Aaron’s a Dude: Dignity of Risk

Aaron’s a Dude: The Dignity of Risk For several years Aaron spent 3 days on a Dude Ranch in Michigan. Before the Dude Ranch closes for the winter, buses of adults with all kinds of disability labels arrive and sleep in bunk houses, eat in mess halls, go boating,...

ADA and Advocacy| one step at a time

How about you? Is ADA a Part of your Life? My parents, teachers and culture taught me to blend in, not cause trouble and certainly never ever draw attention to myself. That all changed when my son Aaron was born with autism and developmental disabilities. Aaron...

The Right to Communicate| We are the (new) Experts

photo credit: HikingArtist.com The Right to Communicate| We are the (new) Experts In the early 90s, Rosemary Crossley, Annie McDonald, Doug Biklen and others shocked the world with new ideas about people with the labels of severe disabilities and autism being able to...

Dream Plan for Aaron: 1981 (Part 1)

Build a dream and the dream will build you. R. Schuller. What is Normalization? In 1981 when Aaron was 6 years old, my friend Debbie Wetzel and I drove to Louisville, KY to hear Wolf Wolfensberger give a presentation on “Normalization” or “Social...

Thoughts on First Ed Roberts’ Day

Thanks to everyone who Tweeted, Facebooked (is that a word?) and otherwise shared information about Ed Roberts and his first official memorial day in California The Ed Roberts Campus at Berekley California is open. The campus uses Universal Design and is built for...