SPDBN Team
Hartley Steiner – Founder/Editor
Hartley’s Life With 3 Boys
Hartley lives in the Seattle area with her three sons. Hartley is the award winning author of the SPD Children’s book This is Gabriel Making Sense of School and Sensational Journeys both available through Sensory World as well as the founder of the SPD Blogger Network. She is the contributing writer for the SPD Foundation’s blog, SI Focus Magazine and Autism Spectrum Quarterly, among dozens of other online websites and blogs. You can find her chronicling the never ending chaos that is her life on the blog Hartley’s Life With 3 Boys (www.hartleysboys.com) and on Twitter as @ParentingSPD. When she isn’t writing, or dealing with a meltdown, she enjoys spending time in the company of other adults preferably with good food and even better wine.
Alysia Butler – Editor/Newsletter Editor
Try Defying Gravity
Alysia is a stay-at-home mom living in Massachusetts with her husband and three boys, ages nine, five and two. Her middle son has sensory processing disorder and was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in December 2009 at age 3 ½. She currently writes at Try Defying Gravity, her personal blog recounting the joys and challenges of raising three boys. Her work has been published in The Boston Globe and Bay State Parenting Magazine, and online at Mamapedia, Autism Speaks and The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. She is also a monthly contributor to Hopeful Parents. In a previous life, Alysia was an admissions counselor, an SAT test preparation instructor, and the director of a Boston area office for the largest test preparation company in the world. She also dabbled in politics as a state representative in her home state of Vermont from 1998-2000. You can also find her on Twitter at @trydefyinggrav.
Cat Dymond – Review Editor (Company Liaison)
Marvelous Spiral
Cat Dymond is a therapeutic mom, funky auntie, and all-around stand up guy. While not saving her sons from ruthless cyborgs from the future, she writes, gardens, and practices yoga. She used her Ivy League education for the forces of good, working in social services for women and their children, primarily in the fields of public health, midwifery, housing and homeless services. She believes in getting up if you’re knocked down, being mindful, and teaching self-advocacy. She also believes in the power of good lipstick and killer heels. She blogs at Marvelous Spiral, and her twitter handle is @MarvelousSpiral.
Karla Fitch – Review Editor (Reviewer Liaison)
Tales From Beyond The Dryer Vent
Karla is a stay-at-home mom, technical writer, and crochet pattern designer living near Cleveland, Ohio. Her daughter joined the family in late 2008 as an international adoptee from South Korea and was officially diagnosed with SPD in 2011 after years with feeding difficulties and other sensory challenges. Karla regularly contributes to the SPD Blogger Network and shares her experiences raising (and loving) “The Little Miss” in her own blog, Tales From Beyond The Dryer Vent. Karla can also be found on Twitter as @Mom2MissK . Whenever she gets a break from the chaos of raising an energetic sensory seeker, you can find Karla squirreled up in her craft room with a crochet hook and a good glass of wine, coming up with her latest design for The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Kristin M. Wentz-Krumwiede – Community Outreach
Our Sensational Life
Kristin and her husband, Chad are parents to 4 amazing children (daughters, Delainey- 7, Shelby and Avery -5 and son Brody-3) and reside in Bismarck, ND. In addition to being a stay at home mom, Kristin is a full-time college student majoring in Social Work and Psychology. Kristin is very active in local groups such as the North Dakota Autism Connection, March of Dimes, and is President of her local MOMS Club International Chapter. Since her daughter Shelby’s diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder at age 3 in 2009, Kristin has become dedicated to educating people on Sensory Processing Disorder and the struggles that families go through. She blogs at Our Sensational Life.
Y’vonne Ormond - Community Outreach
Y’vonne is a professional full-time working mom in the corporate and non-profit world balancing life with two young boys. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Ned and sons Aidan (8 1/2) and Roan (4). Both her boys have unique needs. Aidan has Asthma and Anaphylaxis shock to dairy and unknown causes. Roan has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) challenged daily with sensory issues. When I’m not spending time with my family, advocating for my kids, working on building my non-profit/charitable organization or working away from the home you can find me just enjoying being a mom every day to my two amazing little guys.
Would you like to be a part of the SPDBN Team? We are always looking for passionate people who want to help build our community! Send us an email!
