Johnnyé often brings speakers to her elementary Appreciating Difference Classes to encourage children to learn about people’s differences and to be comfortable asking questions.
Stephanie Rechtin was born with cerebral palsy and Asperger’s. Although speaking, walking and visual processing are more difficult for Stephanie because of her disabilities, she says that other tasks come quite easily for her. For instance, Stephanie was reading at the age of 3 and attended school with her peers, studying English and psychology in college.
Just like all of us, Stephanie uses gadgets to help her in areas where she is weak. She uses a wheelchair when her muscles are too tired to go the distance using her crutches. She uses the GPS on her cell phone, as many of us do, to help her find her way to places she wants to go. Since she has trouble with focus and can forget that it’s time to go home or to remember to eat, her cell phone sends her helpful reminder messages throughout the day.
Stephanie shared a message with the children that we all have things we’re good at and things we need help with. She encouraged the students to ask for help when they need it and to use gadgets to assist them in achieving their independence and goals.