Laser Eagles: An Exhibition in Belonging

By Brian Smith

Recently, Judith Snow brought to our attention the latest initiative in her impressive personal and professional history of social change activism...

Laser Eagles Described

Laser Eagles is painting for disabled people. The Laser Artist uses a laser pointer, designing a painting on a canvas. The Laser Tracker follows the light beam, executing the creation.

Together they create art. Together they bring unique cultural expression to our community.

Laser Eagles offers children, youth and adults the chance to meet each other as people with diverse and interesting abilities. While creating art together people have fun and are self expressed, and they build friendships and community with each other.

The Mission
We will bring people together to passionately reveal all that is in their hearts and to contribute their creativity and insight to the world.
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The Laser Eagles website provides a great profile of Judith that I thought was worth sharing as well...

JUDITH SNOW, Laser Eagles Director

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
Speaker, Trainer, Coach

Themes:
What it takes to truly step up
Living life powerfully
Leadership training/speaker/coach
Leadership
Results

Judith Snow has been called the “Julia Roberts of the disability community”. You cannot be in her presence without experiencing a shift and seeing new possibility for yourself and others. Powerful, energetic and joyful, her passion is matched only by her commitment. Her entire life is dedicated to making a difference for people all over the world.

Judith is a powerhouse in her own right. “Put me in front of people and I transform lives. At a local university I had 60 young women for 2 hrs every week. We restructured the curriculum and had them work together - just talk to each other. The results were that some of these women created support circles for kids from their former high schools who were excluded. These kids got jobs and friends. Another group built a group for a woman with anxiety disorder and supported her in presenting in front of the class without medication. Another group developed a board game for teaching inclusion. All 60 students got A’s and every one of them had earned them legitimately.”

For almost 30 years, Judith has pioneered education and training programs that have resulted in changing the lives of thousands of people labeled ‘disabled’. Her vision is to create a world in which everyone is included and contributing to their communities.

Her accomplishments include developing Canada’s first service to support students with disabilities in post-secondary education. She is credited with inventing the support circle model of building relationship-based assistance for people with intellectual disabilities, and with piloting individualized funding for personal assistance – a model of support that makes full participation in life available for people with extensive physical and intellectual challenges.

A trailblazer committed to this cause for over 30 years, Judith has led training and education programs throughout the US, Europe, the Caribbean and Canada, developing models that have resulted in thousands of people with disabilities getting jobs, homes, new relationships and support systems for participating in and getting respect from their communities. Working with her mother, Rita, in the 70’s, Judith was instrumental in the development of a model called Support Service Living Units. This service format has been widely adopted throughout North America. She has created programs enabling students with physical and intellectual disabilities to attend University and receive the support needed to excel academically and socially.

In 1980 she became Canada’s first person to receive individualized funding from the Government in Ontario. Shortly thereafter, she chaired the first ever attendant care action coalition, which caused the government to provide funding for 600+ people in Ontario. Also during those years, she developed a model that puts government funding directly into the hands of the people who need the support. Since then some form of liberating individualized assistance has been adopted by most provinces for people with all sorts of disabilities.

In the ‘90’s Judith Snow focused primarily on training and education of families, individuals and human service providers. Judith wrote the book “What’s Really Worth Doing and How To Do It”, co-authored “From Behind the Piano” with Jack Pearpoint, and has written many articles in various publications worldwide. Judith developed and delivered workshops to organizations in the public and private sector.

In the past seven years Judith Snow has concentrated on the contributions of people who don’t speak. She has created several day-long workshops for ‘quiet’ people, along with their friends and family, to come together and explore what it takes to make difference in their lives and make evident what they are contributing – from their perspective and needs, not from what others think they need.

“If a kid’s really included in a high school, the violence and drug use goes down in that school. We need to tell the real life stories of students with challenging disabilities who are having positive, dramatic effects on schools in North America and Europe.”

Judith has also starred in a documentary for VISION TV, featuring the unlikely friendship and results-creating partnership between Marsha Forest and Jack Pearpoint, demonstrating that commitment, passion and action can be nurtured between people with very diverse backgrounds. Their friendship has led to transforming the quality of the lives of many, many people labeled disabled.

Today Judith Snow is also the Director of Laser Eagles, an organization sponsoring the opportunity for people with very limiting disabilities to create art. Using a revolutionary technology invented by Tim Lefens and brought to Canada by Judith and her friends, people who don’t speak are showing what they’re feeling and thinking, and painting spectacular pieces of their own design.

Judith Snow shows people that there really is no disability. “People are always contributing something. The work is to see the value and opportunity in what they’re contributing and build that through relationships into community opportunities.”

Dynamic, powerful and inspiring, Judith Snow has faced many challenges within her own life. She demonstrates strength and courage as she continues to educate and change the current understanding of people’s abilities.

Contact Judith at judith@lasereagles.org