Chauncy Rucker

When I attended the Writers Brigade presentation at CSUN this year I was able to renew a friendship with Iris Fishman of New York City. Iris was a significant contributor to ConnSENSE Conferences in the past. Today, in addition to her private practice as a Speech Language Pathologist, Iris is President of USSAAC (United States Society for Alternative & Augmentative Communications). Iris invited me to the Bubbly Ball, a USSAAC event that evening, sponsored by Microsoft, to honor four young women who were very successful AAC users.

The four honorees were:  Sara Pyszka, Eva Sweeney, Alba Somoza, and Tracy Rackensperger. You may remember that Tracy is a graduate of the Writers Brigade and is quite gifted writer.  I wrote about her in a recent article on the outcomes of the Writers Brigade Project:
http://www.connsensebulletin.com/csunwb.html

Tracy has published an article for the ConnSENSE Bulletin website and she has just completed a review of her Pathfinder AAC Device from Prentke Romich, Co.
http://www.connsensebulletin.com/tracyreview.html

While writing about the Bubbly Ball I learned that Tracy had just accepted a full-time position with the Institute of Human Development and Disability at The University of Georgia. Tracy will begin work there mid-July. We all wish Tracy the very best!

William H. Macy was the master of ceremonies for the Bubbly Ball. He is a  versatile actor, director, producer, and writer who you may have seen in one of his nearly 80 films. I'll always remember him for his role in Fargo. Mr. Macy became a spokesperson for United Cerebral Palsy after filming Door to Door in 2002.

Mr. Macy did a great job of talking about the award and was able to add interesting comments about each candidate since he and his wife had spent quite a bit of time with each of them before the evening began. In each case a friend would give the background on what made the honoree a good candidate for receiving this recognition. Then the candidates addressed the group using an AAC device and in one case an interpreter. It was clear that all four of these women are truly heroes.

For a nice article on Tracy's presentation written by Richard Ellenson, including a picture of Tracy with William Macy, please follow this link:
http://www.imakenews.com/aac-rerc/e_article000383992.cfm?x=b11,0,w

There were so many wonderful moments in the evening. Of course the presentations were the highlight, but Mr. Macy and his wife spent much of the evening in the crowd of perhaps 250 people. Getting to talk to Mr. Macy and his wife Felicity Huffman, who plays Lynette Scavo on Desperate Housewives was exciting, but I was impressed with how cordial and open they were. After talking to someone they always thanked the person for what they had said. I watched once and noticed how careful Mr. Macy was to be sure he spelled the person's name correctly when he autographed a note he had written for them. After the presentations no one was in a hurry to leave. I noticed that Mr. Macy and his wife were on their knees continuing to talk with the honorees and their families.

Toward the end of the evening Rob Sinclair, the new Director of Microsoft's Accessible Technology Group (ATG), spoke briefly about how pleased the ATG was to be associated with these very talented young women. And then as a special gift he handed each of them a brand new iPod which brought a great response from the crowd. It was definitely a class act, in fact the entire evening was very classy.

© 2005 ConnSENSE Bulletin