[ Silence ] [ Music ] [ Silence ] [ Rooster Crowing ] >> Hi. I'm Dave from The Gene and Dave Show. I'm in Albuquerque, New Mexico this week at the 2012 Southwest Conference on Disability. I'm going to be going around interviewing, talking to people, and finding out what brought them to the conference this week. >> Gosh, Dave. You know, I used to live in New Mexico and oh, what a beautiful state. The people are beautiful, it's like one huge playground, and we're here at the time of the Balloon Fiesta. You'll see balloons of every size and shape, just a -- and the balloonists from all over the world. So it's a -- it's really a great time to be here in New Mexico. >> [Background Music] And let's not forget the mariachi band. [ Music ] >> But the real action is on the floor of the Convention Center. So let's go there and tell us what's happening. >> Okay. So here I am with the chair of the event this week, Dr. Tony Cahill. So how's it going? >> You know, it's going well, Dave. We -- as the conference has grown over the years, we went from two days to three days and this is really the first year we're having a four-day conference. >> All right. Sounds good. >> Yeah. >> [Background talking] So you're hoping for a big conference? >> I think it's going to be a great conference. We have, you know, as I said 1,300 which is the largest number of people we ever had. We have 35 states represented, three or four foreign countries. It's just kind of gotten overwhelming and so we're looking forward to a great few days. >> Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges. >> So now, I have the pleasure of -- of talking with Emmanuel of this -- this wonderful film, Emmanuel's Gift. Great -- and this is your movie? >> That's my movie. >> This is your movie and it's even narrated by the wonderful Oprah Winfrey. Emmanuel, I -- I heard that you were going to be here and so I said, "Well, I've got to get a copy of this movie and watch it." So I -- I bought it on iTunes so that I could watch it on my phone on the way up here and as I was watching it, Denver -- my son, took the phone and -- and kept watching it. And he's watching Emmanuel's Gift and this -- this guy with one leg who's -- who's in Africa and riding a bicycle. And he -- he's going through this stage right now where we've told him, you -- you need to start riding your bicycle without training wheels, you know. So -- and here he sees a guy that's only got one leg, who's disabled like his -- his mom and dad and he just keeps watching it, and watching it, and watching this movie. And he's just enamored by all the other people too, with disabilities that are, you know, swimming and -- and going across country... >> Yeah. >> ...and doing things and what just -- what a wonderful, inspiring movie that even a five-year old has gotten into. And then we got to the hotel and I saw you and -- and I went up to introduce myself. >> Yeah. >> And I told him this was Emmanuel, the guy that was riding on the bike. >> Yeah. >> And you added the one-leg part... >> Yeah. >> ...and his face just lit up. >> Yeah, right, yeah. >> He got so excited. >> It's true. >> And then you offered to actually show your leg to him and that really got him excited. >> It's true. >> Yeah. And I guess you have that -- that happens to you... >> Absolutely, sure. >> ...obviously wherever you go right? When you were a child and growing up with disability in Ghana, for the people that haven't seen your movie... >> Yeah. >> ...can you summarize it a little bit and summarize your story? >> Yeah. No, like I was saying, I'm very proud about how children in this country, when they see a story like that, the world gets so magical. It doesn't happen like that in my country. Many years ago, because everyone is telling his children that, "Don't go near the disabled person. They are cursed. Don't go with them. Don't go with them." This happened to me always, because the time my mom sent me to school; my friends don't want to play with me because they believe that I'm a curse like how your mom told them. And my mom -- anytime I go to -- I go home, then I'm just telling my mom, "This happened today -- school today. My friends they are -- they are teasing me. They are doing this." And my mom said, "Don't listen to them, you know. Take care, you can do the same thing you are doing." So they did that to me for many years until the time when I buy my own soccer ball and, you know, I had the only soccer ball in the school, and they wanted to play with my soccer ball. And I said to him, "Before you play with my soccer ball, you have to put me to the team," [chuckles] and they said, "Okay." And they did, they include me into their team. My life has changed totally because of maybe what I decided to do to change the perception in my country, in my life too. Yeah, so I -- I'm very happy and I'm very proud about ... >> And so that happened after your mother passed away? >> Yes, after my mom passed away. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So you had this vision or this dream to tell this people that, you know, disability wasn't a curse. >> Yes, because my mom teach me such a way, I would never beg on the streets. So that's how I decided after my mom pass away. And I said, "Hmm, if my mom pass away, she teach me so many things I can use to make my life better for me." And I decided to ride a bicycle across my country to change the perception how people think in our country. And that's it. I didn't know that I'm going to ride a bicycle. In the near future, I'm going to be in the country because, you know, I believe this world doesn't design for disabled people. So you have to design it for yourself. You have to make people to know that you are the gift. You have the gift. You are a dreamer. You can do it. So what you need is people to push you. So I think that's how we need because if you're an able person and always you're in your bedroom, you can't get anyone to help you. But when you go out there, you can do something to help you. So I believe that. For instance, I have another one leg. I have arms. I have mouth to talk. I have my head. I can able to think for tomorrow. So there's no way to sit on the bed -- on the street for everyone to know that I'm disabled, I can't do anything. And I don't believe in the word, "disabled." A disabled person is a person who cannot do anything. A disabled person is that person with that coffee over there, he can't do anything. And I believe that I'm a physically-challenged person. I can do something. So when they give me the chance, I can do it. But you know, there's so many things in this world, at times people see it as just kind of a fun. Let's say airplane. Airplane is very huge. Everyone knows that. Before airplane can fly, there's a small car in airport that push the airplane back before it can fly. Without that car, airplane cannot fly. So if we are huge like airplane, we still need help. >> You know, Dave, I've visited Ghana before and it's a beautiful country but there's really not much to those roads. I mean and drive a bicycle across -- across Ghana -- dirt roads with just one leg, it's amazing. A fantastic story and thank you, Emmanuel, you did a great job. Dave, I wish you'd say something. You are really creeping me out, man. >> We've got Linda here, who I have to thank because I use In-Home Attended Care Services and if it wasn't for her, I don't know what would -- what I would be doing, possibly living in a nursing home or a facility and boy, we sure wouldn't want that. So -- and then I also have... >> Jeanine Bertram Kemp [assumed spelling]. >> ...Jeanine -- thank you, Jeanine. >> Well, my story goes back to 1966 when I became a person with a disability in a car accident where I broke my neck at a time when there were no programs for people with disabilities. There were no handicap parking signs. There were no ramps, nothing, not even visiting nurses at the time. So, I say I got through those years by the Grace of God, and friends, and prayers from old Native American people who knew me and loved me. I always say their prayers were very special, very old, very powerful because in 1977, finally, President Jimmy Carter, after the original guys who chained themselves to the Rotunda in Washington, D.C. with their wheelchairs, got out of their wheelchairs and crawled up the Capitol steps and forced even a great guy like Jimmy Carter to become a -- little did he know, a disability President afterward. So the bill was signed. I saw it on TV what they were doing. I said, "Well, these are clearly my brothers and sisters. I'm going to read this bill." I got a hold of 504, decided that it pertained -- I had my own interpretation of -- because the bill was the first Civil Rights bill for people with disabilities ever passed in this country, really. And there was then what they called HEW within Human Services which I call Unhuman Services, but. It was Health, Education, and Welfare and essentially the law read that if you were a person with a disability and you received funding from any one of these departments, Health, Education, and Welfare, and you felt you were being discriminated against, you could bring down the state you lived in in Federal Court. So I said, "Oh, that's me -- I'm on welfare, have a little boy, my husband has left us. We've been thrown out into, you know, this area of the world that not many people can do much about." And I went to the Welfare Department, asked them to help me and at the time, they said to me, "Well, if you have a living blood relative who will take care of you, we will pay them $38 a month provided they have no other source of income." I went, "What [inaudible]. No, I don't have any of those." So that's what the -- I was operating on that I'd been told that when I read 504. I said, "Well, then this is discrimination. I'm a person with a disability and furthermore, a mother with a disability that chooses to raise my own child, not be put in an institution, and not have him put in foster care." So they're discriminating on my choice as a mother with a disability to stay in my home and raise my child. Well, there wasn't a lawyer I talked to who wanted to take this. Like I said earlier, the standard comment was, "Mrs. Pedro, nobody's ever won a case like this in the history of this country and you won't either." So eventually, I mean I was taking in people off the streets to stay out of the nursing homes and there was -- I would say spillovers from iffy days that had some consciousness about something that to, you know, me out of an institution and I took these women in off the street literally that needed a place to live and were willing to learn to take care of me. By that time, Visiting Nurses kicked in to do some of the more professional medical care. >> So you would actually go out and -- and people holding signs that said, "Will work for food?" >> No, no, not like that. It was more networking. I always... >> Okay. So to skip a little, you kind of [inaudible]. >> Yeah, I always been a networker by nature, so yeah... >> Right, okay. >> So it was like, "Oh, I think I know somebody that she needs a place to stay." >> Right. "And I need somebody to help me get out of bed." >> Right. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> So it was kind of a win-win situation, really. >> Well, it was difficult, nonetheless. >> Okay. >> The law of averages, they aren't -- they weren't all ideal attendants. >> Right, right, right. >> Okay. >> They might be there and they might now. >> Well. . .there were some wonderful ones... >> Sure. >> You know, life would have it. Then I had to be in court for some other -- oh, my husband was trying to establish his custody and perhaps take it away from me, although he was post-polio disability. He felt he was better able to take care of our son and I knew that wasn't true, so -- and when I was in court, there was a young lawyer, I was liking him to Abraham Lincoln. He was six foot five and he just came out to work with New Mexico Legal Services and he just started talking. He said, "Well, why are you here?" And, "Who are you with?" One thing led to another and I told him this interpretation I had of 504 and how all these lawyers I talked to didn't want to touch it with a 10-foot pole and he said, "Well, why not? Tell me about it." And he had read up on it -- a lot he knew about it. He said, "Well, I think you're right. Let me read up on the law. Go back to the office, I'll call you." Well, a lot of lawyers said, "I'll call you." >> "I'll call you," right. >> Never got the call. Two weeks later, he called. He said, "My partner here at the -- the one I work with the most at Legal Services and I have been reading 504. We think you're right. It's not going to be an easy brief but we'll do it. We'll try. We'll give it our best." What he didn't tell me is to say, "We're both young enough, they'd never written a Federal brief for Federal Court [chuckles]." And years later when I found that out, I said, "Why didn't you tell me?" He said, "Well, you had so much faith in what you were doing and believed in what you were doing, we believed in you." That's what he told me. I was like, "Oh, wow [chuckles]." Because among other things, when you file a Federal brief, there's a clearinghouse it has to go through where all these lawyers nitpick it and say, "The state's going to get you on this," and, "They're going to get you on that." Well, they have a list. That was the other thing. I said, "Fred, you didn't tell me that either." He said, "I'm telling you. You believed so what you were doing, we believed in you, you know." We did it. The state was in an uproar to be brought into Federal Court. They had their lawyers meet with me and literally tried to intimidate me to drop the suit which I said -- as I said earlier today, I said, "See you in court, boys," because I had nothing to lose. I was up against it. >> True. >> So why didn't I -- what -- they were going to back me down?" And I -- Fred was a media genius... >> They didn't make any offers to you to just make you go away? >> No. They had nothing was the real truth. >> Right. >> They had no offers. So, we -- I -- we did it, filed the brief. Fred was very clever -- one of the lawyers, with the media. He called the TV, the newspapers, word got out in what as a small community of people with disabilities in Albuquerque at that time. And you know, I told the story today how my -- my only car gave out so my car top lift to get me in the car had to be moved to a friend's car to get me to Federal Court the day. So I had no car. We put together a car, a snowstorm hit. My friend's heater went out in her car [laughter]. We had to wrap me in blankets and my little boy [chuckles] who was five at the time and here we go off in a snowstorm to Federal Court. Now, Federal Court is very intimidating. I was saying to the group today when I spoke earlier, if -- if you've never been in a Federal courtroom, it's marble. It's cold. It's big. The Judges' podium is -- I mean you're like -- God on high, right? >> Right. >> I had a conservative Judge -- Republican. They were worried because he was Mormon, conservative, and Republican and my lawyer had a great insight which paid -- I mean came to be true. He said, "Mormon people have good family values and let's -- let's vote on him seeing the importance of keeping this family together." So he heard everything. A bunch of people with disabilities showed up in wheelchairs, and crutches, and a few people with blindness. It was amazing we had a turnout in 1978 of that significance. And when it was all over, the Judge essentially said, "Well, I've heard it all and nobody's going to take this baby away from his mama as long as I have something to say about it." Bam! And he hit the gavel. So, that was it. It was interesting because one of the four lawyers that Human Services had sent -- or the Welfare Department had sent to intimidate me came across the room. The other three stayed. He came across and shook my hand and said, "I want to congratulate you, Mrs. Pedro because really, I was on your side [laughter]." The Judge likewise ordered the State of New Mexico to create a program for me to stay in my home and for parents with disabilities to stay in their home, families to stay together even though there was a parent with a disability. >> Wow, what a story that is. Now that shows the power of one person -- what one dedicated, committed individual can do. Linda did a super job and thanks to her, many folks across this country can now use, in home health support like attendants with the help of some Medicaid or other in-home programs. So we appreciate your efforts in terms of homehealth. >> And one of the cool parts about the Disabilities Expo was the conference floor where vendors were set up with all of their really cool toys. "Oh, hello, I'm deaf and I use this to communicate." Hmm, this is cool. Oh, he's asking, "Do you want me to give you the keyboard?" "No, I can reach it. Hi, Jeff, I'm Dave from the Gene and Dave Show . I'm here filming at the conference. We do a TV show in Austin, Texas." [Laughter] Well, come to find out, Jeff was already a fan. He'd seen the show because he also lives in Austin. Wow, I went all the way to New Mexico to meet Jeff [chuckles]. What a coincidence. One of the cool things about the conference was just meeting new people and finding out new things about them and I don't know -- what we had in common. There were so many folks there that got to meet each other and find out all their commonalities. Oh, over here at the end of this row is the employment booths. These folks were chatting and talking about how to find employment for people with disabilities, things that they like to do and how to relate them to their job. Oh yeah, and then I went around the corner and found technology row. Ah, this place was great. They had everything right there. Right here is a Braille printer from the Enabling Technologies booth and also driving aids on this wall. Oh, I saw all kinds of amazing technology at this conference and [bell ringing] every time I turned around, there was something new -- people meeting and greeting and talking to one another about their disabilities, finding commonalities and differences. Ah, what a great place to be, at the Southwest Conference for Disabilities. I had a great time meeting new people and hearing their stories. [ Noises ] >> Oh, you said that you had heard of Gene? >> Oh yeah. Gene was up in Farmington and he had pictures of him jumping out of the airplane, and I believe he was scuba diving and then I found out later, that he actually jumped out of an airplane in Los Lunas,,, >> Okay. >> ...which is just about 30 miles south of here. So -- so we know Gene. >> Well good. >> By the way folks, Dave was using his wheelchair cam to do some of the filming. He did a lot of filming there at the conference using his wheelchair cam. But of course, his wheelchair also broke down later. Even so, he kept on being a trooper and had Andy push him around using the wheelchair cam. Way to go there, Dave. What else have you got for us? >> All right, folks. Well, I'm here with Kris today who is another one of our VSA partners. Celia said, "Make sure you talk to Kris too because the Gene and Dave Show is also sponsored by VSA, Texas." So we're real glad and Gene, since you're back home, Kris is giving me one of his -- his mugs to bring back to you so that you can drink your coffee out of it every morning and I got one with a nice big handle for you. And Kris made this and he's been making other pottery and showing folks how to do it here at the conference. So, Kris, tell me, man, how did you get started in pottery? >> I took a class at Texas A and M University in Corpus Christi when I was undecided and just -- had needed an elective class and so I took the class and loved it and by the end of the class, I had over 300 things made when I think for assignments there were 15 things that we had to make [laughter]. >> So you went a little overboard, huh? Just really loved it? >> Yes. >> And we're also joined by your mom, Jackie... >> Hi. >> ...who has also talking to me about kind of how you -- how you grew up and how everybody, you know, everybody is so stuck on putting labels on people and trying to figure out why -- why someone is so different. So, Jackie, tell us a little bit about that, growing up with Kris and kind of where it all started and when you noticed some differences. >> Well, Kris was different very early and now we have so much information about autism. Back then, we did not. He was born in the '80s and in the '80s, we just -- we just knew that Kris was different and the teachers knew he was different and the label at that time was learning disabled. >> Okay. >> That didn't quite determine things because when he was little in first grade, he went for a -- on a bus trip, to a performing arts at the university and there was like 600 students there. Well, Kristopher gets to the end of the row and they hadn't told him what to do next. So he wouldn't move. So they had to call us and have us come down. Well, 600 students are waiting for that performance to start to decide what to do and get Kristopher in a seat. So, you know, you know -- very early on, people don't really understand if he was put next to someone and they said, "Follow that person," or, "Sit with the teacher," he would have done that because, you know, he follows instructions and -- and is very, very literal and does what he, you know, what he's told and very, very honest and he understands -- he has Asperger's and so he's a very high functioning. And in Fourth Grade, he tested Junior College level in Math. >> Wow. >> You know, very, very high functioning with those types of things. He had very difficult times with social situations and -- and things like -- like when a teacher once said -- oh, he said he was going to give -- that he would give -- that they would get an F if they asked him for help. So Kristopher did his project all wrong because he was sure the teacher was going to give him an F if he talked to him... >> Wow. >> ...so he wouldn't speak to the teacher. So, you know, those -- those literal things that, you know, we don't think about when we're young and we're raising him and what we're saying. What we're saying and how it's really affecting a child that doesn't understand the nuances in it, you know, in a statement or a conversation. So, conversations have always been very difficult and he's now teaching at the college level. >> Wow. >> So -- on his second Master's. We are so proud. >> Where are you teaching? >> At Texas A and M in Corpus Christi. >> Texas A and M in Corpus Christi. What are you teaching? >> The Beginning Ceramics Class. >> Wonderful stuff, Kris, and I'm just amazed. This is -- this is truly a passion for you and it really shows because this is some quality work. Thanks for being on the Gene and Dave Show . >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, Kris is very talented. Thank you, Kris, for the mug. I appreciate it. It's going to get a lot of use, believe me. A lot of great artists here, let's see -- who else do we have here, Dave? >> And why is audio description so important? >> Because people who are blind sometimes can't really follow the plot and they can't see the visual information. >> So it's very important to include audio description in your videos. >> It is, very important. >> To make sure that it is successful. >> To everyone. >> It's just as important as close captioning. >> Absolutely. >> Very well. Reporting from the 2012 Southwest Convention on Disabilities, I'm Dave. >> And I'm Celia. >> Okay [chuckles] and this is the Dave and Celia Show. >> Okay. Well, I found Greg from ExerPlay out here and it looks like he's got some really fun stuff. Greg, nice to meet you. Can you tell us a little bit about what ExerPlay is and what you're most excited about at the conference? >> Hi. Thanks, Dave. It's good to meet you today too and I look forward to learning more about your show because I didn't know about it until just a little bit ago. ExerPlay works in the southwest and we're at the show because one of our big efforts in the last few years is to design and get installed play spaces for kids with a variety of abilities and disabilities, beyond mobility issues. And so one of the trends in design these days is universally accessible and inclusive playgrounds which my -- my opinion is why would not all of them be like that. But still, people are wrapping their heads around that notion. And so going beyond minimum ADA accessibility standards and creating play spaces and programs around those play spaces that are inclusive and in fact, we have a session going on later this week at the conference that is about social interaction in play spaces. And I'll be joining Marnie Norris from Shane's Inspiration out of California. They also design and have been our consultants when it comes to installing and designing play spaces. And so that's what we do in the southwest and we have peers and sister companies around the -- well beyond the country, around the world that are doing the same thing now, as well. >> That's great. I was just looking at your catalogue here and you've got a multi-sensory discovery wall and I think I've seen something similar at a park near where I live in -- in Round Rock, Texas. >> Yeah, there is a park that went in in Round Rock recently, also in -- in San Antonio, one called Morgan's Wonderland that was designed specifically to be universally accessible and inclusive. And so those are tremendous -- tremendously beneficial projects and we're working on some here locally, as well. >> Great. Yes, we -- we've actually featured Morgan's Wonderland in our outdoor recreation episode, as well as, some pictures in our family episode of the Gene and Dave Show . So now, I'm with Marian from Cloud Dancers. She's a volunteer who's been telling me about bringing her daughter to the first time to Cloud Dancers. Thank you so much and can you tell me again about Cloud Dancers and -- and your experience with your daughter? I'm going to hand you the microphone and just talk right into it. It's your friend. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I have a very good experience with Cloud Dancers. So I'm talking about by my own experience. My daughter is -- got there, has been there about two years. When she first got there, I -- I didn't think she was -- it was going to work out for her but I have to say that it's worked out for her and for most of the kids that we're with. It helped the kids develop socially, communication, build confidence in the kids, and not just the kids, also the adults because some of them -- we have some of the adults. Our work is non -- is a non-profit organization and we use a lot of volunteers and all volunteers are trained and they have done wonderful, wonderful job. So the -- some of the kids that are here on the picture like this one, we have to spend quite a bit of time in the first visitations with them. We had to chasing around the stable and today, it's amazing what he's doing. I mean he's riding by himself. He's talking and as you can see in the picture smiling and happy to be on the horse. Horse can do wonderful, wonderful thing for kids. Just come down and see us. >> That is great. I mean I see everybody in these pictures not only smiling, but they have the hugest smiles I think I have ever seen... >> Yeah, yeah. >> ...of these people being with these horses and this is -- looks like a fantastic program. >> Yes, it is. [Background talking] The instructors are wonderful. They're -- they're well trained. They know what they're doing and they -- I mean they're incredible people. >> Sounds great. People want to know more information; you have a website at www.clouddancers -- clouddancersofthesouthwest.org. Thank you so much for taking time to talk to me and I will be checking this out on the web. >> Oh, you're welcome. You won't regret this. It's a wonderful experience. >> Sounds good. Thank you, very much. >> You're welcome. >> We believe that there's a job for every person in this country. >> Okay. >> Yeah, we spoke earlier... >> Yeah. >> ...this morning, that we're... >> My wife and I have... >> ...trying to get him transitioned. >> My wife and I spent a number of years in -- in the private sector in different management positions and finally got to the point in our lives where we said, "You know, I'd like to make a difference." And so we quit what we were doing, we totally completely changed our direction of action. Now, we -- we have a little home office and all we do is work for people with... >> So, now you're helping Neil. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Neil, tell me your story. >> Here you go, Neil. >> Not at all. See I'm -- well, I'm a computer programmer -- well, trying to be. Life goes back so long, it's kind of weird. But yeah -- no I was diagnosed with Asperger's at -- I don't know, I was like 14? >> 13. >> Something like that, yeah. And you know, it's just -- it was hard at first but... >> Right. >> ...you know, I got used to it and I would -- it did explain so much about why -- just people were so hard to understand. Interactions were so hard to understand and as I grew with it, I just started learning about what -- really what is Asperger's and that has helped me so much. I even took a couple of social skills classes and amazingly, it's, you know, it's like social skills can be taught as -- in a classroom setting, at least for me. And so that helped. >> Well, it looks like it worked because I just handed you a microphone and shoved a camera in your face [laughter]. So how much more social can you get than that? Way to go, Neil. >> Yeah, well... >> I'm proud of you, man. It's a good job. >> There's that, yeah, and -- but yeah, I'm graduating really soon with -- excuse me... >> That's okay. >> Yeah, brain freaks out every now and then. >> That's all right. >> But, no -- I'm graduating soon. I'll have a Bachelor's in Computer Programming and I've been around here looking for somebody who needs computer programmer-tech support, whatever. >> Yeah. >> So... >> Are you finding anything yet? >> I actually had a great conversation with somebody from Sandia Labs that's, you know, it's very optimistic outlook. I'm definitely going to talk to her later, email her and, you know, she might actually have a job for me fixing their computers, working with whatever projects they need help with. >> Very good. >> Yeah. >> The conference is working. >> It seems to be, yeah. >> So here I am with Denise with Yes We Can New Mexico. Denise, what is Yes We Can? >> Well, Yes We Can New Mexico is a non-profit member organization of entrepreneurs with disabilities and so what we do is we help to support people with disabilities in getting their small businesses started and then we help with websites, setting up websites for their businesses. And we do peer mentoring, marketing, helping them market their products and services. So, it's a variety of things but it -- I think the main thing is it's a member organization so the people with disabilities pretty much own the organization -- yeah. >> It looks like you have some examples. >> I do. >> [Inaudible] some of these? >> Well, these here are magnets and they were made by Betsy and she -- she's an artist. She does some other larger pieces, print work, and things like that. So we just have these out for display and asking for donations. Over here we have -- I think you already saw the painting by Olen Taylor. Olen is a blind man who lives in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and he does artwork and he's also a saddle maker. He makes saddles and tack for horses. >> Wow. >> Yeah, so that's -- that's been a family business for a long time but he recently started doing painting also. Okay? And then we have our author, Gilbert John. Gilbert is from the Navaho Reservation and he wrote a book about his story and so it's called, " Unbroken Spirit ." Basically, Gilbert was in a vehicle -- motor vehicle accident when he was young and he's now quadriplegic and he wanted to write about his story. So that's what he did. >> Wow. >> And he published the book. And then over here, we have Lisa Page. Lisa's an artist and she does -- actually, Lisa does a lot of things. This is just one part of what she does. She also makes recycled clothing out of neckties. She makes greeting cards, all kinds of things. So she has kind of an eclectic art studio. Let's see, what else? Our most recent member is the Chocolate Art Gallery. It's over on Fourth Street here in Albuquerque and Nancy Iris is the owner and she is an artist and also, makes her own chocolates which she sells in the shop. So we have a lot of members who do different things. We have counselors, people with disabilities who have their own counseling practices, massage therapist. We also have a woman who teaches English as a second language. So, it's a variety of goods and services that we offer through our organization. >> All right. So now, I'm here with Arminda and Cindy who just came in to watch the episode on parenting on the Gene and Dave Show and I've cornered them here at the talking booth because they started telling us -- telling me their story and oh, it's just -- it's a great one. So, tell us a little bit -- well, tell us first of all, why you're here at the conference? >> Well, we're here because I'm blind and I work for the United States Forest Service. So does Arminda. But the Forest Service sends us to this every year and we go back and take what we've learned to them and disseminate it and hopefully, things will get better and better and people will be more and more understanding. >> And Arminda, what's your role? >> Well, my role is I've been helping Cindy since she's come to work with us for the Forest Service, working in a call center. We originally -- we're not really equipped to help her the way that we should have and so we've adapted a lot of the things we're doing now to help her. So by coming to these conferences, I'm able to bring back a lot of information from my point of view not having the disability to help others understand how we can help those that do have a disability achieve their goal of working for us and working with us. >> Well, I want to say first that I was hired -- I was interviewed and hired and my -- the supervisors that interviewed me did not know I was blind because I usually don't walk with a cane. But when I asked them to press the button at the elevator, they figured that out. But they hired me and basically, they did not know how to train me. They did not know what to do. They tried to put me through the traditional training. Of course, I couldn't see those screens. >> Well, I have to say I've learned a lot from you too, Cindy though, because in teaching this, I knew the programs that we're using because I've had to help all our other agents that were there. But in teaching you how to use the program, it's made me more aware of when I talk to somebody on the phone, how to describe it better, how to make them understand just a little better by using choice words over, "Well, there's a screen. On a screen, you're going to go here, there. No, if you use your left and right, go down four buttons," or some -- "You're going to find the blue button." You know, these descriptive words have helped me in providing better customer service to those people that I come in contact with on the phone. So in the long run, we've all learned a lot from you, especially me, and I think it's been a great thing for me because I love to learn and it was a learning curve for me too. And I think by helping you, I think I helped a lot of other people in the long run too because we see how valuable it is to hire the disabled people. We hire a lot of them each year and I think the more and more we do this, the better we become. And we've all learned a lot about what we need to do to hire the people and how to train disabled people better. >> Going down technology row and I bump into our friend, Kevin, from Automatic Sync and we know Kevin quite well because it's what we use to do our closed captioning for the Gene and Dave Show . We've been -- we've been using Automatic Sync for our captioning now for quite some time... >> It's been a couple years. >> ...and Kevin says, "Yeah, I know who you guys are because you -- you get your show captioned through us." So, I just thought we'd take the opportunity to talk to Kevin and let him show you kind of what's behind the curtain on the Gene and Dave Show and really, how easy it is [chuckles] for us to get our show captioned. So, Kevin, it's great seeing you. Thanks for being here. >> Thank you, Dave. Thanks very much. Yeah, so I met Gene a couple years ago in Austin and we were showing him exactly the system and Gene was excited about it. I believe he's been using Automatic Sync ever since to caption that show. So that's terrific. I was pleased to meet you here, Dave. I'd only ever met Gene before. >> Right, cool. >> So -- and let me show you a little bit about what we do. AST was originally funded by the U.S. Department of Education to produce a captioning system that is less expensive, faster and easier to use than most traditional captioning systems. And what we came up with was a web-based captioning system. It's available to folks 24 by seven so you can just log into a website, submit your video whenever you're ready and we'll send you back the caption files for a wide variety of applications including streaming media as well as broadcast media. And that's exactly what Gene does, I guess, for every episode of the Gene and Dave Show . >> That's right. >> So, I've already logged into our website over here, and this is a picture of what you see after you log into our site and it's pretty darn simple. All you do is you fill out those three boxes on that form, give us a description of what you're doing and that's more for your purposes than ours. Oops, and I guess I've just proven that I can't hold a microphone and type at the same time. Tell us if you need us to caption or to transcribe it or if you've already got your own transcript. If you've already got your own transcript, it makes it faster and cheaper to do the captioning. Most people don't have their own transcript so they just click that box and then you just browse over here to your media file, you find it, and then when you've got it, you hit that, "Start Upload," button. Our system will accept your media file. It may take a little while to upload depending on how big it is and after we get it, we'll get it transcribed. Then we'll produce the caption files and we'll send them back to you. Everything is done electronically so there's no exchange of physical media or anything like that. It all happens very quickly. Our normal turnaround time is three business days. We also have a one business day turnaround. And if you've already got your transcript, it will turn it around in less than half an hour, in fact, less than 15 minutes typically. Once you get the caption files back, you just upload them on your streaming media server and you're finished. It's as simple as that. We have over 2,000 folks using the system now, mostly universities and government institutions. We also work with a number of large corporations. We're very proud to be doing the Gene and Dave Show , but you're keeping good company. Library of Congress also captions their web content through our system, as do hundreds of universities across the country. >> So tell us about your theater and what makes it so unique? >> Well, the name. >> It's the name. >> The name, right. But Dionysus is a non-profit theater and we dedicate our stage to actors with disabilities and those that are non-disabled. So we're an inclusion theater and we're the only inclusion theater in the State of Texas. And we've been operating for 15 years and we're probably the most visibly -- invisibly known theater in the whole wide world. But we are professionally based. We are -- we train our actors with disabilities and those that are non-disabled to become professionals especially, our actors with disabilities because there's no place really else for them to go in Texas to get professional training. And that's who we are. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And you do all theater that's been written -- is it public works or stuff you write on your own? >> Well, it depends on our moods. We're going into our 15th season and some of our stuff is produced, like we just did Little Shop of Horrors this past summer. >> Great. >> And we -- we did Wait Until Dark , where one of our actors who is blind took the lead and did it correctly, not that Audrey Hepburn did a bad job and she wasn't blind [laughter], she just didn't have the nuances that our actors had. Scared the heck out of the audience the last 10 minutes... >> Really? >> ... yeah, well the -- she was really blind and she was going through this motion of trying to get away from this person and we were plunged in the dark only she didn't know we were plunged in the dark and she didn't care. But it really -- it really brings a nuance and so we do a whole hodgepodge. We're doing an originally written play that I wrote, a musical, this summer. So it's kind of a mixture of a little bit of disability issues and a little bit of produced and whatever we feel like would be really strong, you know, for it. A lot of my actors with disabilities, after the fifth season, got really tired of doing disability-based shows and they were like, "We're already disabled and so let's get off of this [chuckles]." And -- but I said, "Yes, but we need to educate those that don't get it." You know? >> Right, right. >> And so it's kind of a balancing thing we do because we know that we need to educate, right? We need to educate and -- but we don't want to turn off and we don't want to consistently do the same thing. So we try to make it happy for everybody, you know? >> So tell me -- you're an artist, obviously a painter. You're using very bright colors. But I see you wearing the dark sunglasses so I think that's kind of a dead giveaway [laughter]. You're a blind guy? >> Yeah, yeah. >> So how do you paint and work? >> Well, you know, I have to say, first when I started, I -- I didn't -- it was my dirty little secret because I was pretty sure I was crazy. The whole idea? >> Really? >> So I didn't tell anybody that I painted. So I'd go home and I'd paint and the first couple of shows I did, I didn't tell people that I was blind even because I figured people would think, "Oh, that guy's nuts." So -- but it's really -- whenever I was excited, I love to draw, I love to illustrate, draft. And -- but I didn't try painting though until I lost my eyesight and the way I do it is just through touch. So everything a person's eyes do for a visual artist, for a sighted visual artist, I replace with my hands. So whenever I draw a line, instead of a line that I can see, it needs to be a line that I can feel. So everything is through touch, the way I handle color, the way I change color is all through texture, the way that the -- the color feels. And -- and also through -- like a mixings, you know, just -- just knowing so much of this color with another will make a certain color. So -- does that make sense? >> Exactly. How do you know what is red or blue? >> Well, if -- if it's -- if it's an oil paint, all -- all of the -- all the tools and everything in my studio are Braille. So -- so whatever comes in like from a store, I -- I have to ask somebody, like, "Is this the crimson we bought?" And [inaudible], "Yeah." "Okay." I'll label it. >> Okay. >> Then after that, though, that's all the help that... >> You don't sell Braille paint? >> That's true, that's true. >> Why do they do that? >> I don't know -- they're missing out, I think. I'd buy it [laughter]. They're missing out on one sale, at least. But, you know, it's -- but after that, that's all the help that I -- I want [laughter] from like the studio and from then on, it's -- it's me mixing paints and I'll change the way it feels. Like the oil paint, I may make a -- if I'm going to mix a grey, I may make the black kind of runny like oil and white thick like toothpaste so they actually feel different. So when you touch some, there's no -- you know what's white, what's black. And if you want to make a grey halfway between, you make a texture that feels halfway between and it's really a precise way of -- of mixing color because your hands -- you have 200 touch receptors on the pad of each finger that's really good in knowing how something feels and with -- with practice you just get -- you can really pick up on slight changes. >> Tell me how -- we're looking right now on the screen, a picture of a cat and I mean I'm sure that before you lost your sight, you'd see cats but you said earlier this is a real cat? The blue-eyed white cat? >> Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, Rodan. Yeah, there's one of the reasons that I started painting was to reconnect with people. I was so angry at losing my eyesight that -- and also there was a disconnection. I think sometimes with certain disabilities and vision's one of them whenever you have it, you -- people don't know how to relate to you necessarily. Like they don't know what you pick up on. They don't know what you perceive or understand. So painting was one way for me to reconnect with people and say, "Hey, I'm still in here. I still understand." So it was important for me to actually paint people that were real people and -- and objects that were real objects that people could look at and say, "Oh, you know, oh yeah, that is that person." But there's actually some things for -- for the non-visual sort of -- sort of skills bring to visual art that's better than eyesight and one of them is being able to pick up on detail. So whenever I -- I feel the person's face, there's a method that I use. It's half visualization, touch the site -- where I break down a person's face like if I'm feeling their ear, I break it down into three sections. Those sections break down in other three sections. You -- when you're touching, you're expecting to feel a certain angle, a certain line. If you don't feel it then you -- just remember how it differs. But the main -- it sounds complicated but it's really not. Every -- every part just flows into the next part and it makes it where you can build a map that everything is like a puzzle that just comes together so that by the time that you're through feeling that person's face or whatever it is that you're painting, you might -- you have a complete little puzzle that just locks together, and if you remember one piece then that leads to every other piece. So it sounds a little complicated but it -- it happens really quick. >> John Bramblitt is a very talented artist and I -- I hope you picked up on what he said about mixing colors. He's -- he's blind, so he can't see the colors but if they're labeled, he knows say white from black. And if he wants a shade grey, what he'll do is he'll feel the texture of the white, the texture of the black and then he'll just mix the colors until the texture feels in between. So, he's a really talented young man. I appreciate having him on the show. Once again, Dave, you are creeping me out. Move, or do something. So long now, from the Gene and Dave Show . [ Music ] >> Hey, are you the useless bleep guy who hangs around with Gene? >> Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. I am Dave of the Gene and Dave Show and you are? >> Hi Gene, Jim Parker here. >> Hey, Jim -- nice to meet you. >> Pleasure, Dave. >> I heard that you're the individual that got us here. >> Well, I helped, helped. You know, Gene and -- I've known Gene too long actually and I tried to get him not to come but... [ Silence ]