AAC and the Journey to Ms. Wheelchair Arizona with Brooke Brown

0:00  Brooke Brown
My platform as Miss Wheelchair Arizona 2022 has always assumed competence, which is a concise and polite way of saying that in terms of people with disabilities, one should always make the presumption that they can understand everything being said to them and are aware of what is going on around them, no matter the severity of their limitation.

0:29  Mai Ling
You're listening to the Exceptional Leaders podcast. Each week we give you a front row seat to our conversations with new and successful exceptional entrepreneurs and thought leaders making an impact. They share their intimate experiences so you can start grow and expand your impact. I'm Mai Ling Chan, you can find me at Mai Ling Chan dot com.

0:47  James Berges
And I'm James Berges of SLP transitions dot com, and for AAC awareness month, today we are going to be chatting with Brooke Brown, an AAC user, Miss Wheelchair Pageant winner, author, and advocate, and Mai a couple of things that stood out on the top of this episode that I think you listener will love. Brooke is very outspoken. She uses her AAC device through this interview, which is just awesome to hear and one message that resonated with me is that she says to always assume competence and don't think that people can't do something based on how they look. Which reminds me actually, recently, I just saw a story on... that I'm going to post on our LinkedIn, so if you don't follow us on social media, give us a follow - Xceptional Leaders. But I saw a story about a nonspeaking autistic person who no one thought, you know, that he could really do anything. They just presumed he was kind of just like there. But a neurologist and music teacher helped him facilitate his communication. He started typing on his AAC device and he had a whole 70-minute symphony in his head and he expressed this and now I'm trying to remember where this was exactly, but they, they have the symphony and you can watch it and you could see the look of pride in his face and afterwards he types on his device, you know, it was damn damn satisfying that I could claim my terrific identity and show everyone my intelligence.

2:10  Mai Ling
Beautiful

2:11  James Berges
And so, you know, we have to assume competence because these things take time and people are at different levels and sometimes there's amazing gifts within us all and you can't judge a book by its cover.

2:24 Mai Ling
Exactly. 

2:25 James Berges
But one other thing I really loved me was that beyond just assuming competence is actually letting people struggle and letting people embrace awkwardness, whether you're the person with a disability or the person communicating with someone with a disability. It's like she says, don't bubble wrap it, you know, don't treat us like a baby, basically, we need to go through these hard times because it actually motivated her to write. I think it was three books and so on one side, it's like presume you can do anything on their side: Like let us struggle a little bit, give us the tools to thrive, but let us, you know, don't baby us. So I love that.

3:03 Mai Ling
Yeah, she's doing such great work out there in her advocacy and leadership, you know, she's also helping other people to create their stories. And yeah, I just had such a great time with her in her interview and just seeing how much she's grown. I also met her through a local event through Caroline Musselwhite. She does AAC in the desert here in Arizona every year. It's an epic event where you come in in person. And Caroline really helps to support parents and educators and service providers to infuse literacy into the AAC experience. And that is obviously one of Brooke's strengths. So it was really cool to have her as a presenter and to meet her in person. And then you know me, I'm like, oh my God, we need to have you on the podcast. 

3:47 James Berges
Yeah, I'm so glad you got her. And that kind of speaks to one of our past guests to Rachel Madel who I know you were on... She was talking about one of your exceptional lab conferences but Rachel always talks about literacy. You can listen to that episode on, on Xceptional Leaders, if you go back. Alan Vu is another episode, you might want to check out if you're interested in AAC, but the thing is AAC is always changing. Technology is always changing. People are always changing. And so if you work with people who use AAC, you got to keep up with this stuff or if you work with anyone with disability, it's like it's on you to stay up to date. So, you know, how can people do that, Mai Ling?

4:29  Mai Ling
Yes, absolutely. One great way is to attend ATIA that's coming up in January, it's the Assistive Technology Industry Association event. And one of the things that I want to point out is that we are moving away from hand-over-hand support and that is something that man, we were doing that all the time, you know, and it's just one of those. Wow, you know, that's, that's a big difference, just model, model, model and then let someone make those decisions and like you're saying, presume confidence is that when it's right, you know that it's just going to happen and it's going to connect. So, I am also presented that at that event, James, I'm really excited, bringing together a couple of my co authors from the Becoming an Exceptional AAC Leader book. So Caroline Musclewhite, I will be presenting with me, Carole Zangari, Latif McLeod, and Christa Howard and we'll be talking as a panel about our experiences as writing and sharing. And that's something, you know, I know that you're very involved now in social media content creation and we're talking about being genuine and being vulnerable and that is so important and sharing people's stories, you know, and that's what I love about doing the books that I'm doing. I have a new one coming out, Becoming an Exceptional API Leader and I think we've talked about that before, but it's a focus on how the intersectionality of being Asian overlaps with disabilities and how service providers, people with disabilities, parents, all of these people in the space, you know, how we navigate that. So, yes, definitely keep an eye on what's going on out there in AAC and please share this episode and any of the other ones that you love with others and let them know what we're doing here and how we're sharing people's good work like Brooke Brown.

6:07  James Berges
Love it so much. All right. Well, let's get to the interview with Brooke Brown.

6:16   Mai Ling
I'm here today with the local Arizona hometown favorite Brooke Morgan Brown. Welcome, Brooke. So happy to have you. Yeah, I feel like I have royalty here today.

6:31  Brooke Brown
Thank you.

6:33  Mai Ling
You're welcome. So, Brooke Brown is a amazing disability advocate and also Miss Wheelchair Arizona in 2022. And the current Arizona state coordinator for Miss Wheelchair America, she is going to share the personal side of the competition and her reign and her experience. So I'm really excited to welcome you, Brooke. So just to get started, I have to ask you what inspired you to engage in this whole pageant process for Miss Wheelchair Arizona in 2022

7:06  Brooke Brown
As a woman of faith, I like to say that the story of how I got involved with Miss Wheelchair Arizona is proof that God always has bigger and better plans for me than I have for myself. It wasn't a one shot deal. It actually was a seven year journey. Back in 2010, I joined an inclusive theater company initially hoping I could just be a writer much to my chagrin after introducing myself, the director said, yes, we definitely have you write, but you're going to act too. Of course, at first I thought, well, craft but doing theater turned out to be a huge blessing because it made me a better speaker among other reasons. One being that joining theater 360 led me to meet my friend Jolene who is Miss Wheelchair Arizona 2009. After Jolene learned about my personality and accomplishments, she started bugging me about running for the title myself. Of course, I refused because you know, how would I ever stand a chance in a pageant. Jolene kept prodding me until 2014 when I discovered that the reigning Miss Wheelchair America was going to make her final appearance here, partly to appease Jolene and partly to satisfy my own curiosity. I went to hear her presentation. I was surprised to learn that Jennifer Adams, the title holder who was born with partial limbs and I are very kindred spirits. She is also a believer and a struggling self-published author like me after telling her a little bit of my story and explaining that I felt lost and unsure what my true purpose in life with Jennifer said, I think you do. You just need to go home and figure out exactly what you want to do. I don't know exactly what it was about that statement, but something clicked. I decided I was going to compete for Miss Wheelchair Arizona 2015. Obviously, I didn't win that year or in 2016. Nor did I win in 2020 but I was personally selected by that title holder to take the title for 2022. There wasn't a small competition which to me was a clear sign from God because I had pretty much let the aspiration go at that point and was completely surprised. My platform is Miss Wheelchair Arizona 2022 has always assumed competence, which is a concise and polite way of saying that in terms of people with disabilities, one should always make the presumption that they can understand everything being said to them and are aware of what is going on around them no matter the severity of their limitations. Therefore, a non disabled person should approach them the same way they would any other person aside from communication, assuming competence also means not passing judgments about a person's life and abilities by appearance, only stop viewing people with disabilities as inferior or less valuable to society than any other people. Instead, think of those with disabilities as you would, people from a different culture have patience and embrace the awkward. This is the reason I titled my platform. Always assume competence, eliminating stigma and cultivating opportunities for people with disabilities through personal story-telling. During my reign, I shared my platform with at least 10 different churches that were starting disability ministries for different universities in both education classes and occupational therapy classes with elementary students, a mobility company and at two large disability conferences.

11:24  Mai Ling
Excellent. That's fantastic. Brooke, we believe that education is the foundation for understanding and change. So this is really interesting, unlike traditional pageants, would you say that Miss Wheelchair Arizona is inclusive, right?

11:37  Brooke Brown
Yes.

11:38  Mai Ling
So can I ask, did you experience any challenges or prejudices within this competition environment?

11:46  Brooke Brown
Since I have a speech impairment, it feels like I'm confronted with people's misconceptions of competence more often than my friends who have disabilities that don't affect their speech. But many have still thanked me for spreading my message because it's a stigma they combat too. Nationals turned out well this past August for once, I wasn't the only contestant using a communication device, which was really refreshing during my past state competitions, I thought it was important to demonstrate all the ways I communicate. So I had my assistant just clarify my speech during the panel interviews and used my app to give my platform speech. However, I feared history would repeat itself if I did that at nationals. So I changed tactics and requested the accommodation of being given the questions ahead of time so I could prep program my responses into my device and go into both interview sessions independently. It was the right decision because I placed a third runner up. I finally felt hurt and validated, not that I need human approval when I know my worth to Jesus. But he used the recognition to redeem the past hurt and shame I endured. And as an illustration of his faithfulness, even though I didn't win the national title of Miss Wheelchair America, He still chose to entrust me with a position of influence as I have been named Arizona State coordinator for the Miss Wheelchair America Organization. Not only do I hope to empower more women with disabilities to use their voices, but I want to see always assume competence become as recognized as accessible along with those duties, I continue to promote my platform because as my friends at Miss Wheelchair America have been reminding me since January, even though my reigning year has ended, I will always be Miss wheelchair Arizona 2022. So my advocacy shouldn't stop. I'm taking that to heart.

14:02  Mai Ling
Excellent. Excellent. So Brooke, do you feel that achieving this recognition has ultimately supported your personal mission and platforms?

14:12  Brooke Brown
Most definitely having the title has given my message is an added layer of credibility and has gotten the attention of some people who might not have really listened otherwise, it's also been a good object lesson when I speak to younger people, as well as parents. Sharing the story of my journey with Miss Wheelchair Arizona allows me to be an example of perseverance and resilience. I also think, or at least hope, that it's a reminder for parents of Children with disabilities that they need to be given the opportunity to try and to experience disappointment or failure at least to some extent, they shouldn't be protected from every kind of hurt as much as parents may want to keep their kids bubble wrapped, it's not really a good way to let them grow and developed as humans. It's in the hard moments that our passions, convictions and voices are shaped. I am certain that if I hadn't lost the competition three times in a row, my ultimate platform would not be as strong as it is now. I am also not sure I would have had the motivation to write my last two books or follow through on establishing my nonprofit ministry.

15:30  Brooke Brown
Very, very interesting perspective, especially nowadays when we have the helicopter mom, you know what that is? Should we have Michaela interpret that?

15:41 Brooke Brown
What was that? She says, yes, I know a few helicopter moms.

15:53  Mai Ling
That's so true. And I want to introduce Michaela. Thank you for joining us. She is Brooke's assistant and she's going to be doing some clarifying once in a while for us. Ok. So this brings me to a little bit of a personal question. How do you feel about the controversial term 'Inspire' when it's related to disability leadership?

16:13  Brooke Brown
I know some people in the disability community absolutely despise that term in any situation. But I think it has its place in certain contexts. If someone tells me that it's inspiring to see me up with friends or to hear that I finished the typical schooling of most people i.e. graduating high school and or college, then I cringe my parents always, is it the importance of education while I was growing up and they expected me to go to college. So that's almost like saying I am inspiring because I simply get out of bed each morning. That's not an inspirational accomplishment. That's just part of being human, even if it does require a few extra steps for me than a non disabled person. But when I hear from a parent, a young child with a disability that I have inspired them to see the potential and possibilities in their child's future, then that's a profound blessing that I don't take for granted. It's the same when a friend confides, it means that they are really struggling with certain aspects of life but my determination is their inspiration to persevere. I am glad to be an encouragement and example. As much as people don't want to be exploited for inspiration porn as the hot button free implies, I think it's important to remember that at some point, we all need to find inspiration from those around us. Like the saying goes, we rise by lifting others up. That's the point of the podcast I started earlier this year. It's called Rolling In Grace.

18:00  Mai Ling
Beautiful. Thank you. I love that you brought that up and I, and I really appreciate how you address that.

18:10  Chris Bugaj
Hello there, listeners to the Xceptional Leaders podcast, My name is Chris Bugaj and I'm here with Rachel Madel and we are the hosts of the Talking with Tech podcast, Rachel, tell everybody about Talking with Tech.

18:20  Rachel Madel 
It is a podcast dedicated to all things. AAC we have lots of people on who share their experience, lots of AAC users. And every week we talk all things AAC.

18:31  Chris Bugaj
Check us out at talking with tech dot org and on your favorite podcasting platform.

18:35  Mai Ling
Now let's get back to our amazing interview as a fellow communications major I love the power of storytelling like you do. So how have you harnessed the incredible value of being vulnerable and genuine in all of your offerings.

18:49  Brooke Brown
For me, it's a matter of knowing what the purpose of sharing my story with a certain audience is. My mission is not to simply impress people. I want to break down barriers in communication, eliminate stigma, correct, widely held misconceptions and teach them to embrace the awkward as my cousin and I often say along with that, I also strive to encourage people to find the bigger purposes in their hardships. My competition platform actually transformed from the general concept of the importance of sharing your story because during two of my three previous competitions as a contestant, my ability to fulfill the stated goal of my wheelchair, Arizona was discounted because of my speech impairment. The judge is weren't willing to let go of their preconceived notions of the perfectly spoken title holder and really listen to my story or see the value in my background. In fact, after I competed for the first time and lost a tiebreaker, I was told point blank that I wasn't chosen because the judges assumed my speech impairment would hinder me from doing well at nationals. I was deeply offended and quite frankly appalled at that way of thinking just because my voice sounds different from other title holders, doesn't mean people won't be encouraged by listening to my story and my mission won't have a positive impact on the disabled community. That's why I am not ashamed to talk about the annoying painful and messy situations that have brought me to where I am today. It's the story of how you get through the muck that will often initiate positive changes in another person's perspective. As one of my favorite books says, God created you to do the hard thing in the good story His writing for you.

20:47  Mai Ling
Beautiful. So I'm assuming that that was a long time ago because I know that you had started, what was it back in 2015?

20:55  Brooke Brown
Yes

20:57
So, do you think Brooke that if you competed again now because there's been so much more outreach and awareness and education, do you think that the judges might have a different perspective on sending you to national?

21:20  Brooke Brown
I think they would. Yes, I think it would be better now.

21:25  Mai Ling
Good. And that's because of your work. I know that.

21:30  Brooke Brown
I'm trying.

21:32  Mai Ling
Ok. So we're both authors. Can you please share your experience with writing and publishing your own book?

21:43  Brooke Brown
I've published three books.

21:47  Mai Ling
So did I, I can.

22:04  Brooke Brown
My first book was kind of like my final project in college. It's called The Little Butterfly Girl. The book is a fairy tale that's based on my experience in elementary school.

22:36  Mai Ling
Oh, wow.

22:48  Brooke Brown
My second book is a devotional called Adapt. Can you, can you say the beginning again? It helps people find God's purpose through their limitations and beliefs and their gifts. My last book is called Transforming The Heart of Your Story. A notebook that uses what? It's a workbook that I use as the base of my workshop which helps people learn how to tell their own story.

24:33  Mai Ling
Yes. Oh, I love that. I love how you said my last book, I have said that too, Brooke. I published three books, Becoming Exceptional Leader series and I said it was my last, I did the three in 18 months during the pandemic and I felt good, right? You feel good? You're saying it's your last.

24:55  Brooke Brown
It's my most recent

24:57  Mai Ling
Right. See, that's how you have to think because someone recently motivated me to do one more. So mine is coming out in February 2024 Becoming an Exceptional API Leader. But I'm, I'm already like gearing myself up and we've already started the writing and you know what it's like, you know, you're in a different, right? You're just in a different mindset when you're in the writing mode.

25:23  Brooke Brown
I'm actually working on a memoir right now.

25:27  Mai Ling
Beautiful.

25:39  Brooke Brown
It's about how I found purpose in my own suffering.

25:43  Mai Ling
Wow. Ok, Brooke, what recommendations do you have for our listener and they may be at the stage of considering ways to become a leader in their communities and share their personal stories?

25:58  Brooke Brown
Most importantly is to share your stories in a way that's comfortable and true to your personality. There's not one right form. I have learned that the best way to build relationships, cultivate, fulfilling opportunities and advocate for positive change in our communities is to share our stories however they come. People always respond to powerful stories. They help break the ice among strangers, open communication and aid in finding common ground. It will encourage others to recognize the person you are beyond your disability. When you have speech, communication or physical disabilities, that can be exacerbated in nervous situations, prepared personal stories can help demonstrate your true personality and abilities. If you like writing, have something written on one page that you can hand out. If you prefer making videos or writing music, always have examples available. Sharing your personal experiences can assist in making positive changes and combat stigma in your community. But in that it's important to know your intention for sharing, decide what you would like people to do after they hear your story. It's Oklahoma to only share the parts of your story that actually lead to a certain situation. Doing this has empowered me as an advocate in several ways. First and foremost, being that the message of always assuming competence applies to all people in any circumstance. As a side note, my ministry offers workshops called Transforming the Heart of Your Story to help you through the process. If anyone is interested please feel free to reach out for more information.

27:58  Mai Ling
Excellent. And in writing, we call it killing the darlings, right? Well, how can we stay in touch with you Brooke and support you.

28:10  Brooke Brown
On Facebook, Instagram and TikTok I am most easily found at Miss Wheelchair AZ 2022. My nonprofit ministry is also on Facebook, Instagram and you tube at Brookes Butterfly Touch. You can also reach out about workshops and presentations through the website Brookes butterfly touch dot com. The links to my podcast and books are on there too.

28:41  Mai Ling
Excellent. Thank you so much Brooke for coming on and sharing your voice, your journey, your message, everything. We're just so we're very proud of you here in Arizona. And I want to thank you for saying yes

28:58  Brooke Brown 
It was a blessing. Thank you so much for having me.

29:02  Mai Ling
And we have to thank Caroline Mussel White for introducing us.

29:07  Brooke Brown
Yes. Thank you, Caroline.

29:10  Mai Ling
Ok. Thanks, Brooke. We hope you enjoyed this episode and invite you to leave us a review on Apple podcasts and Spotify and share the show with people you think will find value from it. This helps the show a lot or have a great guest referral, reach out to us at X leaders at gmail dot com.

29:30  James Berges
And if you want exclusive tips on becoming an exceptional leader, deliver straight to your inbox, just go to exceptional leaders dot com and sign up for our mailing list. Thanks for listening.