Speaking

I have spent more than twenty-five years in classrooms — teaching, listening, and learning what it actually takes to reach a person who has been told, in one way or another, that the room wasn’t built for them. That experience shapes every talk I give.

I speak to survivors, educators, parents, and writers. My topics are distinct, but they share a common thread: the belief that the stories we tell about ourselves, and the ones we finally give ourselves permission to tell, are where everything begins.

Still Here: Reclaiming Identity and Voice After Illness

Long-term survivorship doesn’t come with a roadmap. Treatment ends, and the world expects you to return to who you were, but that person is gone, and the one standing in her place is still figuring out what she’s allowed to say. As a long-term melanoma survivor, published essayist, and writing professor, I speak with honesty and hope about navigating life on the other side of a rare diagnosis. How to embrace small wins, find strength in your own story, and use the act of writing as a path back to yourself.

Jennifer Young is a member of the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation Speakers Bureau.

For: cancer centers, survivorship conferences, hospital wellness programs, AYA communities, oncology support groups

Know Your Audience: Why Every Teacher Must Become a Student of Their Students

Twenty-five years of teaching writing at the university level taught me that the most important thing a teacher can do is learn how each student learns. This talk is for K–12 and higher education faculty navigating differentiated instruction, learning differences, IEPs in higher education, and the neurodiversity of the modern classroom. It is practical, honest, and grounded in what actually works.

For: school districts, teacher conferences, university faculty development programs

Raising and Teaching the Learning-Different Child

Parenting a child with ADHD, dyslexia, or an IEP is its own kind of education, one that no one fully prepares you for. So is teaching that child. This talk bridges both sides of the table: the parent navigating school systems and college transitions, and the educator learning to reach a student whose brain works differently than the classroom was designed for. I speak as a mother of four, a writing professor with twenty-five years in the classroom, and someone who has sat across from your child in both roles.

For: parent-teacher organizations, school district parent nights, learning disability conferences, university faculty development programs, special education departments

You Are a Writer: Finding Your Voice Through Personal Narrative

Everyone has a story worth telling. Most people just need someone to tell them that and then show them how. This talk is for anyone who has been told, or has told themselves, that they are not a writer. It can be shaped for a high school assembly, a university orientation, a hospital wellness program, or a corporate retreat.

For: schools, universities, healthcare organizations, writing conferences, corporate audiences

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