Interview with Jordan Christian
Interview with Jordan Christian Fighting for My Voice: My Life with Verbal Apraxia
This interview is part of a larger project being conducted by the Walk In My Shoes Program for the purpose of learning more about the interplay of childhood medical conditions/developmental delays and bullying. The finished project will be posted on www.walkinmyshoes.net
Who is Jordan Christian?
Jordan Christian is a 23 year old youth advocate with apraxia. He started a blog called Fighting for my Voice: My Life with Verbal Apraxia in order to spread awareness of speech differences and challenges and to help others connect with what it is like living with verbal apraxia. His mission is to be the person he needed when he was a child; to be that person from which children and parents can draw strength and hope.
Walk In My Shoes Program:
Jordan, you say on your site that you started “Fighting for my Voice” because there were many times you felt like giving up but you kept going. What made you keep working as hard as you did?
Jordan:
My mom pushed me to keep going. You know how people talk about Mama Bears? She is truly a Mama Bear.
Walk In My Shoes Program:
Do you remember the moment you decided you were going to start speaking out about apraxia? What led to that moment?
Jordan:
I was 22 the first time I heard that May is Apraxia month, and I thought I might share a video about my experiences with apraxia. But after I recorded it, I posted that I wasn’t feeling comfortable sharing it. A mother wrote to me saying she had a 12 year old boy and had been waiting for my video so that her son could see he wasn’t alone. It made me think back to when I was 12 and how I didn’t know anyone with apraxia. I felt “less-than.” I thought of that boy and decided to share the video. I decided to be the person I needed when I was younger.