Publishing ‘Lauren’s Creed Wings to Fly” was brave. Those who have read ‘Lauren’s Creed Wings to Fly’ will know that it is a deeply personal account of our family as we have ridden the rollercoaster ride that is disability.
It was the deep conviction that Lauren should be the norm (not the exception), alongside the desire to support other families, which underpinned the courage to write and share our story with the wider community.
One does not throw their family into the public domain lightly. Now that Lauren is 20, more than ever we feel this deep commitment to supporting families and schools in improving the educational outcomes of young people with disabilities.
Education gives young people opportunities and choices. This being the case Lauren and I took the opportunity to be on the panel speakers at the Aspect Autism in Education Conference held in Melbourne on May 5-6, 2016. Together, Lauren and I spoke on the topic ‘Set me up to succeed and watch what I can do!’
Earlier that day Lauren shared her musical talents playing two pieces on the Creative Space stage.
Despite having no warm up time, being on an unfamiliar keyboard (ie not a piano), having sun shining from behind her onto the sheet music and intense background noise, Lauren soldiered on proving yet again just how resilient she is. Go Lauren! So proud of you!
How wonderful was it to bump into Grace Thompson who was a significant person at the very beginning of Lauren’s musical journey! Lauren did music therapy with Grace at age 5 and it was very fitting that she should be in the audience to see just how far Lauren has taken her music since those early days!
