Jodee Kulp

 

Jodee Kulp is committed to excellence and integrity in her business, her personal life and her family. Her professional, family and child advocacy experiences includes: Our FAScinating Journey: The Best We Can Be Keys to Brain Potential Along the Path of Prenatal Brain Injury, Better Endings New Beginnings, 2002 The Best I Can Be, Living with Fetal Alcohol, by Liz and Jodee Kulp, Better Endings New Beginnings, 2000 Families at Risk, Better Endings New Beginnings, 1993 Journey to Life, Hazelden, 1986, 1991. Jodee was Co-Editor, MN Foster Care Association, 1991-1999, News and Views Editor, MN Foster Care Association, 1999-present, News and Views Our Families. Jodee has been a Presenter/Keynote Speaker for Families at Risk Conferences and Institutes;Verbal Abuse Workshops; Creative Learning Strategies for FAS/FAE children; 10 Easy Tips to Live with Your Child with Fetal Alcohol and Understanding Fetal Alcohol from the Inside. Jodee Kulp has won the following awards: 1986 International Entrepreneur of the Year, International Council of Small Business; Best of Show, First Place and Honorable Mentions in National design and typography competitions; 1986 Minnesota Outstanding AVTI Graduate; Who's Who in Professional and Executive Women and International Book of Honor for distinguished service to Profession. Visit Jodee online at http://www.betterendings.org

"Parents and providers alike will enjoy this enlightening book. Jodee's stories of her family's personal experiences with FAS issues gives an "up close and personal" perspective that can only be given by a parent who has traveled the road and who can help others see the way ahead with a better understanding of what to expect. Jodee shares insights into common problems and suggestions for workable solutions, all with a sense of humor and a fresh outlook of hope for the future." Teresa Kellerman Director, FAS Community Resource Center President, Fasstar Enterprises www.fasstar.com

 

"Our FAScinating Journey (Better Endings New Beginnings, 2002) by Jodee Kulp is a spiral bound publication that is more than a book and it opens a window on the complex biobehavioral consequences of alcohol abuse during pregnancy. This unique approach to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects (FAE) brings the reader through the maze of basic and developmental neuroanatomy and sensory physiology while constantly reminding the reader that this is not just about biology but functional biology as it relates to FAS. .." JOHN BRICK, PH.D., MA Fellow, American Psychological Association Executive Director, Intoxikon International

 

Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Jodee Kulp: I grew up in Lindstrom, Minnesota and attended Chisago Lakes High School. I enjoyed creative writing throughout my education and wrote stories and songs at a very young age. My earliest writing influence was my third grade teacher, she encouraged creative and report writing and I remember wondering why report writing had to be boring and without feelings. I loved climbing a tree with a good book, sitting in the crook of a branch and becoming part of a book adventure or snuggling under a pile of warm blankets turning pages of knowledge.

Pageonelit.com: Why do you write?

Jodee Kulp:I write to convey information on issues that are tough to understand. I try to blend the reality of life and relationships with the facts because each has its own reality and often they conflict. I strive to bridge different disciplines -- each have valuable knowledge for the other and often they are incapable of communicating their knowledge and diversity with respect, compassion and understanding.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: Tell us about The Best I Can Be, Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome -- You co-wrote this book with your daughter Liz? What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Jodee Kulp: At age 12.5 our adopted daughter Liz was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Effects. That means that her birth mother consumed alcohol during her pregnancy which caused Liz metabolic and neurological damage. In essence it compromised her abilities and significantly affected her life. Liz has been a fighter since an infant and chose as a young teen to fight the stigma and the blindness of the public to this issue and help people understand fetal alcohol and it's affects on the life of a human being. It is 100% preventable and our #1 cause of birth defects, yet as a culture we ignore it. Together Liz and I have worked hard in building public awareness. Liz provides hope to children and families who live with this disability. We believe that we can make a significant impact on society if we help persons with FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) become the "Best They Can Be", build public awareness and encourage research and diagnostics. Liz believes MORE than 10% of persons with FASD should be successful - our prison system, homeless shelters and institutions should not be the structured environment they live their adult lives in.

 

Pageonelit.com: Tell us about Our FAScinating Journey: The Best We Can Be Keys to Brain Potential Along the Path of Prenatal Brain Injury ---

Jodee Kulp: Liz is a dynamic and creative young person. She is very, very alive and tenacious. She is a good person. Her brain and metabolic damage cannot be repaired, however between the damaged areas and the functioning areas are inactive cells waiting to be activated. In essence that is what Our FAScinating Journey is all about. Liz and I joined forces with Toni Hager, NDS of www.kidscanlearn.net and began accessing her available, yet inactive neurons to build a larger reprortoire of abilities. We worked with Liz as a whole child through therapies of nutrition, exercises, play and communittion progressing through prenatal development to higher developmental levels in areas of visual processing, auditory processing, tactile processing, language processing, fine motor, gross motor, social and behavioral. Liz's program became the initial case study which we are now duplicating with 30 other children with similar results. Fetal alcohol brain damage can not be cured - but Liz has pioneered strategies to offer opportunities to other young people. Meanwhile, Liz's hard work in neurodevelopment has provided her a firmer foundation to build an independent adult life on.

Pageonelit.com: Tell us about Betterendings.org and your other work when not writing books.

Jodee Kulp: Better Endings New Beginnings (www.betterendings.org) began in 1986 with a mission to build bridges of understanding across chasms of complex human issues. My first book Journey to Life (1986) was a poetic adventure to face the realitiy of growing up as a child in an alcoholic home, forgiving the past but not forgetting. This book providing the stepping stones recovering children of alcoholics needed to begin to reach beyond the pain and hurt of their past and allow for not just recovery but renewal of their own and their families lives. Therapists used my work to reach stoic men with long buried pain. My second book Families at Risk (1994) was a guidebook for surrogate caregivers to help understand and safely care for and love the children in their homes. Today that book is a foster care and adoption classic. Families at Risk is 416 pages of tough questions and answers, human interest stories and case studies, surrounded by the realities of foster, adoption and kinship care. My earlier work has been vital in the newer projects relating to fetal alcohol.

When I am not writing I am a graphic and digital designer (print material and internet), manager of Liz's group MoAngels (www.moangels.com), neighborhood taxi, wife, mother and emotional support to urban teens. I also manage the following website www.mofas.org and www.kidscanlearn.net along with a number of commercial client sites.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: What has been your feedback from readers? What do they say to you about their interpretations of your books?

Jodee Kulp: Our books have gone around the world. Readers write:

South Africa: I smiled, I cried, I nodded and I thanked God that Tisha is different to Liz but what of the future? Tisha is 6 1/2, so what have we in store? I can't wait to read the others, you are so talented. I also can't wait to show others. We have nothing, nothing at all here for parents to read. The only book available (1 copy in SA) is the Broken Cord. I wish we could live in the USA so that we could access the information available to the FAS caregivers there. We really struggle here I don't know how we would cope without the internet. We get phone call after phone call and our help can only come from people so wonderful as you. You have no idea what your books mean to us and people who will borrow them. Much Love Vivien

Canada: What an excellent job Liz and you have done to help others understand what LIVING with FAS/E is like - this is soooooo needed especially in the school systems. Many, many thank-you's to both of you, but in such a special way to Liz! She is a courageous young lady.....I think in doing this she will help so many others who live with FASE - she'll never know the extent, but I so pray she will be proud of herself and her ability to share her thoughts, experiences, and feelings with others. So many of our children with FASE can't do that, so she is their voice as well as her own. Thank you, dear Liz. I'd love to put the book into the home of every family that contacts us, every doctor's office, school, lawyer's office, judge's hands, and so many more places! Margie

Youth and teens with FASD no longer feel isolated. Father's frustrated hearts are turned back to their children and families. Mothers are offered hope. Many many of these families historically have fallen apart. I hope Liz and I have given some a path to learn to walk together.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: Who are your favorite writers and why?

Jodee Kulp: I like writers who let you into their world and help you understand life more deeply. The writers that write messages on your heart that you remember years after you read the book. I like to walk away from a book and see the world or a situation with more depth. I don't have a favorite writer - there are so many talented authors, I cherish each of them. I guess for enjoyment I like GA Henty's historical fiction from the 1800's.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: What's next?

Jodee Kulp: I just finished a curriculum for case managers to help parents work with their prenatally exposed children. I am considering another project to help young adults with FASD straddle independent living choices. Someday I may consider writing teen fiction to help teens cope with difficult life situations in healthy ways and I have thought of writing a series of teen mysteries for lower level readers where the teen hero uses a disability to solve the problem and because of the disabilities and their different view of the world they are capable.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: What was the last book you read?

Jodee Kulp: I usually read multiple books at a time - one for fun, one for personal growth, one for professional growth and the Bible. I read when I travel so that I am more open to new ideas and ways of thinking. So last week I enjoyed a backpack full of diverse titles.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing.

Jodee Kulp: My hobbies include meeting new people and understanding new cultures, traveling, and trying new things which works well with speaking and teaching. My life hobbies are currently wrapped up in working with urban teens and helping Liz reach an independent adulthood. Once Liz has attained more independence I will move on to my more personal hobbies - painting, gardening, cooking, fabric arts. I like to experience life and I like to figure out how and why things work or react as they do. My writing is simply an extension of who I am.