Eva Cassidy - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Have a great weekend.

"I Know What Marriage Is"

Mark McDougall and Kerry Robertson would like to spend the rest of their lives together. They live in Durfermline in the county of Fife in Scotland, and they are very much in love. If there are no objections, they would like to get married.

Kerry is only 17 and Mark is much older at 25 - but they don't seem to care much about the age difference. My grandfather was 31 when he married my grandmother, who was only 18 at the time, and they stayed married for almost 60 years. Seven years is a big age difference to be sure - but not unheard of. So, if there are no objections, they would like to be married.

Kerry is also 26 weeks pregnant. She would prefer that her soon to be newborn child be born into a marriage so that she and Mark could raise him or her as part of an intact family. So, assuming there are no objections, they would like to make it official and tie the knot.

But apparently some politicians - politicians! - in Fife have objections to the marriage. Not because they think Kerry is too young, or that Mark, who is trying to make it as an artist, is not a suitable father. Nor is it because someone on the council has fallen deeply in love with Kerry and would do anything in his legislative power to keep her from making what be the biggest mistake of her life!

Nope, none of those reasons are the basis of the objections. The real reason why the Fife Council objects to the marriage:

Because, in their opinion, Kerry is too stupid.

The extraordinary case first came to light last month when the couple’s wedding was halted 48 hours before Miss Robertson was due to walk up the aisle.

Under Scottish law, a registrar may refuse to marry a couple if they believe one or both the parties lack the mental capacity to understand what the institution of marriage is about.

In a highly unusual step, Dunfermline Register Office refused to sanction the marriage after Fife council wrote a letter of objection.

Kerry Robertson has well-documented learning disabilities, and she has had a challenging life. She was raised by her grandparents from the age of 9 because her own parents were unable to look after her. Welfare workers have always long been involved in her care -- and it is those very workers who are putting the kibosh on the whole thing.

Two days before the ceremony, two social workers visited their flat and told them that the marriage was illegal because of Miss Robertson’s learning difficulties.

Two days! These two lovebirds had purchased rings, planned a ceremony and had invited up to 20 guests for the party.

Here is a quote from Kerry Robertson on the whole issue:

“I know what marriage is. It is when two folks want to spend the rest of their lives together. I love Mark and I want to get married to him.”

McDougall also added that she was thinking about going to college, even though she had struggled in high school. Can you imagine being accepted at the local college, but being denied the right to marry?

And it get worse... The county is planning to take the baby away once he or she is born, because they also feel Kerry is too cognitively impaired to raise the child on her own. Of course, the reason she will be on her own is because the county is not letting her get married.

Mr McDougall added: “Despite arguing that we loved one another and didn't want our baby to be born to unwed parents, they would not budge. It's a nightmare.”

There is a reason that people can object to a marriage; it is a tradition that is probably as old as the concept of marriage itself. If there is a sound legal reason - such as learning that the groom is still married to someone else - then objections are appropriate. And if someone clearly, clearly, clearly is so cognitively impaired that they would have no ability to even contemplate what they are consenting to, and are in real danger of being taken advantage of, raising objections may be the right thing to do.

But think about what she said: "I know what marriage is. It is when two folks want to spend the rest of their lives together."

There are so many people in this world who get married having NO IDEA what marriage is. Kerry Robertson may have a very simplistic view of what marriage is all about.

And it may be the perfect formula for a lifetime of happiness.

This Just In... WinZoom

The new technology keeps rolling in!

Our latest purchase is WinZoom, a screen magnifier and screen reader in one.

WinZoom offers magnification from 1.5 to 36 times the normal size, along with 8 different ways to zoom in on an area of the screen. The program offers the Color Enhancements option and font-smoothing to make all enlargements remain in clear focus.

It is made by Clarity, a company out of Livermore, California, and it is available for any Ohioan with a disability for up to 30 days, cost free!

For more information, please visit us at www.atohio.org.

Terri Gibbs - Somebody's Knockin' (1981)

Have a great weekend.

This Just In... the "Key To Access"

New technology is coming in fast and furious! Our latest addition is called "Key to Access" from Premier Literacy.

Key to Access is a portable mp3 player that comes pre-loaded with 10 accessibility software programs. Because the programs are contained on the mp3 player, they never need to be loaded onto your computer. This is a great pickup for our program, because it will allow us to send software out to Ohioans with disabilities, and let them try them on their computer, with no trademark issues.

The programs on "Key To Access" include:

1. Universal Reader Plus - ideal for reading emails.
2. E-Text reader - allows you to highlight, bookmark, search and extract text from a document PLUS multi-lingual translation.
3. PDF Equalizer ML - can access, read, work and supplement pdf files from any source.
4. Talking word processor - with an integrated dictionary and grammar chek.
5. The "Ultimate Talking Dictionary" with a quarter-million words in it.
6. Premier Predictor Pro - talking world prediction
7. Scan and Read Pro - read scanned documents in seconds
8. PDF Magic Pro - converts inaccessible pdf files into accessible formats.
9. Test-to-audio - converts pdf files and text files to mp3 format.
10. Talking calculator - easy to use, fully functional calculator that reads your calculations.

it also has a bonus built-in voice records which allows the user to dictate notes or record lectures for later listening.

If you are interested in trying out this innovative device with multiple programs, contact us at 1-800-784-3425 or go to our website at www.atohio.org.

"I Like Late Night Walks On The Beach..."

The other day I saw a piece on the Internet about a website called AshleyMadison.com, a dating website that is definitely targeting a niche audience: married people. Their website, it says, is specifically set up for people who are married and need a little spark in their lives, but aren't looking for long-lasting loves. The tagline is: "Life is short. Have an affair."

They would very much like me to link to it.

It also has close to 5,000,000 registered users, which I think is absurd and grossly inflated. I'm guessing, based upon what level of faith I still have in my fellow man, not to mention the institution of marriage - that most of those users are signed up for one reason: to see what kind of person would sign up.

I am happily married. I have also, sadly, through friends, learned how difficult it can be for someone my age to meet someone new. That being said, I don't think I could ever bring myself to put my profile up on the Internet for anyone to see. I might, but I doubt it.

There are so many dating websites, that many of them have taken to targeting niche markets. There are dating sights targeted toward specific religions, specific political viewpoints (Sean Hannity has his own, called "Hannidate"), or age brackets. But today I came across a website for catering to a subset of the population I've never seen before: people with disabilities.

A press release today heralded the launching of a new dating site, www.disabledates.com.

Disabledates.com is a free disabled dating service and online community for people with disabilities. Our online community will help you meet new friends, date, chat, blog and more. Search thousands of personals and meet people from all over the world.

William Banks, himself a person with a disability, is the founder of the website:

"We are very pleased with the look and features of the site," says William Banks, Founder of Disabledates.com. "The site has been a goal of mine for some time as a person with a disability I have found it most challenging to find a great dating site. Being a web developer I decided to take matters into my own hand and develop a custom site for people like myself. Our members can instant message, use our live web cam, add audio/video profiles, post blogs to their profile page, get daily lovescopes and horoscopes, and even add YouTube video to their profiles. We give them so many options to help them on their quest to meet that special someone."

All of that sounds good, but I'm not so sure about this concept.

Anyone with a disability who lists on traditional dating sights, such as eharmony.com, would likely grapple with the best way to reveal their disability, if at all. Back in May, I blogged about a fascinating article written by the beautiful Carla Sosenko, who described what dating was like with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, which causes deformities of the legs. She went on a lot of first and second dates, before revealing her condition. There weren't many third dates. Which begs the question -- how do you handle that situation? For Mr. Banks, the solution was to set up a dating sight for people with disabilities.

But Ms. Sosenko's articles, at least the ones I've read, suggested that she wasn't looking to date a person with a disability. Most of the people with disabilities I know who are married, aren't married to someone with a disability. I've never read any studies on the subject, but I don't know that it would be accurate to say that people with disabilities are looking to date other people with disabilities. They may well be more comfortable around other people with disabilities. They may know more people with disabilities, based on the circles in which they run. But that doesn't necessarily translate to wanting to date within that circle.

On the other hand, all of these couples I know had one person who didn't mind dating and marrying a person with a disability. But that, too, falls short of saying that their spouse was looking to find someone with a disability.

And I think it is fair to be a little bit concerned - given the perils that already exist in Internet dating - about people going on a dating site specifically looking to start a relationship with a person with a disability. Perhaps those who would do it are simply open minded. But I would worry, also, about someone looking for those who may be more vulnerable. But I suppose that is something people with disabilities face all the time, Internet dating or no.

By the way, disabledates.com isn't the only dating site for people with disabilities. Simply searching "disability dating sites" brings up scores of them: Datingdisabled.net, soulfulencounters.com, lovebyrd.com, enablelove.com, dating4disabled.com, datedisabled.com, disabledcupid.com and impairedandbeautiful.com, just to name some of them.

There are also dating sites for specific disabilities such as the deaf. This actually makes sense to me, given the structure of the deaf community. But I think the general category of disability dating is a little different. And searching Google for "blind dating site" brings up thousands of hits, because people have been going on "blind dates" since the dawn of time.

Disabledates.com claims they are the fastest growing dating site on the Internet -- which is no doubt the truth. I think they have 9 times as many users today as they did yesterday, bringing their total list to, well, 9. And only one of them has uploaded a picture - a 50 year old man from Massachusetts, who loves the outdoors, biking, and cooking and trying new foods.

I wish him, and all people with disabilities in the dating scene, the best of luck.

Brother Ali - Take Me Home

From Jason "Ali" Newman, known to the world as Brother Ali. He hails from Minneapolis. He is an albino, which often causes visual problems. Brother Ali is legally blind.

He's a white, albino, blind, hip/hop rapper from Minnesota, who converted to Islam, which is a combination you just don't see every day.

He's also talented. Please enjoy, "Take Me Home" and have a great weekend.

Matt Ziesel: House Call

A great video.

Matt Ziesel is a freshman at Benton High School in St. Joseph, Missouri. In the waning seconds of a freshman football game against Maryville, his coach, Dan McAmey called timeout.

He went across the field and asked Maryville coach David McEnaney and asked if they could run a special play, "Matt's Play," a play drawn up especially for young Ziesel.

Maryville was winning 46-0 at the time. Matt Ziesel has Down Syndrome.

McEnaney consented. And the rest is Internet history.

Matt Ziesel makes a house call.