If you’ve been around here for a while then you know about my celebrity crush. No, not George Clooney, my OTHER celebrity crush, Barb Rentenbach. Barb is a nonspeaking autistic woman who, for lack of a more delicate phrase, kicks ass. Along with her therapist extraordinaire, Lois Prislovsky, Barb is an author, producer, and co-host … Continue reading
inclusion – and a walk to dunks
{image is a visual depiction of inclusion, symbolized by a circle of paper dolls in a variety of colors, shapes, sizes and abilities. Borrowed from EduGlobal.} It’s the first day of The Rest Of The Summer – the three weeks in between the end of Brooke’s summer program and the beginning of school. Our lives are … Continue reading
of bullies and the presumption of competence
My friends, I am so grateful for your love and support for my girl yesterday. I tried to read all of your comments – all 741 of them as of this morning – but eventually it was just more than I could manage, both logistically and emotionally. I agree whole-heartedly with so much of what … Continue reading
out of many, 1
Last night, Brooke and I stopped into a Russian market about a half a mile from home. I’ve passed the place a thousand times, yet never had any particular interest in going in. But we needed some produce for dinner, traffic was terrible, and, well, there it was, so I figured we’d give it a … Continue reading
three remaining fingers
We all knew it would happen. The moment we heard the sickening news – that a crazed gunman had opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 innocent human beings and wounding yet another 53, we knew what would come next. Within minutes, there were fingers pointed in every direction. Everywhere, that is, but at … Continue reading
twenty minutes
** A personal note to my dad – just in case you didn’t get my message, please DO NOT read what follows. ** Content warning: Rape / Sexual Assault For “Emily” Four years ago, I wrote a post about an event that had changed my life. I wrote it because I felt compelled to do so. … Continue reading
happy
When Brooke was three, we enrolled her in the preschool that her sister had been attending for the last two years. We loved it and were excited for her to join her big sister. The school, located in the basement of a local church, was as cute as they come and, to me, was exactly … Continue reading
the courage to listen
There’s something that tends to happen an awful lot in advocacy circles (and everywhere, really, but it’s most obvious there) and I was hoping we could talk about it. It tends to go something like this: Someone, typically a member of a radically disenfranchised community (let’s call them A) says, “Doing X, no matter how … Continue reading
inspiration porn goes to the prom
{image is the word “PROM” spelled out in a delightfully cheesy balloon arch. I kinda love it.} So apparently we’re in the height of prom season. One might be forgiven for thinking that prom season would be in May or June when most proms are typically held, but in a country where we start decorating for Christmas … Continue reading
understanding our differences
Yesterday, I was honored to step in for my friend Susan Senator and speak at a benefit for a wonderful organization called Understanding our Differences. UoD is a pioneer in disability education. Through a participatory curriculum for elementary schoolers, they live their mission of demystifying human differences, supporting inclusion, and building bridges to true and … Continue reading
