The Influence of LEAD Service Projects

In the video “Inclusion, belonging, and the disability revolution” (TEDTalks, 2014), speaker Jennie Fenton opens with describing situations where people with disabilities are segregated and excluded from their communities, sent to live together away from society, or even treated as lesser humans. She then proceeds to introduce her family, including her six-year-old daughter that was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jennie admits to previously having negative or frightened thoughts about having a child with a disability, but with her “seven realizations,” she learned that her daughter was merely on a different path than others, but that no one should ever feel broken or not a whole person (TEDTalks, 2014). After she explains that there are roughly one billion people with a disability throughout the world, Jennie states that she believes in possibility over disability. If a person’s

I am a self-directed volunteer as a peer community worker for disabled people in Toronto GTA. I am willing to speak with you, in groups or publicly any time about it. Nonetheless; when rough times have fallen upon my life and health in the past, I have always responded with humor and generosity since, my gratitude is the state of mind of thankfulness. Most people can describe me as being direct, humorous, down to earth and caring for the fellow humans. At this moment in time, I am the founder and manager of Peer Community Hub, as well as a social entrepreneur whose ideas, tasks and values are to build peer to peer community drop-in center for disabilities who are directed by disability people. History of street life, disability, and cornice

Special needs individuals have also deeply impacted my life. While employed with Skill Creations, I monitored the daily activities of six young men with mental and physical needs exceeding the care family members could provide. Unfortunately, some endured incredibly difficult circumstances before admission. The group home provided daily medical care as well as therapeutic services designed to encourage independence. Subsequently, my daughter's diagnosis of autism forged awareness of the innovation special needs parents exhibit discerning services to pursue for their child's future

“Making the impossible possible” is the motto of Camp Able. Camp Able offers a summer camp experience for people with special needs, whether they be physical or mental. This week-long session affects the lives of many and I can vouch for that. This experience has given me so many fond memories and has filled me with a more humble spirit. All of the staff that takes part in the one-on-one care and assisted daily living are volunteers who graciously dedicate their time and money to go through online certification, staff training, and the week itself. My experience in volunteering for this event caused me to have some very mixed feelings, but I learned so much along the way.

Watching as a child with a disability lets a smile light up his face, reminds me why I have come back every year since I can remember. Elim Dutch Fest is a one day annual event that raises money for an incredible school for children and adults with disabilities. My grandparents have been actively involved in this fundraiser for as long as I can remember, and have been a great influence on my involvement. Not only does this service opportunity given me first-hand experience with special needs children, but it has also allowed me to understand the importance in giving back to the community. Having an ability to help out Elim Christian School, has opened up many doors for me, including becoming National Honor Society President of the upcoming

Carnes who informed me of what it is like raising her son who has cerebral palsy and how the educational system worked with him over the years. Hearing what Ms. Carnes had to say about her experiences helped to give me a better understanding of what these parents have to go through, and it can give me an advantage if I have to work with parents who have children with disabilities. Because of her surprise at how much work the educational system is putting into training their new teachers, it created a high point in the interview, and I had a sense of pride in knowing that I am being trained to the best of my abilities. What truly surprised me is how much patience these parents have to have to raise a child with disabilities. To conclude, this interview made me slightly nervous over the amount of responsibilities I will have, but this course has helped me become infinitely more

In Spring 2016, I’ve been given the opportunity to volunteer at the Diamond Head Clubhouse, “a member-driven psychosocial rehabilitation program for adults”. During my volunteer, I became a part of the member’s life as I engaged in their clubhouse meetings, interacted with their social life as we all harvested vegetables in their garden, and assisted in preparing meals in the kitchen. As some members have a mental illness, it stopped them from participating in any activities. Helping them to push through and complete a task, led me to realize that bringing hope and happiness to the those in need is a satisfying feeling that isn’t achieved in any career. Working with the members brought out my true innate personality as a devoted, compassionate, and diligent human being.

Eric advocates every day to create better opportunities for Kayla and other children with development disabilities. His hope is that more parents step up and help implement accessible programs in schools. He urges them to motivate their kids to get involved. “It doesn’t have to be sports, but they have to join something, so they aren’t just the “kid in the wheelchair,” Eric exclaimed, “Life is scary. But they have to learn how to be a kid.” It takes focusing on capabilities and not limitations because given the right opportunity people with disabilities are

The leadership, management or mentoring roles found at Camphill Village include, the volunteers that live and work with the residents that are developmentally disabled. The volunteers are mentoring these adults that in the real world would not be given a chance because of their disabilities. At Camphill Village there are leaders that are considered to be employee-oriented leaders, meaning that they emphasize interpersonal relations by taking an interest in the employees’ needs and accepting individual differences among them (Robbin & Judge, 2015). This is shown with many of

Service learning has given me the new opportunity experience helping others and including myself. I enjoy volunteer work because It’s a way of giving back to the community, but also I’ve become confident in public speaking. In addition, volunteer work is a great rewarding experience, and it 's also helped me develop social skills, by supporting others. The contribute can make a positive impact in many ways, Barack Obama said, “ the best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the work with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” There are element that could promise will succeed in life, however, I believe to learn and discover. I will continue volunteering work whenever I can, and I strongly encourage people to join volunteer work because the meaningful impact the lives of their and help thousands of the students confront in reading. It was a great pleasure for me to contribute to the organization to the development of the community through Political Science class volunteering work. The impact that was able to make our community better future.

Renan da Silva, 24, is a young man with an intellectual disability from Sao Paolo, Brazil. He lives in one of the neighborhoods with the highest rates of poverty and inequality of Sao Paulo. Prior to joining the POETA Youth Spark Center, Renan had no aspirations and believed that his disability would not allow him to get a job and gain professional experience. However, once he joined the Center, he started taking courses in Computer Science with the hopes of finding a job one day and being a productive person. While still enrolled in the course, Renan started working with a company in the human resources department. In this company, his leadership and communications skills really stood out. He started giving ideas to improve communication

There are a number of different leadership roles I have filled in the past and continue many of them still today. All of these have given me opportunities to increase my own professional knowledge and skills as well as the occasion to learn from others in my field.

Curious about the kind of support available to 64 million Americans living with disabilities, I decided to explore this cause and community. I applied to mentor kids as part of the Athletes for Kids’ program and was accepted. I was soon working with Michael, a 13-year-old, who was nothing like my preconception of someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). As I came to know him over the next two years, Michael’s enthusiasm and energyzest for life and innate curiosity had a profound effect on my views.

An individual decided it was time to change the traditional framework of negatively depicting disabilities and started teaching classes that would educated journalism students on disabilities. It has had a positive impact thus far and it helps

Long why she did not try the local Special Olympics working with the school district, as her son could have participated in team sports that way. I learned Alvin ISD’s Special Olympics activities’ is “at least an hour away” and this travel time made it harder for parents to take their children to and from activities. In addition, the program has bias towards middle and high school students and the only sports the district currently sponsor are track, swimming, bowling, and basketball, only one of which is a team sport. “I want my son and others like him, when talking to children without disabilities, to recall somewhat the same experiences when they talk about their childhood, or right now, their weekends”, was Mrs. Long’s explanation as to why she wanted to prioritize team sports for children ages four to fifteen when she first started SCML (Long, Sam). The rest of the staff and the board consist of “dear friends” of Mrs. Long who “understand the special needs community more than” her and “have a better understanding of its financial and legal aspects” are Ms. April Svetlik, VP and Volunteer Coordinator and Ms. Katie Robe-Torres, Administrative Director. According to Mrs. Long, Ms. Svetlik, as an occupational therapist, made the perfect candidate for volunteer coordinator. “Her medical background means she has a better understanding on what to expect from each child in the spectrum of disabilities, and is better able to explain and convey to volunteer ‘buddies’