Welcome to the OHS Journal, where we share important stories and articles that complement our core mission while providing additional insight and perspective that impacts our disability community.
DELVING IN: Keith Rafal on Finding Meaning After Catastrophic Illness or Injury.
Stuart Kelter interviews Dr. Keith Rafal, medical director of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island and creator of the non-profit organization and website, Our Heart Speaks, through which people…
The transformative power of medicine to offer hope and emotional wellbeing
My grandmother was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in 2015. At first, she and my family were relieved – the medical team informed us it wasn’t a life-threatening condition, but rather a…
A Tribute to Great Man
Our Heart Speaks remembers and pays tribute to a man who has lived a life of meaning and purpose while giving so much to others.
Travis Roy a promising 20-year-old hockey star, moments into his first…
Ted Meyer chats with pathologist and artist Mohammad A. Kamal, M.D.
Ted Meyer chats with pathologist and artist Mohammad A. Kamal, M.D. about how he make art form the cell samples that arrive at his lab each day, the art world, and how perfection in nature works for b…
Music as a guide to recovery and healing
My name is Frances Ancheta Becker, and I am a health care professional and an independent musician. My life journey so far has been a voyage of coming full circle. Ironically, it took a life threateni…
Wendy Lee Gadzuk interview
Artist creates wonderful works of art incorporated from the medical world. Bringing to life her experience with a partner living with paraplegia and their shared journey….
Reflections by Tom Hussey
Photograph above not by Tom Hussey
Our Heart Speak’s vision is to change our perception of what is possible and what it means to live with a new disability or chronic illness.
We all hold person…
Challenging Our Health Care System to Honor the Whole Patient and Her Story.
I was thirteen years old when everything I knew to be true both slowly and suddenly changed. What began as one day in pain, one doctor in a lab coat, and one neck brace promising cure, soon became yea…
Elizabeth Bailey interviews with Ted Meyer about her artist daughter and life with autism
Elizabeth Bailey shares the story of her 9 year old daughter with autism who expresses herself through art. This powerful video offers us a window into her world….
Providence Business News: Online platform gives sufferers place to share
When it comes to a devastating illness or injury, doctors often represent lifelines for people whose daily routines no longer resemble their former lives.
Physicians say there’s little they can do,…
Different Outlets of Expression
Read the excerpt below from our story on The Health Sessions
or read the whole story here.
_______
When it comes to healing through expression, what suits the patient is best. There are…
Imperfect Life Art Show at Keck School of Medicine at USC
Ted Meyer chats with artist and writer Elizabeth Jameson about her art exhibit, “The Imperfect Body” at USC Keck School of Medicine. Elizabeth talks about her life with MS, making art and…
Non-verbal
If you meet someone who is nonverbal, you would probably think that the person is slow and can’t have a fulfilling life. People usually don’t try to talk with them. I am Chris Lenart and I was a p…
A Tribute to Stephen Hawking
Our Heart Speaks (OHS), through the power of the story has been privileged to share and bear witness to a life of meaning and purpose when facing the daily challenges of an acquired disability or chro…
Mastering life…if not fate
MATURITY
by Daniel Senser
Many a time in my youth I wandered the streets
Drunkenly belting my song for all the world to hear.
Usually, I got picked up by the police
And put in the nut house for a week…
Present Imperfect
My son didn’t seem to like me all that much in the first weeks of his life and I couldn’t say I blamed him. I may have managed not to drop him, or leave him on a grocery shelf as had happened in m…
Interview with OHS Founder, Dr. Keith Rafal, on The Hand in Hand Podcast
Our Heart Speaks through the international patient stories project supports a “Culture of Possibility.”
OHS founder, Dr. Keith Rafal speaks with hosts from Strokefocus in a podcast interv…
Daniel Gu’s Story of Stroke Recovery
My name is Daniel Gu. On Sept 22 of 2012, 3 months before turning 41, I suffered a brainstem stroke. My left side was almost totally paralyzed, including my vocal chords. I could not sit up. I could n…
The Passion of Music
Along with her story, Maureen Gaynor shared with the Our Heart Speaks community her uplifting 2014 track,”Angels Unaware.” Enjoy.
All of us have ambitions. All of us develop a passion for…
Travel Tips for Seniors with Disabilities
The golden years are a great time to travel and see the world, and many people make this a top priority once they retire. For disabled seniors, however, the thought of world travel can be intimidating…