Disability Awareness - Sara Sings On Her Dynavox
: :
Here's a great article (and website) my mom sent me the other day.  My sister, Katy uses a Dynavox to communicate and she also has it set up to change channels on the TV, etc.  If you have the time, look at the site and check out some of the other songs Sara has written.  I think they are lyrically very insightful.
 
Lyrical Miracle for Old GloryVoiceless Teen Sings Star Spangled Banner for Indians-Rangers Game with DynaVox Speech Generation Device.
Cleveland, July 7, 2004 - Barely noticeable droplets of rain fell on Jacobs Field in Cleveland tonight, as eighteen-year-old Sara Pyszka got ready to roll her wheelchair to home plate. She wasn't going to bat, but then again she was. The talented young woman, who has cerebral palsy and cannot use her natural voice, hit an out-of-the-park grand slam home run for people with disabilities everywhere, when she sang the Star Spangled Banner on her DynaVox speech generator.
As her Mom, Cindy, covered Sara's DynaVox with a clear plastic rain protector, Sara bridled, creating a message on her machine that said she didn't want to look geeky before the gathering crowd of 17,000 fans.
Happily, the sprinkle stopped and Sara steered her wheelchair to join Alex Machaskee publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and executives from Exceptional Parent Magazine and DynaVox Systems, LLC. to receive an award in honor of Disabilities Awareness Night.
While Sara rolled away, her mom saluted her the way performers have done for generations. "I know you can't break a leg, so blow out a tire," she said with a chuckle. She said it the way only a Mom could say to a daughter of whom she is extraordinarily proud. Sara smiled at the joke.
When the awards ceremony was finished, the Indians' announcer introduced Sara again. On the jumbotron Sara told her story. And then she sang our National Anthem in a voice like nothing anyone in the stadium had heard before. With nuanced rhythm, subtle voicing and impassioned styling, Sara brought to Francis Scott Key's tribute to the durability of our Nation, a sense of newfound meaning. As though the tattered flag he saw in the morning were a metaphor for the achievements of all people with disabilities around the globe, Sara sang her Nation's Anthem.
When she was finished, the fans cheered and cheered and cheered. The Indians’ improbable-looking fuchsia and yellow mascot, Slider, gave her a hug. Photographers swarmed around them. Then she made her way down the third base line with TV crews scrambling to keep up with her. As though she had just scored the winning run, Cleveland players applauded and cheered when she passed before the Indians' dugout. Sara beamed while rolling toward the giant utility doors in the outfield fence, while fans remained on their feet, applauding and shouting accolades as she exited the playing field.
On her way to her seat behind home plate to watch the game with her family, as though to put a topping on an already perfect evening, Indians Representative, Monica Woodward gave her a team jersey signed by all the Cleveland players.
Her performance was a first: A person without a voice singing the National Anthem at a Major League Baseball game. A lyrical miracle for Sara Pyszka, the Cleveland Indians, People with Disabilities and the Star Spangled Banner.
To learn more about Sara and her DynaVox, please visit http://www.sara-sings.com/.

posted by Jake B. @ 10:21:00 PM