This week is UK Cleft Lip & Palate Awareness Week. Twenty-something years ago on this awareness week, I was one of the 1200 babies born annually in the UK with a cleft – my parents didn’t find out until the moment I was born.
When I was 12 years old, my surgeon told me “You’ll be able to speak, but you won’t be able to make a career out of public speaking.”
In July this year, it will be a great honour and privilege to present at the 2017 CLAPA Adults Conference in London – what will be a very honest and personal insight into my life growing up in the UK & NZ with cleft.
All those years ago, my parents had the same question every new parent of a child with a disability has – “Will my child live a happy and fulfilled life?” I hope I have proven to my parents, and that I can prove to any parents, professionals and young people growing up in the audience, that although there are significant challenges, hard decisions, and tears along the way, with love, support and sheer determination, the answer can be a resounding yes.
Don’t let the world change your smile, let your smile change the world.
Conference info and tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/clapa-adults-conference-tickets-34064110672
KennyArdouin.com 