Resulting from a lack of oxygen at birth, Glenda has cerebral palsy, mostly affecting her muscle coordination, balance and speech. Raised without the word “can’t” allowed, only “try”, and despite being labelled as functionally nonverbal and using an electric scooter for mobility, Glenda lives her life to its fullest.
Glenda discovered blogging four years ago, and, in doing so, this insightful and humorous woman finally found her voice and a way to communicate with the world! On her Do It Myself Blog, Glenda shares her experiences living with cerebral palsy to motivate and inspire others to think about how they perceive their own situation and the world around them. She also increases awareness and understanding to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. She does all this by typing with only her left thumb, and, hence, has become known as the Left Thumb Blogger!
For ten years, Glenda worked with three levels of government, transit authorities and non-profit organizations to increase the accessibility of their websites for people with disabilities. She now combines her web accessibility expertise with her passion for blogging and her first-hand experience living with a disability to work with bloggers to build an accessible blogosphere.
With her can-do attitude, Glenda has found a way to use text-to-speech software with PowerPoint to accommodate her significant speech impairment, enabling her to do something not thought possible, which is to give public speeches. Glenda delivers powerful presentations wherever she presents and is well on her way to becoming a sought-after speaker.
Glenda lives in Surrey, British Columbia with her wonderful husband Darrell who also has cerebral palsy, making life twice as interesting. Their ambitions are as normal as any couple’s: pay off the mortgage, travel and save for retirement.
