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.
Who Knew Change Requires Teamwork? A Lesson Learned
In 2007, the use of an online calendar to keep organized made most go “HUH?! – I have a print calendar and agenda right here. It is with me all the time. Why would you make me change the way I do things?” The answer arrives with one word: collaboration.
Life with Mikelle…The Battle of the Wheelchairs
By Taylor Mason Every day, multiple times throughout the day, Mikelle Learned makes the choice to switch from her power wheelchair to her manual wheelchair. We here at the Shining Beautiful all have different theories as to why she sometimes feels more comfortable in her manual chair but we
10 Things I Like About You
A Note from Katherine Carol. (the Mom) I sent this poem to members of the Roommate Club like Lauren Perfors, Kari Delany and Adriana Carlson Pogar. It wasn’t long before I heard from them all. Yep. This captures the experience of knowing Mikelle. I could see the smiles cross their
Battle of the Chairs
Chair vs Chair, Who Will Win Every day, multiple times throughout the day, Mikelle Learned makes the choice to switch from her power chair to her manual wheel chair. We here at the Shining Beautiful all have different theories as to why she sometimes feels more comfortable in her manual
The Denver Community Celebrates the 4th of July!
By Mikelle Learned This year, like many before, I spent the night before Independence Day at Civic Center Park in downtown Denver. The Colorado Symphony performed and blew me away! I looked around around and saw community in action shining beautifully under the summer sky. I had a ton
Party Time… Community Time! Leading by Example on Her Bday
Mikelle throws unforgettable parties, and her 30th birthday party today proved once again her uncanny ability to bring together an unexpected community of people in all different places in life with one common denominator: we are all addicted to hanging out with Mikelle. Mikelle expressed herself with her normally unique
Hundreds of Community Summit Enthusiasts!
Dropping in after day 2 of our Community Summit at Ellenburg, where we are speaking on engaging the community and connecting those with developmental disabilities. We are so lucky to have a fantastic community that allows us to lead by example, showing ourselves and others every day how to empower
A Humorous Look at Abilities and Disabilities We All Have
Phamaly Theatre Company – A Review of DisLabeled – Boulder, CO by Taylor Mason Mikelle, Katherine and I were recently invited by the Phamaly Theater Co. to see DisLabeled, their comedic play highlighting many common misconceptions that “typicals”, or able bodied people, make about being disabled. PTC (Phamaly Theater Co.
Inclusion Works. Mikelle and Jerome’s Lasting Friendship
A Case for Inclusion Mikelle Learned and Jerome Stewart were introduced to each other by a thoughtful teacher that had a hunch these two might be friends. Jerome played football, ran track and was a well-liked senior at East High School. He, like Mikelle, was a recent transfer student from
Meet Taylor Mason, Mikelle’s New Roommate
By Taylor Mason I, like most of Mikelle’s “roomies”, saw her ad on Craigs list and was intrigued. What it said was that I could live in a pretty room, in a nice condo, in a great location, rent-free for six months. All I had to do was live with,
Will We Lose Funding for our Special Needs Children? Five Steps to Secure your Child’s Future.
It is nearly a month since President Obama issued an order instituting what’s known as sequestration. Deep spending cuts are not just on the horizon, they are beginning to be felt in various programs. Most notably in a number of states, including Colorado, Vocational Rehabilitation Programs have gone to Order of
Tim’s Place- Another Example of the Brilliance of Community in Action.
I remember a time in rehabilitation history when we were eager to take the personality out of people with disabilities, wash them clean of anything we didn’t think people in the community would accept. Back in the day, professional educators and rehabilitation personnel were uncomfortable when adults with disabilities would pass out