About 15 years ago, one of my friends went to Jamaica. I don’t still have a lot of relics from that time in my life, but I do have the Bob Marley coffee mug he brought back to me as a souvenir. One side of it has a gold-plated lion, and the other side is…
Answering the tough questions
On a recent Sunday morning, I was driving home from walking with a friend when I called my husband. I wanted to see if he and the kids wanted to get ready to go out for a stroll around the neighborhood when I got there. I had just heard on the radio that it was…
The Teacher
Before she was born, I spent a lot of time looking at her 3D ultrasound photos trying to determine whether or not she would look like she had Down syndrome when she was born. I hoped and prayed that she would be spared the tell-tale almond-shaped eyes, flattened face, short neck and protruding tongue. The…
Extraordinary: An Ordinary Day in the Special Life of Anna Caroline Strickland
By Heather Honaker “I always knew that I was different from other kids,” says Anna Caroline Strickland. “[My mom] likes to tell this story when one day in kindergarten I got in the car from school, and I was like ‘Mom am I handicapped or something?’ because a little girl had said that to me…
Blooming Weeds
Ellie was on her stomach in the middle of the kitchen floor, and I had stepped over her a hundred times. Our small, galley kitchen is a favorite play place for all of the kids, and the obstacle course they create with their bodies while I am cooking supper is nothing new. Her knees were…
Extraordinary: An Ordinary Day in the Special Life of Jacqueline Bettis
By Heather Honaker Jacqueline Bettis, born with cerebral palsy, says, “I’ve always known I stand out. But my parents taught me that regardless of my disability, I’m still a person and I’m still beautiful and I have nothing to be ashamed of.” Originally from Little Rock, she graduated from Hall High School, has an undergraduate…
Do more, be more?
My husband has been on me for a while to do less. He says it will allow me to be more.
Extraordinary: A typical day in the special life of Shayne Sheets
Special education teacher Shayne Sheets draws from her own experiences to create success in the classroom.
Adults with Disabilities Receive COVID-19 Vaccine After Governor’s Eligibility Update
By Heather Honaker On Monday, March 8, Arkansas’ Governor Asa Hutchinson expanded 1B COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At long last after a year, adults with disabilities and their families are resting a little easier knowing that this population can now find some protection against a virus that has…
Bridge Park
Standing at just over 6 feet, I am as tall as I want to be. You won’t catch me on a ladder. I don’t like standing in a chair to change a light bulb. I have been known to get dizzy when swinging too high at the playground. Sometimes even just standing at the top of the three small steps on my front porch looking down at someone on the sidewalk, I get a little panicked.
