Dani Harder is a fun loving 27 year old woman with a delightful sense of
humour. She volunteers at Frontier College helping adults learn to read.
She loves theatre and has acted at the Ford Center in Anne of Green Gables.
More recently she was in Life Without Labels, a play about stereotyping and
discrimination.
Dani is a great card player. Don’t bet big money in a game with her: she
usually wins. Dancing is another of her favourite leisure activities. She
loves to whirl around the dance floor, especially with a handsome man. And
she seems to attract the best of them where ever she goes.
This summer Dani took up sailing, The rocking of the boat and spray of
water in her face gets her adrenalin flowing. She plans to do the Toronto
Marathon this fall.
So, what makes Dani unique!
Dani is non-verbal and has no control of her hands and legs. She does not
let this stop her. She gets around in an electric wheelchair which she
drives with her head. She voices her opinions, with a laptop computer,
which she activates with head movements. Onscreen there is an array of
letters with a cursor which scans through each row of letters. When she
hits the headswitch, the computer prints the letter under the cursor. To
print a four letters word takes about 1 minute, compared with spoken speech
of about 130 words each minute. Conversation with Dani is slow, but very
interesting. She has strong opinions, about rights, justice, and
discrimination.
Dani has the same feelings and aspirations as able bodied people. She
wants to make a meaningful contribution to her community. And she wants to
be recognized for the many gifts she has to offer.