It’s a Jungle out there| Inclusion in the Grocery Store

photo credit: Swamibu 2006 Aaron, my son with the labels of autism and developmental disabilities, had a doctor’s appointment so I brought him late to his adult day program. A Visit to the Jungle—Jungle Jim’s that is. Thanks to cell phones, I connected with his group...

Hope for Families of People with Disabilities|Bob Perske

Robert and Martha Perske Today I was thinking of Martha and Bob Perske. Martha’s beautiful sketches of children with disabilities are in frames over my desk and in buildings all over this country. Bob is now gone, but as we each get older and wonder if our lives...

Language of the Heart| Heartaches and Heartsongs

photo credit: qthomasbower In the post: Caring Community| People First Language we talked about the power of labels, negative stereotypes and the paradigm shift of looking at all people as PEOPLE First! Today, on Valentine’s Day, I am asking you to think about...

Dream Plan for Aaron: 1998 (Part 3)

In Part 1 (1981) Aaron was 6 years old and we outlined a vision of what a happy, successful quality of life would look like for Aaron as an adult. (click here). In Part 2, Aaron was 14 years old and we were moving forward with the plan(click here) In Part 3, Aaron is...

Building Community | People First Language

People First Controversy Background: There is controversy in the disability community about the use of People First or Person First language. I’ve written several posts about People First language: *Rosa’s Law, *Stigma and segregation caused by labels like...