PROJECT

1. When did you first realize you were different than other kids?

I Realized that I Was different when I Was in Elementary School at Paxinosa but It never really bothered me.  When you young you don't really take notice.  When I Did notice I Think was in Middle School when I Started taking Regular Classes.

2. Think back to when you were in 4^th grade. Did you have more mobility? How did you get around? Walk? Crawl, Walker, Wheelchair...combination of all or some of these?

I Was in a Wheelchair in 4th Grade and I Did crawl all over my bedroom and had a walker back then! I Walked from the bus to the classroom at Paxinosa Elementary School and at East Hills Middle School, somebody had to always follow me incase I Would lose my balance.

3. Where did you go to 4^th grade? Who was your teacher? Where you in a regular classroom or a special needs classroom?

4th Grade I Was in Easton School District at Paxinosa and was in a special need classroom and my teacher was Karen Muller who actually just Retired this year, still talk to her on Facebook.

4. How did you get to school? Did you walk (who went with you), Did you ride a bus? Was it handicapped equipped? If not how did you get on and off the bus safely?

I Went on a Colonial Intermediate Bus and my bus driver named was karen.  I Went all all alone everyday and yes it was special equipped with a Ramp on it.

5. As a 9yr old kid, what was your day like? Try to think back:

What time did you wake up? - 5am

Did you need help getting out of bed? yes, back then it was my mom

Did you have an aide back then? NO Because my mom was able to.

How long do you think it took you to get ready for school (out of bed, breakfast, teeth brushed, dressed and out the door to school)?

My mom got me out and made me cereal and toast and I Used to watch Channel 69 News every morning at 5am

6. Was your school accessible? How so? (elevators, ramps, classroom on ground floor etc)

Yes, in Elementary it was Paxinosa in Easton and everything was accessible down at Paxinosa.

7. What was your favorite subject when you were in 4th-6^th grades?

In my time, I Liked Spelling.  I Used to get 80's and 90's on all of them!!

Learning Words was my favorite!

8. What did you get to do in Gym class?

In Gym Class i did exercises an

9. When you were 9 what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I WAS 9 I Wanted to do something with computers back then, Even then I was huge in Computers and was always on it!!!!!!!!

10. What were your hobbies when you were 9-11 years old? Describe what you liked about your hobbies.

I Was interested in Games and Watching TV Like Full House and the Flintstones and the Jetsons and I Liked playing with my cat and driving my mom nuts. LOL

11. Did you belong to any clubs (Boy Scouts etc).

12. You told me you drove a go-karts. Tell me about that? How old were you. How many years did you participate. Did your disability limit you in anyway? (did you need help getting in and out of car etc).

13. Did you win any races? How many? Where? When? Do you have ribbons or awards from these events?

14. When you were 9-11 years old did you ever feel lonely because of your disability? Were all the kids friendly and accepting of you? If there were kids who were not, what are some of the things they said or did that hurt your feelings?

15. How did you learn to deal with people who treated you differently?

I Just learned to walk away and keep smiling at them and figure out how to

16. What are some fun things you did with your family at this time in your life (9-11 years old)?

Did you go on vacations? Where?

Did you play with your brother ? What kind of stuff did you do? My brother is 6 years older than me. He would let me play with him on occasion ...we would build forts or got antique bottle hunting. What did you and your brother do?

17. How do you think your disability has made you the great guy you are today?

18. What is your “mantra” or your words to live by?

19. If you could go back to when you were 9yrs old and tell the kids in school something that would help them understand that you are a regular kid, what would you tell them?

20. Growing up did you have pets? What kinds? Did you ever have a “service animal”? If not, have you ever considered it?

21. How do you think the experience of growing up as a kid with CP has helped you as an adult? Do you think you see things differently than non-disabled people your age? How so?

It made me realize to go with the flow and not let my dissability get to me!

I Think the same way as everybody else does!!!

22. You have a very positive attitude, do you think you were born with it? Or do you think it came from life experience?

I Have always had this attitude all my life! Not sure why.

23. What are some things that frustrated you as a 9 year old?

TBA

24. What are some things that frustrate you as an adult?

I Hate when in Stores when people look at me and my wheelchair and steer. I Just keep smiling at them!!!

25. If you only had 5 minutes to talk to a room of 9 year olds and you could tell them anything you wanted....what would you say?

I Would tell them to enjoy every step of your life because it flies by fast and take advantage of everything that comes across you!

26. Do you enjoy reading books? What is your favorite book and why?

I Wasn't really and not even now a Book Person.  I Was and still am more into reading about News and Sports on the Computer.

27. As a kid did you go to the movies often? What is your favorite movie from childhood?

I Did go to Becky's Drive in with family and I Remember watching Honey I Strunk the Kids!!

28. Here's any easy one, tell me your favorite for the following;

Flavor ice cream- Vanilla

Food item - Chicken Nuggets

TV show when you were a kid - Full House

TV show now - Bones

Football Team - Philadelphia Eagles

Basketball Team - Philadelphia 76ers

Baseball Team - Philadelphia Phillies

Holiday - 4th of July

Song when you were a kid - Bad Day

Song now - Shake it Off

season of the year - Spring

type of candy - Chocolate

color - Blue

smell - Pickles

Eileen and Andy,

Sounds great!  Keep me in the loop about the video and we will post it on our social media.

We don't have any promotional items made, but we do have a great set of fact sheets that can be printed.  You can select certain pages to print.  When we want to keep it short, we focus on pages 1-2 and 14.  

Please let me know if there is anything else we can help you with!

Regards,

Rebecca Lam
Director of Administration
Cerebral Palsy Foundation

3 Columbus Circle 15th Floor.  New York, NY 10019
T: 212-520-1686, F: 917-599-0431

rebecca.lam@yourcpf.org

On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 9:22 AM, Eileen Gromlowicz <nrite71@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for getting in touch with me.

Andy and I trying to put together a presentation for 4th-6th graders. Showing them that a person with CP or any physical disability is pretty much the same as they are. We hope to show them that although Andy had physical obstacles to over come while growing up and on a continuing day to day basis, he has achieved so much in his 30 years. We want them to better understand that there is a PERSON behind his great smile.  That the person is intelligent and a productive member of society and our community. 

We are still in the infant stages of our project since Andy is so involved in our community his schedule is very busy and it has been hard for us to physically get together to work on it. However, we are doing a lot information finding via emails etc.

As for your current campaign I would think he would be perfect to make a video submission. Also I was wondering if you have any promotional items such as stickers, pins, etc that we could pass out to the children at the schools he intends on presenting in? Do you have posters or other physical ways of getting the word out about your program?

I will ask the IT person in the school if she can help us with a video. The school has a pretty good "tv show" with a green screen etc.  I am not sure about the technicalities regarding school equipment being used for something like this but our Superintendent is a big Andy fan. 

Thank you advance for any assistance you can give with our little project. We would love to incorporate your current campaign into it to help spread the word.

Thank you,

Eileen and Andy

 

---

From: Rebecca Lam <rebecca.lam@yourcpf.org>
To: Eileen Gromlowicz <nrite71@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2015 5:48 PM
Subject: Re: Cerebral Palsy Foundation thanks you for your submission

Hi Eileen,

That sounds great Eileen!  How would Andy like to get involved?  We encourage people to make their own videos and share them with us on our social media.  Would Andy be interested?

Regards,

Rebecca Lam
Director of Administration
Cerebral Palsy Foundation

3 Columbus Circle 15th Floor.  New York, NY 10019
T: 212-520-1686, F: 917-599-0431

rebecca.lam@yourcpf.org

On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 10:04 PM, <info@yourcpf.org> wrote:

First Name	Eileen
Last Name	Gromlowicz
Email	nrite71@yahoo.com
Phone	484-903-1839
Subject	help for a friend withg CP
Message	I have a friend with CP who is a local icon. He is very active in our school district, he helps out anywhere they will let him. He and I are working on a presentation for him to give to the 4th - 6th graders about acceptance of people with different abilities and how they (the kids) shouldn't feel funny or intimidated around people with special needs. I think Andy could be a great spokes person for your campaign. If you would like to contact him, please let me know and I will get you his email address.

212-520-1686

Cerebral Palsy Foundation