funds to help with research as well as finding treatments and possibly a cure for a variety of disorders.

We have raised $20,000 so far this year and are close to achieving our year end goal of $45,000. Please keep us in mind when making your year end contributions!

November was Epilepsy Awareness Month

November was epilepsy awareness month. In an effort to support the epilepsy community, D&A will be disbursing funds to one of the many programs offered by the organization FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures). FACES goal is to “improve the quality of life for all those affected by epilepsy and seizures”.​ ​FACES provides funds raised to aid with research to improve epilepsy care, new therapies, and provides a supportive community for children, families and caregivers who are affected by epilepsy.

For more information on the College Scholarship Program D&A is supporting, please click here.

D&A Featured Story

Epilepsy Is A Part Of Me

As a child, I was told that I was prone to seizures, but I never thought I would experience them as part of my day to day life.  Everything changed, however, the first day of orientation during my freshman year at Wheaton College. 

 I spent the day like everyone else - moving into my dorm room, unpacking, saying goodbye to my mom and saying hello to the next chapter of my college life.  

And then it happened.  I was out with some new friends, eating pizza, when a piece got stuck in my throat.  Seconds later, my right arm lost sensation.  I started to lose consciousness.  I screamed for help.  I thought I was dying. 

Read more

What to do if someone has a seizure in front of you

We hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend! We know you haven’t heard from us directly in a while so we wanted to update you on what has been going on. Rest assured we have been working hard to take Different & Able to the next level. Along with our weekly blog posts on our website and daily social media posts, we have some exciting things happening! 

The Launch

On Monday, June 3rd, 2019, Different & Able officially launched with a party at the Empire Rooftop in NYC. With over 100 guests in attendance, awareness was raised on the disability community - emphasizing people can have many abilities regardless of their disability or difference. To help spread our message, American Jazz musician and America’s Got Talent contestant, Mandy Harvey, shared motivational words and performed song lyrics about her journey of becoming deaf and beating the odds to reach her dream to be a musician.
 

Alongside the entertainment, $17,426 was raised to help set the groundwork for a bright philanthropic future of helping people with differences reveal their true abilities.

Updates

Please Welcome our New Executive Director!

We are thrilled to announce that Kristina Spiropoulos is our new Executive Director. Kristina has two master degrees, a Masters of Science in Public Relations and Corporate Communications as well as Political Science. She has worked with a variety of organizations including the United Nations, Amnesty International, Special Olympics and the Friends of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Kristina brings knowledge of the nonprofit industry and her passion for the medical community to Different & Able.

Updates to Our Websites

We are currently updating our website to make it more user-friendly and adding new features as well as networking to get high-quality content and putting together our first newsletter! Stayed tuned for more information!

In the Meantime!

We’d love to hear from you – whether it’s a hello and if you're looking for support of any kind, wanting to submit a written contribution or have any ideas for us, we’d love to hear from you!

Sincerely Yours, 

Alexandra Nicklas

The Different & Able launch party fundraiser this past Monday, June 3rd at the Empire Rooftop was a big success! A big thank you to everyone who came out and supported the launch of Different & Able! To those who were unable to attend, we missed you!

We beat our launch party fundraising goal of $15,000 by raising $17,426!  Thank you to everyone who donated and for those who haven’t and would like to, you can donate below. We are well on our way to meeting our goal of $45,000 for the year and every little bit helps. We hope to get 100% participation!

100% of all proceeds go towards furthering Different & Able’s mission of supporting individuals with differences through content and giving to various organizations that support them. 

Highlights of the Evening