making a difference
Maria SmietanaEditor and Writer
Meet
Shawn Fulton
with Self Advocates of Indiana (SAI) Nothing about Shawn Fulton’s life has been easy, but when asked where he gets his unwavering positivity and high-energy approach to his work, he’ll say “I don’t know, that’s just me. I always tell everybody anything is possible, but you are the one that has to make it possible.” Born in the 1970s in the humble industrial town of Marion, IN, Shawn grew up very poor. “We lived in a very small house and heated with a kerosene heater that sat in a corner and had aluminum foil behind it,” he recalled. At age 4, he fell down a set of stairs and, most likely, suffered a traumatic brain injury. He doesn’t know if he ever got a real diagnosis, but throughout his childhood, it became increasingly obvious that he had learning disabilities. Pinpointing exactly what those were and the resources to treat them were still out of reach in most small school systems during the time he was growing up. At age 12, Shawn had his next near-death experience. While watching television during a thunderstorm he was struck in the face by lightning, which left him with a scar on his nose and permanent damage to his eyesight. That was on top of undergoing three kidney surgeries and three bladder surgeries, all before the age of 15. After he graduated from high school in 1992, Shawn found work with a water softener company and was doing fine
42 Special Needs Living • February 2022
until he fell victim to a Halloween prank that would change his life forever. The prank involved a dare to grab a butcher knife from another kid’s hand. Two of his fingers were nearly severed, and although they were successfully reattached, getting back the functional use of his hand would take a lot longer. During his recuperation period, he was placed in a sheltered workshop—agencies where people with intellectual and/or physical disabilities work in an enclosed environment doing simple, repetitive tasks. He couldn’t have known it then, but he would remain there long after he had regained use of his hand. In all, he spent 20 years of his life there, doing simple things like folding shipping boxes for Amazon or putting seed into bird feeders. But the agency would also be the place where Shawn would have his first encounter with people who would eventually open the door to a whole new way of life for him. “I got into Self Advocates of Indiana (SAI) by accident, really” he said. “I didn’t know anything about self-advocacy until Michelle Piercy and David Sprell got me to come to one of the local [SAI] meetings. They saw something in me that they probably shouldn’t have dragged out, because after that meeting, they never could get me to shut up,” he said with a wry chuckle. “I was very opinionated and back then, and I voiced my opinion in ways that I probably shouldn’t have. I actually owe them everything for where I am today, because
