Hi, I’m Ana Berlowitz. I am 43 years old and I live in an assisted living community. I have cerebral palsy and I use an Accent 1400. I’m the only person where I live who uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication, so sometimes people misunderstand me.
I was born in San Francisco and was in the Easter Seals program and went to public pre-school there, but I spent most of my childhood in Berkeley. I graduated from Berkeley High School in the year 2000. Thanks to Bruce Baker I got credit for a foreign language. The language? Minspeak. I got to meet Stephen Hawking, but don’t ask me about black holes.
Right after graduation I moved out of my parents’ house to my own apartment in Berkeley, using Supported Living Services. I joined a disabled women’s theater group called “Wry Crips.”
I have given several presentations at ISAAC conferences. The name of my presentation at Odense, Denmark, was “AAC: Magic Wand to Independence.” At Dusseldorf, I talked about making digital movies. At Barcelona, my talk used the metaphor of a broken tile for people’s attitudes about disability.
By the time I was 34, we were living in a duplex in Oakland. I wanted to be closer to my two sisters, who lived in San Francisco. We finally found an accessible condo, close to my sister’s house and to her work. My parents and I all moved to San Francisco. I settled into my new space and thought that people would be interested in my experiences. My mom helped me write my memoir, which I called Cerebral Scenes: My Life and Other Natural Disasters.
I love sunflowers, dogs, horses and horseback riding, travel, music (the Beatles, the Beach Boys, R&B, salsa), swimming, listening to stories, Robin Williams, romantic comedy, my world dance class, my disabled adults support group, and all types of food, especially Italian and Mexican food. Most of all, chocolate in any form.
I’m excited about the Ambassador Program and I’m looking forward to meeting new people. Thank you.
