By Adria Nassim The sun shines through the trees overhead. A squirrel pops out from behind a tree, and Ernie Pyle’s statue watches it all from a distance. Students dot the campus as they wander between classes. Just beyond Pyle’s line of sight in the forest bordering Sample Gates, the iconic entrance to Indiana University… Read more »
By Adria Nassim Other than walking around town in a cable knit sweater and slacks with a mild limp and a service dog, at first glance I look pretty much like the average adult. A lot of people who don’t know me well or who don’t spend an extended time with me don’t realize I… Read more »
By Adria Nassim One day, shortly after I began taking classes at Indiana University, I missed my bus. It was cold and snowing, and I wandered around trying to find my way home for quite a while with no hat and my jacket unzipped. Soon I was lost. I pulled out my phone and called… Read more »
For many young people with disabilities, finding reciprocal, age-appropriate peer relationships at the adolescent and young adult level can be difficult, but it can and does happen. Through consistent social skills therapy over a period of 3.5 years, I was able to learn the skills to help me become more confident socially around my peers… Read more »
by Adria Nassim Sometimes, parents and professionals will ask me, “What had to happen to make it possible for you to live independently?” First off, I let them know it took a lot of planning and research, not just in my young adult years, but beginning in young childhood. We knew by my teen years,… Read more »