Category Archives: Awesome Advocate
1st Unity Night for Families at Olander Elementary= SUCCESS!
Despite the organizers’ hesitancy about the attendance of the first ever Unity Night at Olander Elementary in Fort Collins, Nick and his team were able to help a great crowd of kids and adults alike by providing them with empathy training to experience movement in a manual wheelchair, navigating through a room with a vision impairment, grocery shopping with a learning disability, and reading colors through the eyes of someone who may not perceive as the experiencers did.
Nick’s favorite part was watching the kids play the games and the awareness they gained from trying these experiences.
In particular, Nick liked watching the kids try to read the correct color on words that were colored a different color. This test, called the Stroop test, mimics a learning disability in which someone struggles with sorting information in their brain (selective attention). Because the brain is trained to read first, it is difficult for someone to name a color rather than read a word on page.
You can learn more about this test here:
https://www.cleverism.com/the-stroop-effect-naming-the-color-but-not-the-word
In this coin game, coins are given different values, and participants are asked to purchase small items using the coins, such as an apple. This game mimics the learning disability dyscalculia (“math dyslexia”), in which a person has difficulty with simple calculations, sequencing numbers, and telling time. You can read more about dyscalulia here: https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-dyscalculia-overview-and-symptom-breakdown/
The kids all did great being brave and trying new ways to think, speak, and move!
We look forward to working with students at Olander elementary again in the near future!
International Women’s Day!
Today is International Women’s Day!
“International Women’s Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.” -Wikipedia
I want to celebrate the strong women in my life today!
My mom, Susan, is an “awesome mother” and I love her so much! She has made everything in my life possible and she supports me through every adventure. Spending time with her is one of my favorite things to do. She finds me the coolest hats! I love you mom!
Audrey Hendricks, Audg, is my friend and care provider of over 15 years and she is now my Agency Manager at Nick’s Hope. She is AWESOME! She works so hard to make sure everything runs smoothly for me. She worked with me to make Awesome in Action possible and continues to help run the business when we get into hiccups! She is a great mom and a great friend and takes such good care of animals, even scary geese!
Liz Laney is my friend of almost 10 years and is now my Day Program Manager and helps me run my business! I call her “Liz Laney, my beautiful care provider” and it makes her gag! How funny! Liz has a great sense of humor and can always make me laugh.
Annie Schubert works with me as a speech and language pathologist every week. She works hard to make sure I’m reaching my full potential! She is so cool, she has an amazing singing voice and she makes me laugh so hard.
Cindy Peak was my long time speech and language pathologist, and she always made sure I was having fun while practicing my language skills! She and her daughter Jaime helped me film and produce the Awesome in Action documentary about my life, it’s amazing. I’m so grateful for them!
Debbie Hendricks is my friend and now she is my care provider too! She has done such a great job transitioning into working with me. She’s an amazing massage therapist and she works so hard despite dealing with a lot of pain! She is my British buddy and I love her sense of humor.
Kaitlyn Birdsall-Thomas is an art teacher and the incredible illustrator for my 2nd book! She works so hard and her artwork is so beautiful. I feel so lucky to have found her and that she is working with me on my book. Her daughter Willow is so stinking CUTE!
My Cousin Kathy is so funny, she makes me laugh so hard! She loves animals and is such a great mom and friend. I feel so lucky that she moved to Colorado and I get to see her and spend time with her.
All of these ladies in my life are passionate and make me want to work hard and be the best I can be! I love and appreciate them so much. There are so many more strong and powerful women in my life that I haven’t mentioned here and I want to take today to thank them for how much they have done for me!
I hope today you will celebrate the beautiful and strong women in your life for the things that make them special and important to you.
Awesome in Action, Co 