advocacy

  • Yelling at police

    Yelling at police

    We went to the mall and encountered some accessibility ignorance.

  • Meeting with the dental surgeon

    Meeting with the dental surgeon

    During a consult today, Namine proved to be her own best advocate.

  • In defense of what is right

    In defense of what is right

    Namine stands up for what she knows is the right thing to do.

  • Reacting to negativity

    Reacting to negativity

    A question was asked on the Pierre Robin Sequence board: As a parent to a special needs child, do you get offended when people ask “whats wrong” when they see a trach or something out of the norm with your child? how do you react to the question?

  • Good smells

    Good smells

    Jessica, Namine, and I were at the mall, doing some shopping, window and otherwise. I could do the typical guy thing and say they dragged me into Bath & Body Works, but it wouldn’t be true.

  • How to make friends

    How to make friends

    Namine and I had a talk about staring.

  • Labels are dumb

    Labels are dumb

    I’ve taken issue with McDonald’s labelling their toys for a while now. Namine proved me right.

  • Standing up for herself

    Standing up for herself

    At her end of the year school picnic, Namine made some new friends — but then, that’s never been a problem for her. And I was proud to witness her sticking up for herself.

  • On advocacy

    On advocacy

    Who should speak for the disability community? Sometimes I think I don’t give enough conscious thought to advocacy – or to be more precise, self-advocacy. Namine is, after all, only five. But she’s growing up fast (too fast for this parent, that’s for sure), and she must be able to speak about herself on her…

  • You can’t win them all

    You can’t win them all

    You can encourage kids to play together, but you can’t make them get along. Not everyone is willing to learn, to compromise, to share; not everyone is open to the idea that different is not bad.

  • Playground time

    Playground time

    The other night Jessica wasn’t feeling well, so I took Namine over to the park so she could have some peace and quiet. It threw our entire evening’s schedule off, but Namine didn’t mind.

  • Noticing differences

    Noticing differences

    Jessica, Namine, and I went to the zoo over the weekend with Jessica’s sisters Chyral and Melissa, and Melissa’s boyfriend Anthony.