Blog - Shining Beautiful

Mikelle and I feel compelled to write about life with a disability, not just the challenges but the opportunities, the friendships, the innovations, and the brilliance of our communities in action as we share our everyday life living with a disability. With a little more information, motivation, we hope to share how our life is shining beautiful and maybe help you to shine beautiful, too.

Part One, Conversation with Viki King

It was a late spring day, the snow was wet and heavy. A perfect day to stay home. The phone rang, I answered. Hey, I need you to do something for me. I rolled my eyes, holding my warm cup of coffee closer to me. I need you to go

Time to Transition, Again?

Every day, more and more yellow appears on the trees lining 8th Avenue near our home. Autumn is in the air. The sun rises a little later each morning, the breeze is cooler as it sweeps in the open window, kids are back in school. Halloween candy already lines the

Are You an Employer of Choice? Hiring and Training Personal Support and Caregivers.

Are You the Employer of Choice? Part 1 Hiring and Managing Caregivers and Personal Support The particulars are hard to pin down and usually open to debate, but with absolute certainty, people with disabilities and their families want more choice, power and control in their lives. The explosive growth

Summer Reflections By Taylor Mason

Summer is full of fun in the Shining Beautiful home. It’s afternoons at the pool, ice cream with friends, long drives along the front range and as many Starbucks frappuccinos as our stomachs can handle. It is also a season of change and this summer in particular is

Mikelle Shows Us All to Set Goals

Why put on running shoes and hustle out the door AGAIN today? I mean seriously, I ran yesterday, I should be off the hook for today! Well, that means I sit down at the computer for hours on end to work on more career skills, which also does not sound

From Flab to Fab; the Mikelle Workout

From Flab to Fab, Abs Not Included the Mikelle Workout By Taylor Mason (Roommate, Friend and known for her frequent new hair styles) Every day is a new adventure when you’re hanging out with Mikelle. During the summer months there are plenty of road trips, visits with friends, volleyball games

Mistakes, Coincidence and Chance: Necessary Ingredients for Supported Employment Success.

Fertile soil, water and sunshine are all necessary to yield bountiful crops. So, too, are mistakes, coincidence and chance essential ingredients for successful job development and supported employment programs. Paperwork must be done and meetings must happen to keep funds flowing in. They also serve to prepare the job development

Key Elements of Creativity in Supported Employment

How do You Get from Here to There? The first part of this series on X-treme Creativity focused on frustration and the desire for improving job development activities and results. In this segment, we zero in on the key element necessary for creativity to flourish. Grab a piece of paper

Planting the Seeds of Success in Supported Employment

For quite some time, I have been wondering like many of you just how we can jump start supported employment for people with disabilities. Some states have more job placements than others but search for jobs with more hours and financial reward for the supported employee. Other states find

Tales of the Divine Ms. M

Newsletter 3 Click the link above to read all about what’s been happening so far this spring at the Shining Beautiful! See who Mikelle has been hanging out with and what big things are still to come. Happy Spring!

We Got a Bite Out of the Apple

We Got a Bite Out of the Apple Ron Ustach, a Senior Engineer and the Western States Government Sales Representative with Apple Computers, recently blew into Denver on a strong March wind. This, his second visit to the Mile High City, followed his meeting with the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council