Quiet Calm, LLC

We’re happy to announce that the wedding of our owner and founder, Anne Delery Helmke, was featured in Inside New Orleans magazine.

The wedding, like most things in their life, was designed to be inclusive. Gala level sensory spaces, custom designed wheelchair ramps, and other accommodations were seen throughout the event.

#JustPlaneWrong: Wheelchair Users Demand Improved Airline Accessibility Wheelchair users call out dismal airline accessibility on social media and with their representatives through our ACAA Action Alert. Don't let your voice go unheard!

Adaptive technology equals independence for the disability community Learn from our members about the adaptive technology they rely on and the way it enhances their daily lives.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of when the idea of sensory accommodations in disaster shelters went global.

There are too many people to thank,  many of whom will not allow us to name them.

We are going to thank them anyway. Thank you for proving that one very determined mom could overcome domestic violence work with programming to help others in the situation, and ensure that the world was more accommodating.

A word about “Autism Awareness Month: Light it Up Blue”.

1. Awareness was achieved around 20 years ago. Think about it: how many people don’t know what the condition means.

2. Acceptance is what’s needed now. Cliff notes: No, every child with autism doesn’t have a super power like Rain Man AND people with the condition need to be treated as PEOPLE first, condition second.

3. Girls are every bit as prone to the disorder, but because of preconceived notions and prejudice, they are more likely to slip through the cracks missing crucial resources at pivotal times.

Light It Up Blue began as a means to highlight that boys were primarily the percentage. Promoting this only furthers the prejudice.

Additionally, the puzzle piece is considered to be a symbol of hate by many in the community because Autism Speaks did some truly horrific things, like funding eugenics to promote abortions of fetuses with autism. They are the same organization responsible for the blue connotations.

Give this some thought before you donate or promote.

For those looking to donate to an organization, ASAN (Autism Self Advocacy Network) is very good and made of self advocates, or people who actually have the condition.

Should Autism Speaks ever reach out, we are more than happy to work with them to help culture evolve.

“Nothing for us without us.”

Autism Speaks: Deception, Eugenics, and Abuse How this insidious organization controls the narrative of autism, and what to support instead.

We are happy to announce that we are back in business. Covid caused a stall on local, national, and international contracts.

Contracts are now all coming back on line.

If you or someone who know has a disability, we ONLY hire within the disability with preferential hiring if that person has experienced domestic violence. Every position pays a living wage. Employment responsibilities and accommodations are custom designed to handle all levels of functionality. We’ve employed and had tremendous success helping employees succeed. If anyone you know could benefit from a loving diverse and 100 percent inclusion, please have them contact me.

Wishing all those who observe Yom Kippur a blessed and peaceful day of observance.

For years, there has been a push to regulate autism therapy products to ensure they are lead free.

Hopefully with the national spotlight on the dangers of heavy metals for children, especially in autism, there can be the creation of an industry wide standard on quality.

As more info on lead in Jackson's water comes to light, parents are in the dark on their children's health | CNN When her firstborn exhibited extreme sensitivity to smell, sound and touch, along with some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, Sarah Howard wondered if it was her fault, if she'd done something to harm her baby boy during her pregnancy. She just didn't know.

It has come to our attention that a Quiet Calm kit was found in the classroom of the Texas shooting.

We don’t have words. Peer to peer support was offered to the family at the time of sending a donated kit.

Christina Adams, doing amazing things!

نادي الإبل on Twitter “🇺🇸 الباحثة الأمريكية "كرستينا آدمز" تتحدث عن منتجات الإبل، وعن دور حليب الإبل في شفاء ابنها من مرض "التوحد" 🐪🥛. ⁧ ⁧ ⁩ | ⁧ #نا...

Thank you, Jonee' Daigle-Ferrand and Inside New Orleans magazine! Happy 12/21 launch!

Neuro-Crash: The Cost of Compensation for Asynchronous Minds The mental fatigue of different-mindedness has a cost. It's called a neuro-crash

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferpalumbo/2021/09/30/why-kevin-rizer-believes-hiring-disabled-and-neurodiverse-employees-is-good-for-business/

Why Kevin Rizer Believes Hiring Disabled And Neurodiverse Employees Is Good For Business It's time companies take a look at how they are accommodating and creating opportunities for neurodiverse individuals, remote hearing, and visually impaired employees, according to Kevin Rizer, author of Always Wear Pants: And 99 Other Tips for Surviving and Thriving While You Work from Home.

It’s time to listen to the Autistic community (Autistic people NOT Neurotypical people) and start respecting their voices and wishes for the puzzle piece to be thrown out... and yes I will be using identity first language in this post as it’s the preferred language and saying “person with Autism”/ “on the spectrum” detaches the person from their Autistic brain and without our brain we aren’t the same person. Also it sounds like it’s an illness or disease by saying “has” or “with” and that’s not what Autism is and it makes it sound like it’s something that can be cured like an illness… when it can’t. Our brains ARE Autistic, we view the world and life with our Autistic brain… it’s a huge part of us and separating us from our Autistic brain is wrong. We need to ACCEPT AUTISM, and accept that we have Autistic brains. People need to ACCEPT Autistic people better. Being Autistic isn’t anything to be ashamed about and “Autistic” isn’t a dirty word. It’s time to view things differently from our point of view and it’s time to start using the two appropriate symbols for Autism also instead! It’s time to allow Autistic people to have a symbol they like that has a more positive history/ meaning to it than the one created in the 60’s by Neurotypical people without including us.

There’s the rainbow colour spectrum infinity symbol that is for Neurodiversity which Autism is a part. Because Autistic people are more likely to have other neurodivergent conditions too… it’s why the Rainbow Infinity Symbol is the most popular amongst Autistic people.
We also have the gold infinity symbol which was created by Autistic people for Autism Acceptance…. And in the periodic table of elements gold is ‘Au’ which is the first two letters of Autism/ Autistic which is pretty cool. There sadly are some Autistic people out there that wrongly think the rainbow infinity symbol represents just Autism but that’s not true and it never has been.

Sadly people are gatekeeping the rainbow infinity symbol from the whole Neurodiversity community. The Two people who created the rainbow infinity symbol can’t decide if it should be for Neurodiversity as a whole or just Autism. But the Autistic community at most accepts it for neurodiversity due to Autistic people being more likely to have other neurodivergent conditions also. The Neurodiversity movement which is a human rights campaign to create change and acceptance for Autistic people and also all other neurodivergent people, so considering it’s main focus has mostly been on Autism… there’s no need for people to be silly and gatekeep it especially considering the good the Neurodiversity movement does.

Here’s a little bit from Autistic UK website
“The use of the infinity symbol came from the growing popularity of it in spectrum colours to promote Neurodiversity. The idea of endless possibilities and untapped potential resonate through this symbol providing a simple and recognisable concept in one.
Autism is itself a spectrum, but we were looking for a unique identifier (without needing to ‘cure’ it). So the idea of combining the two came to the fore. If Autistics use Gold, then other Neurodiverse communities can use their choice of colour too.”

We need to remember that the puzzle piece symbol isn’t a piece of art. Personal interpretations don’t matter when talking about what it actually means. It was and is used to portray autism as “puzzling”, Autistic people as having a “piece missing” and all in all something to be “fixed”, a sentiment the Autistic community widely resents. Your personal interpretations don’t change what it’s actually used to represent and unless you’re Autistic yourself, it’s not for you to reclaim and even then not for you to decide alone. And seeing the Autistic community widely see the puzzle piece symbol as problematic and stigmatising... it’s time to move on and start using the two symbols chosen by the Autistic community instead. Autistic peoples voices matter the most as THEY are the ones who are Autistic.

Family often view the puzzle piece in a positive light and view the puzzle piece as THEIR missing piece to their family, meaning their Autistic child... but as previously said... it’s not a piece of art and you cannot change the meaning of the puzzle piece symbol and what it has represented for years.
It’s time to be respectful and listen to Autistic people on this matter... it’s not up for debate as the Autistic community for years have already been vocal about this. Move on to a better symbol that is accepted by the wider autistic community and IS NOT stigmatising or harmful to us.
We ask for you to move on from a symbol we consider a harmful symbol and move on to using the infinity symbols we have chosen.

We also must remember that just because YOUR child likes the puzzle piece symbol it’s no excuse to dismiss the the Autistic communities feelings towards it being a harmful symbol. You must realise that parents likes will rub off on their children, so if they like the puzzle piece symbol and use it then the child is going to like it to... it’s that simple. Introduce them to the accepted symbols and explain how awesome they are!

Here’s the conclusion from research about the puzzle piece symbol and if it evokes negative associations (link to this is amongst the links at the end) “Participants explicitly associated puzzle pieces, even generic puzzle pieces, with incompleteness, imperfection, and oddity. Our results bear public policy implications. If an organization's intention for using puzzle-piece imagery is to evoke negative associations, our results suggest the organization's use of puzzle-piece imagery is apt. However, if the organization's intention is to evoke positive associations, our results suggest that puzzle-piece imagery should probably be avoided”

If you want to learn more about the puzzle piece symbol and why it’s seen so negatively so much then there’s plenty links below... I’m not going to go on and on and on and tell you the whole history and ins and outs because you can do that yourself with the links below.
Or just search “why don’t autistic people like the puzzle piece symbol” or “why is the puzzle piece symbol for autism harmful“

We appreciate people listening to the Autistic community and respecting us by making this change. By doing so you help us feel heard, accepted and respected. Thankyou 🥰🥲

https://www.learnfromautistics.com/the-problem-with-the-autism-puzzle-piece/?fbclid=IwAR3KRrs3vzfuCgn-neKRtxnA8teePO_yUtLrSvjnRLj-79UuYqnkSZAVl7w
https://neuroclastic.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Heres-Why-Most-Autistic-People-Hate-the-Puzzle-Piece-Symbol.pdf

https://autisticmama.com/saying-goodbye-to-the-puzzle-piece/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28823194/

https://intheloopaboutneurodiversity.wordpress.com/2019/03/20/the-ableist-history-of-the-puzzle-piece-symbol-for-autism/

https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/autism-no-puzzle-nothing-wrong-with-us/

https://ko-fi.com/post/Its-time-to-leave-the-puzzle-piece-symbol-in-the-Z8Z56GM7H

With a sad heart we have to announce that our offices have flooded. Until we can find or design a new medical grade manufacturing facility, we are unable to fulfill orders for sensory kits or rooms, and will be concentrating on consulting until we can have a new location.

Quiet Calm stands ready to help for what Hurricane Ida will bring to our home area.

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross or Partnership for Inclusove Disaster Strategies.

We are so happy to see friends succeed! Home town girl is making it happen!

Quiet Calm, LLC is honored that Anne Delery McWhorter has been chosen as a 2021 Women of Resilience Award winner sponsored by Fidelity Bank, POWER (Potential of Women Entrepreneurs Realized) with the Margarita Bergen Roundtable series.

As autism rates are expected to sky rocket following COVID, our hope is that we can highlight this issue and what needs to be done in the New Orleans area.

Thank you, Margarita Bergen and Fidelity Bank.

The Other Way Anthony Hopkins’ Win Was Historic: He’s Openly Autistic The 83-year-old star of The Father made history for more than just his age.

Quiet Calm is happy to be back at work! Today we had a lovely time at Margarita Bergen’s Roundtable Luncheon at Galatoire’s in NOLA.

We can’t wait for Anne Delery McWhorter to speak at the June Roundtable on Women of Achievement.

Pyramid Community Parent Center and Tiffany Powell. We can’t wait to hang the GORGEOUS prints in our office!

abilityE — Talent Source for the Entertainment Industry Actors with disabilities resource — authenic wheelchair users, and more...

Parents can report La. schools not following COVID-19 guidelines

wafb.com Parents can use the email address linked here to report concerns about schools not complying with a minimum of the state’s in-person instruction safety guidelines aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.