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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
If you have tuned in to this monthly column, you will have read story after story of people in our local communities who have met the challenges of physical, cognitive and\/or emotional disabilities. They are not new to dealing with a different reality than most of us have faced.<\/p>\n
As we all share a new challenge labeled COVID-19, we can learn from our friends and neighbors who have grown strong making their way through a life that has been out-of-the-norm. In this new reality of challenge, they are the leaders.<\/p>\n
You would think that diving into the lives of people who have been labeled disabled would result in hearing a lot of sadness, anger and defeat. Although those emotions surely are a part of their lives as they are each of our lives, that is far from their focus. That is why Valley Life for All coined the phrase \u201credefining the perception of challenge.\u201d We found that the people whose stories we tell are keen to focus on their abilities, not disabilities.<\/p>\n
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