{"id":1315436,"date":"2019-10-08T21:56:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T03:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/valley-life-for-all-column-meet-turner\/"},"modified":"2019-10-08T21:56:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T03:56:01","slug":"valley-life-for-all-column-meet-turner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/valley-life-for-all-column-meet-turner\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley Life for All column: Meet Turner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Turner<\/strong>
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Editor\u2019s note: The Post Independent, in conjunction with Valley Life For All, continues a monthly series of profiles about people in our community who have different abilities.<\/p>\n

Meet Turner: Turner brings joy to everyone he meets. He loves to laugh, be hugged and do high fives. He likes school, and he likes to party. He has a ton of friends.<\/p>\n

Turner lives with a rare genetic condition, KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorder (KAND). He uses a wheelchair, has developmental delays and has only a few words that he is able to speak. Yet Turner understands everything. He is delighted to be included in conversation and play.<\/p>\n

Turner has the same wants and desires as any 9-year-old. He wants to have friends, play, eat Cheetos, laugh and be silly.<\/p>\n

Being Turner\u2019s mom has completely affected my life in many good ways. I\u2019ve learned to look for the miracles. Look and see the good in people and the world. It made my faith and relationship with God a lot stronger. I strive to be more like Turner. To be content with where I\u2019m at and what I\u2019m doing. Our family is stronger.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy expecting your life to be different when you\u2019re pregnant and excited about your little baby and not knowing what\u2019s to come. Turner has had many surgeries. It is not easy to watch your child go under anesthesia and wait and pray for the best.<\/p>\n

My hope for Turner is that he is happy. I want to give him really fun experiences. Enjoy his life, have fun and have great friends. The kids at school have learned so much from Turner. They don\u2019t see him as different. They\u2019re amazing.<\/p>\n

I think an inclusive world really comes down to that \u2014 to loving everyone, differences and all. If we did that, it changes the world. It starts with kids. I think if everyone could have that experience or learn that way, it would be a different world. We\u2019ve come so far but there is still a way to go.<\/p>\n

I would love if there was an inclusive, accessible playground in our valley. Inclusive play really encourages acceptance and friendship. Such a playground not only allows a child such as Turner to play, but the design incorporates everyone in the same way. No one stands out as weird or different. Right now, there\u2019s nothing Turner can do at any of our playgrounds.<\/p>\n

Talk to Turner like a typical child. Just because he doesn\u2019t answer you doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s not hearing everything. Just because he doesn\u2019t ask for it in words, he answers in different ways. You just have to listen a little differently. That\u2019s my husband\u2019s quote. You have to be a little patient. We call it \u201cTurner Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than staring, come over and say hi. Ask us questions. We would rather the connection than the stares.<\/p>\n

Local nonprofit Valley Life for All is working to build inclusive communities where people of all abilities belong and contribute. We want to hear your voice. Request a training or join the conversation at http:\/\/www.valleylifeforall.org<\/a> or #voicability4all. Help us redefine the perception of challenge.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turner Editor\u2019s note: The Post Independent, in conjunction with Valley Life For All, continues a monthly series of profiles about people in our community who have different abilities. Meet Turner: Turner brings joy to everyone he meets. He loves to laugh, be hugged and do high fives. He likes school, and he likes to party. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1315436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 20:03:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}