Of all of the years that i have been working with disabled people
Weird Al has always been the best medicine.
I have been a fan since i was young but sadly he is not as known
here in the U.K.
I have worked with blind people who have suffered severe
depression and weird al has made them smile, and even motivated them
to go out!
i have used his music throughout my work, and it has always made a
difference.
Myself and Jimmy
Jimmy who was born Deaf and went blind at the age of 18 loves to
laugh, and loves anything silly
if Jimmy could hear he would love weird Al, so i have sat with
Jimmy on various occasions and interpreted Als songs to him using a
special type of sign language called Deafblind manual, where each
word is spelt out onto his hand.
i have even had various lyrics Brailled out so he can read them
himself
every now and then i have bonkers idea which i carry through -
sometimes it works and sometimes it dosent.
i went to see al in London for my 40th and spent most of the
concert wishing Jimmy was there and how much he would have loved it
a few months later i hear al is coming back to the UK for probably
his last gig here
i really wanted to get Jimmy there, but cost would be a problem so
i wrote to Jim kimo west who forwarded me jay Leveys email (weird Als
manager)
i then wrote to him explaining about the situation and he told me
to get back to him nearer the date
4 months later i wrote back and he has donated 4 tickets for us to
take Jimmy to see weird al in October
i will interpret for Jimmy, my wife was going to come but has
donated her ticket to matt, jimmy's friend who has cerebral palsy,
and simon, matt's brother will drive
Jimmys mate Matt
this dream has been a long time in the making but it is going to
be epic
thank you Jim Kimo West and Jay Levey
watch this blog for more updates
jj
No comments:
Post a Comment