What advice would you give someone who is trying to make a plan for their future?
Penny and I did a presentation together at Hope Heals Camp about taking steps to plan for the future. If you want great advice and info from an 18-year-old who…
Penny in Her Own Words: Senior Project Presentation
Intellectual disability does not need to prevent young adults from learning. With support, encouragement, and room to make mistakes and grow from them, students like our daughter Penny, who has…
What I Learned from “The Disruptors”
What makes a disorder a disorder? Does it harm us to label each other with disorders? Or does it help us to identify areas where people need support? The Disruptors,…
Denied Treatment and Education?!?
"People with developmental disabilities were granted the legal right to treatment in 1974..." -Exhibit Traces ‘Unfinished Journey’ Of Those With IDD Okay, wait. I know a lot about disability rights…
Penny Goes to College
Most people say that kids with intellectual disabilities fall off a cliff when they turn 18 and complete their time in high school. Even though most of them are still…
The Disability Community Needs Grandparents Like These
I spoke with the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress Grandparents support group this week by Zoom, and what struck me most was that they all just want a good future for…
Penny in Her Own Words: Inclusion and High School Senior Project
What does inclusion look like for a senior with Down syndrome at our local public school? Here’s one example, in her own words, from an interview with Penny about her…
All Kids Can Learn
All kids can learn, but when Penny was born, I was told only that she would have developmental delays and an intellectual disability. What if I had been told instead…
Inclusion vs the Real World
I’ve had to learn not to sacrifice our daughter on the altar of my ideology. When Penny was a toddler, I read an article about a teenager with Down syndrome…
What an Assessment of My Daughter’s Life Tells Me About Us
Every few years, Penny goes through a series of tests to determine the extent of her disability and, therefore, what services she is eligible to receive. I am tasked with…
