“Had I not arrived in a different place than planned, I would never have realized the power, wisdom and compassion that lies within me.”

Camilla Downs is a Special Needs Life Coach assisting families of children and adults with special needs or intellectual disabilities.  As a Special Needs Life Coach she works with families to attain simplicity. Camilla inspires families and individuals with special needs to SOAR . . . By Providing and Defining Solutions, Opportunities, Abilities and Resources. Camilla works with families to create and facilitate a Circle of Support for the family member with special needs and a blueprint for the journey using person centered planning.

As a Certified Presenter and Trainer for AssistiveWare’s Proloquo2Go, Camilla speaks and presents regarding this AAC application used on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The population whom this benefits is comprised of those who are nonverbal and those who speak; but whose speech is unintelligible due to articulation and/or physiology of the mouth . . . children or adults with special needs, those in speech recovery, individuals with a communication disability. This also includes people who have autism, hearing impaired or who have dysarthria, apraxia, aphesia due to chromosome abnormalities, MS, stroke, CP, brain injury and many other conditions.

Camilla is also the Founder of the Turning Views Foundation which has as it’s slogan, Different iz Good . . . Spread the Word.  Her book titled, D iz for Different – One Woman’s Journey to Acceptance will be available in Winter 2012. As a creative outlet Camilla’s enjoys taking pictures of nature and pairing them with just the right quote. She purposely shoots all photos with her iPhone to show others we can easily and economically capture the beauty and awe of nature anywhere and anytime.

Raised in Mississippi and Louisiana, Camilla relocated to Nevada after working for 10 years as a paralegal in Washington State. Camilla is mother to two children, Thomas, six years old, and Lillian, ten. They call themselves Team TLC and share their journey on the Team TLC website. Lillian was born with a chromosome abnormality called 18p- which primarily manifests in communications deficits. Lillian has inspired Camilla to be a proponent for speech-impaired individuals, their families and caregivers in using technology and social media to communicate and improve quality of life.

Since 2007 and prior to her role as a Special Needs Life Coach, Camilla trained and consulted with business owners regarding the use of Social Media Marketing.  She achieved this as a social media marketing and community-building strategist, working with businesses and individuals to maximize the internet to enhance their brands, connect with customers, build communities and network for success.  In addition, in 2010 and 2011 Camilla taught the Social Media Tools class through University of Reno’s Extended Studies program.  As keynote speaker and trainer, she  has inspired people to confidently use Facebook, Twitter, blogging and other online social networking tools through conferences, specialized workshops and consulting.

Go here to learn more about Camilla.