Johnnie Tuitel

Don't Make Me Get Out of This Chair!

Never mind that Johnnie Tuitel has cerebral palsy and depends on a wheelchair for mobility. A few minutes spent with the professional speaker, business owner, author and father will leave the most stoic individual inspired and laughing.

Tuitel (pronounced "title") has spent his life helping people with disabilities become more mobile and educating audiences about acceptance. As a professional motivational speaker, Tuitel has given hundreds of inspirational presentations sports teams, schools and universities, charitable organizations and businesses.

Tuitel's speech, "Dancing in the End Zone: a Unique Perspective on Winning the Game of Life," showcases his trademark humor and wit as he tells his life story, filled with challenge and triumph.

"Life is a gift on a daily basis. Take the focus off yourself and put it on what truly matters," says Tuitel. "That understanding will change your life forever."

To help young audiences better understand disabilities and the value of acceptance, Tuitel co-wrote The Gun Lake Adventure Series, a group of four books that features a fictionalized version of Tuitel named Johnnie Jacobson. An uncommon protagonist, Jacobson is a preteen sleuth who, from his wheel chair, leads a group of friends on mystery-solving adventures.

In 1995, Tuitel and business partner George Ranville started the nonprofit organization Alternatives in Motion with the mission to provide wheel chairs for people who, for insurance or other reasons, cannot afford them.

Since then. Alternatives in Motion has donated more than 300 wheelchairs and raised more than $1.4 million in cash and gifts-in-kind donations. It is the only organization of its kind to pay 100 percent of the costs associated with purchasing a wheelchair.

"We have to keep doing this because nobody else is," says Tuitel. "It is everyone's responsibility to help others get what they need to become productive members of society."

In 1997, former President Gerald R. Ford presented Tuitel with the WOOD TV 8 Unsung Hero Award. Tuitel has also received the National Easter Seals Society's prestigious EDI (Equality, Dignity, Independence) Award and the United Way of Michigan's Speaker of the Year Award. Michigan Gov. John Engler recently re-appointed Tuitel to the state's commission on disability concerns.

Registration extended to September 26

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