Randy drove home an inspiring message related to the conference theme of "Abilities, Respect, and CHOICE" as the second day of the conference began.
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Randy drove home an inspiring message related to the conference theme of "Abilities, Respect, and CHOICE" as the second day of the conference began. |
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| Setting up the visual interactive moment, Randy gets the crowd focused on how to help citizens with disabilities learn to face challenges with confidence and resilience. |
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| Matt Nalker, Executive Director of the ARC of Mississippi volunteered for the interactive moment, and gladly helped Randy "recruit" other volunteers from the audience! |
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| Getting an earful, Matt reacts to some pretty tough words from the other volunteers |
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| Another speaker for the ARC conference was Kim Peek, also known as "The Real Rain Man." Kim was the inspiration for the 1988 Acadamy Award winning film starring Dustin Hoffman as a mega savant who is left a fortune by his father and becomes the unwilling pawn of his selfish brother played by Tom Cruise. |
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| If you saw the photos from the 2006 MIID Conference, you'll recognize this little ray of sunshine. He's Alan Trevon "Tray-Tray" Henderson, a charming 9 year old from Brookhaven, MS who also has Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Tray and his parents Willie and Victoria knew Randy was speaking for the ARC and made the two hour drive so Tray would get to see Randy again. What a neat family! |
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| These young men are the members of the Gospel Rap group known as C4 (notice the hand signals?) C4 stands for "Christ 4 Life." When Randy asked, what about the "L," the response was "we didn't like the sound of 'C-4-L.' C4 is better and at least we got the word Christ in there." Who can argue with that? |
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| After the conference, Randy was able to spend some quiet time with Kim Peek and his father Fran at the home of Matt Nalker. Fran is Kim's personal care attendant and is with Kim constantly. At Matt's kitchen table, Fran shared magnificent tales of Kim's journey through life. Truly an unforgettable evening... |
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| Even after Randy put him on stage to be harrassed by colleagues (all in fun), Matt was a great sport and hosted a bar-b-que at his home for Randy and Kim Peek. |
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