DISABILITY and DIAGNOSIS
I have been diagnosed with several disabilities, and I try to bring awareness about them to all who I can, because hiding them doesn't help to bring awareness to society about them. As long as disabilities are deemed "Different", we will remain in a self-centered society in which, I feel that we live in. When I graduated from High School, I was offered a scholarship to The University of Southern Mississippi for music. However, I did not take the scholarship because I couldn't and don't read music. All music that I do is by ear. The recital sheet music that I needed to play in order to receive the scholarship, I had rehearsed the music and remembered it like I had always done in music from the fourth to six grade playing violin. I also played saxophone from the tenth grade until adulthood, along with playing keyboard and singing vocals. I learned production on my own from the tenth grade, along with music mixing. However, I did not accept the scholarship to the university, but instead I went into the Air Force Reserves. In 1998 at "South", I did take two classes in music. The first class was called Media Music Production (or something like that). It was dealing with MIDI. I got A's in that class. The second class was Music Composition. When I took that class, I probably would have had a better understanding of reading and speaking Japanese in Tokyo, then understanding how to read music at "South". I got a big "WD", for that class. "Ahhh!, NASA we don't just have a problem here,......Ahhh!..........NASA, we have "Catastrophe". I was done with that and have not looked back. I later found out that I am Dyslexic, Dyscalculic, with Giftedness, which all combined together classify me as a Twice-Exceptional person (2e). Don't let 2e deceive you. It's not a "Superman", symbol. It simply means that you have a problem or difference in at least two areas of life, which happen to be on the opposite ends of the scale. These differences, as I call them, are not disabilities but are simply what makes me the person who I am. Dyslexia for several individuals, makes them to see letters backward. This doesn't happen to me. For me, Dyslexia causes entire words to jump around in a sentence. Also, I don't stutter or anything like that, well not too much. However, my sentence words do present out of order at times. But it is what it is. It's Dyslexia. Dyscalculia is Dyslexia for numbers. When doing Math or other similar things concerning counting, my numbers get off count. That's pretty much no matter how many times I count it. It's off. Also, it causes me to see things that aren't the way they are written. For example, when I'm tired and looking for labels at a store or at one of the jobs that I had as a supply tech, the labels simply changed into what I was looking for, in front of my eyes. Actually, because I am a visual person, my brain just makes it appear like what I am looking for, so that it can rest. Yeah, it just lies to me so that it can go chill. Meaning my eyes can play tricks on me. Like I said, it is what it is and you just live with it. The third disability or difference is being Gifted. Giftedness can cause a person to be able to do many fantastic things in many different ways of artistic expression, with talents and gifts to display. But there are a large number of drawbacks that it has as well. But as I have said, it is what it is. My belief is that all individuals can have a certain percent of talents and abilities spread out evenly. But for Gifted individuals, they aren't spread out. They are rather clumped together in certain areas of abilities. This means that it subtracts from the other areas and adds too much to certain areas, which results in having individuals to have differing amounts of abilities in certain areas and almost none in others. That is my opinion. So, no person is better than another, just unevenly spaced. When I look at my issues compared to issues that others have, such as Cancer, missing limbs, mental health issues, blindness, deafness, or immigration and hunger issues, I shut up complaining. I consider myself blessed and fortunate to be alive with what I have been given to get throughout the world with. This is my hand that I have been delt through no act of my own. God has enough faith and belief in me to allow me to have these issues and know that I will survive my entire life with this hand that I have been delt. And that I will speak about my issues in order to encourage others as they go through their issues. I will not let him down. In order to beat your disability, you must thrive to survive. If you don't beat your disability in your mind, it will beat you. As we know the only thing that is designed to be beat is a drum. A drum will just sit there and expect for you to beat on it in whatever way that you may choose. But you have to remember that, that is why the drum was created,...to beat on. Don't let your disability beat you in your mind. Make your disability be a positive ability for you, by helping and encouraging others like you. It's at that point that you begin the process of controlling your disability and placing it under your authority and control. You have to remember that you cannot have a testimony without having test. The bigger the test, the better the testimony. The bigger the testimony, the better your influence will be on those who need your encouragement. To learn more about my differences, click the links below. All in all, I consider myself to be, my own coined word (2012), a Colexidif.
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Challenge
I propose to the world a challenge. The challenge is for all of those who are Teachers and Special Education Teachers and those who don't have much understanding and empathy for those who have disabilities, this is my challenge to you. Seeing that we who are different, basically have our own natural ways of expressing ourselves and those of you who aren't like us, express yourselves differently. I request that you begin to have an annual challenge against your students. Students against teachers in a competition. Since we who are different are always being taught to learn how to survive in your world of expression, we and I challenge you to compete against us on our turf of whatever it may be for us. For many, when you are asked to play and instrument or design a video game or remember numbers and whatever else we do,.......why is it okay for you to say, "Oh no, I could never do that, that is not what I'm good at". But we can't get away with saying the exact same thing. Is that fair and is that right? But some of you may come back and respond, "But what we do is needed in everyday life". And what I will ask you to do is to go seek and find out about all of the inventions and apps and programs that are designed by individuals who are like us that are on the market around the world. Find out whose ideas are actually powering the world's economy. You will see that it is those who are entrepreneurs with many different disabilities. Because many of you are hardwired to be teachers you teach, but because many of us are hardwired to be expressionist we entertain and have deep empathy and compassion. Both kinds of individuals are greatly needed to perform their skills in our society. Read about us. Read about Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Richard Branson, Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs, Bruce Willis, Henry Winkler, Whoopi Goldberg and others. Don't their efforts help power our economy too, with also providing inspiration and dreams? So, I will say this to every person who studies and teaches special education children and adults. I was a Paraprofessional for three years and an after-school mentor for six months. I would give you a suggestion that for you it might help you to be able to understand us better. You first need to go and watch the first X-Men movie. You should try to pay attention to the Mutants in the X-Men school, "Xavier School For Gifted Youngster", and see how they are treated but, then make sure that you look at the many gifts, talents, and abilities that they have, that they are just learning how to master. Watch and understand that it takes time to learn and understand they we fit in and how they are to use their abilities. But if you want to see what unloved talents and unloved care for individuals eventually can become, then feel free to watch Firestarter and / or Carrie by Steven King. Then you will begin to understand what it's like to be us and learn a better way to help us be who we are and to see who we can become in both good ways and bad ways.
RACISM
Racism in America must be eradicated or we will not survive as a nation. I say it again, if racism is not eradicated in America, our nation will not continue to survive. Why, you ask? It's very simple. The majority of nations that are attempting to be a Superpower are generally a one race nation. Because it or they are primarily a one race nation, there is not much racism in those countries. Because of this fact, they have a very large pool of creative talent to choose from who have futuristic ideas and plans. America on the other hand is a nation of multiple races. It is the very foundation of what America is, a nation of many races. America is a melting pot. But strangely as it is, America chooses to primarily only gather its' ideas from one particular race within it, leaving all of the other talents in other races aside. By doing so, America has become greatly out numbered in ideas and inventions compared to annual new product releases by other countries to continue to display us as the world's Superpower. We are losing the race and losing our way. It is very easy to see what our nation will become by simply reading about other nations that failed to adapt to the industrial age of their time. There have been far greater nations in their day than America, yet, they are no longer known or heard from. If we don't eradicate racism and utilize the full potential of the talent in the American talent pool, America will be but a foot note in history. Those nations were great and had been around for thousands of years but, we in America have barley past the two-hundred year mark. If we don't change and function as one nation, we will fail as a nation and be looked at as, "The American Experiment", that failed. We can not survive divided. The way things are shaping up is like America is supposed to be the Super Bowl champions with only ten players and no backup players. We will be playing against the required 53 players and their backup players available if needed. Do you actually believe that we could win that game? It is Mathematically impossible to win that game. Other nations are looking at us and making their plans. They are looking at how we are not very innovative and spend ridiculous amounts of time and resources on political issues, while failing in our education systems. The very educational system that we taught them and now they have built upon it and mastered it, getting better grades than us. Is it not true that so far as it goes for product wise, we are already, primarily an Asian owned country? Many Asian nations are over-populated and don't have enough land, so they will need to acquire more land somehow, someday, in the future. Where do you think, they are going to attempt to get their land from once they become a Superpower? Just do the Math and do the Calculations. America is so stuck on past achievements that we have accomplished, that we don't see the failures right before us. That kind of thinking will cost us dearly in the end, if we don't embrace the past and become a formidable world power in economics, producing cost effective products to offer to the world. The world is like a mall or a marketplace. If you don't produce a product that is affordable and obtainable, you will go out of business and be consumed by another entity. It is what it is. It is simply business, real estate space, and commerce.
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MARS
The first country that places an individual on Mars will be the world's next Superpower. Once that happens, the Moon Landing will be considered the first orbiting satellite landing. If we don't motivate our students and our nation to embrace this Space Race, we will lose it in a big way. While these other nations are embracing the opportunity to be the world's Superpower, they are doing so with national pride. We here in America, who are already a Superpower for now, don't realize what it means to not be the world's number one Superpower. While our students spend time doing trivial things on social media sites and seeking "Bling", items, other nations and their students are actively learning how to be the best. And as you know, with any student who is determined to be the best that they can be, will be eventually the best. If we don't somehow motivate our students to want to learn, we will be a memory as a nation eventually. We need to employ Disney, Pixar, Marvel, or some creative American company to develop inspirational programs for education, that our children will appreciate. Our nation is one of the wealthiest nations in the world's history, but we don't spend almost anything on updating our schools and educational resources. In the end, other countries will surpass us, and America will be sending educational leaders to learn from those other countries. But sadly, America will have "Old Man", pride and won't do that. It will, rather sit there and lose the race, remembering the days of old, will fake and false pride, as the world surpasses America. If we don't get serious about educational spending on technology and updating our outdated school system, we will not be the nation that we are today. Why don't we have corporations adopting schools, making sure that these schools have what they need. Why don't we have Walmart sponsored schools or Microsoft sponsored High Schools, Middle Schools, and Elementary Schools. However, just like after many wars or events that have happened here in America, when we are caught off guard, we will spend the money at that time. And like always, somehow the money will simply, magically appear. Just like all the money that magically appeared when Covid 19 happened. We have too many people who are greedy and selfish, who don't want to do spend the money until we have to. We kick the can down road repeatedly, until the can becomes rusty and dangerous, cutting through the shoes. If we don't make education a priority again for our nation, our nation will cease to exist as how we know it today. We have cars that are being designed to please buyers in Asia, and not Americans, that don't look like anything that Americans want to buy or even be seen driving. We sell our country out for money every time. Now, even our largest corporation "Walmart", is 50% now owned by China. How is this possible? We have horrible issues in Congress that can't be resolved because of personalities and political agendas. "All This Stuff", will come back to destroy our country as we know it. It is what it is. Simply do the Math and read your History, and you will see that we are setting our country up for a massive failure in the end. How do we start to fix these things? Start by requiring our students to learn the Star Spangled Banner in History class, at an early age. Next, set a national agenda request from the Federal Government, to ask our students to solve the problems of the future. Set different task assignments for every ten years, starting and setting an agenda for that generation to come up with a solution in their later generational years. Give our citizens and assignment and a national goal to reach, together as a nation. Let the children know what our national agenda is and ask them to participate in the national discussion. This has to be done as a nation, with pride within the entire nation, including all races and genders. I truly believe that if we don't do this as a nation,.....then?
Greg Williams
2/2/2025