New England Woman Featured in Exceptional Parent Magazine

By: Colleen Lent, M.Ed., M.S.

Before Dani Bennis was born, prenatal doctors told her parents their only child wouldn’t live long enough to celebrate her tenth birthday due to being diagnosed with Spina Bifida Meningomyelocele, an incurable neural tube defect that hinders the spinal cord and results in lower body paralysis.

Now 31, Bennis shares her story in Exceptional Parent Magazine, a publication with a mission of developing, translating, and sharing information as tools for positive change for the special needs community. In the article, Bennis discusses defeating medical odds and finding mental and physical strength through childhood therapy sessions with a horse named Diablo.

Bennis says she hopes her story inspires other individuals with disabilities and helps them find creative ways to work on their social emotional and motor skill goals and have fun during the process. “Everyone is entitled to laugh, love, and live,” she says. In the past, Bennis has created awareness about Spina Bifida and special needs through talks at the University of New Hampshire and contributions to articles published in the Portsmouth Herald and Carriage Towne News.

To read about Dani Bennis and Diablo’s special relationship, visit www.epmagazine.com, and see Page 25 of the May 2024 Annual Mobility Issue or click on this link: reader.mediawiremobile.com/epmagazine/issues/208928/viewer?page=25.