Blog

Embracing Different

When Matthew was seven years old, he received a final diagnosis that confirmed what we already knew. He had been living in a world where his gestures and verbal exclamations were neurologically motivated and although his school labeled him as difficult, a diagnosis of...

read more

Identifying and Managing Depression in Individuals with IDD

For many individuals, life can be daunting and challenging as we navigate a world that has become increasingly complex. For many of us that do not have severe challenges in expressive or receptive language skills or in cognitive processing, the world can still feel...

read more
Customer Service Goes a Long Way

Customer Service Goes a Long Way

In my former life I was a director at a large non-profit organization that served individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. I arrived one Wednesday morning to find a voice mail from one of my program supervisors informing me that “Mrs. Harris was going...

read more
Fighting the Insidious Challenge of Ableism

Fighting the Insidious Challenge of Ableism

How many times have we been out in the community and someone walks up to our friend with down syndrome and speaks to them in an extremely slow and loud manner? How many of us have observed someone in the community congratulating someone with a disability on doing...

read more
Attaining Meaning Through Independence

Attaining Meaning Through Independence

Living a quality life depends on autonomy and independence, which contribute to happiness and self-worth. For many with intellectual or developmental disabilities, these aspects are often restricted by their disabilities or others' perceptions of their care needs....

read more
Modeling Interactions with Humor

Modeling Interactions with Humor

I have always found that modeling is extremely important as a teaching tool when working with our friends with intellectual or developmental disabilities. As a former male model and now a plus sized model, I have some experience in the concept of modeling; however,...

read more
The Right to Inclusivity

The Right to Inclusivity

Too often, one’s disability often leads the nondisabled community to view disabled individuals as different. This categorization focuses on the individual’s disability rather than other qualities, equating the person with their disability and ignoring the many...

read more