Through accepting our experiences—both triumphs and challenges, we all have the power to transform not just our own lives, but the world around us.
As Feature In
What we do for others is written in who they become
For a young person facing uncertainty, identifying their strengths and values is what allows them not only to move through change, but to come out more fully themselves.
For an organization, inclusion is built in every space made accessible and every barrier removed — one concrete action at a time.
For a rehabilitation professional, every interaction shapes how a patient rebuilds — long after the session ends.
For a parent who acquires a disability, the way they navigate that disruption and keep showing up for their children is one of the most powerful things a child can witness.
What we go through — successes and struggles alike — shapes not only who we become, but what we pass on.
Own your story. Write a better world.
Signature program
Turn On the Lights: Small moments. Lasting Legacy.
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience:Corporate leaders, HR professionals, parents, healthcare professionals, educators, communityleaders
Description:
Our lives are composed of a succession of moments—like notes on a page. The ones we choose to invest in and remember influence the legacy we leave behind. After my accident, I experienced the power ofpeople showing up: nurses who restored my dignity, therapists who believed I could do hard things, friends who brought joy, and peer mentors who showed me what was possible. Every time someone showed up for me, they left a little light on. Each light accumulated, shaping who I became. Their legacy isn't just in what they did—it's in who I am now, and in the lights I can now turn on for others.
Key Outcomes:
Understand how micro-moments of showing up create lasting impact on people's lives
Learn how believing in others' capabilities builds their self-effi cacy and grit
Recognize the power of mattering—making others feel valued and valuable
Create intentional practices for leaving lights that accumulate into lasting legacy
FIND YOUR PERFECT PROGRAM... OR WORK WITH ME TO DESIGN YOUR OWN!
Small moments, Lasting impact:
A Positive Psychology Approach to Rehabilitation
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Professionals who work in Rehabilitation settings
Light Your Spark:
Turning Change Into Your Superpower
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Middle & high school students, college students
Still a Parent :
The Same Flame, A New Light
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Parents who acquire a disability
Shine a Light on Solutions:
Building Accessible Organizations
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Corporate leaders, HR professionals, DEI teams, business owners
Small Moments, Lasting Impact: A Positive Psychology Approach to Rehabilitation
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: All rehabilitation professionals
Description:
Rehabilitation after motor or neurological impairment goes far beyond functional adaptation. Beneath every exercise and every plan lies something more fundamental — a person rebuilding who they are, as a worker, as a parent, as someone constructing a life that still feels meaningful.
These workshops, designed for multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams, bring evidence-based positive psychology into the room as a clinical framework — not an add-on, but a foundation.
Before the exercise. Before the plan. 40 seconds of genuine presence is where rehabilitation really begins. And after everything changes, it only takes one small moment — a game, a conversation, a strength named out loud — to begin finding each other again.
This workshop will equip your team to:
Build and restore agency — including when physical capacity is limited
Use positive emotions deliberately as clinical tools that open the door to learning and engagement
Identify and leverage character strengths as mechanisms of adaptation and continued contribution
Rebuild a sense of mattering in the roles that define us — as professionals, as parents, as people
Light Your Spark: Turning Change Into Your Superpower
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Middle and high school students, college students
Description:
Every young person has a spark—that unique combination of strengths, passions, and potentialthat can ignite change. But uncertainty and challenges can dim that light. This talk shows students how to fantheir inner spark into a fl ame, using their experiences (even the diffi cult ones) as fuel rather than letting themextinguish their fi re. When young people discover and tend their spark, they don't just light their own path—they become beacons for their peers and communities. Each small light they share with others accumulates,creating a legacy of hope and possibility.
Key Outcomes:
Discover your unique "spark"—the strengths and values that make you, you
Learn how challenges can fuel your fi re rather than put it out
Understand how sharing your light creates ripples of inspiration for others
Take concrete actions to keep your spark alive and growing brighter
Still a Parent: The Same Flame, A New Light
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Parents with disabilities, healthcare professionals, rehabilitation teams
Description:
Acquiring a disability or illness is profoundly disruptive. There are real losses — of capacity, of roles, sometimes even of the image of the parent you believed you would become. And yet. At the heart of that disruption, something persists: the desire to be there for your children, to pass on what matters most, to matter to them. Values reorder themselves, strengths express themselves differently — and there are far more ways to transmit them than what we can see in our most difficult moments.
This keynote draws on evidence-based positive psychology and on Marjorie Aunos's own lived experience as a parent with a disability. It offers a space to explore what it means to be fully a parent — differently, but entirely.
Together, we will explore how to:
Reclaim your agency — your role does not disappear, it transforms
Create small moments of genuine connection that rebuild or strengthen the bond with your children
Identify your strengths and those of your children — and feel that you are still contributing
Renegotiate your place from your values — new and old
Reappraise what disability has transformed in you
Shine a Light on Solutions: Building Accessible Organizations
Format: Keynote or workshop
Ideal Audience: Corporate leaders, HR professionals, DEI teams, business owners
Description:
Accessibility challenges aren't problems without solutions—they're opportunities waiting to beilluminated. Rather than dwelling in the darkness of barriers and blame, this talk focuses the spotlight on whatworks: practical, proven solutions that transform organizations into places where everyone can thrive. Whenleaders shine a light on solutions instead of just identifying problems, they create cultures of innovation andinclusion. Each accessible choice you make leaves a light on for employees and customers, accumulating intoan organizational legacy of belonging.
Key Outcomes:
Spotlight existing solutions that work in accessible design and inclusion
Understand how each accessible choice accumulates into organizational culture
Learn how solution-oriented approaches attract and retain diverse talent
Create concrete action steps that leave lasting lights of inclusion throughout your organization
Working Together is simple
Describe your event on the contact form
Marjorie will reach out to schedule a call to discuss your audience goals
Secure the date
Give your audience a new toolbox for creative solution-finding
Meet Marjorie
Marjorie Aunos, Ph.D., MAPP is a researcher, speaker, and consultant on accessibility and inclusion. She teaches organizations and educators to solution-find and build environments that are accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to young families with disabilities.
Marjorie is an internationally award-winning speaker, author of Mom on Wheels: The Power of Purpose as a Paraplegic Parent and contributing author to We Got This: Essays By Disabled Parents.
Her TEDx talk “What we can learn from disabled parents” has been viewed over 500,000 times.
Watch Marjorie Inspire and Motivate!
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Watch Marjorie Inspire and Motivate! ⋆
Embracing change is no longer an option. It’s a necessity.
Reach out to Marjorie today to discuss exploring strategies for resilience and inclusion that will help prepare your workforce for the future.