We were lucky to catch up with Katharine Chaney recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katharine , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I started Inspirational Experiences because I was born legally blind and did not find out until the age of 5. I went through drops, patching, OT therapy, surgeries and more at a chance at a normal life.
Then at age 13 I was diagnosed with Autism (Now classified as Asperger’s high functioning Autism, where I struggle to make friends, keep my college grades up, keep a job long term, and so much more. I wanted a place to fit in and where I could be Myself!
Next I was diagnosed with Photo Genic Non Epileptic Seizures caused by anxiety, hormonal changes and so much more at the age of 23. Then at 24 came the diagnosis of having fluid around my heart and i go through yearly scans and doctors appointments to make sure everything is stable.
At age 30 I was diagnosed with lupus, and have been stable for 2 years with no changes.
Age age 33 I was recently diagnosed with Anemia and have been through so much to finally being qualified for iv iron infusions.
So through All I have been through I wanted a place to fit in again where I could be myself and be happy. So founded in 2022 was Inspirational Experiences. Founded in 2022, Inspirational Experiences has the mission to provide events and services specifically designed for the special needs community that are open to all who wish to participate. Everything we do is designed to meet the specific needs of the community and the individual families in need.Inspirational Experiences has a vision of creating a better world – partnering with local, national, and global organizations to widen our reach to help families with special needs

Katharine , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi my name is Kate I am 32 years old, and will be 33 in December. Like I stated Earlier
. Born legally blind- did not find out until the age of 5. Went through drops, patching, OT therapy, Surgeries and more at a chance at a normal life.
. At age 13 diagnosed with High Functioning Autism- Now classified as Asperger’s. I struggle with keeping my grades up in college, making friends, keeping a job and much more.
. At age 23 diagnosed with Photogenic Non Epileptic Seizures caused by anxiety, hormonal changes, trauma, low sugar and so much more
At age 24 diagnosed with fluid around my heart and go for scans every year to make sure everything is stable.
At age 3o I was diagnosed with lupus and have been on my journey and stable for 2 years with no changes
Recently Diagnosed with Anemia and I am waiting to start IV Iron Infusions

Here at Inspirational Experiences
Founded in 2022, Inspirational Experiences has the mission to provide events and services specifically designed for the special needs community that are open to all who wish to participate

Everything we do is designed to meet the specific needs of the community and the individual families in need.

Inspirational Experiences has a vision of creating a better world – partnering with local, national, and global organizations to widen our reach to help families with special needs

We provide a safe place to learn and play, as well as resources for parents during the event to help on their special needs journey

That all are welcome, special needs or not and we look forward to getting to know your story and seeing how we can help each other

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Yes Recently being diagnosed with Anemia- Lupus and more I have had to learn how to overcome days where I feel completely exhausted, in order to keep my 501c3 going every day. I have days where I am so exhausted that all I want to do is sleep, and I can not stay awake. I have days where my lupus- known as an auto immune disease causes me to feel feverish and completely exhausted and stiff because my muscles and bones ache where I have to fight to push through.
My events keep me going through everything that I deal with because I get to help others who are either just starting on their journey and are lost, or who have been on their journeys for a while and they are at a bump in the road where they need resources in order to push through. So that’s where we come in While the kids, teens, and adults are playing, and learning, the parents get to work around to our resource vendors and see what resources can help them with their journeys.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was not being afraid to be myself and have fun.
All my life I have been afraid to be myself because I have been afraid of being judged, made fun of, or bullied. Back in high school in 2010 I was bullied by this boy because he was jealous of what I had, and how lucky I was to be with a family that had money. On our way back to our high school from our Afternoon Vocational School, this bully hit me with seatbelts on the school bus and hurt me very badly. Every since then I was afraid to be myself and to do things and not let others say what they think.
Thanks to my now husband Rob I now enjoy local outings to Six Fags, Sea world, parks and much more where I can talk, make friends, be myself and grow my Non Profit Everyday

Contact Info:

• Website: https://inspirationalexperiences.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090072732504
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspirational-experiences/?viewAsMember=true