All Blog Posts
disABILITIES Film Fest: A Call to Stop Bullying
November 1, 2012
By Osiris Gomez, Contributor The 8th Annual disABILITIES Film Festival and Speaker Series on October 4, 2012, hosted by the Museum of disABILITY History and People Inc., turned out to be a night to remember! We packed the house! Our attendance was nearly 500. After some mingling and light refreshments in the lobby, we all headed to the Mainstage Theatre at the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts. The feature film was Bully, directed by award-winning and esteemed documentarian Lee Hirsch.…
Buffalo State Hospital Annex, Wilson NY
October 11, 2012
By Dr. James M. Boles and Melissa Royer, Contributors In 1908, the Buffalo Psychiatric Hospital opened the Lakeside Colony on property rented from the L.A. Dwight family in Wilson, NY. The Colony operated for a little over 4 years and consisted of thirty-three acres, a stone house and farm buildings in the Roosevelt Beach area of Wilson NY. With frontage on both Lake Ontario and Twelve Mile Creek, the Wilson farm provided the patients from Buffalo State Hospital recreation in the form of swim…
Henry Wesley
September 21, 2012
By Jenna DelSignore, Contributor The Museum of disABILITY History (Buffalo, NY) had the honor of hosting the self-advocacy speaker and former Willowbrook resident Henry Wesley on August 9, 2012. Henry gave his famous presentation on the journey of his life from his time and survival at Willowbrook, through his achievements and adventures of the current time. Henry gave his presentation with his Dynavox speaking device which was accompanied by a picture slide show presentation that he control…
Encore, Geri!
September 18, 2012
By Jenna DelSignore, Contributor It is no secret that Geri Jewell has achievements and records that people all over the nation can celebrate. But it is in Buffalo, NY that can hold the most pride because Geri shows her Buffalo born spirit everywhere she goes. On September 13, 1956, Geraldine Ann Jewell was born in Buffalo, NY with cerebral palsy. From a young age it was evident that she was born for the stage, naturally putting a bright smile on everyone’s face. She kicked off her career in …
Grave Puzzles
August 21, 2012
By Dr. James M. Boles, Contributor The sheriff waved to me as I made a sharp right turn into the field, the right of way was overgrown and hard to follow. The car rolled past the old silo and the stone barn foundation which was covered with vines and scrub brush. In this jungle, Dave and his crew from People Inc. did a great job cleaning up the old Niagara County Poorhouse cemetery (1829-1915) which opens up into a small clearing. The accounts list up to 1400 people buried here but I was here t…
Taking a Walk with ReWalk
August 16, 2012
By Sarah Drexelius, Contributor After taking a tour at the Museum of disABILITY History, the picture showing the “Re-Walk,” a robotic exoskeleton immediately captured my attention. Although there were other incredible artifacts and displays about how far technology and society has come in relation to disabilities, this sparked my interest the most. My aunt was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 19 and she is now in her 40s. As the disease progresses, walking is more challengi…
Push Girls – Overcoming Adversity and Inspiring Others
August 2, 2012
By Brie Kishel, Contributor An inspirational series has premiered this summer on the Sundance channel. It portrays the story of five young women, each of whose lives has been forever changed in different ways. But the one thing that they all have in common is that they have learned to use a wheelchair to get themselves around. Two of the women, Tiphany “The Blonde Bombshell” and Chelsie “The Dancer,” were involved in separate drunk driving incidents where they became the victims of another hea…
“Breaking Barriers for Disability: Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte”
July 25, 2012
By Osiris Gomez, Contributor I speak for many in my generation when I say there is significant buzz around UB’s campus surrounding America’s edgiest TV series Breaking Bad. It’s not your American Idol, your Seinfeld, and your Grey’s Anatomy. It defies everything. That might be why the major syndicates, ABC, NBC, or FOX wanted nothing to do with it. But people love this show. Despite airing on AMC, it has attracted a huge following from fans and critics alike. Since its creation by Vince Gilliga…