I was born in Nova Scotia. My father was in the Navy and we were moved back to Victoria in 1961.
In August of 1962 my family was in a very serious car accident, which changed our lives forever. My parents were told if I lived, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. My father said. I was a fighter.
As life went on I worked through bullying, and I worked through discrimination.
When I was 29 years old, my son was born.
When he started school, he encourage me to volunteer at his school. Then he encouraged me to try to get a job at his school.
He also encouraged me to write down stories that I told him. At the age of 6 he did the illustrations for my first published book, called. “Mom, why is the sea salty?”
We did three more books together.
I continued writing and joined a writers group. My second published book is called The Shy One.
Two sisters ages 13 and 15 did the illustrations for a story that is about a little white elephant, that is different than all the rest in her herd. I didn’t have to look far, because I was that white elephant. I was different than all the students that I went to school with.
Seven years ago, I started volunteering with a man named Brian Gray who runs a program at the local Rec. Centre. The program is called Play Beyond Expectations. He noticed my disability and he knew that I would have the ability to help others like myself, or with other people with challenges.
He, helped me get a paying job, working with people with Autism and other challenges.
I’ve been working with Lifetime Networks for the last 3 years ,and I love it.
I would like this book io be in all Elementary Schools because there are little white elephants, just like I was, in all schools.
They need help and encouragement to face the many challenges caused by bullying and discrimination as they grow up.
The book cost $15.00 and I donate $3 of each sale to the Victoria Society for children with Autism.
To buy a book please Email me at safety_mom2000@yahoo.com and put ‘Buy a book’ in the subject line.
Sandra Dixon.
Author.
See all articles by Sandra Dixon
Embrace. By Sandra Dixon
When I was young about 7 or 8 I felt there were 3 things wrong with me. One, I was a girl. Two, I was a blonde girl. When, girls were thought to be the weaker sex. Blondes were thought to be ditzy, dumb or not all there. As I got older I sometimes used I was dumb to my advantage, so the boys would stop bugging me. Sometimes I hated being a girl because of the monthly thing only girls went through. But the 3rd thing was being a disabled blonde girl. Being a disabled person was and is the hardest thing to deal with. When I was a teen, I was very shy, I walked around school with my head down and kept to myself. February, is Black history month and as I got older, I started thinking about disabled people before me and how hard it must have been for them especially for women of colour. Being a disabled blonde girl was nothing compared to what they went through just because of colour of their skin. Yes, I was a girl. Now I am a woman, that gave birth to a child that loves me. Sometimes he doesn’t love me that much. But that’s okay. I was blonde, now I’m going gray. I play dumb or act ditzy sometimes because it’s fun and I love it. I know people that are not blonde that still say and do dumb things. Being disabled is still hard, trying to get people to listen to me and take me seriously is still the biggest thing. In my life I have found caring and loving people. Now, I don’t give a shit what other people think of me anymore. I am woman and I don’t think you want to hear me roar.
I wrote this mid February 2020.
This looks like a wonderful book my young son would enjoy. Thanks for sharing!
I’m new at this so, you may have received something from me already. You can get The Shy One though me, and $3 will go the charity or you can get a slightly different copy from Amazon.ca
Thank you. Bye for now. Sandra
safety_mom2000@yahoo.com