Hi Everybody,

Remember last week when I asked you what you would say if you had the opportunity to talk about, “What you want people to know about living with a disability?” This weekend, I had 2 opportunities to do just that!  🙂

 

On Friday, I had the opportunity to meet Maine Senator Angus King.

 

Senator King is from Maine but he works in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Government. He got his job by being voted into office by the people of Maine. His job is to do the best he can to help all the people of Maine. Every state has 2 Senators and the other Maine Senator, is Susan Collins.

 

Senator King went to Disability Rights Maine on Friday to talk about, “How do we get more people with disabilities, jobs in Maine?” He wanted to learn from self – advocates (like me), business owners, and service providers, what the difficulties were for people with disabilities, in finding jobs & keeping jobs.

 

Channel 6 in Portland was also there to do a story about the meeting. Here’s their report…Just click on the link below to watch it (and you might see somebody you know! 🙂 )

http://www.wcsh6.com/media/cinematic/video/75741270/senator-king-asks-maine-businesses-to-hire-the-disabled

If you need captioning for the video, click “CC” on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

 

Now, I have a question for you that you can talk about at a Chapter Meeting…

If Senator King came to a SUFU meeting someday and he asked you, “What are some reasons that you think people with disabilities might have a harder time finding jobs, or keeping jobs,” what would you say?

 

On Saturday, I went to Maine Parent Federation’s Conference and spoke on a panel, to a group of parents of kids with disabilities. Jon McGovern was at the conference, too, and we both told parents about SUFU.  Jon did a fantastic job!

 

I realized that a lot of parents are very worried about what kinds of lives their kids with disabilities will have after they graduate from high school. This made me think of another question that you could discuss at a Chapter Meeting…

If a parent asked you, “How can I best help my child with a disability to have a good life after they graduate from high school,” what would you say?

After you discuss these questions, would you please let me know some of the answers you came up with? Maybe we could put on some workshops together, or make a video, or some other project to teach others about our lives.

 

As always, feel free to get in touch with me anytime: aolmstead@sufumaine.org

Until Next Time,
Avery

 

 

 

 

 

 

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