Today and Friday, Nashville hosts its' 10th annual Tennessee Disability Megaconference. I'll be speaking twice on Friday:
10:30, Salon B: "The DisAbility Journey: Loss, Grief & the Path to Acceptance." I'm taking my personalized version of the Autism Society of Middle Tennessee's bi-monthly autism parent orientation on the road to the greater disability community. One of my spring ephinany's, based on what I've observed and for a decade-and-half: If a parent does not thoroughly move into and beyond the grief experience of their child's disAbility, it impairs their ability to thoroughly advocate on behalf of their child. Also, I firmly believe the grief experience is universal and extends beyond autism and other disAbility to all life experiences. (I'm not just writing and speaking about autism and/or disAbility here, folks!)
and
3:00, Salon H: "Sharing Your Stories: Advocacy Through Personal Storytelling" I'm collaborating at the conference with Lacey Lyons, Belmont University adjunct English professor and Courtney Taylor Evans, of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, coaching parents and adults with disAbilites on how to write their story via Tennessee's Kindred Stories project. (I've one on their website somewhere. I think it's this one: "[…]I'm giving this summer the finger!"
I'm also taking part in a media conference there that day, which is open to the public. Watch the news media for more details.
Autism to me means never living the same day twice. Everyday is a blensisg with new adventures. My son Cayden was diagnosed with autism when he was only 20 months old. After 6 months of speech and occupational therapy and not seeing much progress, our speech therapist told me as a friend to look into autism. I had never even heard this word before, so I asked her, what is that and does he need anitbiotics or something? She just told me to go home and look it up. As I started reading about autism a flood of relief came over me knowing that I wasn’t being a bad parent, but that my son had something more wrong with him. He was tested by a group of professionals and they all agreed he definitely had autism, and so my journey began. I spent the next year going to every meeting or class with information about autism. We even learned sign language as he didn’t speak. Over the last 4 years, Cayden has become a very affectionate little boy with much to say. He still has his issues, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. He is a beautiful person with much to offer. Over the years, I have learned that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover and patience really is a virtue. My husband, as a registered nurse has learned how to better deal with difficult patients, and our oldest son has learned to accept people for who they are. It is amazing the things your children teach you. All you can do is listen closely and enjoy the ride!