Neil Young

The mention of legendary Canadian rocker, Neil Young may make you think of the sixties rock band Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, or Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, depending on how old you are. If you have no clue who Neil Young is, read on, you’ll still be interested.

What you may not know is that in addition to making such hits as, “Heart of Gold,” “Long May You Run” and “Rockin in the Free World,” Young is also an advocate for people with disabilities. His convictions derive from personal and familial experience. Although cerebral palsy is not a genetic condition, Young and his wife Pegi have two Sons’, Zeke and Ben who both have cerebral palsy. Ben’s particular form of CP renders him mute and a quadriplegic.

Having survived a life threatening aneurysm in 2005 and coped with a life long epileptic condition himself, Neil Young and his family are certainly no strangers to the obstacles associated with disabilities. These unique circumstances have prompted the Young’s to found the Bridge School established in 1985 in Hillsborough California. The Bridge School is dedicated to ensuring that children with speech and physical impairments achieve their full potential through the use of alternative means of communication technology.

Examples of alternative communication technology training may include equipment that Christian Horizons folks would have familiarity with. The training includes teaching children to use electronic boards, the user points to letters, words, symbols or pictures that show what they want to say. They may also learn to use computers that will speak for them. Other children may train to use computers that take letters and words typed in by the user and then the computer speaks them out like normal speech. Other forms of assistive technology may show pictures, symbols or words on a display panel, the user then chooses which of these are to be spoken out.
Each October Neil Young hosts a benefit concert for the Bridge School which has featured such talents as; Dave Mathews, Norah Jones, Emmy Lou Harris, John Melencamp, Sarah Mclachlan and Josh Grobin.

Following Neil Young’s near fatal Aneurysm in 2005, he wrote a song called,” When God Made Me.” In it he seems to question the claims that God has on his life. We can be praying that Neil finds Jesus at the heart of his search.

The challenges faced by Neil Young and his family, remind us that obstacles, such as disabilities are no respecter of persons. The only choice we have complete control over is whether we will turn inward and indulge is self pity, or be determined to find the opportunities within our challenges. Neil Young has clearly chosen the latter.

- Terry Harris

Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was two years old, Terry Harris in the opinion of many experts within the medical and education professions, would never walk, talk, read, write or go to a regular school. It was recommended to his parents that he beplaced in an institution. In 1995 Terry graduated from Brock University with a B.A. in English Literature and obtained a degree in marriage and family therapy in 1999 from Tyndale Seminary.