Jen
“Being a woman means being unapologetic and accepting. Accepting of changes to your body, your family, your beliefs, and to the blessings and lessons life throws before you. It is facing these changes with strength and humor and owning your power in the face of adversity.”
Jen is a selfless and tenacious leader who is driven to discover solutions. Jen detected developmental issues in one of her twin boys soon after they were born, and her research was pointing to autism spectrum disorder. Despite doctors telling her she was overreacting, she didn’t give up until she, and her son, had answers. Later he was diagnosed, confirming what Jen had suspected all along. She has overcome adversity after misfortune, but continues to persevere. Now Jen is pursuing medical school with the goal of advocating for other families like hers, and patients like her son. She continues to negotiate life with compassion and optimism, despite everything she has been through. Meet Jen. This is her story
P: Please introduce yourself!
J: Hello everyone! My name is Jen and I am a 50-year-old mother of 19-year-old twin boys, an autism researcher and advocate, and a first year medical student.
P: Describe or define yourself in your own words.
J: If I could describe myself in three words it would be: tenacious, passionate, and buoyant. When I believe deeply in something I will pursue it and study it and embrace it with every last portion of my body, mind, and spirit and heaven help anything or anyone who stands in my way! I have faced some fairly significant setbacks and pitfalls in my life, but in the immortal words of the great Maya Angelou, “Still, I rise”.
P: What is your favourite thing about yourself?
J: My favorite thing about myself is my unflagging optimism. That is not to say that I am always ecstatically happy, but when hard times hit, I can recognize that those times — like all things — are temporary; they too will drift away like a cloud passing over the sun.
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that has defined you or made you stronger?
J: When my twin boys were born, I immediately saw signs of developmental delay in one of my boys, Michael. I began reading up on the signs and symptoms I recognized in infancy and saw several red flags indicating autism spectrum disorder, but was told repeatedly by healthcare providers that “You’re overreacting” and “We cannot evaluate him until he is three years old”. Continued study led me to physicians who were conducting research showing the ability to evaluate children as young as 12-18 months of age so I traveled to the hospital where the research trials were being conducted and after several months of wrangling with insurance, legal entities, and various government agencies, my son was evaluated and diagnosed with autism at 18 months of age.
That experience led me to not only pursue my graduate degree in educational research and become an autism researcher and advocate, but also inspired me to enroll in medical school to become a family medicine physician and help other families learn to advocate for their own care and the care of their children. Of course, entering medical school at the age of 50 isn’t exactly the “norm”, but I never did like to play by the rules!
P: What is one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
J: One piece I would give to my younger self would be: “Know your worth”. We attract the people into our life that we believe we deserve, so know that you deserve love, respect, and loyalty.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
J: Being a woman means being unapologetic and accepting. Accepting of changes to your body, your family, your beliefs, and to the blessings and lessons life throws before you. It is facing these changes with strength and humor and owning your power in the face of adversity.
P: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say if they were here now?
J: One woman who inspires me is my past self. I see her, struggling as a single mother on welfare, untangling herself from a nightmare of a marriage, working two jobs… going to night school… raising 5-year-old twins on her own. If I could talk to her, I wouldn’t. I would just hold her tightly and let her feel safe and protected until she finds the strength to catch her breath and move forward again.