Guess Who’s Writing

Greetings friends, I hope everyone is enjoying the peak fall season. As you know my name is Kevin. I started This blog as a pet project. little by little and with the grace of God. it took off. I wanted to create a space where people with disabilities could write and share their own stories. I am overjoyed to say I now have an official writing team. Please let me introduce you to them. You will notice that my introduction is the longest not because of vanity I just never expected to have anyone else on the website. I will be crafting a new one soon. I will also be adding archives very soon so you can keep up to date with all the writings. God bless you.

Note: The authors of this page write of their own free will. They receive No monetary compensation. Any opinions expressed are theirs alone.

David Champignon

Mr. David Champignon is a Political Science major from Edinboro University and a graduate of the New Jersey Partners in Policymaking Program. He is a proven leader and staunch advocate for people with disabilities. He currently lives with his wife Jenny in Sayre Pennsylvania. Alongside their dogs and cats, they are living proof that nothing is impossible. His experience blogging and semi-published works make him a perfect candidate to start this project with. 

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am happy you chose to spend a little bit of your time with me. I’ve been wanting to do this for some time now. Please allow me to introduce myself and what I want to do with this website. A lot of people click the follow button without ever reading the about me page.

The short answer is I’m a follower of Jesus with a smart-aleck mouth. Who advocates for people and families living with developmental disabilities. In New Jersey. At the moment of writing this, I’m a 34-year-old man living with Cerebral Palsy. It’s a neurological impairment. It affects the connection between my spine and my brain. I use a wheelchair as my main tool for Independence. I still have to depend on others to do basic tasks. like using the bathroom, getting dressed, and transferring in and out of my wheelchair. I was able to attend a public school and College. Only my physical body is affected by this disability, not my mind and heart.

Let’s begin with my Foundation Jesus and spiritual growth. As a child, my family made sure I always attended church. So, I always believed in god but over the years I struggled and forgot to establish my connection. it’s hard to feel a Divine spark sometimes when society can make you feel less than others. forget about being picked last to play sports I couldn’t even play kickball at recess. my support person would kick the ball for me. girls have run away from me when I tried to ask them out.

I can never work because if I do I lose my health insurance. I’m glad to say I never felt sorry for myself, it always bothered me that people did so. I never saw myself as any better or worse than anyone else. I never felt “special. ” Then one day in 2020 I found myself downloading a few Bible apps to find something that was missing. That’s when I had my moment, Jesus is like a smartphone that little device we can’t live without. we may have the world at our fingertips but the more you take it off the charger you are dying. at least once or twice a day you have to connect to a higher source to succeed and be everlasting.

The next part of my life is fun to explain, if you’ve ever seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding that’s my family. only instead of Greek and Windex Puerto Ricans use Vicks Vapor Rub on everything! They are loud and they will always tell you what’s on their mind without the consideration of a filter. Yet, when you need support and need someone to have your back on the darkest day. There’s not a better group of people to have in your corner. The best part is throughout my life we have been able to add members of the family that are not blood who would do the same thing for me.

The next thing you’re wondering is what I do with my life besides writing these blogs. I am currently the vice chair of the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities. I realized pretty early on in life that I was given in this disability for a reason. I didn’t know what the reason was didn’t know what that reason was. Like I said believed but was not connected. I had to speak out for others who could not speak for themselves. it is a labor of love as I am nothing more than a well-recognized volunteer. I’ve never received any monetary compensation for any of the work I’ve done.

As for this website, it’s also a labor of love. There are so many misconceptions about the disabled population and the general public. I wanted to bridge the gaps between both worlds by sharing my own experiences. not for vanity but to put some actual positivity in the world. Please feel free to check out the Media Center and other publications on this website to see more work I’ve done to assist those like me.

The very last thing I want you to know about me is, I’m single ladies! I did not start this website to meet women. I promise you that but at this point, there is no point in not putting myself out there anything could happen. we need to learn to love the person and not what they can offer us like some sort of business arrangement. Yes, I know so many people can not handle a relationship. Due to the nature of their disability but everyone is affected differently by the disability. I will never be on the cover of People’s sexiest man addition. they keep denying my application. (LOL) That’s what I want to change. We need to see the person and not the disability.

That’s everything friends, if you have any questions please leave them in the comments I will be sure to read all of them. Follow my social media accounts linked to this website I post on them regularly. There will be new posts every Wednesday. Take care of each other and love each other. Have a great and blessed day see you soon.

Jesse Schwartzman

Jesse Schwartzman is a disability advocate who has worked in the legal, political, and advocacy fields. He currently works as an outreach and advocacy worker in the disability field. Jesse enjoys helping people and watching sports and movies. He can be reached at jesseschwartzman00@gmail.com. 

Nicholas Taubenslag

My name is Nicholas Taubenslag. I am a passionate transportation advocate for the Disabled Population. 

I started my advocacy journey at New Jersey Partner’s In Policy Making where I learned about the history of advocacy. As well as the Disability Rights issues that are facing us presently. For example, Inclusive Education, SSI and Medicaid, Housing, and of course Transportation. 

I hope to be an asset to this blog and spread my knowledge and life experience to the Disability Community as a whole.