Stand Up For What You Believe In

Standing up for what you believe in is very important because if you want positive change to happen, you have to Stand Up and Speak Out. For those that don't know, I made a film with an arts program called Center for Arts Inspired Learning. The film is entitled Outcast and it's about me overcoming obstacles with the help from God, family and friends. The three messages I want people to understand are 1) being cool is different, 2) make a difference in your own life, somebody else's life, in your community and/or on the global spectrum and 3) Never Give Up!! I have Joubert Syndrome which is a genetic disorder that affects my coordination, balance and speech. The doctors thought I had Ocular Motor Apraxia which deals with the fine motor skills when I was born. I was misdiagnosed by the doctors but when I was thirteen, the diagnosis changed to Joubert Syndrome. I have a bit of Ocular Motor Apraxia still but more of  the symptoms of Joubert Syndrome. Anyways I was bullied and teased for some part of my life and I wanted to Stand Out and Speak Out so I chose to make a short narrative about challenges that I overcame. A few months after I made the film, I asked a radio station if I could promote my film while talking about the importance of not bullying and the people at the radio station said I couldn't speak on the radio because bullying wasn't on the news. I didn't say this to the people but I thought bullying doesn't have to be on the news, it's visible everyday but not a lot of people Speak Up when the bullying occurs. More people have been bullied and teased way worse than me but I wanted to let people know I'm not going to shut up about this issue because bullying is becoming an epidemic. Why can't we all get along, because we are different, that shouldn't be an excuse to be picked on and ridiculed. Below I did a interview and I talked about my movie and about the importance of accepting others as who they are and nothing less than that. I want people to listen to this interview because I want more people to Speak Up and Stand Out against the actions of bullying, if you are bullied or if somebody else is getting bullied.  I want to inspire, educate and encourage others to be themselves no matter what other people think of them. Speak Up, Stand Out and embrace and spread your differences and Don't Shut Up At All!! Speak Your Mind on these issues.

http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2017/10/19/cleveland-connection-joubert-syndrome/