Letting Your Challenges Define Youâ€Finding Your Niche

Letting Your Challenges Define You- Finding Your Niche I had every reason not to write. With all three of my kids having major disabilities, my life was about plate-spinning and hoping that my plates would not all come crashing onto the floor- at least, not all at once. I felt sorry for myself- for leaving teaching to play caregiver, and for quitting on the writing I loved. But, helping my kids was my callingand yet, also a challenge that stopped my career and defined who I was. Caregiver. Not writer. Sure, I wrote some lessons for their teachers. I had my teaching credential and a masters in educational curriculum development. Why not? But, mostly, I just volunteered. My kids are now 20-something; only my son has launched. Both of my girls still need help with crisis-management and life skills. It seemed like my life was all about helping kids navigate theirs. There was no room for a writing career. Until the day, twelve years ago, my sons teacher asked me for help. Federal law mandates schools teach transition skills to students with special needs. Students need to learn how to adultfrom cooking and cleaning, to finding and keeping a job. What she found was either too-print-rich or too ba It felt good. Here was a project I could do while my kids were asleep. It was creative and needed. Â  It was almost like Id been training my whole life to write this work. It took off. First, I sold hard copies to local teachers. Word spread. Soon, teachers wanted new topics for different populations- kids who needed basic life skills, kids on the autism spectrum, kids who were in workability programs- and Daily Living Skills emerged. As sales grew, I submitted to educational publishers. They rejected me because my niche market was too small. I continued to self-publish. I joined Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). They sell digital lessons During this time, Hope wrote about a call for submissions from Chicken Soup for the Soul in Funds for Writers. I wrote about the miracles of life with special needs kids. Im now a regular author for them. Â  I soon added a bi-weekly column about parenting special needs teens on HealthyPlace.com. I began speaking at conferences and developed a following. A new family crisis inspired me to write a novel about a bipolar teen finding the hero within herself. The Edge of Brilliance was my first YA novel, published Ironically, I now write every chance I get. I speak at conferences and post on blogs, my articles appear in magazines all over the country and books on a regular basis, Ive published one novel and am working on another, and Im considered an expert in my field. I do this while still staying home as a caregiver for my daughters and helping them navigate the last steps of transition. And yet, I am a writerbecause I let my challenges define my niche. Links: www.susantraugh.com www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Susan-Traugh www.teacherspayteachers.com https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/author/straugh https://www.facebook.com/transition2life.dailylivingskills/ susan.traugh@gmail.com