Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sonya Craig. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Sonya, thanks for joining us today. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

In 1988 an event happened that changed the trajectory of my entire life. I gave birth to a precious baby boy who would later be diagnosed with Autism and an intellectual disability. After his diagnosis I was lost and needed help for my boy. So I researched all I could, and talked to many people. I went to work at the school where my boys went to school. When school wasn’t working for them, I pulled them out of public school to home educate them. It wasn’t that I thought I knew more, I just knew I could do better. I could give them my full attention. My boys deserved that.
It was during this time that I discovered Neurodevelopmental Therapy. It made such a profound difference in my son that I apprenticed with the founder of the therapy program. This gave me the confidence that I could help my son accomplish more than was predicted for him with a label. This also put me on the path of helping those with IDD.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the founder and Executive Director of Possibility Place, an educational day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We started in 2014 with 7 adults and a staff of 2. Today we serve 45 adults with a wide variety of disabilities, and we have a staff of 9.
Possibility Place is different than most day programs because we are Christ-centered. Bible Study and prayer time is part of our curriculum. Through that lens is how we value and treat the adults in our program (and everyone)…as beautiful creations made in the image of God.
I am so proud of the way our staff meets the very diverse needs of the adults in our program (we call them our Pals.) They are educators, cheerleaders, coaches, counselors, and friends to our Pals.
Our Pals learn things such social skills, math, reading, life skills, vocation skills, creative arts, self-advocacy, science and so much more. We get them volunteering in the community to show them that they have something to offer, but to also show the community that these adults can be and are valuable members of our community.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first opened Possibility Place I got some bad information from the state. I was told that if we didn’t take state funds, we didn’t need a license. I purposely chose not to accept state funds so we could be an openly Christ-centered facility and teach Bible Study and pray with the staff and the Pals. Well the information I was given was WRONG. We had been open for 3 weeks when the state came in and shut us down for operating without a license. What would normally take 3-6 months to put everything together to file for a state license only took us only 3 weeks and we were open again the next month. We fought hard to re-open for our precious adults.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Beyond training, you have to have a heart for this population and seeing them succeed. Beyond that you have to be flexible. Plans rarely turn out like you plan and you have to be ok with it. We jokingly say we are going to change the name of Possibility Place to Flexibility Place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.possibilityplacetn.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/placeofpossibilities/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PossibilityPlace