Mission Statement
Ability Maine is a place for collecting and sharing information and opinions about living with disabilities. Our intent is to provide a place on the web for people to get information that will help them create better lives for themselves and others. We want to educate and provide resources that will contribute toward people achieving a better quality of life.
The AbilityMaine People
Staff
The Participant Group
Contact Information
Staff
Hi, I'm Norm Meldrum.
I live in Wilton, a small town in the Western Foothills. I'm married and have High School age son and two adult stepsons. I like to read, cook, bike, go camping, travel, and meet new people. I also spend way too much time in front of the computer screen.
My disablilty is chronic back and neck pain that is partially the result of having been born with cervical ribs. I look "normal" and often I appear to function like a "normal" person. In fact, I am frequently in pain and often find movement difficult. It is especially difficult for me to walk on hard surfaces, like concrete and pavement. As a result of the "on and off" nature of my disability and that I spent much of my life as a stay at home Dad, I don't receive any disability benefits other than some vocational assistance. Like a lot of disabled people, I have limited financial resources but seem to muddle through.
The concept of this site was my idea. I thought that if people with disabilities had access to a place on the net, they would swarm to it. Like a lot of things in life, this concept needed some adjustment. What I have found is that people want information, but don't have the resources to get it by themselves. That has meant that all of the Ability Maine staff and volunteers have spent a lot of time researching, networking, and attending events to bring you our mix of articles and informational links.
Sharon Wachsler likes to mix and match her media and genres: her essays and cartoons have been published in the US and abroad (including translation into German) her fiction is in over a dozen books; her articles appear in numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals. Notable achievements include a Pushcart nomination and Peregrine Prize for poetry, consecutive years of publication in Simon & Schuster's Best American Erotica series, and the founding end editing of Breath & Shadow (http://www.abilitymaine.org/breath), the only literary journal written exclusively by people with disabilities. Sharon is best known for her Sick Humor essays and cartoons about life with disability, which she is compiling into a book, Sick Humor: Full Frontal Disability. Her humor columns still occasionally appear on AbilityMaine, in the e–pages of Breath & Shadow. To check out her cartoon postcards visit http://www.sickhumorpostcards.com. To learn more about Sharon, her writing, and her passion for service dog training go to http://www.sharonwachsler.com.
Participant Group Members are people who are involved in the Ability Maine Project. They advise the project, provide volunteer support, and generally help out in some way. If you a person with a disability, and have an interest in being a participant group member, please use the contact information below to connect with us.
Current Participant Group Members are:
Marcia Cooper
Paul Puiia
Mike Reynolds
email: abilitymaine@gmail.com
Snail Mail Norm at:
PO Box 106
Wilton, Maine 04294