28: Episode 28 - There is No Such Thing as Normal

Megan DeJarnett is an author, speaker, disability DEI educator, and inclusion advocate. Megan lives with SMA and is the organizational founder of No Such Thing, a company with a mission to help others redefine purpose by removing defining labels. Author of the children's books, "No Such Thing as Normal" and "Lovely as Can Be", Megan teaches children the ways in which everyone is unique and that our differences are what make us special. She joins the Quest Podcast to talk about the importance of inclusion and to share her goal of spreading her life mission of living without limits through her books, public speaking, and writing.TranscriptMegan DeJarnett is an author, speaker, disability DEI educator, and inclusion advocate. At the age of two, she was diagnosed with SMA and has used a wheelchair ever since. Megan is determined to experience life to the fullest and choose joy over despair. She is passionate about motivating others to approach life with an ‘I can do this' attitude. Her ability to share her story and encourage others to look at life through a new lens is only one of her tremendous gifts. Megan has been placed in unique situations and has had to overcome innumerable challenges. She didn't think too much about her differences until she became the mother of a child with special needs. Megan then found herself frequently having to answer questions about her child's own differences. This spawned a passion in Megan for teaching children the ways in which everyone is unique and emphasizing the ways in which that singularity makes them special. In 2020, she self-published her first children's book, "No Such Thing as Normal". It's written to underscore the importance of inclusion and acceptance. Accompanying her book is a self-published coloring book, and her follow up, "Lovely as Can Be", which she has expanded into four volumes. Megan hopes to spread her life mission of living without limits through her books, public speaking and writing to those in the disability community and beyond!Connect with Megan:Instagram: @megandejarnettInstagram: @nosuchthing.coWebsite: https://megandejarnett.co/Website: https://nosuchthing.co/Mindy Henderson is the Editor-in-Chief of MDA's Quest family of content and the host of this podcast. She was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, type 2 when she was 15 months old and has been a life-long partner to MDA. Mindy is also a motivational speaker and a writer, with her first book set to hit book stores in Summer of 2022.Connect with Mindy:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendersonmindy/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindyhendersonspeaks/