[00:00:00] LIndsey Larsen: one in four adults in the US has a disability.

[00:00:03] LIndsey Larsen: This is a part of our lives forever. Why not start when they're young, just helping them, then learn and understand and and just have great friends of all types of differences, right?

[00:00:13] Dori Durbin: It never feels good when we're confronted with a situation that we just aren't sure how to handle when it comes to talking about people with disabilities, how prepared are your children to interact and engage with them? How can we, as parents prepare our kids to embrace all people who are different from them without feeling awkward or insure. If you want tips on helping your kids approach and interact with disabled children, tips for educating your children about different kinds of disabilities suggestions for simple ways to include disabled children in play. And resources to teach and talk about differences.
 
Well, then you're in the right spot. Listen. In. 

[00:00:53] LIndsey Larsen: As parents it never feels "good" when we are confronted with a situation that we just [00:01:00] arent sure how to handle. 

[00:01:01] LIndsey Larsen: When it comes to talking about peoplle with disabilities, how prepared are your children to interact and engage with them ? How can we as parents better prepare our kids to embrace all people who are different from them without feeling awkaward or unsure?

[00:01:18] LIndsey Larsen: If you want tips on helping your kids approach and interact with disabled children, 

[00:01:24] LIndsey Larsen: Tips for educating your own children about different disabilities, suggestions for simple ways to include disabled children, and resources to teach and talk about differences then you are in the right spot! 

[00:01:37] LIndsey Larsen: Listen in!

[00:01:38] Dori Durbin: Today's guest is a certified autism spectrum disorder clinical specialist who is also a mom to two amazing daughters, a homeschool educator, military spouse, parenting coach, and also an award winning author.

[00:01:54] Dori Durbin: Welcome 

[00:01:54] LIndsey Larsen: to the show, Lindsay Larson. Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:01:59] Dori Durbin: [00:02:00] Absolutely. When it comes to disabilities, what do you think parents of disabled kids struggle with the very most? 

[00:02:08] LIndsey Larsen: We all have very different experiences.

[00:02:10] LIndsey Larsen: So that's a tough question. But I think part of it is knowing all the different resources out there and how much we need to also rely on those resources and individuals. I know from my own perspective I have a background as an occupational therapist and I used a lot of what I learned.

[00:02:32] LIndsey Larsen: Inside my home with my child and, but it's so completely different that when you're a therapist giving out this advice that you know you're supposed to give and living it yourself, it's a completely different perspective. And so I think there's that struggle with all these resources out there we can help your child, we can help your child go see this person, listen to what this person says.

[00:02:56] LIndsey Larsen: But also just like living your life and just wanting to [00:03:00] be your own family and and do things your own way too, if that makes sense. 

[00:03:06] Dori Durbin: Yeah, because really there's a sense of independence that any family has. But then when you bring in more resources, it feels like there's more fingers and there's less of you, right?

[00:03:17] Dori Durbin: Yeah. 

[00:03:18] LIndsey Larsen: But like I said, it's very different for everyone. I just know that for me, it has been interesting. It's an interesting perspective going from a clinician to a parent and seeing everything that I would help people with and recommend in maybe, a one hour session.

[00:03:37] LIndsey Larsen: How that really translates into real life. It can, it's very interesting. So there might be more books to come. 

[00:03:43] Dori Durbin: And it's different, too, when it's, you were, like you said, you're a professional who needs the services that you might be referring people to, and using them, so that, that is a lot different.

[00:03:55] Dori Durbin: You have the two daughters and I know Madeline is the one that the book is written [00:04:00]more about in general, so Just so our audience understands this and knows the perspective. Could you talk a little bit about Madeline's stroke that she had as an infant? And then maybe even how you knew that something specifically was happening beyond the normal at that moment?

[00:04:19] LIndsey Larsen: As well. Sure. Sure. Absolutely. They're now, they're 13 and 10. Madeline's my oldest. As an infant Madeline started having seizures she actually was blue in the face and wasn't breathing. And so we knew something serious was going on and that was confirmed once she got to the children's hospital rather quickly.

[00:04:40] LIndsey Larsen: So we knew about the, she had a hemorrhage, which is very uncommon. Strokes are common. Strokes are itself are quite common. The first week of life in infants, which a lot of people don't know, but the type of stroke she had was actually hemorrhagic stroke. So she actually had a brain bleed, which is more uncommon which affected the majority of the left side of [00:05:00] her brain.

[00:05:00] LIndsey Larsen: And she fought for her life for a couple of weeks. And we were so thankful to get to take her home with us after that. So we were, of course, in a way. We always were on the lookout. We knew there was going to be issues that we're going to need to face. We just didn't know what exactly.

[00:05:19] LIndsey Larsen: And no one could. And there is, it's funny because some people say they didn't like it when a doctor said, of course, you never want to hear your child's not going to do this, not going to do this. But we had the complete opposite experience. And they wouldn't tell us. Anything about what they thought probably because a lot of that backlash of you said my child would never do this.

[00:05:39] LIndsey Larsen: So in a way I never knew what to like how far to push if you will as we're growing up but as she was growing and we would, see whatever milestones, and with my background I was able to catch things and. So she's still, we still go to therapy to this day for occupational therapy physical therapy, on and off speech [00:06:00]therapy.

[00:06:00] LIndsey Larsen: But she's done all of that. She also has autism. So we just really we just got, we have it all. So we are constantly learning and adjusting and she has intellectual disabilities from the stroke as well. So we're have had to. Really learn a lot. Just growing as a family. And what all we need to do to help support her.

[00:06:23] LIndsey Larsen: And her sister has been a part of that being three years younger the whole time. And it's in her sister was. Quick to start speaking whereas Madeline didn't say her first word until she was three years old. So by the time Charlotte was three years old, she was already helping in her own three year old way explain her sister, which was amazing to me.

[00:06:46] LIndsey Larsen: And that's part of this book as well, because it was not uncommon for Charlotte. She, this is all she knew. She knows this is her sister. This is how her sister is, whether it's her actions or the fact that she's wearing earmuffs because of the [00:07:00] loud sounds. All these things were just her sister and it was so normal to her and she would just go out in the world and be like, yeah, she wears earmuffs.

[00:07:08] LIndsey Larsen: Or like loud noises bother her. She just, she knew all about this. And of course, as she got older she refined the way she would explain that. But she would be the first person that if somebody had a question, Chell would be like, Oh, my sister had a stroke. So she does things differently.

[00:07:25] LIndsey Larsen: And you know what? Those children would just be like, Oh, okay. I've heard of what this book is. It does, it shows the children in the story communicating with each other. And at one point there is a father because one of the children doesn't speak. So the father chimes in and speaks and helps the children understand that, he uses his facial expressions.

[00:07:44] LIndsey Larsen: To answer a question, for instance, and that's shown in the book as well, but it's mostly the children interacting with each other. And this is what I've seen. This is what I've seen. And the beauty of being open and communicating about differences and [00:08:00] how. Whereas parents are more hesitant, a lot of times we don't know if we should ask, we don't know if we should even engage.

[00:08:08] LIndsey Larsen: That has been a big part of it throughout our lives too, people almost nervous to engage with us. And I have to put on my smile and I have to be the one to step up and say, would you, would your kids like to play with my kids? And things like that's been a big part of our lives. So it's just shown in the book.

[00:08:24] LIndsey Larsen: So I hope that children are able to sit down with their parents or their teachers and when they talk about differences and in this book it's related to disabilities that we can just say you're going to encounter all of these beautiful differences. And, that's great. And if you need some clarification so that can help you play better, that's okay.

[00:08:44] LIndsey Larsen: We can, either talk to the teacher about it, a parent, I was always right there with my daughter to help explain. And also support my daughter and her needs, too, because there were, balance coordination things as well. So sometimes I had to be right there hands on to help. And so the book [00:09:00] shows all of that.

[00:09:01] LIndsey Larsen: It doesn't just follow one character like a lot of books do. It's a snapshot of my life when I used to go to the playground. 

[00:09:08] Dori Durbin: That's so great. And we were talking before about this awkwardness, this real life awkwardness of not knowing if you have a child that doesn't have a disability, do I ask, do I acknowledge, do I admit that I see something different?

[00:09:23] Dori Durbin: What do I do as the parent who doesn't have that child and what do I tell my kids and so the fact that you're. Not only telling people like in person, but you're also engaging that conversation in the book is great because I think a lot of times we don't feel like we have that permission for whatever reason.

[00:09:42] Dori Durbin: So it's great that you take that step and you have that personality willing to go out there and say, Hey, I'll help you I'll make this easy for you. That's awesome. Yeah. 

[00:09:53] LIndsey Larsen: Yeah, and I would say to any parents out there too that are questioning I've talked to a lot of people in the disability [00:10:00] community. We tend to find each other and and when I talked to them about this, especially, when I was like, I have this vision for a book and I want to know everyone's perspective, which I can't know everyone, but I know I would like to hear a lot of different perspectives and everybody was like, yeah, we just want people to, it's okay if you need to say, yes, we all have differences and, we would love to play together.

[00:10:20] LIndsey Larsen: How can we make that happen? There's just a lot of nice ways to say, we want to make this work. How can we engage with each other? And really that's all it takes. And honestly, I think a lot of the parents who have a child with a disability. will be happy to jump in instead because they've had probably a lot of the same experience I have where I've been the person chasing someone down to say, can I help our kids play together?

[00:10:43] LIndsey Larsen: I would love that because that's really what we all want, right? Our kids. And what great experiences for all children too. To learn and meet everyone with, all these different people with different abilities and disabilities because one in four adults in the US has a disability.

[00:10:59] LIndsey Larsen: This is a part [00:11:00] of our lives forever. Why not start when they're young, just helping them, then learn and understand and and just have great friends of all different Just all different, all types of differences, right? 

[00:11:12] Dori Durbin: Yeah, and that's going to just serve them so much as adults and through their whole lives, really like from really three year olds all the way through.

[00:11:21] Dori Durbin: Do you feel like. When you found out that they weren't willing to give you an idea what she was going to be able to do did that invoke some fear in your mind? 

[00:11:32] LIndsey Larsen: I guess at first not knowing was a little bit frightening, but I think all new parents are frightened, right? None of us really know the person that our child is going to turn into at that moment. You see this human and you have no idea the human that they're going to be in 20, 30 years.

[00:11:50] LIndsey Larsen: So I just looked at it that way that we would take one day at a time and the reality was You know, all infants require a lot of care.[00:12:00] Yes, she did have monitors and medicines and lots and lots of doctors. But, infants require a lot of care. So I just focused on that.

[00:12:11] LIndsey Larsen: And then we just, took it one day at a time. 

[00:12:13] Dori Durbin: Have you experienced misconceptions from other people about what she is able to do? Or were they. Stand back and they're like I don't know if she'll be able to do that.

[00:12:21] LIndsey Larsen: Right? I think that is it a lot of people were unsure When they would see it's like she like for instance my daughter She doesn't use a mobility device, but she does It's improved a lot, but her balance and coordination has improved a lot. So I think people would notice that she, of course, was delayed with speech we used a lot of sign language.

[00:12:44] LIndsey Larsen: She had, she utilized regularly over 300 signs before she could speak at age three. And so that was just something we learned together. And so people would see us doing that, people would see her earmuffs. So those types of things, I did [00:13:00] notice people seemed hesitant about what. To do and I feel like it's even more so I would say when it's, I just want to point this out.

[00:13:10] LIndsey Larsen: Sorry. It's very interesting when now that she's older, her balance and some of that is And if people haven't spoken to her yet, really, the only thing that they might notice is earmuffs if she's wearing some, and there is a big difference between how people will approach her with and without her earmuffs on.

[00:13:31] LIndsey Larsen: Especially when she was a little bit younger. And, but that has also changed because a lot of kids wear headphones as well. And some of them might have sensory issues and are wearing headphones to listen to whatever music that they like to, or or maybe that's the amount of protection that their ears just need.

[00:13:47] LIndsey Larsen: But there's also kids wearing them just because they're listening to their music. So it's become a lot more common. aNd I don't hear as much with that now. But several years back, it was like the earmuffs were an [00:14:00] indication that something was going on, and people were more aware and more kind.

[00:14:06] LIndsey Larsen: If she wasn't wearing her earmuffs, and if she did something there was people that would say things like, How old are you? They, just, they would make remarks and of course I had my own way of responding to that and let, letting them know that she has intellectual disabilities as a result of a stroke and that usually changed their tune rather quickly.

[00:14:28] LIndsey Larsen: bUt it was interesting because I thought you shouldn't have to advertise your disability to be treated with respect. And that's something I think we all need to be better about is understanding if you notice something with an individual and you're not quite understanding why they might be acting that way, there's a real chance that there's a disability that you don't know about.

[00:14:50] LIndsey Larsen: There's an invisible disability there. And so to just always remember to treat everybody with kindness. 

[00:14:57] Dori Durbin: That's a great point. And, when you first [00:15:00] said the earphones, I wondered if people thought maybe she was deaf, especially with the signing. But you're right, like now, it's very common to see people with the earphones and needing that break from all the noise and all the chaos around them

[00:15:13] Dori Durbin: so then, what was it, was there a specific thing even, maybe there wasn't, what was it that caused you to write your book, Meeting Exceptional Friends, and not just advocate for your daughter?

[00:15:28] LIndsey Larsen: I think it was because I was determined to find a way to get this message out there, and so I was brainstorming. And I was like thinking, gosh, I just need to maybe go into schools and just say, hi, I, I would love as an occupational therapist and my background in autism as well.

[00:15:46] LIndsey Larsen: I can come in and I can educate the students. And the problem with that. I felt was I could take that message to the children, but when they're out then with their parents who have not heard the message, [00:16:00]are we going to still get the same response, their child maybe said, I learned this and they're so proud to be able to say.

[00:16:07] LIndsey Larsen: I see someone using a communication device. I'm going to talk to them about it. This is great. And their parent might still be like no, we shouldn't go interact. We don't know what to do. So I was like, I need to get to the parents as well. And that's where I settled on a children's book.

[00:16:25] LIndsey Larsen: And I thought, if we can get it. out there, parents sitting down at story time, which I'm still hoping parents are sitting down and reading books every night with their kids if they can just work this book into, the mix with all their other favorites as well and have this conversation Then that message will hopefully resonate with both, both the parent and the child 

[00:16:44] Dori Durbin: that's a great reason for doing it. And I think you're right. And I do have the belief that parents are still doing that they do more. But I do think that conversation, they're using the book to educate themselves in this case, hopefully, but also to [00:17:00] have that conversation that maybe wouldn't have happened at an appropriate time.

[00:17:04] Dori Durbin: If they're out and about, and in that awkward position, they're not going to have a conversation about what. What is okay or not okay at that exact moment where they could have done it. yEs, 

[00:17:14] LIndsey Larsen: exactly. And that's what, I was a little bit nervous with possible pushback. I know, not everyone with a disability wants to constantly be asked about their disability.

[00:17:24] LIndsey Larsen: And I understand that as well. This book is written for young children. This is likely a lot of their first experience. And this is part of the reason I actually use children versus like animals. I want them to understand children have these differences and you're, these are your future friends out in the world and they're going to have these differences.

[00:17:43] LIndsey Larsen: And so to talk about it at home. So when they go out in the world there's not that frustration initially that it's not intended to be taken like you need to go out in the world and ask everyone that you meet about their difference introduction to [00:18:00] into to these differences. So they get some of those questions answered and I've had some people come tell me.

[00:18:06] LIndsey Larsen: After reading this book with their children, many times, their child will say something, but it'll be more to the effect, they'll direct it to their parent and say, Mom, remember we read that book about all those kids with differences. I see a child with a difference. And then they're having that.

[00:18:20] LIndsey Larsen: Yes. And what, and then you can talk to about your own child, some of the things that make them unique and wonderful. And then it's Hey, should we go say hi and meet a new friend? And that's how you can carry on. I love that. 

[00:18:33] Dori Durbin: I love that you just gave us a prescription of how to do it too. You did, and it was easy.

[00:18:40] Dori Durbin: It wasn't anything awkward. It was something very natural. The kids are going to ask you questions about things they see, and you made that connection with the book, and it made it into real life. Had a conversation. I think that's awesome. That's awesome. While we're on the subject of your book, give us just without ruining the ending, of course, give us the [00:19:00] synopsis of what your book's about, and then if you could, maybe read us a little bit of it?

[00:19:04] LIndsey Larsen: Sure. Yeah, this, like I said, it's what you would imagine all kids, the different differences on a playground, and some of these differences. the children have questions about. And so what you'll notice in the story is it's repeated over and over again. That's a great question because I do believe that the target audience for this book being preschool through first grade, my husband learned something from this book.

[00:19:27] LIndsey Larsen: So anybody of any age can learn from a children's book. I would just love to point that out. And that is wonderful. That's not a bad thing. That's a great thing. We should all keep learning and growing. But. They do need to ask some questions so they can play together and understand each other better.

[00:19:46] LIndsey Larsen: And I just want people to know that's okay. Yeah, I will read a little bit here. So it's changes from. Different groups of children as you go through the book, because they're meeting lots of different kids, which is what you do at the playground, because there's [00:20:00] always kids coming and going, and you have to meet new friends.

[00:20:03] LIndsey Larsen: Wow, did I just see your wheels light up? This is the dad speaking now. They do light up. This is Damien. His wheelchair has lots of cool features. Can he talk? That's a great question. He can't speak, but he can hear you and likes playing with other kids. My shoes light up too, Damien. Would you like to play with us?

[00:20:27] LIndsey Larsen: He's smiling. That means yes. And then it moves on to another scene and it shows the kids and how they're interacting. And I'm working on designing a coloring book actually to show more. inclusive play. Because I think that's just super important. And kids are so creative. They can come up with great ways, to adapt and change games.

[00:20:50] LIndsey Larsen: So if it doesn't work for somebody, how can we adjust this and make it work for them? And so I am, you can see some of. This in the actual book how the kids [00:21:00] are interacting and playing with each other, the different groups and the different situations that I wanted to expand on that, so I decided, why not?

[00:21:07] LIndsey Larsen: I'll design a coloring book that kind of shows, that just shows that it's the visual that people might need to say that's easy enough. I didn't, a lot of things that I do and I would include my daughter and a lot of Activities, I would bring things to the playground, too, that I thought, everyone, be it bubbles because anyone can enjoy bubbles together, right?

[00:21:25] LIndsey Larsen: Sometimes we do music on our phones, and we can have a dance party. Why not? Everybody can enjoy listening to music and having a dance party. We just had to keep the sound lower for my daughter, but that's fine so 

[00:21:38] Dori Durbin: Really great idea. I love the idea of a coloring book, too, they're around 32 pages, I'd have a whole class set, and each person could have a different page, and they could all color, and so your coloring book could be utilized in a lot of different avenues, too.

[00:21:51] Dori Durbin: It doesn't necessarily just have to be with one family or one kid. It can be used With multiple groups but having that [00:22:00] example, like a visual example of, okay, this is how one way that you could modify playing like the bubbles thing. Yeah, everybody loves bubbles and I think that would be so fun. A group of kids that, are just all able to play together in that way.

[00:22:15] LIndsey Larsen: I've got a lot of things brewing, a lot of different things because I'm all over the place. 

[00:22:20] Dori Durbin: But I think your brain is trying to solve a problem and the problem is helping people understand that these kids are wanting and needing to be part of these groups and it's okay that they are.

[00:22:33] Dori Durbin: You're providing solutions as to how that can happen. Thank you. Yes. Okay. So in your books, and I know this is the case for all authors, we want specific things so were there some specific, absolutely crucial pieces that had to be in your book itself or in the illustrations that you really needed to be there?

[00:22:55] Dori Durbin: I 

[00:22:55] LIndsey Larsen: was very particular about what I showed. I was [00:23:00] intentional and it was a little, it was challenging because my, my illustrator is in Ukraine and doesn't speak English, and so we did have a, it was challenging, but we made it work, of course to make sure that the illustrations showed a variety of equipment at the playground, for instance, and also kids playing without equipment I swear, one of the, Things my kids like doing the most at a playground still is playing hide and seek.

[00:23:24] LIndsey Larsen: So we included that in the book where the kids are playing hide and seek. There's so many ways to play without using the equipment. But also I want the world to be more inclusive and I want, to see more adapted playgrounds and options for all kids. Even my own daughter, loved to have.

[00:23:40] LIndsey Larsen: Even though she doesn't utilize a wheelchair, she loved having ramps. She felt much more secure using ramps to get up on playground equipment. Lots of times we would enjoy those types of setups. So I wanted to show a lot of that, so people can understand, why, I, there was times where I actually would hear people talking about there was a swing.

[00:23:58] LIndsey Larsen: that worked better for a child like my [00:24:00] daughter who has balance and coordination, and I would hear people say things like, why did they put in this swing or something like that. And I would, sometimes I would interject if I felt it appropriate, I wouldn't always, but I wanted to kind of show so people could also say, Oh, that's what some of this equipment is for, it's, I understand now, so I did want to make sure we showed a variety of playground equipment.

[00:24:22] LIndsey Larsen: I wanted to show a variety of disabilities, visible and invisible. disabilities. So I just wanted to check those boxes. I would have loved to include many more, but I felt like this was a manageable amount to be able to at least have a conversation with kids about visible and invisible disabilities and how we can always find ways to include.

[00:24:44] LIndsey Larsen: Kids and play. thAt's great. 

[00:24:46] Dori Durbin: And you have your next book. You can include more. 

[00:24:49] LIndsey Larsen: Yeah, one of my best friends kept telling me she kept saying this is just one book, she's it's okay to have more ideas. We'll just you put that in your next book, 

[00:24:57] Dori Durbin: right? If we went with all our ideas that we have [00:25:00] as authors, we would basically be selling encyclopedia sets.

[00:25:04] Dori Durbin: But it's true. I think having those visuals, especially, there are some really amazing, unique playground equipment that somebody who didn't have a child that had a disability would wonder and not have a clue why it was like that.

[00:25:17] Dori Durbin: So right. That's essential. 

[00:25:20] LIndsey Larsen: Yes. Yes. Because we didn't grow up learning about these things. We can now it's fine. 

[00:25:26] Dori Durbin: That's awesome. I love that you did that. That was very insightful. 

[00:25:30] Dori Durbin: So know that you're super driven to share with other parents and you want to remove that awkwardness that comes from not knowing, but how has that changed your focus with other families and, in particular, because you're moving around too.

[00:25:45] Dori Durbin: So how has that made you different in your approach with other families that you meet? 

[00:25:52] LIndsey Larsen: It's been different. A lot of different not specifically based on location where we live, just so many different experiences.

[00:25:59] LIndsey Larsen: It's [00:26:00] funny, I think back and I have a lot of friends that happen to be teachers or former teachers. And I think about, I've thought about that a lot and thought, huh, that's really interesting because, No one understands what I'm saying, if you don't have a child with a disability.

[00:26:17] LIndsey Larsen: Teachers are the people who get it. They get it. And I, I have somehow, we've attracted a lot of teacher slash former teacher friends into my life. So I definitely think people who are open to just being friends with anyone that enters their world Which happens to be a lot of teachers, those people are the people that I've, definitely connected with,

[00:26:43] LIndsey Larsen: I do have several friends that, gravitated to us to be friends. Very quickly, and it wasn't long before they mentioned that they have a sibling with a disability. They're essentially like my daughter Charlotte, all grown up. And I envision that one day, [00:27:00] she's going to be like that.

[00:27:01] LIndsey Larsen: She's going to be the person reaching out and and she already actually does. 

[00:27:04] LIndsey Larsen: We definitely have people gravitate towards us, and I do my best to reach out to those who don't. Maybe have an understanding of disabilities but it, you can still see there's that, there, there can be an awkwardness that is hard for some people to get past.

[00:27:22] LIndsey Larsen: And I'm hoping that this next generation, it's just going to be so different. Because there's so many books about disabilities and inclusion out there and I love them. And I have my wall just lined, you can't, lined over here with children's books that have disabilities. I just love what's happening.

[00:27:39] LIndsey Larsen: It's 

[00:27:39] Dori Durbin: really interesting because I think each book with disabilities has a different and unique focus. And so like yours is the first that has really talked about playgrounds and how to, play together and some of the words that you can use and the questioning. And And I think there's a lot of power in having these different voices because you get so many different [00:28:00] perspectives and whether it's your book or somebody else's book that resonates with a kid, the whole point is that there is a book out there that's going to resonate with the right person and it's going to make a difference.

[00:28:12] Dori Durbin: So I think that's really important to keep in mind too. I think with any kid's book, you're, yeah. Own flavor, your own life experiences really play into how you write that book, and they do draw a specific audience. 

[00:28:25] Dori Durbin: So if you could, Lindsay, I know this super hard question, but. What are 3 things you wish parents taught their kids about 

[00:28:32] LIndsey Larsen: disabilities? I Guess one, it would just be a variety of disabilities that are out there. I know, and I'm trying to, just as a side note I don't, any money I make from this book, I just put back into resources and donating this book to libraries and things like that or to causes.

[00:28:52] LIndsey Larsen: But I'm creating resources, too, that are free. They're on my website. They're, I'm putting them up on Teachers Pay Teachers as I get them made. Just [00:29:00] other ways to sit down and say these are disabilities. You might see people, there's a whole one pages of assistive devices. My other daughter, Charlotte, she has vision impairment, and she wears an eye patch has for a while, for a portion of the day.

[00:29:15] LIndsey Larsen: She usually does it actually when people don't see her, because we homeschool, so she does it in the morning for a few hours. But it shows a lot of those different things that you might see, whether it's an eye patch or the earmuffs that we mentioned or a wheelchair or a walker just taking those opportunities to, to educate.

[00:29:31] LIndsey Larsen: So I would say to we're all learning together. And, I know we're the first ones to help try and relieve anxiety and other people to let them know, Hey, it's okay.

[00:29:43] LIndsey Larsen: I would love to talk to you about both of my kids. I'd love for you to get to know both of them and what makes them unique and different. And I would like to learn about your children. And let's see how we can play together. So approachability, I would just say just approach. Educate, approach, and maybe I would [00:30:00] say, just have some tools with you when you go to the playground, too.

[00:30:05] LIndsey Larsen: Things that you could pull out for other friends to use. I know I would take things like sidewalk chalk, I would take the bubbles, we would use songs, because my daughter with disabilities loves music, so songs were always important for us. Anything that you see in your garage, that you can just tuck in your bag and say hey, maybe, we do like to catch myths with the Velcro.

[00:30:25] LIndsey Larsen: My daughter does have coordination issues, but I help her with that. And, lots of times those are like the hit of the playground because it's like we come here all the time and this is something new and different.

[00:30:36] LIndsey Larsen: So I would say bring things with you because you might just meet an exceptional friend. 

[00:30:42] Dori Durbin: That's great. And again, it's being proactive for your kids. It's helping those connections just naturally happen.

[00:30:50] Dori Durbin: They're organic. It's not super forced that way. It's 

[00:30:54] LIndsey Larsen: so beautiful to watch too. It really is. I bet. 

[00:30:57] Dori Durbin: I bet. I can imagine all the bubbles and the [00:31:00] throwing of the mitt and the ball.

[00:31:02] LIndsey Larsen: Yeah, it's usually me in charge of this whole operation, but, you can always ask other parents hey, you want to help with this fun activity so our children can play together?

[00:31:11] LIndsey Larsen: That's okay. I'll take the bubbles.

[00:31:14] Dori Durbin: Okay. So we need to tell people the name of your book again, which is Meeting Exceptional Friends, but where can they find it? And how do they get ahold of you as well? 

[00:31:23] LIndsey Larsen: Okay. You can get it on all major online book retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble. It's on Walmart.

[00:31:31] LIndsey Larsen: Of course, your local bookstores, they can order it so you can ask there if you want to shop local, you can go to my website and order it, it's lindsay larsen. com there's a lot of free resources on there too, I just keep building things, especially like for teachers to be able to do some fun activities along with the book to talk about differences in their classroom, but of course, homeschool parents like me, you can do them as well.

[00:31:56] LIndsey Larsen: They're for you too. And just parents in general that want to bring up this topic with their [00:32:00] kids. I can, I do autograph and can send the books from my website directly. You can buy them there as well. You can also find me on Instagram. I'm at OT homeschool mom. You can get a little view into our life and the things that we do.

[00:32:15] LIndsey Larsen: And I try and put up some tips and things here and there, but I'm also doing. Parent coaching on this, as just something to help other parents with children with disabilities. And that information is on my website as well. But you can get some of that information just on, on the Instagram account as well.

[00:32:31] LIndsey Larsen: So lots of ways to find me. 

[00:32:33] Dori Durbin: FAntastic. Lindsay Larson, thank you so much for your time today, for your fabulous book, and just the perspective that you shared. It's been great to hear. 

[00:32:43] LIndsey Larsen: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me and helping spread this inclusive message. 

[00:32:48] Dori Durbin: Absolutely. Thank you.