Foreword For Becoming Remarkably Able

After reading Becoming Remarkably Able, I had flashbacks of our family’s own transition 17 years ago when JT, our 37-year old son who has cognitive and mental health challenges, was transitioning from high school to adulthood.  We could have surely used this workbook at that time.  The major challenge was that the services and supports in our community that were available were not consistent with JT’s values, strengths, preferences, and needs, nor of ours.  The available path was not the right one for JT and our family.  And the last thing that we wanted to do was to start yet another community program that would, indeed, reflect our values.  Our decision was to embark on the path in terms of trying to improve the existing available services and supports which resulted in a very frustrating and unsatisfactory experience for everyone.  In other words, it was a path that resulted in JT becoming “remarkably DISabled.”  I will always recall the advice given to us by a family friend at that time, “Ann and Rud, no matter how far down the wrong path you go, if it’s the wrong path, turn around.”  We did turn around, and I’m delighted to say that 17 years later JT and our family are on the path to independence and, yes, to BEYOND.

As I reflect, oh, how easier it would have been if we had had Jackie’s workbook.  What strikes me most about this workbook is that the contents of it are as vibrant and energizing as its striking and beautiful cover.  Trent, Jackie’s son with autism, created the compelling portrait of “the path” on the cover.  Jackie, with her remarkable parental insights, filled the contents with a decision-making approach to self-determination that I would describe as relationship-based, hopeful, constructive, action-oriented, individualized, and reflective.  It puts families, individuals with disabilities, and their reliable allies in the “driver’s seat” of decision-making in tailoring adult futures for the individual and for the family that are wholly consistent with what will make their “chimes ring.”  Because every single family and every single individual with a disability is unique, this workbook builds on that uniqueness by guiding people through a process of reflection and interactive planning.

If our family had had this workbook 20 years ago and had followed its process, our path would not have been as bumpy; and we would not have had to turn around, but rather we would have started on the right path.

I highly recommend Becoming Remarkably Able:  Walking the Path to Independence and Beyond.  From my own professional and family experiences, this, indeed, is a remarkable resource. 

Ann Turnbull,

Co-Director, Beach Center on Disability

Professor, Department of Special Education

University of Kansas

“Veteran” of adult transition