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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">As discussed at this weeks South Central chapter meeting in Wichita, I wanted to highlight the disability rights author event taking place this Saturday April 12<sup>th</sup>, see details below.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">As part of the Big Read initiative, I had an opportunity to participate earlier this week on a Kansas Leadership Panel discussing the state of accessibility and inclusion, and the book served as the backdrop
for the evenings conversation featuring advocates, city representatives, journalists, and others involved or interested in accessibility and inclusion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The excerpt from the book was very timely and interesting in terms of where we are as a society in our approach towards disability, and highlighted how much work remains to be done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I would recommend that anyone attend the free event to learn more and get a preview of the book and meet the author. The event is in person only and is not being streamed online. You do not need to register
or RSVP to attend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Big Read Book Discussion Event - Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Saturday 4/12/25 6:00pm - 7:30 pm<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Wichita Public Library<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">711 W 2nd Street<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Wichita, KS 67203<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">316-261-8500<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Facebook Event Page:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2470439569957856?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5b%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22your_upcoming_events_unit%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22bookmark%22%7D%5d%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D">https://www.facebook.com/events/2470439569957856?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22your_upcoming_events_unit%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22bookmark%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Sitting Pretty<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">By<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Rebekah Taussig<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Narrated by<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Rebekah Taussig<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">NLS Bard ID Number: DB101063<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Audible Audio Book Link:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Sitting-Pretty-Audiobook/0063014491?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp">https://www.audible.com/pd/Sitting-Pretty-Audiobook/0063014491?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">About this listen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks
and moves differently than most.Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the '90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None
of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t
fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.Disability
affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us
as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<div dir="ltr" style="mso-line-height-rule:exactly;-webkit-text-size-adjust:100%;font-size:1px;direction:ltr;"><table dir="ltr" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width:100%;direction:ltr;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:1px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;white-space:normal;"><tr style="font-size:14.67px;white-space:nowrap;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><br />​<span style="font-family:remialcxesans;font-size:1px;color:#FFFFFF;line-height:1px;">​<span style="font-family:'template-LgHyTiSVEeyYHwANOhMHOw';">​</span><span style="font-family:'zone-1';">​</span><span style="font-family:'zones-AQ';">​</span></span><br /></p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;font-weight:700;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">Mika Pyyhkala</p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">Dir. of Digital Accessibility - BVI Workforce Innovation Center</p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;font-weight:700;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">Envision, Inc.</p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">610 N. Main St.</p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:0;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;white-space:normal;"><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">Wichita</p></td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-size:0;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;white-space:normal;"><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="padding:0 3px 0 0;vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">, </p></td></tr></table></td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">Kansas</p></td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> <br /></p></td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">67203</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-weight:700;">Direct:</span> <a href="tel:316-440-1573" target="_blank" id="LPlnk689713" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000001;">316-440-1573</a></p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-weight:700;">Mobile:</span> <a href="tel:617-308-1114" target="_blank" id="LPlnk689713" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000001;">617-308-1114</a></p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><a href="http://www.envisionus.com/" target="_blank" id="LPlnk689713" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000001;">www.envisionus.com</a><br /></p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:15px;font-weight:700;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><br />​Envision Mission: <span style="font-style:italic;font-weight:400;">To improve the quality of life and provide inspiration and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education and research.</span><br /></p></td></tr><tr style="font-size:11px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="color:#000001;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><br />​<span style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#212529;font-family:ARIAL;">NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any attached files are confidential. The information is exclusively for the use of the individual or entity intended as the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, printing, reviewing, retention, disclosure, distribution or forwarding of the message or any attached file is not authorized and is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail message in error, please advise the sender by reply electronic mail immediately and permanently delete the original transmission, any attachments and any copies of this message from your computer system.<br />​</span><br /></p></td></tr></table></div></body>
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