An ExtraOrdinary Beginning

For years, I have told Aubrie that we could be “Nancy and Bridget, Junior” by following in the footsteps of my colleague who co-presents with her adult daughter who has Down syndrome. Aubrie wasn’t interested, “I’m going to Broadway, Mom.” Then we attended one of Nancy and Bridget’s breakout sessions at the Illinois Statewide Transition Conference together in November 2013. On the way home, when I made the suggestion again, Aubrie said, “You know, it would be a good sideline on the way to Broadway.” Yahoo!! A partnership was born!

For the rest of the several-hour drive, we brainstormed about our message, our format, our audience… I suggested that we could tie it all in with her passion for Broadway. I asked her to think about a Broadway song that could become our theme, with altered lyrics. She quickly thought of “Extraordinary” from Pippin because, she said, “People with disabilities need to be treated ordinary but they do have some extras.”