User:Joseph Reid NZ Fan/sandbox

Early Life:
Joseph was born Joseph Reid Wojciechowski on the 14th May 1995 to Mum Catherine Reid & Dad Stan Wojciechowski. His mixed Kiwi & Polish heritage instantly endeared him to a wide cultural community. Following complications at birth, Joseph has managed his life amazingly well given his extreme disability. Joseph didn't allow his Cerebral Palsy be a barrier to enjoying a full and active life. Since the age of 5, when he took possession of his first electric power chair. Joseph has smashed through any barriers that his life has presented him.

Education:
Early life was difficult for Joseph as he was non-verbal. With an obvious high level of intelligence it was essential that Joseph developed communication tools which he did with his mother and those close to him. 'Blink' spelling, developed with Mum, expanded to drawing letter shapes with his eyes and using common facial expressions and thus a full and complete communication toolbox was born. With help, Joseph enjoyed a full, productive and enjoyable school life.

Technology:
Joseph displayed an obvious interest in technology but his disability limited his independent access to it. Clicker buttons were trialed that allowed Joseph to move his cursor left/right/up/down and then select an item but this proved laborious and cumbersome. In 2012, Joseph took possession of an Accent 1400 manufactured by Prentke Romich Compay. This incredible piece of hardware used laser sensor technology to read where on the screen his eyes were looking. By using a screen based QWERTY keyboard which also featured common words & expressions Joseph was finally 'there'. His 'Eye-Gaze' technology also allows Joseph to independently operate a second, fully featured, desktop computer.

Social Media:
Joseph was now finally able to engage in the social media space as would any other user. His visible presence grew exponentially as other users became aware of his abilities in overcoming his disabilities. The numerous tributes of thanks and support drove Joseph to share his message. Now with over one hundred thousand followers (138,000) Twitter followers, Joseph is able to reach a substantial audience and has shown this with over 64,000 Tweets recorded as at August 2018. In fact, Joseph has become so popular on Twitter, even founder Jack Dorsey @jack follows him.

Inspiring so many, especially younger, followers Joseph was asked to make a presentation to senior specialists at a prestigious disability conference in Wellington in 2014. The presentation, detailing Josephs struggles & successes, became a benchmark in Cerebral Palsy progression in NZ and ultimately the foundation piece for Josephs motivational speaking engagements.

Today:
Apart from technology, Joseph's greatest loves are comedy and music. He is especially keen on UK and NZ comedy and is good friends with a number of famous UK comedians; Richard Ayoade & Matt Berry to name just two. The team from 7 Days also feature in Josephs friends list. Stephen Christian from the now disbanded Anberlin is also a good friend and recently sang Joseph a song on his live Facebook feed.

Many of these amazing friends helped Joseph through a difficult time in April 2013 when he underwent substantial back surgery. A nervous 14 hours and one titanium spine later, Joseph left Starship hospital in Auckland with Mum by his side and tens of thousands of friends waiting to welcome him home online.

Joseph has finished his schooling years and making plans for my future. Joseph is doing motivational speaking (presentations) with my life story. Joseph has already gone back into his primary and secondary school to present his motivational presentation, both with an incredible responses from the staff and the students.With his passion for Social Media, he'd be able to help businesses develop their profile in this medium. Using his technology, Joseph is able to use his skills to create an online presence for organizations.