Inspirations
I have recently been inspired by several people, and thought I’d share the inspirations with you!
A couple of weeks ago, we had a delightful group of four local teachers visit our Grand Rapids Gray Center office. They had decided to spend a morning perusing our resources and doing some brainstorming together. They purchased a few resources, and borrowed others from our library. As they were leaving, they mentioned that they planned to each read one resource, and share the results (information, impressions, and ideas) with the rest of the group. What an exciting way to learn new things and to foster teamwork within their staff!
Today I received a phone call from a local church which has decided to donate money to The Gray Center as a way of showing appreciation to their staff members who work with early-childhood and elementary students! They’ve asked that the money be used to provide free resources to families and teachers in our area. This is a fabulous way to honor their staff and ensure that the impact of their work is felt beyond their own congregation. Their gift benefits not only The Gray Center, but also area families and school districts.
We have a very talented young woman helping to staff and organize our new lakeshore office and facilitate our groups. She’s kind, well-organized, quick to learn new skills, eager to develop new programs and ways to promote them, and willing to share her unique insights as a person with Asperger’s Syndrome. Julie has been an inspiration to all of us!
I have a friend I’ve met through email, who is using the Social Response Pyramid(TM) and many other resources far away in Brisbane, Australia. When Lucy and I share ideas through email, I’m reminded of the extensiveness of the work that’s being done to promote social understanding by so many of you all around the world!
April is Autism Awareness month. It’s a great time to be inspired by these people and others who are doing what they can to promote social understanding! If you know of other stories which have inspired you, we’d love to have you post those here.
In honor of such inspirational people, we are offering a special SALE through Saturday at www.thegraycenter.org. You’ll find discounts on most of our “teacher resources,” including books and DVDs by Carol Gray, Linda Hodgdon, Michelle Winner, Nick Dubin, Kari Dunn Buron, Tony Attwood, Brenda Smith Myles, and more!
One last note—I have recently gained a whole new appreciation for people with knowledge and expertise in the world of computer technology. My computer crashed about two weeks ago, and to date I still have no access to my old email files and contacts. That means that some of you have been waiting for me to respond to an email, but I have no way of contacting you! I hope you’ll try again, and please be patient with me as I struggle to get back to my preferred level of functioning at my new computer!
Laurel Hoekman, Executive Director
The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding
www.thegraycenter.org
