Every winter here in Chicago I find myself questioning why it is that when snow plows clear passage for cars, the snow mounds they leave on curb cuts and crosswalks go unshoveled. What about the pedestrians? This article in Forbes says it well: Plowing equipment exists that can clear sidewalks at least as efficiently as […]

Every December the publisher of my book Writing Out Loud asks me to write a year-end holiday message to send out to people who subscribe to my newsletter. But this past holiday, I had writer’s block. Who wanted to think hard about 2020? What would I write about? Conference presentations that got cancelled? Visits to […]

My blog posts here have been pretty clear about how I feel about people in America faking their pet is a service dog to get them into places they are not allowed. So when news came out last Wednesday that the Department of Transportation (DOT) will no longer consider an emotional support animal to be […]

Trainers at the Seeing Eye school encourage us to talk to our dogs as they guide us. “Remind them you’re there,” they say. “It keeps them focused.” Since the pandemic hit, I’ve been taking one, and sometimes two, hour long walks with Luna every day. What happens when I run out of things to talk to […]

Did you know that today, October 15, is National White Cane Safety Day? Me, neither. Not until the supervisor at my job moderating the National Easterseals blog pointed it out to me. I was glad she did, because it got me reminiscing about a school visit I especially enjoyed at Eastview Elementary School in Algonquin, […]