ATTENDEE RECAP- ACCESSIBILITY HERO AT THE ACCESSIBLE MICHIGAN MEETUP

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With the advent of the "MEET ACCESSIBILITY CHAMPION" FEATURE by the amazing PoliMC, Accessibility has gotten a flood on Connect.

We want to be the voice of a people seemingly marginalized because of their physical condition.

I have attended so many of these Meetups and I am really proud of the work the #oneaccessibility team is doing.

Notable individuals in the #oneaccessibility team are;

  1. My Emeka Ulor :yum: :smile: my Oga
  2. Penny Christie - My Senior
  3. Kashif Misidia - Chairman
  4. Jane Burunina
  5. Onuka Kalu
  6. Anshuk Mitra
  7. Jesi
  8. Megan Coburn,

And so many others fighting this beautiful cause. I attended Erna LaBeau’s @Erna_LaBeau (Accessible Michigan) Meetup on Saturday and it was pleasantly refreshing! She covered everything “Accessibility”! She shared with us some of her reviews too and motivated us with the words;

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Some of my take home from the Meetup are;

  1. The Signs put up to inform Passers-by of the living conditons of residents and special adaptive features at the POIs (Place of Interest) e.g. “An Autistic Person lives here, may not listen to intructions” , to the “special red tile” that informed people with visual impairments that they were about getting into moving traffic, to the Special Pumps at the Gas stations, the Modern Convenience that took into cognizance that; a Father with Walking disabilities may come into the ‘Rest room’ to change their Children, to the “hand rails on the Wheelchair Ramp”, etc

  2. Mr. Keith La Beau; Erna’s husband, who introduced himself as that, who came to the Meetup to support her and kept expressing his gratitude to everyone; “Thank you all for coming to support Erna”. Ooooh, it was a live performance of a “Romeo and Juliet” who have chosen to live and enjoy life :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
  3. Finally, my new**BFF; MEGAN COBURN @Kwiksatik **

ACCESSIBILITY HERO - MEGAN COBURN

It’s ClichĂ© to say; “not all heroes wear capes”, but for want of a better phrase, I have no better words to describe Megan.

Megan was more than an icing on the beautiful cake that was already Erna’s well thought-out, well-presented “Accessible Michigan” Virtual Tour. Please wait on the recap.

Megan lit up an unquenchable fire in the attendees with the depth of Passion with which she spoke about her Advocacy program for people living with disabilities.

Four things I took away from Megan’s address;

  1. When I meet a physically challenged person trying to get into a place, I don’t just rush to help them, I offer to help them.
  2. I don’t just rush to take a picture, a picture of maybe the “broken feature”, No! I am aware this is a Community, these are real people, I listen to them!
  3. I don’t try to say; “I know how you feel”, No, I listen to them and then make a case for them. I want to know what their current challenges are.
  4. Another thing I have noticed is, most places put the accessible entrance at the back of their buildings, in the alley. What are they trying to say? That these people should be relegated? NO! I take pictures, I make videos, I put it out there on Maps. :muscle: :muscle:

There was something Megan said about putting the Pictures where it could be easily seen on Maps, so that it does not get lost in tens of thousands of Photos, I do not remember how she said we should do that.

Megan lit up a fire in the cold, rekindled a fire in the lukewarm and gingered those already on the accessibility trail like; Our Kashif and those who are new like; our beautiful Erna; the 'nod t’hat; they are on the right trail.

All of these she did with ‘no air’, you could tell all of these came from a place deep inside of her and that she was talking about something she was passionate about.

I love me some Megan. I am off to the market, I am going to buy everything that has Megan written on it today for my daily dose of inspiration.

NOW, That’s an Accessibility Hero!

Please find a Megan in you today, Thank you.

P. S. - There was a time I could not walk for about 3 months, the challenges I faved, made me more than determined to get to walk again, especially when people had to put me on thier back to climb a stairs :roll_eyes: :sob: :sob: :cry: :cry:

It was only then I knew it was romantic when someone backed you, only if you can walk.

so I know what it feels and the challenges one face especially in a country like; Nigeria. After the lockdown in Nigeria, I will do more for this community.

Thank you, Erna

Thank you, Megan

Thank you, Kashif

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It was indeed a great meet-up by @Erna_LaBeau 
 Keep organising such meet-ups in your locality as well @Ewaade_3A and share your knowledge with the community.

#OneAccessibility

Anshuk.

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Attendee wrap up
 cool @Ewaade_3A . For me who missed this meet up due to the unfortunate time difference, this note is precious. And again congratulations to @Erna_LaBeau and all the team for the successful meet-up

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Thank you for coming to the meet, Anshuk.

I was looking at your beautiful smile and perfect Dentition, :blush: :speak_no_evil: I almost missed out on what you were saying; but I remember it was your Professor that had a walking disability that inspired you.

I am learning ropes, you will support me and I will get your blessing, so, I will be fine.

@AnshukMitra

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Awww, we missed you too but we carried you with us to the Meetup @indahnuria

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Hi @Ewaade_3A

You are a very good writer. The attendee recap of yours is really wonderful. I was there throughout the meetup and could feel inch by inch, reading your recap.

I thank you very much for sharing your experience here.

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@Gurukrishnapriya

You are one of my most favorite people here, even before I had to wake up everyday to see you :grinning: :partying_face::partying_face::partying_face: in our new Virtual Home outside Connect.

Thank you for always spreading light and love at the Meetups, thanks for always lending your voice, thanks for making your voice heard at the Meetup and asking the Hosts, questions that we may love to ask but shy away from.

Thank you for shedding light on “Autism” especially “Autistic awareness”.

You and @RosyKohli helped us to understand it better.

May you always be happy, Ma.

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The takeaways from @Erna_LaBeau meetup were really very interesting. This Attendee Recap from you just explains it all. Great writing dear. @Ewaade_3A

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Achaa! :smile: :raised_hand_with_fingers_splayed: :pinching_hand:

Thank you for the compliment, baby @Shreeya_99

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@Ewaade_3A Thanks for sharing, sadly I missed this great meetup

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Nice RECAP @Ewaade_3A as usual! :blush:
My apologies for joining very late but I learned a lot from the part I attended.

It was really surprising that @AnshukMitra and myself had a similar experience about orthopedic hospital not having lift or ramp.

And the champion, Megan Coburn; all the points you highlighted were important and inspired me to make certain changes in my thoughts about accessibility. I am thankful for that and finally, @Erna_LaBeau; that was a great meet-up and thanks for the invitation. :+1:

Cheers!

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Sadly, indeed @AlphaSays

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Ahahah, As usual? :smile:

indeed

Thanks sir, you propel me, you know,

You are like that air beneath my wings that makes me fly.

Thank you.

And Yes! I remember Anshuk @AnshukMitra saying that :grinning: Anshuk is so cute and has a lightning sense of humor

@AjitThite

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Ccongratulations @Erna_LaBeau for the amazing meet up. You said its your first meet up but everything was well arranged and its totally a pro.

its truly a deep concern which this matter to be seriously come to light and bring visible change.

Thank you for this bringing awareness. You were a great host!

And of course its an amazing recap, you never fail to impress @Ewaade_3A ! You are such a good influencer. Continue to keep shining :heart_eyes:

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@Ewaade_3A

Thanks for recap it was awesome got to learn lot. Thanks for recap.

@Erna_LaBeau congrats for success full meet up.

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Influencer?

:grinning: :grinning:

One day I will bring together all the names you call me and make a book.

How are you, dear**Sophie @sophie_fusion **

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You are welcome, ma @RosyKohli

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Thank you to everyone for their kind words. I learned much from the meetup am am so happy everyone found it equally enriching!

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Thank you for coming, @Kwiksatik

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@Ewaade_3A I am sure you wont fail to do that coz you’re such a good writer urself. You can literally be an author of many books :books:

And I have been good thank you :smiling_face:

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