Our Story
In 2019, Amy's son, Caleb started attending a local public elementary school. She was ecstatic that Caleb was going to have opportunities to learn and practice social skills with his peers. However, Amy soon realized that Caleb's experience in public school was going to be very different than she had imagined.
The first time she saw the sign for Caleb’s classroom, it didn't say “Mrs. Smith's Class/3rd Grade". Instead, the sign simply said “ID (Intellectual Disability) - Moderate". On another day, Amy was walking through the school and noticed her son's art hanging in the hall. Again the art was not labeled with the teacher's name; it was labeled “Art by ID Primary Students”. Amy realized that Caleb and his classmates were defined and referred to by their disability . . . and not by their names.
During morning drop off, when Amy opened the door to her minivan, both teachers and students quickly backed away and waited for a special education teacher to assist Caleb out of the car. When Amy asked about recess, she was told that for “safety” reasons the students in Caleb’s class (the students with disabilities) went to recess alone. Then, one day, Amy decided to eat lunch with Caleb. She noticed how Caleb’s class sat alone at a separate table. She also noticed the way the other students looked at Caleb and his classmates and occasionally laughed at them.
It was in that moment, that Amy realized there had to be a way for students with disabilities to not just attend local schools, but they needed to be seen as valuable, invited and participating in their schools. Students and teachers alike needed education about disability, models for how to talk about disability and opportunities to interact with individuals with disabilities.
For Allison, her story started differently. Before the birth of Haley, Allison did not have a lot of education or experience with disability. After Haley’s diagnoses, Allison and her husband wanted to be an effective advocate with Haley and for Haley so they educated themselves about disability by learning from and listening to voices in the disability community.
When Allison's son was in 3rd grade, he casually mentioned that he mainly talks to his friends about his sister, Emily, because he didn’t know what to say about Haley. Allison realized that she had been educating herself about disability, but she had not effectively communicated what she was learning to her own children.
Allison reached out to Tyler’s teacher and asked her if she could teach a lesson about disability and kindness to his class. Tyler's teacher was very supportive and agreed. Allison struggled to find resources for educating students about disability, so she wrote her own lesson. Allison and Tyler's teacher set a date in March 2020. As luck would have it, all schools were shut down the day before Allison was scheduled to teach that lesson.
However, that is not where the story ends. As Allison was writing and preparing that lesson, a small flame was kindled inside of her. Even though she had to put that lesson on the back burner for a little while, she kept going back to the idea that someday she wanted to educate others about disability to reduce any stigma or fear often related to disability.
Finally, in 2021, Amy and Allison merged their passions together and co-founded BRIDGED to address the following needs in schools and communities: (1) active participation and inclusion of individuals with disabilities in their schools and communities, (2) awareness and education about disability for adults and students without disabilities, (3) opportunities for disabled children to develop relationships with non-disabled peers, (4) social studies curriculum to include disability history and the Disabilities Right Movement and (5) literature representing disabled people and their stories.
The first time she saw the sign for Caleb’s classroom, it didn't say “Mrs. Smith's Class/3rd Grade". Instead, the sign simply said “ID (Intellectual Disability) - Moderate". On another day, Amy was walking through the school and noticed her son's art hanging in the hall. Again the art was not labeled with the teacher's name; it was labeled “Art by ID Primary Students”. Amy realized that Caleb and his classmates were defined and referred to by their disability . . . and not by their names.
During morning drop off, when Amy opened the door to her minivan, both teachers and students quickly backed away and waited for a special education teacher to assist Caleb out of the car. When Amy asked about recess, she was told that for “safety” reasons the students in Caleb’s class (the students with disabilities) went to recess alone. Then, one day, Amy decided to eat lunch with Caleb. She noticed how Caleb’s class sat alone at a separate table. She also noticed the way the other students looked at Caleb and his classmates and occasionally laughed at them.
It was in that moment, that Amy realized there had to be a way for students with disabilities to not just attend local schools, but they needed to be seen as valuable, invited and participating in their schools. Students and teachers alike needed education about disability, models for how to talk about disability and opportunities to interact with individuals with disabilities.
For Allison, her story started differently. Before the birth of Haley, Allison did not have a lot of education or experience with disability. After Haley’s diagnoses, Allison and her husband wanted to be an effective advocate with Haley and for Haley so they educated themselves about disability by learning from and listening to voices in the disability community.
When Allison's son was in 3rd grade, he casually mentioned that he mainly talks to his friends about his sister, Emily, because he didn’t know what to say about Haley. Allison realized that she had been educating herself about disability, but she had not effectively communicated what she was learning to her own children.
Allison reached out to Tyler’s teacher and asked her if she could teach a lesson about disability and kindness to his class. Tyler's teacher was very supportive and agreed. Allison struggled to find resources for educating students about disability, so she wrote her own lesson. Allison and Tyler's teacher set a date in March 2020. As luck would have it, all schools were shut down the day before Allison was scheduled to teach that lesson.
However, that is not where the story ends. As Allison was writing and preparing that lesson, a small flame was kindled inside of her. Even though she had to put that lesson on the back burner for a little while, she kept going back to the idea that someday she wanted to educate others about disability to reduce any stigma or fear often related to disability.
Finally, in 2021, Amy and Allison merged their passions together and co-founded BRIDGED to address the following needs in schools and communities: (1) active participation and inclusion of individuals with disabilities in their schools and communities, (2) awareness and education about disability for adults and students without disabilities, (3) opportunities for disabled children to develop relationships with non-disabled peers, (4) social studies curriculum to include disability history and the Disabilities Right Movement and (5) literature representing disabled people and their stories.