No Such Thing Photography
As wife to her high school sweetheart, mother of their two boys, reigning Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee 2020, and founder of No Such Thing—a company with a mission to help others redefine purpose by removing defining labels—Megan DeJarnett is no stranger to success.
Now, she is adding first-time children’s book author to her list of triumphs with No Such Thing As Normal. DeJarnett, who was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II, found inspiration for the book in her personal life through the brotherly bond of her highly active six-year-old, Bronx, who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, and her inquisitive four-year-old, Shai. In No Such Thing As Normal, DeJarnett tells the story of two brothers and their encounters with differently-abled people to showcase the beauty of everyone’s differences, along with the similarities that unite us. Equipped with discussion questions, the story serves as a creative, honest, and interactive way to instill dignity and respect for all people, and to help children of all ages navigate the curiosities that arise in a world full of diversity.
Megan DeJarnett
No Such Thing Photography
Age: 31
An inspiring story: I’ve lived with my condition [Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II] since birth so I’ve never walked, ever. I’ve been in an electric wheelchair since I was four. I’m one of four children and three out of the four of us have some difference of severity of the same disease, so this isn’t new to my family. When my husband and I had our first son, Bronx, his condition was very unexpected. People will make the assumption that his disability is connected to mine, but it isn’t. So, it was all just like any other parent to a special needs kid; it was all something we had to learn, and be flexible and grow with, and educate ourselves. He and our other son are only 20 months apart, so it was like raising twins in a lot of ways. It’s been a really special thing to watch because our younger son has surpassed his older brother in some developmental stuff. We’ve had to teach our four-year-old that yes, your brother is different, but he’s still your big brother and there are things you’re going to have to teach him, but there’s things he’s going to teach you. That’s really the inspiration behind why I wrote the book.
Life imitates art: Our younger son was three at the time, we were eating lunch together and he looked at his brother and he looked at me and he goes, “Mom, why are you and my brother not normal? Bronx doesn’t walk and you don’t walk, but Dad and I walk.” It was the first time that he had really, like, noticed it because he’s been around my wheelchair his entire life. They literally have been riding on my wheelchair since they were born, so they never really noticed a difference, but I think he started school and just started realizing like, OK something is maybe a little bit different about my brother than some of my friends.
At the moment, I was kind of lost for words, which is interesting because this is what I do—I publicly share about differences and things like that. But it was like, OK I have an opportunity to share that yes we’re different but we’re more alike than you think. That was really what I wanted him to understand, like everybody has something different. Whether you have a disability or not everyone is different, right? So, let’s celebrate the things that are similar, or let’s celebrate that he’s an amazing person whether he’s in a wheelchair or not, and so that’s what birthed my passion for the book and even just the brand as a whole.
We want to be a really cool, fun brand but also have a good mission behind it. We really pride ourselves on what we get to educate about but also not being just a cheesy brand. We want it to be something that people are proud to be a part of and proud of. I never planned to write a book! It was very much like: I need to create a resource for teachers, and for family members, and for people who don’t know how to have these conversations. You know, the awkward moments you have in the grocery store when your kids are staring; I just wanted to create a tool for people, so I went for it.
Beyond the book: A lot of people who approach our company are families with special needs, but my hope was that this book would get into the hands of families who don’t have those. If you’ve never experienced someone who’s different than you, you don’t know how to see the similarities versus the differences. My hope is to point out that everyone is different, but we all want some of the same things: We all want friendship, we all want love, we want to be involved in a community that cares about us. I really hope that our brand can help represent people of all differences. Whether it’s culturally different or differently-abled, everybody has something to contribute to the world. I think our world is doing really well right now at trying to uncover some of those things and trying to demystify some of the stigmas that come with differences. I just hope that we can be part of that.
No such thing as limits: [My siblings and I] were very much raised to go after it. What do you want to do? Who do you want to be? You might have to do it a little differently, but you can do anything. I went to public school and that’s where I met my husband—in high school in Arizona. He’s a musician and that’s what moved us to Nashville. We left all of our support back in Arizona and we were like, “We’re going try it, we’re going to pursue our dreams, and we’ll see how it pans out. We could totally flop and fail but if you never try then you definitely won’t get anywhere.” Last year I went for the Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee title and I won it. For Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee it’s all about what your platform is and that’s what I built my brand around: disability inclusion and education—being a voice for other families and other people. Whether it’s a diagnosis or just a difference, your life can still be amazing and that’s the simple message I want to show people.