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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Stories about respect, empathy and what to do when you feel like giving up passed between a motivational speaker and students at Thomas Simpson School last month.

Alvin Law, a motivational speaker from Calgary, talks to students at Thomas Simpson School on May 16 about the challenges he overcame as a teenager and the importance of respect and empathy. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Alvin Law, a professional motivational speaker from Calgary, Alta., spent more than an hour talking to students at the school in Fort Simpson. Law, 52, quickly had all of the students laughing and making comparisons between the challenges they face and those that Law has dealt with.

Law was born without arms as a result of the morning-sickness drug Thalidomide. His birth parents, who were poor farmers in rural Saskatchewan, were told that he would never have a life or be able to care for himself. They put Law up for adoption.

"My reality is not the same one I started with," he said.

During his presentation, Law told the students about his childhood with his incredibly supportive adoptive parents Hilda and Jack Law, about learning to use his feet as his hands and about the challenges he faced.

"I didn't like being young. I didn't like being your age," Law said.

Up to Grade 6, Law said he felt comfortable in his skin. Grade 7, after starting at a larger school, was the first time he remembers being insecure. Law asked the students to imagine trying to open a lock on a locker with one foot, while balancing on the other and being bullied by other students. Law described having acne and braces as a teen along with being armless.

Law also talked about and demonstrated all of the things he can do including looking after himself, driving a vehicle and eating a hamburger – all with his feet.

"As long as I can sit down I can use my feet," he said. "I don't believe I have a handicap."

Through stories about his life, Law brought up the importance of respect, empathy and tolerance. People can make someone else's day better or worse. You don't have to be a Hollywood hottie or all muscle to be a decent, caring human being, Law told the students.

Law also talked about what happens when you feel like giving up, something he experienced as a teenager.

For Law it was music, specifically an old drum set that his parents bought him, that pulled him through.

"Music probably saved my life," he said.

Using a single drum, Law demonstrated to the students how he went from just hitting the drum with drumsticks held between his toes to being able to make complex drumming rhythms. Law said he considers it a privilege that when young people reach their tipping point, they might think about "the goofy looking guy with no arms."

Law concluded his presentation by playing a piano song he wrote himself titled The Ode to the Old Bag who said my Toes were too Short, a song in memory of a woman who once said he'd never be able to play the piano.

The students responded to Law's talk and seemed to draw a lot from it, said Thomas Simpson School's principal Freda Blyth.

Law's accomplishments are very impressive, she said.

Law's tour was organized by a teacher in Yellowknife and First Air sponsored Law's additional trips to Hay River, Inuvik and Fort Simpson.

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