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On Cultivating the Lovely this week, MacKenzie Koppa talks with Heather Avis, author of the new book Scoot Over and Make Some Room: Creating a Space Where Everyone Belongs. Heather and her husband Josh live in Southern California with their three out of the box children. MacKenzie and Heather talk about shifting the narrative surrounding people with different abilities, including:

• How Heather started writing and landed her book deals
• Heather’s message and goal to shift the narrative surrounding different kids
• MacKenzie tells a little of her brother’s spina bifida story
• Heather and MacKenzie talk about being “sriracha mamas” with “marmalade mama” friends
• Shifting perspectives in parenting as you get older and being gentle instead of “judge-y”
• The refining process that happens in motherhood
• Learning to let go of our expectations for our children
• The importance of finding friends who understand and can identify with your situation
• Changing the negative narrative surrounding a diagnosis of a child with differences

• Not assuming low levels of competence or judging by appearances

Teach your kids to view people who are different as able. -Heather Avis Click To Tweet

• Challenging ourselves to believe in the abilities of our children
• Heather’s ideas for normalizing differences
  • Being curious and open to asking questions with love and sensitivity
  • Talking about how everyone is different
  • Exposing children to people who are different, in real life as well as in media choices

Heather: doing hot yoga on a regular basis to help de-stress and let her mind focus

MacKenzie: following her personalized yoga nidra to restore and relax

The Lucky Few

Scoot Over and Make Some Room

Big Fish

You can find Heather Avis on her website, HeatherAvis.com. You can also follow her across social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

You can find MacKenzie Koppa on Instagram, Facebook, and the CTL Facebook Group, of course! You can also listen to her family podcast The Same Page!

  

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