Parenting, Products 
My son, Chris, was a great kid. He was funny, happy, imaginative and friendly. He was and is my inspiration. He also lived with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and used a wheelchair since he was six years old. Following Chris’s last year at MDA Camp, we were shopping at a local store for stickers to put in his scrapbook. The more we looked, the more we became aware of the lack of images of children in wheelchairs having fun.
That moment in that store was the birth of Popping Wheelies. I started drawing when we got home and both of us started imagining. Kids in wheelchairs were our starting point and eventually our collection of stickers blossomed into kids with a variety of physical differences as well as children who appear typical. Over the years we tried to include every activity that children of all abilities enjoy.
In 2012, one year after Chris’s death, I took my designs to a new shop to be printed. I struck up a conversation with the shop owner and soon we decided to join forces and offer my designs online. One day my friend commented that my drawings would make a good coloring book. Together we created the Popping Wheelies Coloring Book.
We offered it for sale online, but ultimately decided to close the business. I was left with 450 coloring books and wanted to find just the right children to receive them. The website, The Mighty, our local TV station and local paper all agreed to share my story and with their help I was able to give all of the books away.
As a parent, I know that raising a child with a disability can feel isolating, be expensive and sometimes it is just plain hard.
I also know that kids love to see pictures of children who look like themselves. Tie these two truths together with a little love, faith, understanding and joy and you will see why I continue to draw for kids like Chris.
The coloring books are no longer available, but all of my designs are on my website, poppingwheelies.net. Everything on the site is free to download and print for the special children in your life. Enjoy!
Why I Am Making Free Inclusive Coloring Pages
“Where are the pictures that look like me?” Free Inclusive Coloring Pages
My son, Chris, was a great kid. He was funny, happy, imaginative and friendly. He was and is my inspiration. He also lived with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and used a wheelchair since he was six years old. Following Chris’s last year at MDA Camp, we were shopping at a local store for stickers to put in his scrapbook. The more we looked, the more we became aware of the lack of images of children in wheelchairs having fun.
That moment in that store was the birth of Popping Wheelies. I started drawing when we got home and both of us started imagining. Kids in wheelchairs were our starting point and eventually our collection of stickers blossomed into kids with a variety of physical differences as well as children who appear typical. Over the years we tried to include every activity that children of all abilities enjoy.
In 2012, one year after Chris’s death, I took my designs to a new shop to be printed. I struck up a conversation with the shop owner and soon we decided to join forces and offer my designs online. One day my friend commented that my drawings would make a good coloring book. Together we created the Popping Wheelies Coloring Book.
We offered it for sale online, but ultimately decided to close the business. I was left with 450 coloring books and wanted to find just the right children to receive them. The website, The Mighty, our local TV station and local paper all agreed to share my story and with their help I was able to give all of the books away.
As a parent, I know that raising a child with a disability can feel isolating, be expensive and sometimes it is just plain hard.
I also know that kids love to see pictures of children who look like themselves. Tie these two truths together with a little love, faith, understanding and joy and you will see why I continue to draw for kids like Chris.
The coloring books are no longer available, but all of my designs are on my website, poppingwheelies.net. Everything on the site is free to download and print for the special children in your life. Enjoy!
To print out YOUR free printable coloring sheets from Sue, head over to her website!
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