Eliot Spindel is sitting in a room at Inglis House in Philadelphia, PA. Eliot is sitting in a power wheelchair wearing a headset microphone for Dragon NaturallySpeaking with a computer next to him. Eliot is being interviewed as part of The Dream Alliances’ on going commitment to produce promotional videos for the Independence Starts Here festival and it’s website.
My name is Eliot Spindel and I am the web designer for Independence Starts Here
[The Independence Starts Here logo comes onto screen with a little funky music bed underneath of it and then we are back to Eliot. A new, lower profile, yet emotional music bed fades up as Eliot resumes speaking.]
"I have always liked computers and being in a chair all day is a good match so I decided to start to learn web programming. Now I am getting more into the graphics part of it. One of my goals when I first got injured was not to dwell on what I couldn't do but find things I could do."
"I found out with adaptive equipment that I could gradually do the same things I did before but just do them differently."
"Working on this site helps to send out a message that no matter what your disability you can probably find a way to do what you want to do. You are not limited by your disability."
[Eliot softly talks to the computer saying the commands 'switched to previous window' 'up one']
"I think this festival means a lot to both people with disabilities and those that are in the general public. It creates an awareness that people with disabilities can do a lot of things, whether it is just web design, doing poetry, theater, arts, that whatever they put their mind to do, they can do."
[Video fades out with soft music.]
©2007 The Dream Alliance