Anyone can make a difference
by Kristen
Last April, as part of the launch of Easter Seals’ Make the First Five Count initiative, I spent a day in New York City with other Easter Seals staff meeting with various national media, editors and reporters to talk about the importance of early intervention for the youngest kids with autism, disabilities and developmental delays.
As part of those visits, we met with two editors from Guideposts Magazine and we started sharing some of our favorite, most inspirational Easter Seals stories. Of course, Palmer Harston was at the top of our list.
Palmer was an Easter Seals National Youth Representative in 2000 and she has an incredible story. We’re so excited she is able to share it in a big way — she’s featured in a four-page article in the September issue of Guideposts magazine. Palmer was only 8 years old when she, her sister Taylor and their mother were in a car accident that changed their lives. Today, Palmer is changing others’ lives.
Her accomplishments are remarkable: graduating from Vanderbilt University, starting a cheerleading team for girls with disabilities in Nashville and spending a year in South Africa (her third trip) working with orphans who have AIDS. And she seemed fearless throughout all these accomplishments, despite her disability.
Following her year in South Africa, Palmer went on to Vanderbilt University’s law school to study international adoption law. She hopes to help eliminate the confusing regulations that can make it difficult to adopt children from some countries. She is currently working on her masters degree in community development and adoption law.
Palmer is putting her educational interests to good personal use, too. Her mom and dad are adopting two young boys from the orphanage where she volunteered. Palmer and her sister are excited to soon be getting two little brothers.
Palmer’s message is important for everyone (people who use wheelchairs, people who have autism, people with any other type of abilities or disabilities): a so-called disability doesn’t have to stop you.
“I knew I could do it … it doesn’t matter if you’re injured or if you’re not,” Palmer says. “That doesn’t stop you from serving others and from loving. Anyone, even in a wheelchair, can make a difference.”