Recognition of Purple Day 2024

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, happy Purple Day! March 26th, Purple Day, around the world celebrating Epilepsy Awareness, and you all know I live with epilepsy and I'm wearing purple. At my office, we had a purple party. We are celebrating here. And how awesome is it that I have the Epilepsy Association on today, which I must say I planned it, but still it's so awesome to have them on today as it is Purple Day today. And they are 3 of my favorite people. But first, I have to thank all of my listeners. You are all so awesome. Oh my goodness, such great followers. I'm always overwhelmed when I meet someone, you know, and they tell me how they follow the show and how much they love the show. And I just hope you all know that means so much to me. Please spread the news to other people. Share, go on Spotify or Voice America or Bender, share share the old shows. You know why? We've got to work together. Come on. We got to work together to get the news out about people with disabilities and quality of life and how, yes, we are all going to vote. So spread the news. But to everyone else around the world, it means so much to me that I have these listeners in these different countries because you know what you're doing? It's even more. You are helping people understand that they count, that they matter. I mean, I met people with epilepsy when I was in all the countries, but I will use North Korea as my example. They were in fact so ashamed to even say the word. So you're helping me. You are helping me. If you have a disability, you're living in any of these countries. Let's go through the most recently: Thailand, United Kingdom, China, Norway, Canada, Japan, Australia, Afghanistan, India, Mexico, Singapore, Morocco, Pakistan, Maldives, Algeria. Oh my goodness. Azerbaijan, Colombia, Rwanda, Rwanda, Poland, Poland, I'm sorry, Taiwan, Spain, the Ukraine. Oh, we love you there. We love you. Jordan, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Chile. Can you believe how many countries are now listening to the show? Peggy, can you believe it?

It's amazing. It's amazing, Joyce. And do you know that over 100 countries are celebrating Purple Day today? Yes. Amazing, is that—

well, if you're one of those—

amazing, is that—

yeah, if you're one of those countries, oh, if you could just get a picture of someone wearing purple and send that to me at j Joyce Bender, that's B as in boy, E as in Nancy, D as in David, E-R, joycebender@benderconsult.com. Oh, if any of you could do that, that would just be so great.

That would be amazing.

That would be amazing. But I must say that you can help me help other people realize they matter. Now let's talk about the Ukraine, for example. You know how many people were listening to the show? 2 people, but those 2 people count. Those 2 people matter. And you know what? You're going to help me change lives. It doesn't matter how many, it matters what your dedication is. Uh, and Chile— I just met someone from Chile. This has to be all these people I recently met at my office from the State Department. Uh, so to all of you. Hello, I can see— yeah, Morocco, I see all of you in Singapore, I— and India, all of you that were here in the office, Pakistan, Algeria. Yes, that's where you came from. Brazil, Taiwan. If I met— you know, they've only listed the countries that were listeners, but Peggy, I met representatives from all of the NGOs from different countries. They were all here a couple Fridays ago in my office, and now I see those very countries on here as listeners of the show, which is just great. So awesome. Yeah, that is so awesome. But it's important for you to know what Peggy was talking about. Purple Day that I'm talking about is a day to celebrate epilepsy awareness. And as Peggy just told me, 100 countries celebrate Purple Day. Boy, so next year we've got to really make it big. That is going to be on my mind the whole time through. So Yoshiko, special shout out to you. You know I love you, Yoshiko. Richard, Roberts, and Carla, Sorry, I won't see you this fall, but I will see you in March of next year, and I can't wait to see you. Richard is one of my closest friends. He's with the State Department in Brazil, but I've been with him before in Japan and in South Korea. He is just fabulous, so I look forward to seeing both of you then. And hi, Mark, what a great company. They are and have been the lead sponsor of this radio show and just so committed to the employment of people with disabilities. And as I said, I have 3 of my favorite people on the show today on Purple Day as we celebrate epilepsy awareness. And I am going to start with Peggy, but so you know, we have Peggy Beam Jelly, President and CEO of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, and Colleen Fulkerson from the Epilepsy Association over special events. And then we have the real superstar, Logan Ewald, but we'll save him. He's gonna be on too. He's back by popular demand. Okay, Peggy, we're gonna start with you. I wondered, would you mind sharing with all of our listeners, how did this all get started? I know it was with one young girl, but how did it get started? And then how the heck did it become global?

Well, it started, Joyce, as many things do, around awareness with one young woman who was very young when this started in 2008. Her name is Cassidy— Cassidy Megan, and she was diagnosed when she was 7 years old living in Nova Scotia, Canada. And she was experiencing seizures and diagnosed with epilepsy. And like so many people do, discovered that people didn't know about epilepsy, didn't necessarily know what to do to help her, didn't know what to do to help her in school and those kinds of things. And she decided she needed to be a part of helping to spread the word about epilepsy and increase awareness. And so she decided it was going to be her goal to make people aware of epilepsy, and she's the person who came up with this concept of Purple Day. She picked March 26th. She and her family created something called www.purpleday.org, and she got help the second year, 2009, from the Epilepsy Foundation Association in Canada, and she has been growing it year after year after year ever since then. And as I said, it is now in 100 countries. It's on all continents. There are folks that can go to her— to this website, Purple Day website, and become ambassadors. You can get a starter kit if you want to do something with your family or in your office or in your community to help spread the word. But I mean, her goal is just to promote epilepsy awareness. And what she has done is created this global grassroots movement and event on March 26th to make folks more aware of epilepsy and to have folks come together to celebrate epilepsy awareness and to talk about breaking down fears and stigma around epilepsy.

Well, how did it get so much traction? Did she get like the government involved or what happened?

Well, the Canadian government did in 2012, the Canadian government did start to recognize March 26th as Purple Day. It's the only country that officially recognizes Purple Day. But I mean, I think it was just, you know, her perseverance and social media. You know, back in 2006, 2007, Facebook was really becoming popular and social media was really becoming a great way to connect with people. And I think she was just very persistent. There was an organization in Florida that she has partnered with called the Anita Kaufman Foundation that has been very helpful to her. And they have helped her with, you know, spreading the word in the United States, that kind of thing. And I think You know, little by little, every year more and more organizations have kind of gotten on board in celebrating Purple Day and joining in to help celebrate. So, I mean, it's all great things to do.

Yeah, but look what one person has done.

Yep.

I mean, that is amazing, the difference you can make. And then I guess social media is how it just became global, or different epilepsy organizations possibly, you know, spreading the news. That's probably what happened. Wow, that is just to me a phenomenal story. And before we talk more—

go ahead. We have— we started having a Purple Party every year. I don't exactly know which— I don't remember exactly when we started having a Purple Party, but it's now an annual event for us.. We did ours on Saturday because it's easier for families to enjoy that day on a weekend, but it's now an annual event for us. So, you know, it's a great time for folks to come together and socialize and connect with one another. And I think, you know, so just kind of bit by bit folks have done things in their local community to, you know, come together and celebrate. And I've seen folks do everything from sell purple cupcakes in the fall. I've seen people do purple pumpkins. People just really— I think it was this Purple Day that kind of pushed us all towards the color purple for epilepsy.

Yeah.

Wow, that is a great thing. And before we talk more about Purple Day, And hey, if you're listening, here's what you need to do. Go put something purple on right now. Send me your picture, joybender@benderconsult.com. Peggy, let's hear though about— I am proud to be the chair in our great city, Pittsburgh, of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. And I was would like you to take just a few moments and tell everyone about the association, what your role is, and, you know, the size, where do you provide services, you know, a little bit about our programs.

So, I'm the president and CEO, as you said, and how fortunate are we that Joyce Bender, you are our chair of our board of directors. We're so lucky to have you, and thank you so much for all of your leadership and everything that you do for us. We are an organization that serves 49 counties in western and central Pennsylvania, although we certainly do our best to never turn anybody away who calls us for help. We do a lot of community education. We do a lot of work in the schools in particular. We work very hard to try and improve any environment that we're in to make it a safer, more welcoming environment in terms of improving seizure recognition and safety and seizure first aid as much as we can. So we do a lot of that, particularly in the schools with teachers and students and things like that. And then we provide a lot of services and programs that are supportive in nature to help people kind of mitigate or lessen whatever negative consequences they might be experiencing as a result of having seizures. So, for instance, we have a program to provide service animals for folks. We provide respite care—nursing respite care services—for families that might need a break. We have an emergency medication program. So, things that would help to make life a little easier, maybe lessen the burden for a person who's experiencing seizures. And then we try to do some things like support groups and some social programs and things that will help people to connect with one another and provide one another with peer support. So we do that and those kinds of things, many other things in Western and Central Pennsylvania primarily.

Well, you're doing a lot and you do so much more than what you just said, Peggy, and we're lucky to have you, Peggy Beam Jelly, as our CEO. We're going to talk more about the Epilepsy Association right after break. Hey, if you just joined us, we're talking to Peggy Beam Jelly, President and CEO, and Colleen Fulkerson, Special Events Coordinator, from the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, and our young superstar who will be on soon, Logan Ewald. We'll be right back, don't go away.

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You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. If you just joined us, we are talking to Peggy Beam Jelly, the President and CEO of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, and Colleen Fulkerson, who is also with the Epilepsy Association and is our Special Events Coordinator. The Lookout, talk about a real fireball, it's Colleen. Am I right, Peggy? Is she not a fireball? You are correct. She is a fireball. Colleen, welcome to the show. I just love you, Colleen. I love having her at events. She just brings so much joy. But let me say this, she'll also give you the hammer if you're not attending our events. So watch out. So Colleen, how about talking about your role and then our upcoming events, which I know we have a big one coming up. And, and what was your Purple Day party like?

So my role with the Epilepsy Association is special events. So anything that has to do with fundraising, whether that's events that we host, I work with families who host third-party events, any kind of sponsorships, any kind of money that's coming into the organization is usually a project that I am working on. So I definitely, you know, my job is a lot of hard work. Work, but I do have a lot of reward in knowing that the money that we raise matters. I know the importance that it is doing in the community. Whether we're going into schools and doing seizure recognition and first aid training or we're providing scholarships for high school seniors or providing seizure response dogs. I know that everything, all the money that we're raising through the association and through our special events is making an impact in somebody's lives.

And how about that Purple Day party? What was it like?

Our Purple Party is a great, fun event. This year we had probably about 100 people in attendance, and it's a good opportunity for folks to just come together. You know, it's a very casual event. We have lunch, we have crafts, and it's a good opportunity for parents to chat with other parents. You know, for young people to meet their peers, for adults to talk to other adults, just to let folks know that they are not alone in their epilepsy journey. You know, it just, it becomes, you know, just a great opportunity for folks to socialize and get to chat and, you know, also reach out to us and let us know, give us updates of what's going on with them, changes that are going on in their world, things that we can celebrate with them. So it's a really fun afternoon and, you know, something that I think that folks enjoy because they keep coming back every year.

Well, it is, but I'll tell you what's really, really fun is the walk, the epilepsy walk, the fun run walk. When is that?

So we host two family fun run walks. We host our event in Pittsburgh, which will be Saturday, June 15th, and that is at PNC Park. And then we host an event in Harrisburg, which is our Family Fun Run Walk with the Harrisburg Senators, and that is Saturday, August 3rd. Now, in addition, I mean, our summers are busy. In addition, I know how much you love everybody at Highmark, and we are also participants in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. Those are wonderful, wonderful walks. Highmark puts those events on and they handle everything, everything for the event. And we are a participating organization at the event in Erie, which will be on Saturday, June 1st at Penn State Behrend at the campus up there. And then also on June 15th in Altoona. So, there are many opportunities for folks to Walk with Us, walk with the Epilepsy Association. And even if you're not in our region, I don't like anybody to tell me no. I don't know if you've learned this about me, Joyce, but I don't like to be told no. So our Run/Walk websites have the opportunity for folks to register as a virtual walker, and any participant who is at the $30 level will receive an epilepsy awareness t-shirt. So if they register as a virtual and then, you know, following the event, I can mail them their t-shirt. They can run or walk in their community. We encourage them to take a picture, you know, by something in their community and share that photo with us to say, hey, you know, maybe they're walking at the beach. Maybe they're walking, you know, maybe they're hiking, maybe they're wherever they are in the world. They are raising awareness and raising funds for the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central Pennsylvania.

It's so great. It's so much fun. I love it. Of course, I love the Pirates, as everyone knows. I'm that loyal fan. I'm like the Cubs. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. But someday when we're in the World Series, don't be calling me then. I'm going to say, where were you all those years we were losing? But the fact that it's there makes it even better. I love that walk. So Colleen, how soon could people register for that? When can they register?

So the website will be up soon. I'm working on it now. And so probably by early next week. Our website will be up and running. So folks can check out our Facebook page or our website. So eawcp.org is our website, and through Facebook, if you search eawcp. And, you know, this year, if anybody has been to our run/walk in the past, we always host a tailgate party immediately following the walk. The last couple years, the bridge has been under construction, and so we've been inside of PNC Park, which was absolutely beautiful, but we're very excited that the bridge construction has ended and we can host our tailgate party. You know, we can all be on Federal Street without construction and celebrate— celebrate the day on the Clemente Bridge.

All right, it's a great day. And if you're— put that on your calendar now if you're in the Pittsburgh area, although you can come from anywhere. But if you're in Western PA, June 15th, June 15th. And didn't you say you could do it virtually from anywhere, right?

Yes, if you are— I know we've talked about all of the countries that you are broadcasting in, Joyce Bender, so folks can register from anywhere in the world and be a virtual walker, and we will make sure that we get them a t-shirt.

Oh, that would be great. Richard, I'm calling you in Brazil. Gotta have that shirt. Gotta do it. Um, oh well, that is so awesome. But, uh, please follow up. You'll love it. And who knows, you may see the Marvel characters. You never know what's going to happen at that walk. You never know what superheroes could just drop in. And so hopefully we'll end up having an NFL star at some point too that I happen to know is with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Best city in America. Okay, Logan, I love you and everyone knows you're my favorite. Logan Hewitt is just such an awesome young man. And here we are today, we've both got the firepower, Logan and I, because we both live with epilepsy and we're both celebrating Purple Day. And Logan, welcome back to the show. Hi, Joyce. Hi. And Logan, before you— before I ask you any other questions, how about starting by telling everyone how old you are and where you go to school, uh, so they'll have a little context here.

So I'm 15 and I go to Baldwin High School.

Okay, Michelle, who I talked to today, shout out to you, Michelle, Maryland. I told you about Logan being a young man. How about that? 15, at Baldwin in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So Logan, what are you doing for Purple Day today? And besides being on an international radio show?

Yeah, so first of all, I just wanted to say happy Purple Day. Thank you. And then thank everyone. And we attended the Purple Party on Saturday, and all of my family is wearing purple, and we also made posts on social media.

Awesome! So did I. And I'll tell you what, you know, if you're listening now to Logan. You also, how ashamed should you be that this young man's got it going on if you don't? You got to put that purple on and put it on social media and tag Epilepsy Association Western and Central PA on Facebook. Is that— you are on Facebook and Instagram, Peggy?

Yes. Yes. E-A-W-C-P. We are on Facebook and Instagram.

E-A-W-C-P. Well, that is so awesome that you're doing that. So, Logan, Purple Day is for epilepsy awareness. And I don't know what you're going to do, but I know somehow you're going to be that next Cassidy that started Purple Day. Is that her name, Peggy? Yes. Yes, okay. I know you're going to be that next person that has some huge impact around the world. But Logan, as a young man in school, how important is epilepsy awareness for you and why?

Yeah, I feel it's very important for more awareness so everyone can have a better understanding of the types of seizures and the triggers of the seizures, and as well as people not putting others in triggering situations.

Right. I remember, Peggy and Colleen, when there used to be the when they caught the Haunted Mansion, and it was— Bear did this for the United Way. And anyway, one time I started to go in, in October, and they had lights flashing. And any place where I see that, Logan, I have them put up some, you know, hey, if you have epilepsy, beware of this, so that they know. Because people, they just don't think about that, you know. They don't think about it and they should because it can cause a seizure. I think one of the things, Logan, is that like me, I personally, you know, I don't have a grand mal seizure, actually known as tonic-clonic, but I have a seizure and I'm unconscious for a couple of minutes. I want to tell you that more people have other types of seizures than grand mal seizures, and people don't even know that. Do you know what I mean, Peggy, when people are having like an absence seizure and you're in school, they say you're daydreaming? Yeah. Well, we're going to talk more, we're going to talk to Logan a little more. But first, it's time for, on the half hour, our news break with Ms. Perry Jude Radesik. It's so nice to have you back, Perry Jude. I get so many compliments about this segment, our news segment with Perry Jude. So Perry Jude, welcome.

What do you have for us today? Thank you, Joyce. Well, there's some exciting reforms being implemented over at Social Security to address overpayment issues. I don't know, I've known people who've gotten overpayment notices. I don't know if any of your listeners have, but it's not a fun thing to deal with. And so in response to the increasing concerns over overpayment issues within the Social Security system, SSA, or the Social Security Administration, announced a series of reforms, and some of these reforms even started to be implemented as soon as yesterday, Monday, March 25th. And so overpayments occur when individuals get more money, more benefits than they are entitled to. This often happens because people forget to report maybe an increase in their income or a change in their living arrangement, or sometimes even it's misinformation, or I'll go as far as to say ableism by the Social Security Administration. Um, these overpayments result in financial hardship for many beneficiaries, and it really strains the integrity of the Social Security, uh, program. Now, here's one of the key reforms being implemented implemented by SSA. They're gonna stop their heavy-handed practice of withholding 100% of the overpayment from the beneficiary's check. That's really great news. Moving forward, SSA is now only gonna withhold 10% of the monthly benefit to fix an overpayment issue. The next thing is SSA is gonna make it easier for beneficiaries to request a waiver of repayment if they believe they were not at fault or cannot repay the overpayment. There's more, SSA is gonna roll out improved communication strategies to educate beneficiaries on their reporting responsibilities and what the consequences are of failing to report changes adequately to the Social Security— administration. Joyce, advocacy matters. These changes were announced during a hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Senate Committee on Finance, and they called the new administrator, Martin O'Malley, to the hearing to talk about overpayment issues. So SSA is now demonstrating a commitment to ensure that they're going to address overpayment issues, and it is because of the new Commissioner Martin O'Malley. Visit disabilityrightsPA.org— that's disabilityrightsPA.org— right now to read more about these changes and to communicate directly with Commissioner O'Malley if you agree with these changes or you think they need to go a little bit further. Again, it's disabilityrightspa.org. Scroll down about halfway down the page and click on today's Advocacy Matters segment. And that's the news, Joyce, for this week.

Wow, that is great news, uh, Perry. And you know what, that is— when you think about it, here we have people going through this that already are living in poverty. I mean, this— I'm so glad to hear this, and I hope all of you will go to disabilityrightspa.org, uh, because it's always there. Advocacy matters. Go read it. And, and Perry, thank you so much for the news. Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you, Joyce. Talk to you next week.

Sure. Bye-bye. That's good news, isn't it, Peggy?

That's amazing news, Joyce, because I agree with you 100%. I mean, it's heartbreaking sometimes when that happens, and it's typically not really through the fault of the person, and it's just crushing when they have to suffer those paybacks. So it's really good news to know that there's some way for them to appeal that, number one, and Number 2, that they're not going to be, you know, hit with that 100% withholding. I mean, I've seen people lose their homes. I mean, it's just that— that's really good news. I'm glad that they're finally doing something to protect people a little bit.

Oh, that's terrible. Wow. Yeah, that's terrible.

Well, you have a very, very, very, very, very small income to begin with, and then they say, oh for the next 6 months you're not going to have any income, um, you know, till this gets paid back. I mean, that can be devastating, as you can imagine.

Yeah, yeah, um, you know, that's terrible. Okay, well, Logan, I'm back with you. Logan, how about Logan, if you share with our listeners that great thing you did at your school, that great advocacy work? Would you mind sharing that with everyone? Of course.

So the EAWCP came in to educate my teachers and the other students in my grade, and last week the EAWCP went to my sister's school.

They did? Yeah, yeah, they, um, the Project School Alert folks went to visit and they did a number of presentations I'm not sure they did the entire school, but I know they did a number of classroom presentations and did education and epilepsy awareness for the students, and it was great. But Logan, maybe can you explain why, like what kind of training we had to do and the experience that you had with the fire alarm system? That brought us to help you out when at school?

Yeah, so when they pull the fire alarms at, in like our school building, there are a lot of lights that flash in the hallways. So as you're like walking from like the classes to wherever you need to go, it— there's a lot of just like flashing and strobing lights. So, personally for me, they— the AWCP came in and kind of helped train the teachers and staff to have me leave the school building a few minutes before the alarm actually went off, so I did not have to deal with those flashing lights.

Yes.

So, even if it was just a fire drill that they knew wasn't an actual fire, some of the teachers wanted to insist that Logan stay in the classroom, which was just crazy to expose him to a potential seizure. So Logan had us come in and work with the staff and try to make them understand that that was inappropriate. But we worked our way through it, and Logan did a great job representing himself and advocating for himself. So— Well, I'm proud of you. Thanks, though.

I'm always proud of you, Logan. Proud of you. Thank you. So Peggy, why don't you share with our listeners, why is that so important that a young man like Logan would be an advocate? Why is that so important for other young people living with epilepsy?

Well, I think, you know, it's— It's easy for me or for Colleen or for others to talk about epilepsy or to talk about statistics or to talk about a medical condition or any condition, but it's really in sharing the lived experience of having epilepsy and experiencing the sometimes stigma that's associated with epilepsy that I think has a lasting impact upon people. There's a lot of information in our society right now, and sadly there's a lot of bad information and false information in our society. And I think when people get to hear from a young person in particular, someone like Logan, how important it is for people to know what epilepsy is, to understand what a seizure is, to understand how they are in particular affected by something like the strobe lights in fire alarm systems might trigger their seizure activity. I think that has a real lasting impact upon people. And much more so than it would if I were explaining that to them or somebody who doesn't have that actual lived experience. So I think that for so many years, people who have epilepsy didn't talk about having epilepsy, that now that there are young folks like Logan and like Cassidy who created Purple Day many years ago, are willing to talk about it, that it just has such an impact that it helps people to understand really what the truth is about epilepsy and seizures. Yeah, I agree with you.

I do. I agree with you. Well, right now we have our update on what's happening at Joyce Bender. Gerald, are you on with us?

I'm here.

Hi, Gerald. Hi, and happy Purple Day.

Yes, we had a great Purple Day lunch. And Gerald, I want you to know, Colleen, Gerald is wearing his purple shirt.

Oh, good.

I did see that on the social media post.

Gerald shared that.

That's my purple fit for the day, for sure. And thanks to all you guys are continuing to do to impact those with epilepsy and really everybody with disabilities in our community. The organization is so impactful here in the region. And I talk about this a lot every time I see you, Colleen, but just remember going to those walks as a little kid, ending up on behind on the Three Rivers Stadium at the end. Just so many memories with the organization. So thanks to all you guys for continuing to do to help people in our community.

Well, thank you, team. You know, anybody who wants to sign up for the walk, they will be able to join Team Bender.

Yeah, that's right, everyone. That's the only one to join, Team Bender. That's right, Team Bender it is.

And speaking of Team Bender, we got some exciting things going on. There's a lot of opportunities going on here at Bender Consulting Services. A lot of jobs that we're looking to fill. New jobs are coming in, it seems like every single day, Joyce, for people with disabilities to apply to and connect with great employers across the country for roles within corporate America,, and all different types of employers. So, we've got jobs here in the Epic Systems for individuals in IT that are remote. We've got jobs in cybersecurity in several different locations throughout the U.S., communications roles, marketing and strategy positions, project managers, project coordinators, plumbing roles for people with disabilities and full-time competitive license roles, which trade skills are competitive employment. You know, lots of great jobs for people with disabilities all throughout the U.S. And if you're looking for a chance to talk to our team about these roles, next Wednesday is our Spring Bender Virtual Career Fair. Hosted in partnership with CareerEco. The great team at CareerEco does such an important job of connecting job seekers with disabilities to employers all throughout the U.S. They've been great partners with us ensuring to have an accessible platform online for people with disabilities to connect for years. And if you go to benderconsult.com, you— www.benderconsult.com/virtual-career-fair. You can learn more about this event coming up next Wednesday on April 3rd. If you're a job seeker, you can register, and as an employer, you can register to connect with candidates as well looking to find a job in your local area. So, BenderConsult.com to learn more about our opportunities where you can connect with our team., and as an employer, how you can connect with us to hire people with disabilities today.

Yes, and listen, about that career fair, no charge to you. You can't be let out. People with disabilities should be included with equity. So if you're looking for an opportunity, make sure you go to that career fair. What day and what website again, Gerald?

Go to benderconsult.com/career— or benderconsult.com/careers to learn more about the Virtual Career Fair, and it's next Wednesday, April 3rd. That's it.

Be there. Hey, Gerald, thank you so much for calling in. Thank you. Hey, Colleen, I was going to ask you, What was one of your favorite moments at the Purple Day party? Was there something that you enjoyed the most?

I think that my favorite part of the Purple Day party is, you know, so many times our events are, you know, if you're at the Run/Walk or if you're at Mardi Gras, like, those are really large events that I don't really get to spend time talking to folks. Like, they're usually quick conversations because I'm on the move, but I really like the Purple Party because, you know, once we get people, you know, my job is registration. Once I get folks checked in, I can come upstairs and I can sit down during lunch and, you know, just have conversations with folks of, you know, what's going on, you know, what's happening with school or with work or with your family and really just get to spend time with people and talk with them and hear what's going on with them.

Yeah, I agree. I agree with you. Well, you know, we're talking about Logan here. Colleen, actually, since you're talking, I'll start with you. What do you think we can do to fight this stigma? Because that's what it is with epilepsy. It's stigma that we have to fight. What do you think about it?

It is. And, you know, we are very lucky to have advocates like you and like Logan and just people who are talking about epilepsy and sharing their stories so that people aren't afraid of a person who has epilepsy. They have the opportunity to learn more about it because I think that if you don't know about it, then you do make these things up in your head and are fearful about what you don't know. So I think that having folks talk about epilepsy and we have been, this year especially it's been a great chance for us to get into schools and continue our seizure recognition and first aid just to keep educating folks.

I agree with you. How about you, Peggy? What do you think?

I think that folks like Logan and people who have epilepsy just need to use their voice and, like you say, their firepower and just fight like heck and make as much noise as possible and, you know, speak up for themselves and You know, make sure that people understand who they are and what they want and pursue their dreams and don't settle for anything but the best. I think that's what everybody needs to do.

Yeah, and you know, if you were listening right now, maybe you think there's someone you should share this with. The show, you can go to Spotify, Apple, benderconsult.com, voiceamerica.com, really almost every social venue, media venue, and you can hear Disability Matters with Joyce Bender on voiceamerica.com, which you're listening to you right now. But if you're sharing this with someone, if that person has a child with epilepsy, the worst thing you can do when they're growing up is say, "Shh, don't tell anyone." Because when you do that, when you do that, you're really saying there's something wrong with you. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't tell people not to say anything. Don't do that. When a child is growing up, that's terrible. That's the worst thing you can do because Like Logan, when you have too many neurons firing off, you know what you have? Firepower. So we just have the firepower. And remember what I said, don't tell kids to make it a secret. That will never help spread this word.

Peggy, website again for Epilepsy Association. Is www.eawcp.org. One more time, www.eawcp.org. Hope you make a donation.

I hope you go to that walk. I'll be looking for you if you go to that walk. I hope to see you there. Uh, well, We have to end the show first with a message from Logan. Logan, what message do you want to leave with our listeners?

I just wanted to say that I'm grateful for my epilepsy and anyone can accomplish anything. Like no matter who you are, you can do literally like anything because nothing's impossible.

Do you know how awesome you are, Logan? You are just so awesome. Peggy and Colleen, don't you wish you had more young people like him saying, "I'm grateful for my epilepsy"? He's the other extreme. Absolutely.

Logan and his family are seriously the best. They are wonderful volunteers. They're wonderful fundraisers. You know, anything that we ask of them, They jump in and I mean it's just, it's been so helpful to us in all of the ways that they have supported our organization.

Well, Joyce, I do have one parting thank you. I'm sorry, I do have one parting thank you. I almost forgot. I want to thank the people of Chicago. For sending us Justin Fields. We're going to make him love the city of Pittsburgh. You know, he's coming to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, Justin Fields is a person living with epilepsy. Did you know that, Joyce?

Yeah, that's what I meant when I was talking about the NFL. And Justin, here's what I have to say to you. Don't let Alan Faneca shame you. He went to the walks, he went to everything, and was on my radio show talking about his epilepsy. So Justin, welcome. We love you and we haven't even met you. We love you and we welcome you. I agree with you, Peggy. I agree with you. Well, our ending quote from the day is actually from Cassidy Megan, the founder of Purple Day, who said, "Remember, speak out, change your world." This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice. Where Disability Matters at voiceamerica.com. And when you go out today, in the words of Mary Brooker, remember, choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.