M-Squared Productions Podcast

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)
Featured Song: Bob Marley - Bob Marley - Buffalo Soldier

Background to Challenges
Disability is viewed different by different people based on their socio economic positions. For us Africans, disability is viewed as spiritual a curse despite medical explanations proffered.

For the West; disability is a natural phenomenon that is explained by medical theories taking for example, the Polio outbreak that affected many children in the late 1950s and the 1960's.Such different perceptions from people therefore attract different interventions from the Government. The challenges that disabled persons suffer range from physical (structural), emotional, economic, and psychological, education, culture and health/medical .The complexity of disability is that it is associated with poverty.

Disabled persons face a myriad of economic challenges. Mostly they arise out of the discrimination that they face from family, institutional and central government level. They are less or not educated at all.  Their level of participation in the economic arena is thus limited. They are unlikely to be accorded equal access to programs that empower the general populace.
 
 Rebuttal: The goal of a disabled individual is the same as everyone, to contribute to society. As with all social movements, there are many setbacks and prejudices. Ultimately as time passed, laws were created to ensure equality for the disabled, i.e. the ADA. Despite laws being passed, we the disabled are still discriminated for one reason or another. I get that discrimination will always be a constant, but all we want is to be a resource adding to the community’s contributions. We just need someone to see the potential of what we can bring to the table and look past our short comings i.e. our disability. The one thing that everyone should think about before pre-judging a person’s inabilities are to consider how that person views the world. An autistic person may have other attributes such as an artistic eye that can provide an employer with the asset they need to better express the message of their company, product, or service. The employer just needs to be open-minded to the different ways of expressing one’s self to the other.

Due to these economic reasons their medical needs cannot be adequately catered for they cannot even afford to acquire special appliances to aid them with their crutches, wheelchairs, hearing aids, Braille, and artificial limbs etc. The lack of resources creates a circle of poverty to the disabled as they least afford to send their own children to school. This means even at their old age where they cannot even do the menial jobs of vending, they do not have children who can assist them financially since the children will also be struggling financially.

Rebuttal: Over the year more and more programs are becoming available to the community with disabilities and their families to ensure that they become contributing members of society. It boils down to what you need to be a contributor. On Guam in particular, there are programs available to assist with job search like DVR and the One Stop Career Center, Transportation such as the Para Transit system, GHURA for housing, MIP and Food stamps for food and medical needs, etc. and DSS for assistance in connecting individuals to different programs by helping clients navigate through all the red tape to minimize confusion and stress through the application process of programs that a person may need to access.   

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"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

#2 Take care of your body   

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)

The View from Chair Level is a talk show that discusses various topics from the viewpoint of Marlon Molinos, an individual living with Cerebral Palsy since birth. The goal of this show is to inspire everyone to look past your limitations and find creative ways to accomplish your daily goals. A free mind is limitless and you are the only one that sets your own limits.  

Featured Song: The Jacksons ~ Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)

Follow your healthcare team’s advice about diet and exercise. Staying healthy can help stave off any more illnesses related to old age.

I admit that this is something I agree with, but never do. I don’t have an excuse and I don’t plan on giving one. It boils down to one thing and for me it’s being motivated. I guess what would work for me is having someone there to push me. But I have to warn you, I'm a very stubborn guy. So what I do to stay as healthy as I can, or at least feel well enough to go on with my day, is control my diet and eating habits. Yes at times it gets a bit difficult to do, but for me it kind of works. Now I'm not saying that this is something you should do; what I'm telling you is to find a physical activity, or sport that you can get into that will help you stay healthy. Because if you find something to do that you love, especially if it's something that can help you stay healthy, then you will continue to stay active in that activity. I guess I still trying to find my activity or sport that I can immerse myself in that can help me stay healthy.

I do promise you one thing though, when I find that activity, or sport. I will make sure to continuously be active in that activity. For those of you who have found your sport, or activity all I was saying is keep it up because you remain an inspiration to everyone especially those with disabilities may feel that they still can't do anything.

Marlon Molinos – "it doesn't matter how disability, or a situation is acquired. What matters is how you overcome, survive, and thrive with it."

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected] 

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)

The View from Chair Level is a talk show that discusses various topics from the viewpoint of Marlon Molinos an individual living with Cerebral Palsy since birth. The goal of this show is to inspire everyone to look past your limitations and find creative ways to accomplish your daily goals. A free mind is limitless and you are the only one that sets your own limits.  

Featured Song: Nico Vega - I Believe (Get Over Yourself)

This topic has been on my mind for the longest time. I guess it took me a while to finally type my thoughts out about it.  As I go through my daily grind I see people out and about going to work, school, or whatever activity they have planned for the day. 

Since I am months away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in my chosen career of communications I felt it was time to explore the concept of the perfect career path. Normally it is difficult to decide on a chosen profession. Most students take their time settling into a major while others like me already knew what we wanted to be in life.

The mantra that I live by is if it’s not fun why do it? It’s always best to try and get a job the falls within your interests because if it does, you will always want to go to work instead of making up excuses to skip work.

For some they get lucky and stumble into their chosen career. However you end up choosing just make sure it is a choice that you can grow into.  I know generally the careers we choose are out of necessity to provide for our family and that is fine just don’t lose track of that dream by making excuses to not pursue it.  There are so many options to consider pursuing your dream job. An option is working on your dream job part-time. 

As long as you stop making excuses to not follow your dreams, then the dream is achievable. In my case it has taken me many years in gaining many experiences in the field to get to this point in my life, the degree is just the icing on the longest time a cake has ever been baked LOL, or maybe we can look at it as fine wine because finally getting that degree and getting the opportunities that I’ve gotten is truly a career worth waiting for. I heard that god often has a plan for everyone and I guess his plan for me was a seed that needed time to grow so I can reap it when it blooms. 

Remember! It doesn’t matter how a disability or situation is acquired, what matters is how you overcome, survive, and thrive with it…Marlon Molinos

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected] 

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

Featured Song: For King & Country – It’s Not Over Yet

According to the Oxford dictionary, Limitation is defined as a condition of limited ability; a defect or failing. Society always assumes that because a person has a disability, that person is not able to do anything. Being judged for whatever reason is usually a common thread in society. Whether you know it, or not you are being judged every single day.

Having a limitation can make you feel worthless and unsure of yourself, and trust me having a disability is one limitation that can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow. One thing is for sure once you know your limitations and overcome them, a great feeling of accomplishment will overtake you and you become excited.

Everyone from around the world has their limitations, the only thing is whether you accept your limitation and overcome it, or let it hinder you from accomplishing your goals. For example in my situation I’m not able to walk, which means I use a motorized wheelchair to get around. My left hand is weak and looks different than anyone else's, and I am not able to reach really high areas sitting down.

The way I overcome these challenges is 1) because I have a limited ability to stand for a short time, I do what I can to stand up and hold something to balance while I try to reach for something up above. 2) Because my left hand is not able to operate properly, the things that I can do with it is hold something in place by putting pressure on that object as well as clasping it in my hand. In regards to computers, I use my left hand to hold the shift, or control key while my "normal hand" does everything else.

Some limitations may not be as visible to everyone else. Some limitations are so minimal that a person has to really pay attention for that limitation to show itself. For example, a person with autism who takes medication may not show symptoms of autism, but they have a specific skill and ability that is so focused that it can blow a person's mind as far as how intricate their abilities really are. For example, a person whose autistic may not be able to express themselves properly, but given the right activity such as art, music, math, or anything else for that matter; that they excelled in can be used to show how their mind truly works and it will definitely surprise just about anyone. 

Life gives us all different abilities and strengths, and no one has the right to tell you that you can't do anything without at least giving you the opportunity to show them what you can do. Truth be told, first impressions are always going to be there, so the only thing you can do is prove yourself on a daily basis. The only suggestion is that you shouldn't prejudge a person based on first impression because these impressions can lead you the wrong way.

Every day is a challenge for everyone and everyone's challenges are all different, so don't assume that you have it bad because someone else may have it worse than you. Always try to approach a situation with an open mind and without any prejudgments and you will always be the better person for it.

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected] 

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)

The View From Chair Level is a talk show that discusses various topics from the viewpoint of Marlon Molinos an individual living with Cerebral Palsy since birth. The goal of this show is to inspire everyone to look past your limitations and find creative ways to accomplish your daily goals. A free mind is limitless and you are the only one that sets your own limits.  

Feature Song: Coldplay – Up & up

The stages of grief are exactly the same as getting to the point of accepting the fact that you have a disability. Whether you are born with or acquire a disability, getting to the stage of acceptance is a journey of its own. No one can really truly know what life they are expected to have. The Lord is the only one that has the roadmap of your life and is the only one who knows where you'll end up.

Denial

When you first realize you have a disability, the first thing that goes to your mind is "no, no, why me. This can't be real. What am I going to do now? In regards to the family, parents might feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. Those who have a strong sense of self worth and a never give up attitude will most likely put their thinking cap on and figure out alternative ways to overcome their current situation. Others will just completely shut down and not want to interact with anyone for a while. It's always great to have a strong support system whether it be family, friends, etc. to help get that person off this stage. Their goal is to help the person realize there is more to life than just sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself. To the support system, never allow them to push you around and give themselves a pity party. Eventually once they realize that they have this strong support system, they will end up moving to the next stage.

 Anger 

In this stage, once the person realizes they have a disability they tend to get into a frenzy and kind of have a hair trigger because they're starting to realize that they can't do things the way they normally did before acquiring this disability. In this situation as friends, and family you need to give them a bit of tough love and help them realize that you're not going to always be around for them and they would have to learn how to do things differently than they used to do. In other words change your floor plan. As a recent person with a disability, you might need to find some form of assistive technology that will help give you a sense of normalcy. Assistive technology have improved so much in recent years that it blows one's mind. In

Bargaining

In this stage, a disabled person might say "if you do this for me I promise I will not give you a hard time." Of course that is unrealistic because at this stage the person is still trying to figure out how they're going to do things now that they have a disability. The one thing that will happen for sure is they tend to ask God why me? If only I did this I wouldn't have been disabled.” The family members might feel responsible and say "I wish it was me in that chair and not you. Possibly the person who was driving if a person became disabled due to an accident might also say “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that should have been me." All these things that you do at this stage as far as bargaining goes, is pretty much promising unrealistic things and goals that you will for sure not be able to complete. As a support system, the only thing you can do if you feel at fault is to try and find a way to come to terms with the idea that this was God's plan. As I mentioned before only he has the roadmap to our lives and whether we caused the disabilit

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)

Featured Song: Imagine Dragons “Demons”

The View from Chair Level is a talk show that discusses various topics from the viewpoint of Marlon Molinos an individual living with Cerebral Palsy since birth. The goal of this show is to inspire everyone to look past your limitations and find creative ways to accomplish your daily goals. A free mind is limitless and you are the only one that sets your own limits.  

Life tends to bring many unexpected situations. Every day challenges to your schedule will always happen. People can plan all they want, but the truth is a lot of things never come out as planned. For example you might want to go to the beach on a Sunday then find out there's a thunderstorm. What you do? Do you sit there and soak, be upset, and make a fuss the whole day? That is in my opinion the easiest route to take. The one thing to understand is that life always has so many things happening to stop you from fulfilling your goals. What matters is how to deal with the unexpected.

It is in my humblest opinion that you can't be upset with everything that goes against you. You have to look at it as another opportunity. For example, going back to the beach scenario; if you plan to go to the beach to spend some time with the family and you realize the weather does not permit it, of course it's upsetting, but your goal of spending time with the family is still a possibility because you can always call them over to your house and in my family's case play little mahjong. You might just want to do a little gathering with some barbecue. The fact of the matter is the goal of spending time with family is still possible. 

Another example is you planned to leave work early, but something came up and caused you to stay later. Yes it's true it screwed up your plans to spend time with your family because you're not able to see your kids due to the fact that you're working too much, but the upside to this is that one you make more money due to the overtime you make, two all that work you been putting in the back burner is finally able to be completed, and three knowing that you'll be making the additional money due to overtime will eventually pay off in the end because you can use that money to save up for any unexpected issues and potential trips that you would like to plan in the future. You can't dwell on all the negative things that life throws at you, or else anything positive that life has for you will just pass you by. Take any opportunity that comes your way even though you think the opportunity is not for you, who knows you might eventually like this opportunity because you were focusing on the idea of being out of your comfort zone.

“It doesn’t matter how a disability is acquired, what matters is how you overcome, survive, and thrive with it.” – Marlon Molinos

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected] 

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)

The View from Chair Level is a talk show that discusses various topics from the viewpoint of Marlon Molinos an individual living with Cerebral Palsy since birth. The goal of this show is to inspire everyone to look past your limitations and find creative ways to accomplish your daily goals. A free mind is limitless and you are the only one that sets your own limits.  

Welcome to the second episode of the view from chair level. In this episode, I talk about my daily struggles as far as what I go through from getting out of bed and live life as independently and as normal as I possibly can with my condition. I also talk about how to deal with unexpected issues that happened during the day when plans seem to not go right. Hopefully this episode gives you the listener a glimpse into what we all go through on a daily basis to live a healthy and goal oriented accomplished life. The song featured at the end of the show is a song by the band skillet entitled “Awake and Alive”

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected] 

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon “Shymar” Molinos)

Featured Song: Demi Lavato & Joe Jonas: This is me

The View From Chair Level is a talk show that discusses various topics from the viewpoint of Marlon Molinos an individual living with Cerebral Palsy since birth. The goal of this show is to inspire everyone to look past your limitations and find creative ways to accomplish your daily goals. A free mind is limitless and you are the only one that sets your own limits.  

Welcome to the very first episode of the view from chair level. In this episode, I give you an introduction into who I am and what the show is about. I talk about what my disability is in general and how it affects me. I also talk about my first experience as a radio DJ and how the personality of Shymar came to be. I also talked about the goal of this podcast and the reasons for converting from a blog to a podcast. The song featured on this podcast is Demi Lavato & Joe Jonas’ song from the movie Camp rock called “This is me” closing off with a PSA on texting while driving.

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected]

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon "shymar” Molinos)

The “Groove session” is a show that explores all aspects and matters of the heart. As someone who has never been in a relationship, I was fortunate enough to observe many different relationships throughout the years thanks to both friends and family. There were some good as well as bad sides to every situation I’ve seen. Watching these relationships unfold showed me that they are fragile and require a lot of work. I hope to provide my insight as to how to keep a relationship strong and provide some ideas that have not yet considered and hope that as a listener; you can take these suggestions to heart and possibly learn from your mistakes through my eyes. 

Playlist

1.      Usher- Foolin' Around
2.      Nesian Nine - You Baby
3.      Shawn Mendes Feat. Camila Cabello - Señorita
4.      Jordan T - Sunset tonight
5.      Bruno Mars - That's What I Like 
6.      Mariah Carey ft Joe & Nas - Thank God I Found You (Remix) 

Don’t bend backwards for them — just try to make their day easier. If your partner is getting out of work late, then cook up a light dinner (or order takeout) and surprise them with it. (But like, don’t throw it in their face.)

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected]

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."

(Hosted & Produced by Marlon "shymar” Molinos)

The “Groove session” is a show that explores all aspects and matters of the heart. As someone who has never been in a relationship, I was fortunate enough to observe many different relationships throughout the years thanks to both friends and family. There were some good as well as bad sides to every situation I’ve seen. Watching these relationships unfold showed me that they are fragile and require a lot of work. I hope to provide my insight as to how to keep a relationship strong and provide some ideas that have not yet considered and hope that as a listener; you can take these suggestions to heart and possibly learn from your mistakes through my eyes.

Playlist

1.     KONECS Ft. Diamond Langi - Lose My Mind
2.     Ed Sheeran ft. Ella Mai - Put It All On Me (Clean)
3.     Sebastian Yatra, Daddy Yankee, Jonas Brothers ft. Natti Natasha – Runaway
4.      Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello – Señorita
5.     Jordan T - Sunset tonight

As bad as it sounds, it’s true. Once you let go of this, you two will be better off. I agree because expecting things from each other creates tension and you should always want to surprise each other no matter how long you’ve been together.

Please check out The M Squared Productions Facebook page. You can also hit me up on X: @msqureproduct and post suggestions for show themes and topics there as well as shooting me an email at [email protected] 

Support the show

"It doesn't matter how a disability or situation is acquired, it's how you overcome, survive and thrive with it."