Jordan Olerud

Public
I’ve spent the last 4 months transitioning my clients to online meetings, something that I would have thought impossible a mere 5 months ago. I am finally ready to share about what and how I am doing this but I want to take us back to February 23rd, the day Jordan Olerud transitioned out to this world. I want to share a bit about how she inspired me to keep going and find my way to continue working with my clients. It has been hard to grieve and keep up with all the changes we have been experiencing but the only thing to do is to keep going and trust. Jordan was one of the funniest, creative, dynamic humans I have ever had the opportunity to work with. When I met her in 2012, she was just starting to use an iPad to communicate and I had just started my business, Interactive Therapy, to support individuals using technology. After earning her trust and finding our groove we began our journey together.

The technology piece was the easy part but she had another thing to teach me, how to watch someones body and how to gather information to further support them. Jordan was incredibly sensitive and I learned to watch her carefully, not only for communication but for seizures, but it was through this careful watching that I learned to read her body to gain insight into what she wanted to create and what she wanted to say. Our bodies share so much, the nervous system can react to words, noises, smells and without much warning an individual can be experiencing a very different state of being. I now call this Somatic Behaviorism, I am currently working on writing about this so I can share my methodology.

Over the past 4 months I’ve also had the opportunity to work with a neurotypical young woman and I am finding that my methodology can help anyone who is willing to grow and challenge some of the places where they might be stuck. Today she called me full of excitement and pride and said, “I don’t feel stupid anymore”. We have all experienced moments of self doubt but we have to trust we can find our way out. She is learning to find her own way out.

Yesterday a mom texted me and said her son said, “I must be trying to solve a problem that hasn’t happened”. I started crying, this is a huge step for him, he is learning to balance excitement and anxiety. There are so many things to be excited about in the future but with that anticipation also brings questions. With questions we bring uncertainty, then we want to fix that feeling so we want answers, often there are no answers because the problem does not exist and then we have anxiety. He is learning to stop himself from changing excitement to anxiety.

It is all about learning to be empowered, with a deep respect for what our bodies experience in that process, the ups and the downs.

I am looking forward to sharing more with you but please take a minute to go look at a photo on I posted of Jordan on my Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/somaticbehavioralcoach

Jordan Olerud created this outfit, she picked out the fabric and designed the entire outfit, all three pieces, every detail. It took 2 years but she did it, we all learned a ton and she was so incredibly proud. I am honored she trusted me, loved me and invited me into her life. Thank you to her parents, Kelly and John who also trusted me and let me be part of their family for 8 years.