I Am Able | You Are Able | We Are Able
I am able. Isn’t that a simple and curious phrase? Most of us can do something and do it with relative ease. But if you’re a person with a neurodivergent skill set, sometimes the simplest things like reading, calculating math, following a recipe, taking down a phone number, or effectively channeling your attention, requires mental workarounds that take great creativity, intelligence, and pure resilience.
As an adult who grew up with dyslexia and ADHD, my ability to effectively adapt, innovate, and create (thanks to my sharpened alternate neurodivergent senses) has served me well in my career as a director, actor, activist, and philanthropist. However, growing up, I had to persevere in silence. Now, I and countless others will be silent no longer, thanks to the establishment of the I AM ABLE Foundation.
The I AM ABLE Foundation is a national information and public advocacy resource and platform where members of our divergently-abled community and allies join together to change a culture that demands conformity over equity, and inclusion, of our friends and family members who learn and think differently. Together we are changing the narrative. All of us building this foundation are champions of invisible struggles. Personal challenges like ADHD, dyslexia, autism, and more, often make us vulnerable but also activate unique superpowers in every one of us who lives with these personal stumbling blocks.
Our national coalition is an empowering community where we share our challenges and how they lead us to personal and professional victories. We activate the Superpowers! We use film, visual media, online, and interactive storytelling to vanquish stigmas in collaboration with our divergently-abled community members and friends to convey our strengths and tell our stories of trials and triumphs. We will no longer be invisible and silent.
Standing together in our empowered truth, all of us with neurodivergent strengths will show the world that you are able, I am able, and together, we are able to make a significant change in almost all aspects of our personal and professional journeys. Our goal is to make every classroom, community, and corporate environment inclusive for every neurodivergent learner, professional, creative, or analytical thinker.
We’re glad you’re here with us on our blog. In the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to sharing with you blog posts and videos that will inspire, inform, and even entertain you on occasion. Your support and active participation with us will help ensure that for now, and forever more, I am able, you are able, and we are able.
