The blog post that almost never was…
I’ve been told countless times that I should start a blog. I’ve been writing this first blog post for 5 years. Different versions and edits exist and have existed. Many have been deleted. I’ve put a lot of unnecessary pressure about what the first blog post on my website should be. I’ve let fear dictate my inaction but today I’m busting through it!
So, this first blog post is about “feeling the fear and doing it anyways”. It’s about how my own health challenges have reshaped my life’s work as a professional working with children who have different abilities and special needs.
This blog may cause you to view neurodevelopmental disorders differently. On behalf of all my amazing little friends I work with and their families, I hope that it will.
Okay so, where do I even start?
Well first, some exciting news and a little background: in January 2019, I graduated as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner through the Nutritional Therapy Association! Graduating from the NTA is an endeavor I have desperately wanted to complete since 2014. All accomplishments are to be celebrated but I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude as I continue to integrate my work as a holistic bio-individual nutrition professional serving this under-represented population.
Something you may or may not know about me, in the fall of 2013, I developed a chronic illness while earning my Masters of Speech-Language Pathology. It turns out, illness doesn't wait around for the perfect timing and it doesn’t discriminate. This post isn't to gather anyone's sympathy about my situation or what’s happened to me, so please, don't feel bad for me for a moment. It's not about that. I’m sharing because my own health and wellness journey has been one of the most impactful turning points in my life and career. It was the catalyst that ultimately led me to becoming an NTP and building Speaking of Health & Wellness, LLC to serve my clients in a way that combines my passions and knowledge. In hindsight, I am endlessly thankful.
I came across a card recently that I wrote myself years ago and it sparked a variety of emotions within me…
During the last academic semester, December 2014, my cohort was about to head off on holiday. One of my very passionate professors was running late for class and having a particularly rough day. She found herself caught in a back and forth with an editor or publisher (I can’t exactly recall) about a major piece of her life’s work. Her legacy that she had poured her heart and soul into, and they wanted to tailor it beyond what felt still authentically hers.
Rather than diving straight into the material, she passed out notecards for the room, instructing us to date them. She shared the details of the day she was having and continued she’d been experiencing health challenges (but was going to be alright), and apologized for the length of time it was taking her to get certain grades back to us. The room was quiet. Many of us were shocked that she was sharing so personally in this way. She didn’t intend to make us feel sorry for her though. It was meant to be a moment of truth and realness. Likely to be judged but she didn’t care. She “felt the fear and did it anyways”. In her frazzle and honesty, she was so vulnerably human and inspiring to me, especially in the midst of what I was going through in my own health journey.
She put the class material on pause to share her own rawness with us and inspire us to be creators of change in our lives and careers. She spoke about passion and leaving a legacy. She challenged us to check in with ourselves as we concluded our final week of SLP Masters coursework, and think about the work and purpose that we would give to the world…and then write it onto the card. Put it out there. As you may have expected, she gave us heads up that if we were comfortable we should share them aloud in class as colleagues, and then keep them for ourselves to reflect on.
I was terrified to share my truth
but I wanted to take the moment and opportunity seriously
At that time, I was slightly over a year into my health journey. I was under the care of a Naturopathic Doctor and her Registered Nurse/Nutritional Therapist after visiting numerous allopathic doctors without answers or relief. I was improving my health and lifestyle rapidly to keep up with my food and environmental sensitivities. I was fatigued, battling chronic pain, and experiencing a body burden overload.
Meanwhile, I was learning a number of highly inconvenient truths about our food, healthcare, educational systems and industries, along with our government agencies. In my learning I came across financial ties and a series of issues that made me uncomfortable and more cautious with my purchases. I was upset about my circumstances and grieving in many ways, but desperately determined to create something positive from my circumstances. I can see that so clearly now when I look at the language I used on my card below…
When you read it, if I seem angry, it’s because I was.
And for the record, I no longer refer to myself as someone who is “sick”. Our word choices influence our mindset and thoughts, which influence our reality. I now choose “healing” and try to be mindful of the way I speak of my health.
The Naturopathic Doctor and Registered Nurse/Nutritional Therapist that I was seeing had both strongly encouraged me to look into autism spectrum disorders as whole body conditions when they learned what I was studying. This stretched my mental capacity in many ways to consider and learn about but since then I’ve been consumed with the topic.
As it turns out, there is a plethora of literature that currently exists and their publications are not slowing any time soon. An increasing body of evidence exists to support that autism spectrum disorders (at least certain subgroups of) are whole body epigenetic conditions. [1.] The challenge is getting this literature in the hands of the public and professionals to be accepted as mainstream knowledge in the face of an estimated 17 year research lag! [2.]
On 12/1/14 - As everyone took their turns reading their cards aloud, I realized I’d probably be sharing. After all, I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t share, right? Feeling nervous but inspired by my professor, I divulged my own health challenges on my card and proclaimed that I was going to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner to integrate my knowledge as an SLP and feeding specialist to work with children and families impacted by autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders we serve as SLPs. I assumed that for most of my classmates this idea probably sounded like a foreign concept. I recognize that this may even feel like a far our concept for readers of this blog today! If this applies to you, thank you for taking the time and having the open mindedness to read and learn.
One thing was certain that day:
I knew even before I graduated as an SLP that I had to somehow incorporate a way of sharing what I had been learning about holistic nutrition and lifestyle impacts on our health into my career. Specifically, I knew I wanted to work with children and families with neurodevelopmental disorders, combining my passions for holistic development, parent coaching, and my love for nutrition.
I’ve learned and recognized that generally all children with neurodevelopmental disorders (i.e. ASDs, ADHDs, SPDs, apraxia, dyslexia, etc.) and special needs (i.e. Down syndrome, chromosomal differences, etc.) can likely benefit from diet, nutrition, and lifestyle strategies in varying capacities. These benefits often include the improved reception and faster generalization of concepts and skills being taught in traditional therapies, like speech-language, occupational, physical, and behavioral therapies!
This was my truth but I was terrified of what my classmates would think. What would my professor think? So much fear of the judgment of others, even though I knew I had established and emerging research supporting what I was sharing. When my turn came, I “felt the fear and did it anyways”. I did not read the card verbatim, as you can see there’s a lot of emotion behind it, but I shared it. I shared that children could be helped in an integrative way through nutrition and lifestyle, and my mission to become an NTP publicly and aloud to my classmates.
And you know what? The world kept spinning!
Not only did it keep spinning but my world has continued to perfectly align to make it all happen since that time. Now here I am: I’ve become an NTP and Epidemic Answers Certified Health Coach, and the proud business owner of my life’s work, Speaking of Health & Wellness, LLC. I’m not saying that everything just fell into place! Believe me, I’ve put in the work to grow into the person and professional I am. The concepts of courage and self-growth take a new level of meaning when you’re an individual managing a chronic condition, dedicated to being a life long student, stepping further into entrepreneurship, all while trying your best in your personal life.
I shared the card and the world kept spinning, and years later I turned the card into reality! I felt a sense of pride and joy for myself when I found this card and it gave me some extra motivation to start writing. And here I am sharing my first blog post on a blog that I’d been nervous to start…
The blog post that almost never was
and I am certain the world will keep spinning
I’m “feeling the fear and doing it anyways”
One of my favorite aspects of becoming a speech-language pathologist was the concept of literally helping give a voice to the voice-less, via whatever we needed to do for that individual’s best communication and quality of life.
My vision is that Speaking of Health & Wellness will be a voice for the voice-less on a massive wide-spread scale, beyond just the clients I am able to work with one-on-one.
I envision a global community and network. I aim to advocate on behalf of these children and their families, spreading the awareness that they can be helped in more impactful and integrative ways. Holistic nutrition and low-toxicant living can profoundly impact children’s health, wellness, and development.
It is my sincere hope the contents of this site moving forward will serve as a starting point for families everywhere!
I hope that by visiting this site and following along on social media, you are reminded to
speak your truth
I hope that my story will inspire you to
follow your heart and your purpose
& I hope that you’ll be encouraged to
“feel the fear and do it anyways”
To you and your family’s health!
Shandy
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear”
– George Addair
Stayed tuned for more posts to come!
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1. Randolph-Gips, M., & Srinivasan, P. (2012). Modeling autism: a systems biology approach. Journal of clinical bioinformatics, 2(1), 17. doi:10.1186/2043-9113-2-17
2. Morris, Z. S., Wooding, S., & Grant, J. (2011). The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding time lags in translational research. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 104(12), 510–520. https://doi.org/10.1258/jrsm.2011.110180