On May 9th I visited Triangle Inc. in Malden, MA. Triangle is a non-profit corporation that empowers and educates people with disabilities from youth to adulthood to be productive members of society and have a great quality of life. I was given a tour of the whole facility. There are different areas that I saw that work together to make Triangle a great organization.

Impact is a program that provides hands-on personal safety training.

Empowering People for Inclusive Communities (EPIC) prepares young people with disabilities to be actively engaged community leaders through education, leadership development and community service.

Ablevision is Triangle's national award-winning television and media program created and produced entirely by people with disabilities.

I also toured and met people at their Fulfillment Center. That is where employees create, assemble and package products for 60 American companies from Bed Bath & Beyond to Marshalls.

My tour ended with a television interview with Ablevision. They are putting a story together about me, my reign as Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts, and my singing and songwriting career in OLYPSYS, my band.

Speaking of the band,  I will periodically give updates of what's going on because as Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts 2012 I want to encourage people with disabilities to use their creativity and pursue their dreams. We just finished recording our first CD! It takes approximately 8 hours to record one song and it is amazing how a producer can take a song and make it into something that you hear on the radio! I am so thankful that my mother and father gave me piano lessons at age 6 because they thought it would be therapy to keep my hands moving. It was and it has turned into so much more throughout the course of my lifetime.

Yesterday I made an appearance at the Families of SMA Walk and Roll at Wompatuck State Park, Hingham Massachusetts. I was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 2. Information about my disability was scarce when I was a child but my parents persevered and found creative ways to keep me healthy and active. There were 700 people at the fundraiser and, as I was getting out of my van, I heard them announce, "Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts 2012 has just arrived! Let's give her a round of applause!" That was pretty exciting, I must admit. I took pictures with some of the children and others. I provided toy crowns for the girls so they could be Princess for the day.

I spoke to a lot of parents with disabled children. I always make it a point to say my age, 52, because lifespan is always a concern to parents and young adults with SMA. I have never been a believer of statistics; I share my experiences with others with SMA so that they will live as full a life as possible while maintaining their health and well-being I try not to succumb to the fears and limitations some medical professionals may put upon me.

They have made more medical advances in present years. What amazes me is that the couple who started this Walk and Roll lost two young children to SMA over 12 years ago. They have been hosting this fundraising event for 12 years and last year alone raised $125,000. We are very close to a treatment; clinical trials in humans has just begun! I had the privilege of speaking with one of the scientists involved and I am planning to take a tour of the Woods Hole facility which is one of the places where they are making medical breakthroughs.

You can see more pictures of these wonderful events on my Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MsWheelchairMassachusetts2012 .