To all the folks who’ve reached out over the years to ask about the care map I drew back in 2012, I wanted to share my podcast conversation with healthcare improvement pioneer Paul Batalden in his podcast The Power of Co-Production. Paul is such a thoughtful conversation partner; having the chance to talk about where …
Category Archives: Disability
Touchstones for trustworthy spaces
Touchstones help groups hold tension and engage in meaningful, honest conversation about difficult subjects with both courage and kindness. They can create the conditions that enable creativity, engagement and courage. How and where are you experiencing safety and trust? Where in your collaborations and relationships might you need a little more?
Can you see their health? A salutogenic take on parenting, leadership and change
As a parent of a young adult with physical and developmental disability and multiple chronic conditions and as a healthcare change agent, I’ve been thinking about how paradigms in healthcare influence how I see and experience my life and my work. In particular, I’m noticing how a new paradigm in particular is giving me a greater sense of ease and effectiveness.
On my mind, nightstand and to-do list
A quick update on what I’m thinking, reading and working on
What matters to me
Asking “What matters to you?” as well as “What is the matter?” It doesn’t sound like a big change, but it is.
To start a movement, tell a story
Increasingly, activists and change agents are using their own personal stories as a way to awaken leadership in others. Stories speak the language of emotion, the language of the heart. They not only teach us how to act, but also inspire us with the courage to act. Our stories help us translate our values into action by accessing our emotions.
The tyranny of Norman doors
Through their design, objects subtly communicate instructions on how they should be used. Certain handles just feel like they should be pushed, and others pulled. Bad design sends us signals that are confusing.
Oh, s*#t
I easily forget that my son is getting older, mostly because he’s physically small but also because he needs help with things that kids his age have figured out how to do long ago. But that doesn’t mean he’s a child in every way.
The tired tropes of special needs parenting
If you listen to or read pop culture reviews, you’ve probably stumbled upon a conversation about tropes, which are basically plot devices, themes or recurring character types. When disability gets represented in life and culture, plenty of tired tropes surface.
Passages
I opened a book last week and a bookmark slipped out onto the floor. It was a freebie from a favorite bookstore from my old life, back when I lived on the other side of the ocean. I loved that bookstore, with its coffee counter and author events and the way it always had exactly the book I needed even when it didn’t have the book I wanted.