Fireworks!

I wrote this blog post a few years back, while I was working direct for Candeo. I was able to visit a karaoke venue where adults with disabilities would get to cut loose! It was a blast. But this particular story will always stick out in my mind.

So Katy Perry has this song. It's called "Firework". No this is not a staple in my cd player, but I did work at a high school for 5 years, so give me a break.I have recently began a new juncture in my life working for a company as a Community Living Instructor for people with intellectual and mental health disabilities. This move for me has been rewarding already and I'd like to share candidly, one experience I've had. So, a couple days ago I took a few clients out to karaoke. There is a certain place where people with intellectual and mental health disabilities go to get their singin' on. You won't here this less than once, but they are just like us.
So anyway, I'm at this event, and I'm watching person after person get up and sing. I'm thinking to myself this whole time, "this is so much fun." I mean, they were having such a good time. They were jumping and singing and dancing. They could care less who was watching. One of my clients tried to get me to dance with him and I declined. I guess I was feeling a little embarrassed. But they didn't care. And, you know, they probably could care less what you or I think of them. They probably wouldn't even waste the breathe to advocate for themselves because you and I aren't worth the energy to care. They know who they are and are comfortable in their skin. But, I'm not okay with how they get treated. I'm not going to sit back and watch them get bashed because people are too ignorant to see them for who they really are.
 So...off my soapbox and back to my story. A girl's name is called. She goes up on stage and it is apparent that she can't talk very clearly, let alone sing. But she gives it all she has. The song starts. She mumbles along through the verse. A huge smile begins to appear on her face as she reaches the prechorus... "You just gotta ignite, the light and let it shine" (face is beaming) "Just own the night, like the 4th of July" (suddenly she drops the mic) Enter Chorus...She suddenly beams in laughter and begins to jump up and down to the rhythm of the music. The audience begins to clap in syncopation. She is a firework... "Cuz baby your a firework. Come on, show 'em what your worth. Make 'em go ah ah ah! As you shoot across the sky, sky, sky." All through the chorus she is jumping and we are clapping. As soon as the chorus is done, she picks up the mic and begins verse 2...And you guessed it. The chorus drops and so does her mic and the jumping begins again. She is a firework and she knows it. Two things I realized in this moment.
 1. She has gotten more applause for jumping than you or I ever have for anything we've ever done.
 2. I nor anyone else are clapping out of pity or to be nice. She knows what she's doing. There is an energy about her that makes us see who she really is. She becomes a firework before our eyes. I am a better person for having seen her jump through a chorus line than I was before I came. She made that happen. Now, I'm not going to say that everyone has to feel the way I do about people with intellectual or mental health disabilities, but I wish you could. I wish that for two seconds, you could see someone for who they truly are and not because of a label that has been placed on them. I wish you could see them as God sees them. As He allowed me to see them.
 I wish you could enjoy the fireworks!

People First...What's That?

Why am I starting a new blog, you ask? Well, I'll be glad to tell you. Working in a field where I encounter adults with disabilities on a daily basis, I always forget that not everyone has the privilege to interact with  these folks the way I get to. Also, there is a change in the air when it comes to working with these wonderful people that I'm not sure everyone is aware of.

There is a paradigm shift on how we used to provide supports for adults with disabilities and how we are doing it now. The shift highly involves inclusion and successful goal evaluation. Many providers now provide supports in a community and the clients have goals they work on on a daily basis. The main mantra of these services is for clients to be able to live a functional life within their community. The company I work for, Candeo, has a mission "To inspire our clients to achieve their personal goals". Our vision "is a community empowered by the contribution of all." Basically what we're saying is that we feel that all members of a community should not only be welcome, but that each contribution is vital for the success of that community. This includes the people I get to work with.
So that is why I'm calling this blog the "People First Project". Because it takes every member of a community to catch the concept that we are defined as people first and whatever else can be used to describe us second. I'm not asking that we ignore that there are some people who need extra assistance to succeed in a community, as the work I do would be contradictory to that mindset, but what I'm asking is that we all open our eyes to the people we interact with on a day to day basis.
If you've ever seen someone walk into a restaurant who you could tell that they could very well have a disability, and you thought to yourself, "what is he/she doing here?" this blog is for you. If you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder what is wrong with them?" This blog is for you. If you saw them and thought to yourself, "good for them, they have the right to be here just as much as I do." This blog is for you. Because it's time we recognized that our community can only thrive by the involvement of everyone in it. No one will be set aside and shut out any longer. The movement is already happening and there is nothing that can stop it now.
So, I guess the reason I want to share some of my thoughts is because, I hope to educate some, encourage others, and if necessary, shame a few...let's hope only a few.
So here it is, the People First Project. Please like and share and spread the word as I intend to share a nugget or two every week. Keep your eye out for this blog on facebook and other social networks and share the heck out of it. Because the change is already happening, but we want everyone on board for a smooth transition.

-If you have a story or thought you'd like to share regarding this project, feel free to send it to me at yeshuawing@gmail.com and I'll be sure to read them and feature them here with your permission and full credit to you. Thanks in advance for sharing!

Click here for a good resource on people first language