WHAT'S HAPPENING

MASK USE POSES CHALLENGES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS WHO STUTTER

Solid face coverings can contribute to misunderstandings because they hide a person's mouth. Many people who stutter experience blocks – which are long, silent pauses – in their speech.

Often, the only cue to a listener is seeing the speaker's facial area when they are in a block. Listeners may not realize that a person is experiencing a block if they are wearing a mask. As a result, they may talk over the person, move on, or misinterpret what they believe is a non-response as disrespectful or worse. This scenario can be especially problematic if someone who stutters is involved in an emergency scenario (e.g., medical crisis) where a miscommunication of this form can have serious consequences. Although it is important for everyone to be aware of this circumstance, it is especially so for teachers, medical staff, first responders, and law enforcement officers.

For people who stutter, ASHA suggests the following tips to help reduce any miscommunication that could arise:

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGEHEARING ASSOCIATION (ASHA):

ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 211,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems, including swallowing disorders. asha.org

AADMD HONORS EP's VANESSA IRA FOR DEDICATION TO THE DISABILTY COMMUNITY

Vanessa B. Ira, longtime Managing Editor of Exceptional Parent Magazine, was recently honored for her "tireless contribution to education, advocacy and support to the disability community" by the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry.

In an announcement of the award, the AADMD's Senior VP of Public Policy and Advocacy Dr. Rick Rader wrote: "On behalf of the members and the board of the AADMD it gives me great pleasure to present this award to Vanessa for her years of service and support of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry."

The announcement continued: "The AADMD greatly appreciates Vanessa's dedication and ongoing commitment to spreading knowledge regarding intellectual and developmental disabilities to families, clinicians, individuals with ID/DD and the community through the pages of Exceptional Parent Magazine. The AADMD recognizes Vanessa as one of the Heroes of our organization and wishes her many more years of vigorous advocacy."

The planned Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, PA., where this tribute would have been presented to Vanessa, was changed to a virtual conference due do the COVID-19 pandemic.

TURNING TRAGEDY INTO TRIUMPH: LIVING LIFE WITH NO BUCKET LIST

On Ashley Bugge's Instagram account, you'll see a vibrant, free-spirited woman embarking on scuba diving adventures in one photo and, in the next, she's strumming a ukulele while singing about living life on a merry-go-round with her toddler yelling for her to stop.

Scroll a little further and you'll find an emotional black and white photo of Bugge in a hospital bed, kissing her newborn daughter on the head. At first glance, many women can relate to this life-changing moment post-birth, where their hearts burst with joy. But if you pause and look at this photo in detail, you'll notice Bugge's baby holding a funeral card in her hand—as close as she'll get to wrapping her daddy around her fingers.

Bugge's husband Brian, a naval officer, tragically died during a recreational scuba diving accident near their home in Hawaii just two months prior. That Sunday morning, she was winning the mom-life, juggling and waddling out of the house with her pregnant belly, one-year-old and a three-year-old in tow before 9 a.m. to make a Target run, during which she planned to buy baby clothes. But one phone call turned her world upside down when she was told her husband was in an accident and a car was being sent to take her to the hospital.

There, Bugge was told the devasting news. She planned to spend the day preparing for the family's new arrival and suddenly found herself heartbroken, pregnant and alone with her kids on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean trying to comprehend the final departure of the love of her life. The man who told her every time he went on a new mission, "I'm always coming back home to you."

Dive further down Bugge's Instagram page and you'll see photos of her husband as a doting dad, their text messages, and the last post she would ever make about "date night."

There's one post (where Bugge shares a photo of a book about how to write your autobiography: "@diving_the_world bought this for me in 2013, saying I need to tell my story. This book has been traveled back and forth across the Pacific Ocean and today I pulled it out of a box in the garage to use as inspiration in writing OUR story."

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HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Ashley Bugge with children Adeline (top), Isabel (lower left) and Hudson on a European trip." I created this family, I made this trip happen, and we're all here right now because of Brian and I. I'm so proud and grateful for this moment in time."

Always Coming Back Home: An Emotional Tale of Love, Adventure, Tragedy and Hope (Morgan James, September 15, 2020) is a love story that engages and entertains readers with raw, candid, and often amusing anecdotes that span years and continents. Holding nothing back, Bugge shares with readers her deepest emotions, and even publishes real letters and emails she exchanged with her husband during their time apart. Always Coming Back Home provides an inside look at the life of a military spouse, exploring all the fear, love, hope, and heartbreak. With her powerful stories and emotional vulnerability, Bugge tells an impactful, true story that can't be put down. Preserving her husband's legacy and accomplishments – for not only their children, but everyone who needs motivation to live life to its fullest – Bugge even published entries from a journal her husband kept during his dream-come-true sailing adventure across the Pacific Ocean on his sailboat, Stay Gold.

The Bugge kids are also publishing a children's book, A Hui Hou: Until We Meet Again (Brown Books Publishing, October 2020), sharing the heart-wrenching true story of this family's devastating loss. This is a story about understanding, accepting, and processing death and grief, uniquely narrated by children, for children. Izzy, Hudson, and Addy Bugge share their experience in the pure, emotional, and unfiltered way needed to help young minds grasp the impossible: the loss of a loved one. It takes them a lot of bravery to understand why it's OK to be happy that their dad gets to dive forever while also being sad because they miss him so much. 

The Bugge story is one of using personal stories of turning tragedy into triumph by living life with no bucket list. Bugge offers a unique perspective into what it means to overcome adversity and flourish from it. While her late husband is undeniably an American hero, we also see her emerge as the phoenix from the flames. Through Always Coming Back Home, we meet her as a young woman who reunites with her old boyfriend, Brian, and follow their incredible reunion, engagement, elopement, unexpected pregnancies, deployments, two miscarriages, and time together as a family until death did they part. But her story continues as a solo mom of three (ages 2, 4, and 6). Bugge has traveled to 30 countries (13 with her kids) and countless states with her kids (and even documented it on video). She's suffered through depression while pregnant, PTSD, and emotional trauma, but has pulled through with sheer will and determination, taking advantage of every opportunity that comes her way.• 

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ONE YEAR LATER

"Do you ever have those moments in life where you're so unbelievably proud of yourself and feel guilty because you're not supposed to feel so proud of yourself for doing something or accomplishing something? I'm sitting on this boat, off the coast of Santorni, with three beautiful, healthy, amazing kids laughing, fighting, arguing and being kids. And it's Addy's first birthday. One year ago, I didn't think I'd be here today, quite honestly. And to be on this boat, in such a beautiful place in the world, exploring and adventuring with three kids, my best friends, and getting to see a part of the world I've never seen… I wish Brian was here, but I'm so proud of myself for making this happen. For creating this family. And for getting to celebrate these milestones. To get to sing Adeline 'Happy Birthday,' and to get to witness the sibling rivalry, vying for my attention. I just feel like I've made it. There are these pivotal moments in your life where you know that you've made it, or you feel successful. For me, this is one of them. I created this family, I made this trip happen, and we're all here right now because of Brian and I. I'm so proud and grateful for this moment in time." — Ashley Bugge, from a short film documenting their young family's two month journey across Europe