Rave Reviews

Rave Reviews

What others are saying---
about Kathie Snow's presentations, the Disability is Natural book and video, Kathie's Revolutionary Common Sense articles, and more!

"What an eye-opener!"

Conference Participant

Remember me? I was the one who burst out crying at the end of your presentation. I have seen the light. This has changed my life. My burden has been lifted. I thank God for letting me find the way to you. This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I hope I can see as clearly as you do someday. Before your presentation, I felt like I couldn't take anymore, but you have given me hope. I feel alive again. I am so excited to help create a society in which all are valued and all belong. I didn't want the time with you to end!

Tracie from Georgia

Your talk was very informative and funny. I have Asperger Syndrome, and I'm so glad someone else feels the same way about things I've observed in my life.
Jana from Texas

Kathie Snow asks us to stop living in history and start living in our imaginations, and she successfully shows us how to bridge the gap.
Colleen Wieck, Executive Director, Minnesota Council on Developmental Disabilities

[Kathie's presentation was] absolutely amazing! As a professional and a parent, I feel for the first time that someone understands and supports my parenting style. Her presentation may seem controversial, but I love that it will begin discussions in our community!

Anonymous/Comments on evaluation

Hallelujah! I just received your book and I love, love, love it! I have a beautiful, wonderful daughter who happens to deal with Rett Syndrome. I feel so excited to learn that choice, love, and acceptance are the things that are really important in Jean's life! Thinking outside the box: disability is natural! I agree! Thank you!
Penny

Kathie brought up points that most people never even think of---very good presentation. Anonymous/Professional's comments on evaluation

The People First Language article demonstrates a very important philosophy. I'm using it in a Master's Level Special Ed teacher preparation class.
Martha, University Professor

Kathie was right on about what I'm going through and what I need. She spent time with me at lunch.

Anonymous/Person with a disability/Evaluation comments

Your talk really inspired me and others to think in ways that we didn't know were possible before. Your presentation had a tremendous impact on my and my son's teachers. It sparked something in us that continues today. You've inspired me to continue working toward what I believe is right, even when others around me may not.
Carrie from Texas

As a person with a disability, you inspired me to go beyond my comfort zone and be assertive in my life.
Trenell from Texas

Kathie Snow is an awesome person and should be invited back to work with more parents!

Anonymous/Professional/Evaluation comments

[Kathie's] presentation really got the group involved, and she really seems to enjoy her job. Makes me wonder how I can do better at what I do.

Anonymous/Professional/Evaluation comments

The powerful words and your passionate presentation resulted in hours of soul-searching. Thank you!
Ruth from Georgia

Kathie brought back to some of us why we do what we do---and some of us, on a given day, had forgotten the dream.
Mary Ann, Professional from Indiana

Thank, Kathie, for saying things that are difficult to hear. I love your book. It is a manual for living. My life has changed because you dared to teach that things could be different if we only changed our minds.
Kathy Kitrel, parent of a two-year-old son with disabilities, Missouri

Congratulations on your web site-it's a masterpiece! Your thoughts are by far the most thought-provoking, accurate, and inspiring that I have encountered!
Neal, Professional in the field and person with a disability from California

Common sense is in spite of,

not as the result of education.

Victor Hugo

After sitting down with Kathie's book, I found myself digging through it faster and faster. It reinforces our family's belief that children with disabilities---like all children---have value and belong in their communities! Eve Cugini, Family-to-Family, Texas

I'm planning on using your People First Language (PFL) commentary in the two courses I'm teaching. PFL is an important skill for special educators to know. Thanks for writing such an educational and important commentary!
Sara, Adjunct Professor, Special Education.

The Transition Coalition at the University of Kansas has identified your site as one that demonstrates "best practices."
Rachel, Transition Coordinator

After hearing Kathie's presentation, I'm going to encourage parents to really dream with their children and will support them in every way I can.
Professional from Texas (anonymous evaluation)

Thank you for your presentation. As the mother of a son with autism, I've been through a range of emotions and you helped refuel my fire. I hope to refuel the fires of others, just as you did for me. You are an inspiration, a guiding light for those of us who have just begun to reach out of the dark.
Suzanne from Kansas

Your book provides a great learning experience and is wonderful resource! You are an inspiration to me. You've helped me believe that inclusion is possible!
Sugeiy

Kathie's presentation was refreshing-new and innovative ways to look at disability! Her approach has the potential to revolutionize the way we look at disability.
Professional from Texas (anonymous evaluation)

Kathie Snow is an amazing person who shares the truth and dreams of the way I hope life will be like in the future.
Participant at Indiana conference (anonymous evaluation)

I have been pouring over your web site and I think your simplicity is nothing short of revolutionary! Kudos! I am a 32-year-old woman who has used a chair my whole life. I have been thinking and feeling these very concepts for as long as I can remember. Thank you for saying it. Thank you for saying it to so many!
Maura

We've always raised our family in the home and community, striving to give our children a bountiful whole and life-giving experience of education and being human. Our youngest child is two and has spina bifida. Our displeasure and frustration with the medical-social work-early intervention systems has been enormous and we have found few resources that encourage our being independent of the "system." Your book arrived and I haven't been able to put it down! Thanks for compiling your accumulated wisdom and putting it together so succinctly and with such passion. Keep up this wonderful and inspiring work! Thanks for setting us on a new path!
Michelle

The happiness of your life depends upon the

quality of your thoughts; therefore, guard accordingly.

Marcus Antoninus

I learned so much from your presentation. Although my child is only three, I learned that in order to change people's attitudes and perceptions about my child, I first need to change my own. You challenged my perceptions, attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs. Thank you for empowering me-I am so grateful.
Elyse from Texas

Please keep following this path you're on-the path that encourages, reinforces, and makes us feel confident in ourselves to help change the small part of the world we live in. You're wonderful!
Suzanne from Kansas

I thought this was the most truthful of all the presentations at this statewide conference.
Participant at Indiana conference (anonymous evaluation)

"Creating Change Through Effective Communication" is excellent! What a good way to handle the situation when a parent has had a bomb dropped on them. The beautify of the Disability is Natural material is that it's so down to earth and plain-spoken. This is what parents and families really need.
Elizabeth, Health Care Professional

Thank you, Kathie! As a parent, it's so helpful to learn positive views about disability that will impact my child. I have new dreams for my child and others with disability labels.
Parent from Texas (anonymous evaluation)

I am so appreciative of what you shared in your presentation and how you shared it. You gave me hope that my husband and I can do right by Taylor, and that he can have a good, normal life and be happy. I am less fearful, which gives me more freedom to be propelled by joy. Most of all, thank you for the love and humility of your sharing. It was very clear that you care deeply for all children and their parents.
Susan from Oregon

Thanks for your great piece [People First Language] on words and disability. I have been writing about life as a person with disabilities for many years now, and your piece is the most comprehensive, simple, straight-forward writing I have found on "wording."
Mary Frances

I admire Kathie's courage in tackling some emotionally-charged issues. She must take a lot of heat for her views, but many of us know that what she says is true-specifically the notion that we need to free ourselves from the service system in favor of generic services and natural supports. She helps us think about a whole new way to become a true part of the community, and I think she's got the right idea. What's being done now is not working! Relying on cash-strapped government agencies is a slippery slope to nowhere. Natural supports are lifelong, more appropriate, and less costly. My daughter is thirteen and I know she will be part of her community. Although she has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, she has much to offer her neighbors, her city, her state, and her country.
Dr. Jerry Oveson, Alabama

The "What's a Behavior" article is refreshing-such common sense and honesty! I'm using it to train our staff.
Becky, leader of a disability organization in North Carolina

Kathie's presentation addressed the real truth that a person with a disability is a person in the neighborhood/community. The natural supports she preaches about offer longevity, continuity, and effective help to any person with a disability.
Professional from Indiana (anonymous evaluation)

I'm doing to look at disability differently from now on, and will focus on what my son CAN do!
Parent from Texas (anonymous evaluation)

Kathie's approach to community inclusion for children with disabilities and their families is very refreshing! She challenges us to utilize our communities, rather than relying on the system for services. She urges parents to take up the challenge using a down-to-earth, no-nonsense approach, coupled with a lot of humor that parents can relate to.
Sue Mann, Family Support Institute, British Columbia, Canada

Just wanted you to know how much your seminar and advice meant to me and my daughter. You have no idea of the impact you created, and for that I am truly thankful! God bless you and your family!
Leslie from Pennsylvania

We were blown away by your presentation! When my husband and I came home, we could not quit talking about your thoughts, your book, and how important People First Language is. You have changed my thinking and lightened my heart. My husband thinks your presentation should be mandatory for everyone, and he's a smart man! No one on this earth can make the sense you make; you are such a gift to us.
Susan Gillis from Texas

Kathie's themes are very progressive and even militant, but they're presented in a non-threatening way that makes it hard for even the most reactionary individual to dismiss them-no small task.
Michael Bailey, Community Partnerships Project and parent of a child with Down syndrome, Oregon

Great job at helping us think outside the box-great sense of humor! Very enlightening!
Professional from Pennsylvania (anonymous evaluation)

This is THE BEST article I've ever read on People First Language. I plan to share it will all the teachers at my school, and with my classmates in college.
Maxine, Educator from Georgia

What a difference a day can make. Your time and effort in educating and sharing your experiences was very moving. Thanks for your honest, integrity, and devotion. Thanks for blazing a trail that we can use and build upon.
Benny from Texas

What a powerful presentation you gave-radical! I get it now, I really get it! I'm sharing your message with others and I can see the light bulbs coming on!
Stephanie from Virginia

Can I include a reference to your web site and People First Language as we work toward implementing an antidiscrimination law into Swedish legislation? People First Language is not known to the general public here.
Hans, Advocate from Sweden

I'll be sharing your video with my audiences when I present in Asia next month. It's excellent and I show it every chance I get!
Barbara, Trainer on Disability Issues

Your words have been a real eye-opener. For years I had big dreams for my daughter, Crystal, and professionals kept taking them away. now her drams can come true. Thanks so much for your honesty.
Jody Dodd, Idaho

Thanks for the great insight in the "Developmental Age vs. Chronological Age" article. I'm going to distribute to everyone at my son's IEP meeting.
Tamara, mother of a 6-year-old

If anyone has doubts about their children, themselves, or their friends, Kathie can erase those doubts and turn hopes into reality. Kathie helps us to dare to take risks.
Professional at Indiana conference (anonymous evaluation)

As a person with a disability, I certainly identify with your message about People First Language. Thanks for your informative and memorable presentation.
Leigh from Texas

Kathie's provocative and poignant message has touched so many hearts and opened so many minds. Heed her advice and you'll be ahead of the times.
Jopie Smith, Child Care Executive, Los Angeles, CA

I'm only on page 31 of your book, but I can tell this is THE BOOK I've been looking for for five years! I'm realizing I need to listen to my son who is telling me, "No therapy, Mom!" He hasn't made any progress in two years at therapy, but is gaining by leaps and bounds in his regular class and by playing in the neighborhood. So why am I taking him away from friends to be one-on-one with a boring adult who wants him to do money tricks? Thanks for writing this book!
Sandra

I use several of your Revolutionary Common Sense articles in some of my classes. I've been called a "radical," and your writings support what I've been teaching!
Sue, Community College Professor

Thank you for "The Lost Art of Manners" article. One of my children as Down syndrome, and I want to make sure I always talk about him with dignity and respect, because he is not his disability! Your words have touched me.
Tracey

Thank you! Your presentation was awesome and life-changing! I feel like a different person and I now look at my son in a completely different light!
Debbie from Georgia

I am especially grateful for this comment: "Disability is a natural part of the human condition." Being a director of a program for people with developmental disabilities and the parent of a child with disabilities has not always been easy. Kathie's positive, matter-of-fact attitude and her genuine joy about life is a rewarding experience. This book has inspired me to rethink my role as a parent and as a director. I'm not sure where this journey will lead, but I'm sure of this: it feels good and very right.
Ron Roberts, San Antonio, Texas

Thank you for your presentation-you ignite the fire within us and then turn us loose to make sense of things for ourselves, and for that we are grateful. Please continue your venture, educating each of us, making us strong. You are an inspiration to all, and for this we are thankful.
Lara from Indiana

I'm using the People First Language article in our pastoral studies program, to help others learn the power of language.
Linda, University Professor

The messages on your web site represent everything I've always thought, but no one else seemed to understand! It's so great to find someone else who feels the same way I do. My daughter has significant disabilities, but in my mind, there's never been anything "wrong" with her. She has a great life because we don't treat her any differently than her brother.
Amanda, Parent from Wisconsin

I'll be using your article on People First Language in my Intro to Education class. This article is very important to students on the road to becoming classroom teachers of tomorrow. Social inclusion is a mindset improved one person at a time.
Roger, University Professor

Thank you so much for your presentation. I have been reviewing many of the things you said and your handouts. I have been so touched by what you presented and am changing the way I respond to my 18-year-old daughter.
Dawn from South Dakota

Your presentation was truly outstanding! I can't stop thinking about all you said, and I'm now more aware of NON-People First Language everywhere! You've really changed my thinking and I'm on the verge of becoming a zealot! You've inspired me with your enthusiasm!
Susan from ND

Kathie has written a book of simple truths and common sense strategies. Her book dispels the myth that we need "permission" from the system to have real and meaningful lives. Kathie's words will inspire many to reclaim their lives, their dignity, and as a result, their personal liberation. This work of art gives people tools to gently, yet powerfully, incite a peaceful revolution to ensure individuals with disabilities are included in all areas of society. Guided by her principles of social justice, Kathie invites us to think about how things are and shows us how they can be. Dreams can become reality when we live our visions, and Kathie's book shows us how.
Joyce Smith, Training Coordinator, North Dakota Partners in Policymaking

Email Kathie for more information about her presentations.

Updated 1/13/06

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Disability is Natural
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Our words reflect the way we think, so let's get rid of descriptors like "handicapped, physically disabled, mentally retarded, learning disabled" and other words that focus on the condition instead of the person. People First Language promotes dignity and respect for all!

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