Welcome to the LINC-d Blog. We are so glad you are here.
Who We Are
LINC-d is an online marketplace helping special needs adults sell their unique products. We are an inclusive community pushing for positive change for adults with intellectual disabilities. We started with one artist in 2020 and today we have over 15 neurodiverse artists. With the belief that everyone deserves respectful employment and an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to society, this will be a place where we can learn about each other, help each other, cheer for each other and create a space that is inspiring, inclusive and better for everyone.
Why A Blog
Although the world of special needs has progressed leaps and bounds over my own lifetime, there is still a lot to be done. In the US alone, we spend over $868 billion a year in disability-associated healthcare expenditures according to a 2021 CDC report. With that in mind, we will discuss many perspectives – some from the point of view of those caring for adults with I/DD, from those living with an I/DD diagnosis, while highlighting what others are doing in the quest to create employment opportunities. The goal will be showing ways that everyone can help in small ways to provide a more financially independent life for these adults, simultaneously creating a more meaningful world for adults with special needs.
This is Personal
Special needs holds a very special place in my heart. I believe strongly that knowing and loving someone with a neurodiverse diagnosis makes imagining a better life for them and the world at large, very attainable. I know this first hand, since my oldest son, Lincoln has an autism diagnosis. Once Lincoln turned 18, we started to navigate the new world of adults with special needs, including employment, housing and everything in between.
Linc has some significant support needs. These needs make employment and living independently tricky. Consequently, as his parents, we were left wondering what the rest of his life would look like. Would he be lonely in isolation? Would he have more than his life in pajamas? How could we create a safe place for him while also giving him purpose and a reason to get out of his pajamas. Knowing and loving him so deeply, makes it easy to imagine a beautiful world. A world where Lincoln can contribute in meaningful ways by sharing his talents and being introduced to new skills, all while keeping him safe and respected.
Lincoln is an artist. He loves to draw colorful and joyful animals all day long. Hence, the birth of LINC-d, an online marketplace where we take art from neurodiverse artists and put it on products, making it easy for all to purchase. Lincoln is the inspiration behind everything we do here.
Better Together
The more we know and understand each other, the more we realize that compassion, love and understanding will quickly follow. I am frequently reminded of a quote by Mark Twain.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” ― The Innocents Abroad / Roughing It
Please Join Us
Let our LINC-d blog be your “travel” to the world of special needs. My hope is that we can link together, arm in arm to learn from each other and have our hearts expand in love, compassion and community. LINC-d together means we not only need each other, but we can learn and support each other. We are all better together.
We hope you will join us here to be inspired from first hand accounts by those who are living with neurodiverse diagnoses, by families living with and loving those with special needs, professionals finding new ways of reaching and educating, and businesses reimagining employment opportunities.
LINC-d together we can change the world.
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Marisa Bentley is the Founder and C.E.O. of LINC-d. She is a public speaker and contributing author to the LINC-d blog.