ALVIN’S LAWS OF LIFE
Suggested Program Length – 60 to 90 minutes
Suggested Audience — Applicable to any organization
Drawing on 25 years experience as a speaker, but more importantly 45 years experience living life without arms, Alvin presents what he calls Alvin's Laws of Life. Using vivid imagery in telling his life story, Alvin's exploration on Attitude, Learning, Value, Imagination and a Never Give Up Approach shows not how he overcame the immense challenges brought on through being born without arms, but how everyone can overcome their own challenges in life.
When Alvin Law was born without arms, medical and rehabilitation experts predicted a life of constant care that might be best provided by institutionalization. Desperately hurt and feeling helpless, his family gave him up for adoption. The only people willing to take a chance were elderly foster-parents without even a day spent in high school. Society would come to know children like Alvin as "Thalidomide Babies" and treat them with a mixture of sympathy and disgust. The odds were not in Alvin's favour.
Today, Alvin Law is married; is a father; is an accomplished musician, broadcaster, fund-raiser and owns his own communications business. Since 1988 he has spoken to over one million people in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. He is completely independent and his abilities far outweigh his so-called "disability". How is it possible for someone to succeed in the face of so much opposition?
That question provides the foundation for a presentation that will make you laugh, cry and most of all, think about the power each of us possesses. A power that we cannot only use for our own benefit, but a power that can transform those we deal with everyday.
Many describe Alvin's use of his feet (he plays the piano and snare drum in the program) as amazing. But, as you will see, this is more than just another motivational speech about human achievement. It challenges our perceptions of the status quo and perhaps most important, it's real. As Alvin would stress, this program isn't just about what he has done, but what is truly possible for everyone. It's about life, something we all have in common.
THERE'S NO SUCH WORD AS CAN'T!!
Student Presentation — 60 Minutes
Suggested Audience — Grades 7 to 12
Aimed at adolescents and young adults, this program challenges the audience to believe that anything is possible with the right attitude. Alvin talks about growing up in the sixties when attitudes towards disabilities were anything but positive, including being stereotyped as severely crippled.
With the support of his parents, teachers and friends, Alvin not only overcame his disability, but participated in most sports and music. But the pressures of school and adolescence gave Alvin his biggest challenge of all.
You will laugh and cry as you hear and see how, by using very talented feet, and more important, a good attitude, Alvin not only learned to accept his difference, but appreciate it. Alvin believes that what you see when you look in a mirror, should be the beauty of individuality, not the ugliness of imperfection. The next logical step becomes seeing others that way as well.
These idealistic views are common among speakers, but the visual impact of Alvin playing a drum with his feet and his infectious energy will never leave you.
Over 1.5 million students across North America and around the world have been touched by Alvin's inspiring self image. The most consistent comment from school administrators is Alvin's ability to keep a full-school assembly not just captivated, but asking for more.
The most consistent comment from the students says it all:
"His humour, his honesty, his sincerity makes you realize that not only is it okay to be yourself, it's the only way to be!"