My name is Vaughn and I am an Adaptive Dad.   I am a husband, father, veteran, lover of all things life, and an amputee. I have had to adapt to a world as an African American man (more on that later), marriage and divorce at a young age, the loss of both of my parents, infertility, adoption, and living as a bi-racial family in a small southern part of the country. I am learning how to adapt, with only one “real” leg, in a world designed for people who have not had to experience limb difference or the loss of a limb. I am also the father of a child with Type 1 Diabetes who is adaptive in her own way and is learning how to deal with her condition on a day to day basis.

We have always taught our daughter how to navigate life dealing with a condition that if managed properly, will not stop her from doing anything she wants to do or being anything she wants to be. I am having to practice what I preach and I have now had to apply what I have taught her to my own situation so that I can set a good example, not only for my daughter, but for others on how to live an adaptive and fulfilled life, no matter what life seems to throw your way.

My goal is to share my journey and how I have had to adapt in hopes that I can educate, motivate, and help others tap into the part of themselves that they didn’t know existed. The part that inherently lives in all of us to adapt to any situation and/or circumstance and overcome and move forward.  If you are motivated and inspired along the way, then that is all that much better and I would love to hear from you!

So please join me as I share some of the highs and lows of my adaptive life and hopefully give you some perspective on what it means to me, to be an Adaptive Dad.