Family2024-05-16T19:23:32+00:00

Challenge the Paradigm

We believe relationships are built on respect, love, and acceptance. We reject the tragedy-burden-needs-to-be-fixed & the hero-saint-special narratives about disability that permeate our culture .

Photograph of 3 teenagers Text reads "We are not heroes"
I am not special for being a parent.
teenager smiling "I am a brother."
"We are family."
  • op one fourth of book cover is a white background" Black and White" written in black text with capital letters in large font "A Colorful Look at Life on the Autism Spectrum"Beneath also in black text with capital letters written in small font . Middle section contains a color photograph of blonde light skinned woman in profile . Text in right hand corner reads A Book by S.R. Salas Bottom quarter of bookcover has a black background with white text, small font that reads "Renee provides a fascinating insight to autism, I highly recommed (her) book..."- Dr. Tony Attwood "Black and White provides an inside positive view of autism..." - Dr Temple Grandin

Ollibean Spotlight: Renee Salas

" Talk to people with disabilities. As many as you can: Adults, adolescents, kids. These people are the real experts on disabilities. These are the people that can tell you what life with a disability is like." Renee Salas

  • Photograph of woman with brown skin and dark brown shoulder length hair looking down smiling while holding her baby.

Ollibean Spotlight: Kerima Cevik Pay It Forward Activist

"Equal access, level playing field, dignity, respect for my son and all his community. No separate classrooms separate doors or isolation from others. See I’m a woman of color. When I began my education you could still see the Colored Only bathrooms in the Deep South. If you put my son in one room and say he is not good enough to be where the law says he should be, with his peers, then red flags of segregation fly up at me. Many parents of color feel the wrongness of it organically, but they have been convinced that their neurodiverse children are not good enough for their neighborhood school and that their children are a distraction or threat to typical children in some way. The different operating system in their child’s brain throws them off, particularly when maladaptive behaviors are in the mix. It leaves them feeling guilty, helpless, afraid their kids will come to harm, and they listen to anyone, even if their gut tells them the advice is unjust. I am and advocate of Universal Design for Learning. I think my son can be with his peers in age as well as ability and everyone can benefit." Kerima Cevik

We’re So Glad You’re Here!

Change Leader: Larry Bissonette

Our first Change Leader is artist and disability rights advocate, Larry Bissonnette. Larry's art, writing, presentations, and films are changing perceptions about disability around the world. His quote in Wretches & Jabberers, "More like you than not" says it all.

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