Okay, okay, she’s a woman. And yeah, yeah, yeah, she’s Hispanic. But the one thing about Supreme Court Justice Nominee Sonia Sotomayor that inspires me most? She has Type 1 diabetes. Millions of Americans have diabetes. Only a small fraction of us have Type 1, though. That’s the one that is also known as juvenile […]

A story in the San Francisco Weekly last week described Tita, a Chihuahua service dog who works with a man suffering from bipolar disorder. A happy, feel-good story, except for one thing. Tita bites people. “She’s vicious,” Esler says with a smile, cradling the dog, which licks his face with abandon. Once the story hit […]

The great comments you left after reading my post about driving a Mustang convertible got me thinking. Maybe Chicago Public radio would be interested in airing a piece about my 80 mph experience. Most commentators read their public radio essays. But that doesn’t work for me. I can read Braille, but I’m very slow. So […]

 I’m behind the steering wheel. The motor is running. My foot’s on the brake. “Put your right hand on the column,” my instructor Tommy says, addressing me as if this is the most normal thing in the entire world, a blind woman sitting next to him, about to take him for a ride in a […]

When I heard my talking computer bark out an email message from a public relations company about a Ford Mustang event, I figured it was spam. For some happy reason, though, I opened it anyway. Since Roger Keeney, 62, of Athens, Ga., lost his sight, he’s dreamed of driving again. But being visually impaired meant […]