B u, B enough, B light, With u, B

On September 10^th, 2013, I went to a presentation in Hodges library by Barb Rentenbach. Barb is a woman who has autism. She is mostly non-verbal, but communicates through a keypad and her mentor. Barb works to enrich the lives of others who share this disorder and teach those who don’t. Barb’s mentor spoke for her during the presentation.

            Barb wrote a book called “I might be you”. During her presentation she discusses this book and what it meant to her. She said there are 6 rules that she lives by and others can too.

1)   Discover: Discover who we are

2)   Persevere: Preserve in everything we do

3)   We are all the same: No one is better than you or anyone else

4)   Understand: Understand yourself and others. (understand Autism)

5)   Be open-minded: be open to new people and ideas

6)   Empower: Empower everyone

Lastly, the title of the presentation was “B u, B enough, B light, With u, B”. this title alone explains Barb’s beliefs. She says that we all need to be ourselves, embrace ourselves, and not try to be someone else. Barb says we are enough just the way we are to be a light to ourselves and to other people. Finally, she says she is with us.