Inclusion with Kendra Gottsleben

National MPS Society: Our Voices

In this episode:

• Kendra was born and raised in a small town in South Dakota, where her community nurtured her with inclusion and support.
• She has always been fascinated with psychology and sociology, leading her to pursue a degree from Augustana University.
• When Kendra moved to a larger community and now advocating for herself. She has a deepened desire to pursue a career that serves people with disabilities. She has a passion for disability inclusion that is evident in her work, philanthropy, and creativity.
• She is the author of three published books and the founder of the nonprofit Rare by Design.
• In today's episode, we discuss the importance of disability inclusion and how we can promote it in our own communities.
• Kendra talks about what her experience was growing up being mainstreamed in school with 504 assistance and the role her mom played in leveling the playing field for her during school.
• For the past 11 years, Kendra has worked at the South Dakota Medical School Center for Disabilities.
• We talk about Kendra's perspective on disability inclusion in the workplace.
• There are so many ways to identify, describe, and honor the human experience. As we focus on and broaden our perspectives on those, who are marginalized, specifically those with disabilities, there are many terms and concepts to describe the disability and rare disease experience, and the language always changes.
• Kendra tells the story of how she was a runway model in 2016 for Tommy Hilfiger in New York for the Runway of Dreams Foundation.
• We discuss her first book, Live Laugh Lemonade: A Journey of Choosing to Beat the Odds, and what was happening in her life when she wrote it. Her next book is a children's book called Kendra's Lemondate which she wrote to help kids and others understand disabilities. Her most recent book is Kendra's Perfect Dance Routine, about her dance experience as a child.

The National MPS Society exists to cure, support, and advocate for MPS and ML.

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