Our Story
BRIDGED is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Amy Hibbs and Allison Huffstutler in 2021. The mission of BRIDGED was crafted from experiences in both their personal lives and professional lives. Below is the story of how their experiences ignited a passion and provided unique insight to create change in their communities for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Amy is an Occupational Therapist and has a disability. Her middle son, Caleb, has cerebral palsy and a rare genetic disorder, called Cabezas Syndrome, and Amy’s youngest son, Luke, has Autism. In 2019, Caleb started attending a local public elementary school. Amy was excited 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 Amy 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 Moderate Students.” Amy realized that in school, 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 visited Caleb at lunch. She noticed 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.
At that moment, Amy believed there had to be a way for students with disabilities to not just attend local schools, but they also 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. Allison’s daughter, Haley, was born with Rett Syndrome and Autism. Before the birth of Haley, Allison did not have a lot of education or experience with disability, despite being a public school educator. After Haley’s diagnoses, Allison and her husband wanted to be effective advocates so they educated themselves about disability by learning from and listening to voices in the disability community.
When Allison’s oldest, Tyler, was in 3rd grade, he told her that he didn’t know how to talk to his friends about Haley. She started “Googling" and looking for resources on how to talk to kids about disability, but she found very few options so she had to figure it out on her own.
Allison also reached out to Tyler’s teacher and asked to visit Tyler’s class to teach a lesson about disability. Tyler's teacher was very supportive and agreed. Allison and Tyler’s teacher decided on a date in March 2020. As luck would have it, all schools were shut down (due to Covid) the day before Allison was scheduled to teach that lesson.
However, that is not where the story ends. While Allison was writing and preparing that lesson, she grew more aware of the need for education about disability and became passionate about it. Even though Allison 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 with a mission to provide education, resources and innovative solutions to promote awareness, connection and inclusion of people with disabilities in their communities. Initially, they sought 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. Since then, they have identified other needs within their communities and have expanded their programs and events to address those needs.
Amy is an Occupational Therapist and has a disability. Her middle son, Caleb, has cerebral palsy and a rare genetic disorder, called Cabezas Syndrome, and Amy’s youngest son, Luke, has Autism. In 2019, Caleb started attending a local public elementary school. Amy was excited 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 Amy 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 Moderate Students.” Amy realized that in school, 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 visited Caleb at lunch. She noticed 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.
At that moment, Amy believed there had to be a way for students with disabilities to not just attend local schools, but they also 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. Allison’s daughter, Haley, was born with Rett Syndrome and Autism. Before the birth of Haley, Allison did not have a lot of education or experience with disability, despite being a public school educator. After Haley’s diagnoses, Allison and her husband wanted to be effective advocates so they educated themselves about disability by learning from and listening to voices in the disability community.
When Allison’s oldest, Tyler, was in 3rd grade, he told her that he didn’t know how to talk to his friends about Haley. She started “Googling" and looking for resources on how to talk to kids about disability, but she found very few options so she had to figure it out on her own.
Allison also reached out to Tyler’s teacher and asked to visit Tyler’s class to teach a lesson about disability. Tyler's teacher was very supportive and agreed. Allison and Tyler’s teacher decided on a date in March 2020. As luck would have it, all schools were shut down (due to Covid) the day before Allison was scheduled to teach that lesson.
However, that is not where the story ends. While Allison was writing and preparing that lesson, she grew more aware of the need for education about disability and became passionate about it. Even though Allison 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 with a mission to provide education, resources and innovative solutions to promote awareness, connection and inclusion of people with disabilities in their communities. Initially, they sought 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. Since then, they have identified other needs within their communities and have expanded their programs and events to address those needs.