March is Intellectual/Developmental Disability Awareness Month
Focusing on Abilities
People with labels have many fine hidden talents. Bryan can fix any small mechanical device, Fred can buff and wax floors like no one you have ever seen, Patrice has a flair for fashion and Tom has great customer service. Experience and opportunity have been denied to these folks for most of their lives; with it, they are flourishing.
It is time to integrate people with disabilities into our society at large. Let’s face it, none of us are perfect! We do not all have perfect bodies, are straight A students, speak with great eloquence, can run the 40 in less than 4. 5 seconds or cure pancreatic cancer. So why have we segregated, shunned, and hidden people with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities all these years?
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It is time to welcome people, not isolate. It is time to provide real life experiences, not infantize. It is time to be open to people who may be different, not be fearful. It is time to accept people for who they are and to focus on abilities.
Pat Thies
Executive Director, Blue Cap