WVIA project focuses on lives of disabled

JENKINS TWP. -- Shining the spotlight on a segment of society that is frequently undervalued and discriminated against, WVIA will host a live performance of "The Voices Project" from the Misericordia University Department of Psychology.

"The Voices Project" is a collection of memoirs from a statewide cross section of those living with various disabilities and their families. The insightful stories were collected by students of Misericordia associate professor Alicia Nordstrom, Ph.D., who teaches an Intro to Psychology class.

In April, the class and faculty performed a reading of the stories on Misericordia's campus. Nordstrom said that in the days that followed she received many calls from people living with disabilities and their families expressing their appreciation.

On Saturday at 7 p.m. area residents will be given another chance to view the presentation live in the Sordoni Theater at WVIA studios off Route 315 in Jenkins Township. The free program will be recorded for television, radio and DVD replay.

Registration is required.

The audience will hear 23 stories from families and those living with blindness, deafness, dwarfism, spinal cord injury, stroke, stuttering, spina bifida and other afflictions.

The reading will take an hour and a half, but the television version will be edited down to 56 minutes, Nordstrom said. WVIA will air "The Voices Project" in a three-month block from November through January.

"I read some of the scripts; it is very moving," said Chris Norton, vice president of WVIA radio. "This is a wonderful collection of stories which are not told enough,"

Norton said WVIA, which serves more than 20 counties, is delighted to take this program to a larger audience.

The reading will be changed only slightly from the April performance, Nordstrom said.

"The second scene has been changed to show the effort individuals put into their rehabilitation," she said.