Thursday, December 20, 2018

2018 Reflections

Good Day Everybody,

I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope next year brings you a lot of joy!! It's been a good year for me, and I've been reflecting on it! I got on the Calgary Transit Access Appeal Board. Both of my films made it to the "Picture This" Film Festival held in April. I created an app with the help of some really smart engineering and design students at the UofC. The whole process took about seven months and was made possible by TOM (Tikkun Olam Makers). I even did an interview for Universal Access!

I tried skiing and absolutely fell in love!! I'm going to get back at it in the beginning of 2019! Trying new things is so good for my soul. I want to keep pushing my comfort zone and having new adventures, it's the only way to keep living and growing. Would you expect anything different from me? I also tried sailing this year and discovered that it's not quite my cup of tea... it's a little boring, so I won't be returning to that activity. I want to do something WILD next year... if you have any ideas please let me know!! 

Something I learned this year is that I need to be more forward with my thoughts, ideas, and opinions. This is true in my relationships as well as my professional life. I'm sure 2019 will give me plenty of opportunities to do so. One of my ideas is to turn my book into a play and have one of my friends be a part of that process. I don't know what that will look like, but that's part of the fun. 


Thursday, September 6, 2018

What do you think about when you see someone who has a disability!!

Here are some questions for you that I want you to answer for yourself, and I would like you to be honest with yourself... 

Have you ever seen that show "What Would You Do"?


- Have you ever consciously mistreated someone? Or been a poor friend? 

- Do you know someone who has a disability?

- Would you say "hi" to someone on the street who has a disability that you don't know?

If I had the guts I would go up to someone and ask them "What do you think when you look at me"? Would they be honest with themselves and I? Or would they not and try to spare my feelings? 



If you want to answer:

Body

Good day Everybody!

I hope everyone had an awesome summer! I know I did. I went to B.C. and saw some of my family for a couple of weeks. Many of the people I visited I haven't seen in several years, so it was an extra special trip. 

I've received several comments from followers regarding my journey to walking; in particular they would like to see more videos of my progress. I am still working out but my walking is... well, it's hard to explain... I would love to keep on walking, but after my ministroke I went downhill. I have had a lot of pain in my lower back in the last couple of months so I went to the doctor and a chiropractor to help me out. As it turns out, my left hip sits higher than my right hip! So I have some extra padding on my right side (inside of a brace I have to wear full time). That's right, I have to wear my brace all day everyday. 

Right now I'm practicing standing on my two feet because that's what I can manage. My left leg often floats up when I try to stand because my quad muscle is very tight on that side. This season of life is teaching me to relax and take my time. What is your life teaching you these days? 

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

What I am doing in the next couple of months

Good day,

I hope everybody is having a good summer. I am enjoying it for sure. I try to be more active and to be more involved in the community. Being part of the Calgary Transit Access Eligibility Appeal Board gives me the opportunity to advocate for the people with disabilities in the city, but I have the feeling that I have to do more. Next month I will apply to be part of the Advisory Committee on Accessibility, because I want to be an ambassador for the accessibility community and City of Calgary, trying to improve the quality of people's lives. 

The next step is to make a movie for the Superfest International Disability Film Festival in California. It will be a short movie, 45 minutes long. The festival has awards and prizes like Disable Filmmaker Award, Advocacy Award and Access Award. I will send my movie to the Advocacy Award where they will choose the film with the most powerful message for disability justice. The movie will highlight the successes and struggles of people with disability, relying on my life experience and story. 

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

What I'm working at


Hi everybody,

How's it going? It is a long time since I write anything. I been busy with going to the Disability Film festival and my two films were in there. 
Now I am on the Calgary Transit Access Eligibility Appeal Board, where I try to advocate for people with disabilities. 
Also, I started a new project. I want to be a speaker for TED. That's why I made a short video for them about my life using the app that I create with a great team from the U of C. If you want to get a look at it go to Youtube, using this link: https://youtu.be/34SJdxGs6Hk

Have a nice day,
Shawna

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Accessible Taxi Services in Calgary.

Hey Everyone! I got to be a part of a meeting regarding Accessible Taxi Services in Calgary. Several members of the community including myself shared our difficulties with using the current services and changes are going to be made!! I put my speech it below if anyone is interested in checking it out. https://globalnews.ca/news/4069327/calgary-city-committee-wants-fund-to-improve-accessible-taxi-service/

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Calgary Transit Access

Hi everybody,

         My name is Shawna Mattinson and I was born with Cerebral Palsy, which has put me in a wheelchair for most of my life. I lead a very active life between working out, writing, and being an advocate in my community. 

            I have been in Calgary all my adult life and I mostly rely on Calgary Transit Access.  I do acknowledge that they are an overworked shared ride system and most of the drivers are very personable.  Some of the issues I have with not being able to use accessible cabs is that if I want to go anywhere I have to know at least 2 days in advance.  The system is not set up for me to decide to go out for dinner the day of.  Often times I miss the end of a movie because Calgary Transit Access shows up and if you don’t go, you don’t get a ride home.  I once arrived for dinner an hour and a half late (my bus was running behind schedule) and ordered my food, just as they set my dinner down in front of me, there was access Calgary back to pick me up at my scheduled time.  One time when I was coming home from a vacation I was picked up at the airport and the driver took me quite a ways out of my way knowing that because of few Accessible Taxis I really had no choice.  My friend who lives about 5 minutes from me and didn’t need an accessible taxi arrived home with a $55.00 cab fare and mine was $92.00.  (In case you are wondering why we didn’t share the cab, I was traveling with another friend and we had a lot of luggage). 



            With the lack of accessible cabs, I often have to leave my Electric Wheelchair at home along with my independence.  I have many great friends that will take me out but I have to use a manual chair and I am at their mercy help me do even the simplest of tasks like getting myself to the washroom.  If there were more accessible cabs, my life would be a lot brighter and I would be able to more actively participate in activities in and around Calgary.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

2018 Whoo hoo!!


I can't believe it's already February!! I am doing nothing at all!! I have to make a list of what I want to get done in the new year... I have been skiing every Sunday night! I sit in a sled-like bucket while someone ski's behind me, we're attached by two ropes. It's so much fun! I do jumps sometimes but I miscalculated it a bit last time and rolled over my head and landed on my side, lol.It feels like I am free for a couple of hours. I thought I would hate it because I hate cold weather, I have three more weeks of it and then it's over... But I'm hoping I get to go on a ski trip next month! It's a family day Canada Olympic Parc so I invited my friends, and sisters and their families to come see how I do it. I hope I can go back next year and try to ski on my own with poles. 

My Friday evenings are spent at the UofC where a team is working at building a speech assistance app for me. It's part of a program where designers and engineers collaborate with individuals with disabilities to improve their qualitiy of life. When I go out, people often have a hard time understanding me when I speak.... it sounds like I'm drunk, haha! I want to go back next year, I have been brainstorming new ideas for them. 

Wednesday's I'm working on a course offered through the library about how to make money off of writing. It's a good course and I like it! I was talking to a friend of mine on the weekend and she was telling a lady about me and what I'm up to. This young lady is doing a course at Bow Valley about disabilities so she gave her my name and all my information. I don't know for sure what this may lead to but I'm hoping to try some public speaking, a classroom would be a great place to start. 

I am waiting to hear back from the disability film fest... It's coming up in March so I'm assuming I didn't make it. But that's alright! I still want to go check it out and watch the other films. 

Last year I was a part of IDPD (International Day of Persons with Disabilities). I had a table set up with my writing and business cards and it was a blast! I would love to do more events like this in 2018. I want to widen my horizons and do more with my life. 

I have a lot of goals and I keep myself busy, I HAVE a disability but that's not WHO I am.


 I am Shawna Mattinson.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everybody!

I hope the New Year is good to you all! I'm sitting in the food court downtown, watching everyone get something to eat... I'm thinking about what is in store for me. I am starting off by writing a letter to the TD Square Core about the lack of accessible washrooms...

 They only have one in this mall and it's in the food court... on the fourth floor. I think it's stupid that they only have one washroom that's "accessible", and it's on the FOURTH FLOOR! I personally think they should have one on the bottom floor.. I mean what if access is late and I need to use the washroom? I don't have time to get in the elevator and go upstairs to go to the washroom.... Even when I go to the washroom I will often find someone using the only one accessible to me... usually it's someone quite "able-bodied" who comes out. I just think to myself "seriously? In this entire washroom you need to use THAT stall?" 

I realized this year that I want to take a stand for myself and others who are affected by the same situation(s)... I will no longer take these minor violations against my basic human rights lying down.... I think I have more letters to write!!