I first realized this seemingly innocuous little advertisement (see image below) in the Target weekly flyer was a big deal when it made the rounds via the Executive Director email list hosted by Community Living Ontario. It’s not that I’m saying this particular group of people hold special status in deciding what is important, but they are a pretty busy group of individuals, facing immense pressures from government, unions, and other forces, all the while trying to deliver supports and services to thousands of individuals.

That particular email list is seldom used for discussions of popular culture; the norm is more akin to social policy papers, government proclamations, or minutes from provincial networking minutes. To interrupt regular programming to talk about a department store flyer is an interesting indicator (in my little world) that something important is going on.

That’s more than enough preamble, if you’ve read this far, you deserve to know I’m going on about: a young boy who happens to have Down syndrome was part of a Target ad for t-shirts and pants earlier this month. So what’s the big deal?

He was not in a back section of the flyer for “Specially Abled” kids.

He was not in a “disability catalogue” with a title like “Exceptional Clothes for Exceptional Children.”

He was not included in a special feature to celebrate “Down syndrome week.”

In fact, there’s nothing “special” about the ad at all. He’s just doing what all the other models in the flyer are doing: helping Target with the selling of clothes.

If you aren’t getting this, that’s OK. Only a small percentage of citizens are aware that people with intellectual disabilities are one of the most systemically segregated populations in Canadian society (and elsewhere). Although shifts are underway, for the most part their education, housing, vocational, and recreational experiences are segregated – people with intellectual disabilities learn, live, work, and play separate from others. That’s what “Special Education” is all about. That’s what group homes, sheltered workshops, day programs, and “special needs recreation” are all about.

Things are starting to change, but these are massive and complicated systems, and direct and indirect resistance is strong. This is not without reason. There are legitimate fears that resources – once stripped away from segregated activities – will simply vanish. Welcoming and including people with intellectual disabilities in our community requires a variety of critical supports. It’s hard work.

Most people with intellectual disabilities have literacy and numeracy challenges. Difficulties with abstraction, reading the emotional states of others, understanding social contexts, and sequencing are common. Life doesn’t like to slow down for people who need more time, and supporting them to make their way in the world is not easy. It just needs to be done. But that’s a blog for another day.

So what is the advantage of segregated programs? Their artificial existence. They are “there” – insulated from life’s realities. You don’t get fired from a day program. The group home provides a bed and three meals. The special needs recreation program offers bowling and swimming (even if you don’t like bowling or swimming) without the social challenge of non-disabled peers. It’s all about having a guaranteed “place to go” 24/7.

I’m not ignoring the need for acute care for people with physical and mental health problems, and the ability of institutional settings to deliver those resources. I’m talking about the vast majority of individuals with intellectual disabilities who are spending their time in segregated environments because either no other options have been presented to them, and/or they cannot access the support they need to live their lives in community settings.

If you can’t understand how segregated environments can be attractive (why would any parent want their child to have such limited life opportunities, you ask?) consider that the resources available to help people with intellectual disabilities exist outside of these segregated environments are very limited; how long would your adult child need to live an isolated TV-watching experience in the family basement before special programs would start to look attractive? At what point would you decide that ANYTHING must bet better than a future without hope? It’s a pretty rational response to a loss of hope.

Aside from loss of hope and acute care needs, there are other arguments to be made in favour of these altered realities (the words “risk” and “safety” are sure to arise, even though segregation is a very dangerous place to be) but to understand why so many object to these segregated practices and want them to change, ask yourself: are any of these situations a dream I ever had for myself or my loved ones? Well, guess what, they aren’t the dreams of people with disabilities either. Just ask them (I have, lots of times).

I’m generalizing here, but with a high degree of accuracy I have a pretty good idea what most people with intellectual disabilities are after in life: they want a home of their own – to start out in a tiny little apartment just like so many of us did – to have their own dishtowels and a bottle of squeeze ketchup in the fridge. They want a real paying job. They want real friends – not just paid people catering to their “needs.” They want to love. And to be loved.

Two real stories of struggle and triumph!

And so, I am overly jubilant about this young boy’s appearance in the weekly Target ad. Because it gives me hope. If he can just be a kid helping sell a t-shirt, then maybe he can just be a kid in a real high school classroom. He’ll pursue his love of track and field with other local athletes where he’ll consistently finish 7th out of a field of 12 and no one will give him a “participation medal.” They will however invite him out for chicken wings. He’ll eat too many. None of his friends will lecture him about his dietary habits. His nickname will be “Bond” in honour of his 007 finishes. He will retort with a rude limerick that brings the house down.

Bond will go on to be a student in a college classroom, during which time he will support himself with a part-time job at local restaurant, where he will also meet his first serious girlfriend. They will take a bus to a distant city to see the Lady Gaga comeback tour. Their friends will mock them on Facebook for idolizing the music of their parents. Bond will propose to his girlfriend at sunrise the next day, and they’ll settle into a nice little affordable apartment, where they will befriend their much older neighbour, who will the very next winter slip on some ice. Bond will call 911 and save his neighbour’s life. A few years later the neighbour will drive Bond’s wife to the hospital when she goes into labour two weeks early. There will be heartbreak. There will be celebrations. And on his life will go.

That’s a nice story. I made it up. But it’s one that is actually being written daily. There are individuals with intellectual disabilities in your own community – wherever you may be – that are living a Rosa Parks existence through their efforts to enjoy a routine existence (not “special”) as students, employees, neighbours, and friends. Their struggle is real.

Does your workplace reflect the diversity of the community it serves?

For the most part, the systems we have built, from education to developmental services to municipal recreation, continue to point these individuals down a segregated path. We, the citizens and taxpayers who have accepted these practices as assumed norms, reinforce them through ignorance, fear, and discrimination instead of being welcoming and inclusive.

Would you like to help change this?

You can do what Target has done by NOT doing anything SPECIAL and NOT supporting approaches that seperate people with disabilities from others. Make it REAL.

Be a neighbour. Be a co-worker. Be an acquaintance. I can’t guarantee friendship, because that takes two and it doesn’t always happen. But friendly, you can be. Sure, you might have to be a bit deliberate about it. You might even require some help finding ways to get involved. I’ll be happy to help if I can – with anything from connecting with a person who shares your interests (could be music, a hobby, a sport, other) to thinking about how your workplace could diversify their hiring practices to include people with intellectual disabilities. Click here for all my contact information.

Further reading: see “Target Is ‘Down’ With Down Syndrome: 5 Things Target Said By Saying Nothing At All” on the blog Noah’s Dad – to the best of my knowledge, this blog was responsible for much of the word of mouth about this story.

Addendum: For their part, representatives of Target Corp. say that Ryan’s appearance in their ad is part of the company’s long-running effort to reflect diversity.

“Target is committed to diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business, including our advertising campaigns,” company spokeswoman Jessica Carlson said in a statement. “Target has included people with disabilities in our advertising for many years and will continue to feature people that represent the diversity of communities across the country.”

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Schwartz’s blog came to my attention within minutes of reading an interesting and provocative Ottawa Citizen article You should probably quit your job (Scott Gilmore). Here’s a clip:

Sadly, though, we are so focused on the pile of immediate problems that we fail to see what Kai and John saw, which is life is too short to be wasted on meaningless work. We all should be doing something important for ourselves, our community, our children, the environment, poverty, or our nation. Remember how you, too, wanted to be a vet? It’s not too late. You should quit your job. But, sadly, you probably won’t.

Sometimes it may seem as though quitting is the only option…

Some have commented that Gilmore’s perspective smacks of elitism, and I can understand that reaction. People have to consider not only themselves when making career changes. But if you look at Gilmore’s emphasis on meaning in the light of Schwartz’s focus on principles, I think it’s useful to think about how living principles that have meaning to us can make our work (no matter what it may be) and our lives better.

Here’s Tony Schwartz’s list, and my own commentary on each:

1. Always challenge certainty, especially your own. When you think you’re undeniably right, ask yourself “What might I be missing here?” If we could truly figure it all out, what else would there be left to do?

My wife Julie Kingstone and I were 24 and 28 respectively when we committed full-time to starting and leading a non-profit organization. You don’t do that without at least some sense of certainty; anyone who tries anything unconventional is going to come up against many negative forces, and that is hard to withstand without some determination that you are “doing what is right.” But of course there have been many instances of feeling undeniably right about decisions that in retrospect are total headshakers. Those will make for a fun self-deprecating blog in the future.

As for the always challenge certainly principle, I’ve got to credit Julie for delivering on that at a very high level. I remain attracted to stability even as I’ve learned to cope and even welcome change. This is one of the benefits of our co-leadership model: there’s a healthy (albeit at times challenging) push-pull about what we need to change, and how fast we need to change it.

2. Excellence is an unrelenting struggle, but it’s also the surest route to enduring satisfaction. Amy Chua, the over-the-top “Tiger Mother,” was right that there’s no shortcut to excellence. Getting there requires practicing deliberately, delaying gratification, and forever challenging your current comfort zone.

This is closely related to #1. To forever challenge your current comfort zone is easier said than done. It’s tiring! But paradoxically, it’s also energizing. Mediocrity is its own form of exhaustion.

I can remember exploring the teaching profession as a student teacher, sitting in a staff room with two experienced teachers who took up part of their daily lunch break literally counting the days to retirement “781 to go…” How does one get up in the morning? And how does that type of attitude impact on students, clients, customers, colleagues?

3. Emotions are contagious, so it pays to know what you’re feeling. Think of the best boss you ever had. How did he or she make you feel? That’s the way you want to make others feel.

Working in “human services” it’s amazing how often we get consumed with process when the people who are dealing with us (often without a lot of choice in the matter) are confronted with projections of negative emotions that render the process meaningless. On paper this type of interaction likely gets referenced as “client decided not to return” or “client was uncooperative” or some other filing that directs blame away from the system and its agents. How often are human services clients even provided the opportunity to comment on the quality of services they are receiving?

Talking about bosses and work environments, I am shocked by the persistence of hierachical structures across all sectors, but I think it amazes me the most in the non-profit sector. How can we expect to attract quality workers to our sector if we are going to bludgeon them with severe bureaucracy? We aren’t going to win them over with better pay and working conditions, so this is about offering them an environment to exercise their passion for making the world a better place.

And yet time and time again I see agencies complaining about staff retention as though external forces are entirely to blame – maybe your agency is just an awful place to work! Have you conducted exit interviews to obtain honest feedback about why people are leaving? Try it. Maybe you’ll find out that it’s not a simple case of “pursuing other opportunities” even if that’s how it was politely explained to you.

We have a very small staff team without much turnover so I can’t speak to that issue with much authority, but I can tell you that we have over 100 volunteers and I know why some of them have left other agencies to come and volunteer with LiveWorkPlay. It’s because they’ve been subjected to mind-numbing protocols that probably haven’t been evaluated since sometime in the 1970s. Again, if you are losing volunteers, ask them why. If you actually knew why they were leaving, presumably you’d have already made changes to turn things around.

4. When in doubt, ask yourself, “How would I behave here at my best?” We know instinctively what it means to do the right thing, even when we’re inclined to do the opposite. If you find it impossible, in a challenging moment, to envision how you’d behave at your best, try imagining how someone you admire would respond.

A great suggestion, and very helpful. I often use this technique by imagining that I am a different member of our small but mighty staff team. For example, when the person across from me introduces a problem into the discussion, I often want to engage in working on a solution before the person is ready. My colleague Allison would just continue to listen (very few people are too good at listening) and sometimes by the time the person is actually done talking, there is no problem!

5. If you do what you love, the money may or may not follow, but you’ll love what you do. It’s magical thinking to assume you’ll be rewarded with riches for following your heart. What it will give you is a richer life. If material riches don’t follow, and you decide they’re important, there’s always time for Plan B.

Is it not weird that this came out on the same day as Gilmore’s article? Again, it’s easier said than done. As one who came through the school system having had teachers say things like “You’ll never amount to much” my own career expectations weren’t set on lawyer or doctor. But I’ll never forget the look on my mother-in-law’s face when my wife announced “I’m quitting my job at the hospital to go and start a charity with Keenan.” (To her credit, mom rose to the challenge and came back with a supportive statement).

For some people following your heart into a career you love takes guts. For people like me, it’s a necessity. Obviously when you need income you do what you have to do, and I’ve been there and done those jobs. But in terms of doing quality work, I’ve found it pretty much impossible to succeed if I can’t come to terms with the associated values of the workplace.

This has been costly at times, both financially and socially. But I don’t think it would be personal progress to learn how to more effectively compromise my values. If there’s been any improvement, it’s been understanding that there are only so many battles that can be fought at once, and picking and choosing is OK.

6. You need less than you think you do. All your life, you’ve been led to believe that more is better, and that whatever you have isn’t enough. It’s a prescription for disappointment. Instead ask yourself this: How much of what you already have truly adds value in your life? What could you do without?

I bought my first new car at age 42. It’s a Mazda 2. I love it. But I’ve had some odd reactions. “Oh, I guess working in non-profit you have to make those kinds of choices.” Huh? It’s a beautiful car. I have always owned small cars. As long as I fit into them, I don’t want or need anything bigger.

That people are pitying of frugality (I don’t see my Mazda 2 as frugal, to me buying any new car is extravagant!) is an unhealthy sign of North American times (small cars including almost the exact version of the one I am driving have been hugely popular in Europe among various income categories for many years).

7. Accept yourself exactly as you are but never stop trying to learn and grow. One without the other just doesn’t cut it. The first, by itself, leads to complacency, the second to self-flagellation. The paradoxical trick is to embrace these opposites, using self-acceptance as an antidote to fear and as a cushion in the face of setbacks.

This one is difficult. A common defense against growth are those people (I am sure you know at least one) who respond to criticism with “Well, that’s just the way I am!” The other side of that coin are people who respond with “Yes, I know, I’m a failure!”

Neither position leads to growth. Both are anti-growth mechanisms. Change is hard work, and it also requires the humility of acknowledging weaknesses. But I know that anything is possible: I was recently moved close to tears when I was complimented on my patience. Patience?!? Wow. I never thought I’d see the day. I still don’t always feel like a patient person (and certainly don’t always act like one) but getting to know and respect so many people with intellectual disabilities who typically need the person across from them to slow down just a little bit, I know I’ve grown. Now if only I could learn to be a little more patient with myself…working on it!

8. Meaning isn’t something you discover, it’s something you create, one step at a time. Meaning is derived from finding a way to express your unique skills and passion in the service of something larger than yourself. Figuring out how best to contribute is a lifelong challenge, reborn every day.

This is a message that I think went missing from Gilmore’s article. I don’t think everyone needs to “quit their job and try to become a vet.” Maybe there are ways of looking at one’s existing career and pushing the boundaries to make a more meaningful contribution. No matter where you work, I can’t believe there aren’t degrees of progress that are available. It probably starts with coffee with the boss and “I’m thinking there’s a lot more I could contribute.”

9. You can’t change what you don’t notice and not noticing won’t make it go away. Each of us has an infinite capacity for self-deception. To avoid pain, we rationalize, minimize, deny, and go numb. The antidote is the willingness to look at yourself with unsparing honesty, and to hold yourself accountable to the person you want to be.

Oh sure Tony, another easy one! External validation is what it’s all about these days. What do you expect in a society where infants compete in beauty pageants?

But truth be told, it just doesn’t fill the gaps. If you are happy with yourself and other people want to share in that, great. But if you are not happy with yourself, there’s no Oscar, Order of Canada, or interview with George Stroumboulopoulos that will fix that.

(George, call me.)

10. When in doubt, take responsibility. It’s called being a true adult.

We could fuel the earth forever if we could just capture the daily energy spent on ass-covering.
People who are unhappy with the state of politics need to take a look in the mirror. Is it not true that voters reward deception as a form of leadership, and punish honesty as a form of weakness? Think about it. We’ve gone beyond truthiness and we’re headling towards truthlessness.

Satire or the new political reality?

Too gloomy? OK, let’s end on a positive note!

I think Schwartz’s list of principles resonated really strongly with me because I’ve recently been surprisingly energized by helping the LiveWorkPlay board of directors with a vision-mission-values-principles task. It’s essentially about tying the work of our organization to leading-edge social policy and best practices to support a better Ottawa community and a better world for people with intellectual disabilities.

But maybe it’s really about holding our organization accountable by having clear principles to live by. A lot of vision and mission statements out there read about the same. But if we have clear principles out there for all to see, we open ourselves to constant internal and external evaluation and challenge. I say bring it on!

If you are interested in that sort of thing, you can read a copy of this work in development. If you have any comments, I will pass them on to our board and they’ll be very pleased to hear from you!

For reasons that remain a mystery to me, in both cases they continue to source their information about this issue almost exclusively with staff members of agencies that are upset about either losing or not receiving funds from United Way Ottawa. That these individuals are advocating for their respective agencies makes sense (although I find some of their tactics regrettable). What doesn’t make sense is that professional journalists with a responsibility to bring objectivity to this discussion continue to present a decidedly unbalanced viewpoint.

Without getting into inter-agency squabbles, the issue boils down as follows:

1) Is fighting to reduce unemployment for people with disabilities a worthy focus?

2) Is there a population of “unemployable disabled” that are being abandoned by a focus on employment?

I’ve already covered this to some extent and brought the issues to the attention of relevant editors, producers, and journalists, but what do I know? I’m just a local boy who has dedicated most of his adult life to these issues as co-founder and co-leader of LiveWorkPlay, and volunteers in support of self-advocates as a Provincial Advisor to People First of Ontario, one of the largest organizations by and for people with intellectual disabilities in Canada. What do they know? So listen instead to what the World Health Organization has to say: they’ve just published the World Report On Disability which is easily the most signficant work on disability issues – ever.

Here’s what some knowledgeable folks have to say about it:

“Disability is part of the human condition,” says WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “Almost every one of us will be permanently or temporarily disabled at some point in life. We must do more to break the barriers which segregate people with disabilities, in many cases forcing them to the margins of society.”

“Addressing the health, education, employment, and other development needs of people living with disabilities is fundamental to achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” says Robert B. Zoellick, President of The World Bank Group. “We need to help people with disabilities to gain equitable access to opportunities to participate and contribute to their communities. They have much to offer if given a fair chance to do so.”

Welcoming the report, renowned theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking said, “We have a moral duty to remove the barriers to participation for people with disabilities, and to invest sufficient funding and expertise to unlock their vast potential. It is my hope this century will mark a turning point for inclusion of people with disabilities in the lives of their societies.”

Lower rates of labour market participation are one of the important pathways through which disability leads to poverty.

Article 27 the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) “recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.”

Furthermore, the CRPD prohibits all forms of employment discrimination,
promotes access to vocational training, promotes opportunities for self-employment, and calls for reasonable accommodation in the workplace, among other provisions.

A number of factors impact labour market outcomes for person with disabilities. This includes productivity differentials, labour market imperfections related discrimination and prejudice, and disincentives created by disability benefit systems.

Almost all jobs can be performed productively by someone with a disability, and given the right environment, most peopel with disabilities can be productive. But working age persons with disabilities experience significantly lower employment rates and much higher rates of unemployment than persons with disabilities.

This is due to many factors, including lack of access to education and vocational rehabilitation and training, lack of access to financial resources, disencentives created by disability benefits, the inaccessibility of the workplace, and employers’ perceptions of disability and people with disabilities.

I return now to our two key questions, first up:

Is fighting to reduce unemployment for people with disabilities a worthy focus?

Given the exhaustive (and exhaustively referenced) chapter of this report dedicated to employment and disabilities as a major worldwide problem, I am hopeful that we can move on from questioning its suitability as a focus.

One could of course argue that the report points out many other critical issues – such as health and education. This is where I must defer to the professionals and volunteers at the United Way Ottawa who decided on employment as a focus – but it’s not that hard to understand their choice. As a donor-driven funding agency (among other things of course) United Way Ottawa needs to set achievable goals. I think it’s obvious their ability to influence the health care system or the school system would be limited, especially in terms of yielding measurable objectives that they could explain to their donors.

So why employment? This too I believe is obvious. About 50% of people with disabilities in Ottawa who want to work are not able to work. The figures are even worse for the most marginalized members of the disability demographic – for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, the unemployment rate jumps to 75%.

Also coming out today (and after my initial publishing of this blog) was the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) report Achieving social and economic inclusion: from segregation to ‘employment first’ which is of course targeted specifically to Canada as well as the disability demographic subset of “people with intellectual disabilities.” This is very helpful to the current debate as it is a population that is just at the beginning stages of emerging from labels like “unemployable.” Here are some clippings from the report that stuck with me on first reading:

Working age adults with intellectual disabilities experience one of the lowest rates of employment at just over 25%. This is due to a number of factors related to inadequate access to education, postsecondary education and training, and low expectations by family members, educators, employers and the community at large for the employment potential of this group.

A clear Employment First program funding framework that includes investments into a coherent community-based delivery system, local community capacity building, demonstration initiatives, training and technical support and employer capacity.

Notice how both the WHO and CACL reports come back to the question of expectations? If we expect that people with disabilities are unemployable, we’ll build a community that lowers itself to that expectation. Critical to changing how our community welcomes people with disabilities to local workplaces is to stop making an ass out of u and me. We don’t have the right to tell people with disabilities that they can’t work, and we have a moral and legal responsibilities to make employment happen.

With each and every individual who gets a job, their life changes, the workplace where they get hired changes, and the community where they live changes. Furthermore, there is an indisputable link between unemployment and poverty, and there are indisputable links between poverty and a plethora of social ills. When someone gets a job it doesn’t make all of their challenges disappear, but it has a significant – and measurable – impact.

Is there a population of “unemployable disabled” that are being abandoned by a focus on employment?

Let’s move on to the more complex issue of “are we leaving people behind” with a focus on employment. It’s a bit of a loaded question. If I was unemployed, it would certainly be at the top of my list of problems to be addressed, but it wouldn’t be the only thing that matters. And that’s really the point – there are endless issues related to helping people with disabilities enjoy life as welcomed and included members of the Ottawa community.

The United Way Ottawa is not a “money tree” that can do it all. They get their money from donors who want to understand how they are making a difference. So instead of scattering their funds, they’ve decided to focus on an issue that is incredibly important and where they believe they can change people’s lives and explain the results.

As the World Health Organization report points out, one of the key barriers to employment for people with disabilities is attitudinal. The CRPD (which Canada ratified last year) explicitly forbids employment discrimination. In my view, anyone who talks about people with disabilities as “unemployable” is in violation of the CRPD and while currently there is no legal recourse against such discrimination, there is a clear moral obligation to cease and desist from promoting this harmful thinking.

The outdated medical model of human services would have us believe that if a person with a disability can’t get a job, the disability (and the individual) is the problem. In the 21st century we understand that disability is a part of humanity, and that the problem is that as a society we are failing that person in that we haven’t yet found a way to welcome them into the labour force. This is not to say that the person has no work to do on their own – but rather that they have a right to the opportunity and to reasonable accommodations to make it happen.

And that is what the United Way Ottawa is trying to do.

I support that.

And I am baffled that CBC Ottawa and the Ottawa Citizen in particular have decided to give voice (repeatedly) to those who are focused on funding squabbles instead of the issues.

In the event that you might consider my views the mere ranting of a utopian idealist, through my role at LiveWorkPlay I am “on the street” with this issue, working with (at present) 14 local employers creating and maintaining successful employment for people with intellectual disabilities – many of whom were at one time or another stamped with an “unemployable” label. The only way to get rid of that stigma is to get a job. Congratulations to them and to their employers for not letting other people decide what is possible!

FULL DISCLOSURE

LiveWorkPlay has received an annual grant of $42,500 from United Way Ottawa so we can do more. This will include (new) working with youth with intellectual disabilities (and schools) so we can help them better transition from high school into the workforce.

If you are tempted to think that my opinion on this issue has been “bought off” you’ll have to think again. I spoke out publicly in support of the changes at United Way Ottawa almost a year ago – long before we found out we’d be receiving funding in May of 2011. We didn’t plan on getting any funding, and we didn’t expect to get any funding. United Way Ottawa always gets a hundred or more applications than they can afford to fund so any well-managed organization learns not to treat grant opportunities as a guarantee.

We are happy to have the $42,500 because we will be able to help more people get jobs. But it won’t do a thing for our bottom line. It won’t even cover us for the salary and expenses associated with hiring the full-time staff member that will do this work.

I’m afraid naysayers will need to look elsewhere to challenge my motivation. I want people with disabilities who want to work to have a decent chance at getting a job. Simple as that.

I had a fantastic trip to Peterborough with 5 self-advocates (individuals with intellectual disabilities who advocate for community inclusion) where I was honoured to be the keynote speaker at the 3rd annual People First of Peterborough conference. I got such a strong response from this presentation, I only wish that there were more audiences interested in learning about how so many of our systems cruelly exclude people with intellectual disabilities (and other marginalized groups) from community life.

What I love about this conference is that although they do bring in speakers like myself (I was there to explain why LiveWorkPlay has decided to invest in supporting People First of Ottawa as a critical partner) most of the voices are self-advocates. They even ran a workshop led by two young women with intellectual disabilities who are teaching others how to do public speaking. I can’t tell you how many times I misted up!

I was of course preaching to the converted at a People First conference (which was somewhat appropriate given I was speaking from a pulpit!) but self-advocates are by far the best barometer for figuring out if one is on the right track in pursuing social change. If your message doesn’t resonate with them, then you’re either a fraud or ignorant. I’m trying hard to make sure I am neither.

What these individuals want is unsurprisingly simplistic, because it is what almost everyone wants: a decent home, a decent job, and decent friends. But for many people with intellectual disabilities, that is strike 1-2-3. They live in an institutional home (see slide 31), they are probably unemployed or toiling in a segregated workshop, and they are probably very isolated with a small social network that includes few unpaid relationships.

It was therefore distressing to return from that environment only to see mainstream Ottawa media acting as willing conduits¹ for supporting the regressive viewpoint that people with disabilities are “unemployable.” The fact that this dialogue of unemployability has taken shape not because of a debate about disability issues but rather because of bitterness on the part of some agencies about funding decisions made by the United Way Ottawa doesn’t make me feel any better.

To explain this situation in a nutshell, the United Way has never funded everything to do with disability issues (this would be impossible) but after lengthy consultations they’ve refined their disability priority within the Belonging To Community stream to a focus on employment. This is similar to changes they have made in supporting immigrants (to much critical acclaim). This change in the disability focus – although a long time in coming – is still being opposed, almost exclusively by agencies that were previously receiving funding for other activities. Given that the priority is clearly a good one, that they can’t fund everything, this decision was not made on short notice, and the United Way Ottawa is not funded by taxpayers and has its own processes for deciding who and what should be funded, this should have been a non-story.

Beyond the irritation of quality media time given to a non-story, it makes me angry and sad that this opposition is being mounted around the flawed concept of “unemployability.” Were that applied to immigrants, the media would not have been so accommodating, and the public would have been outraged. It’s still open season on people with disabilities when it comes to categorizing them as lesser human beings. That slapping limiting labels on them happens so easily sends a clear signal to people with disabilities that they have not yet arrived as citizens.

People with disabilities like those I met in Peterborough and those I support through LiveWorkPlay on a daily basis – and some amazing local employers – are doing all that they can to change perceptions that they don’t belong in mainstream society (nothing is more “mainstream” than “I have a job” for those who want one). Their struggle is not represented in this dialogue, and to see them victimized in this way disgusts me. They have fought so hard for acceptance, but it’s an exhausting fight. Like the rest of us they just want to “be” and not have to fight all the time just to be part of humanity.

If the United Nations had enforcement powers, calling people with disabilities “unemployable” would actually be illegal. And so it should be. Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (part of an incredible document assembled by a worldwide coalition) which has been ratified by the Parliament of Canada explains it beautifully (this is just an excerpt, the single page Article 27 document is well worth reading in full):

Article 27 recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.

This is not to say that employment is everything. Frankly, affordable housing is a much bigger issue, but of course unemployment is a poverty issue, and poverty and access to housing are inexorably linked. Canada is one of the only G20 nations without a national affordable housing strategy. I’d like to see United Way Ottawa take that on too, but perhaps instead of expecting them to build Rome in a day, we can support their efforts to get the unemployment rate of people with disabilities down to a number less embarrassing to Canada’s capital city, and more importantly, will get people who are marginalized by these regressive attitudes out working in the community. Seeing is believing, and discrimination against people with disabilities is mainly about being seen as incapable – and “unemployable” supports that negative stereotype to perfection.

We need to be encouraging and supporting employers to diversity their workplace environments, not giving them a message that they shouldn’t even try to include people with disabilities.

People with disabilities will know they have arrived as citizens when describing them as “unemployable” will be viewed as being just as offensive as homophobic or racist comments that are simply unacceptable in this day and age, and certainly don’t flow with such ease from media or agency CEOs.

Clearly we aren’t there yet.

¹ I may not be aware of all instances where the media gave this “unemployability” tactic some play, but here is a relevant clip from CTV Ottawa and articles one and two from the Ottawa Citizen, the latter of which features the vomitous headline phrase “unemployable disabled people.”

So what’s so great about this place?

First (and this is important to me) it’s a manageable and mostly enjoyable one-day drive. It can be done in 6 hours, we like to extend it to about 8 with two pits stops and lunch. The quickest and simplest route is 417 to Montreal and then south to the 10 crossing into the US at Stanstead/Derby Line (famous for their shared border). If you need a break, stop in beautiful Magog, just a few minuts from the border. At Magog you will leave the 10 and go south on the 55, which becomes US 91.

This is not typically a busy border crossing and it doesn’t have the intimidating feel of some borders, like the Cornwall crossing (that’s an alternate route for this trip, it takes about an hour longer, but avoids Montreal if you’d prefer).

After about an hour of pleasant and scenic driving through Vermont, get off the 91 and take 2 into St. Johnsbury for your next break (or bypass the town and take the 91 directly to the 93 south into New Hampshire). In St. Johnsbury right across from the old railway station (museum and information centre on site) is Anthony’s Diner. Get a Woodsman Burger and a milkshake, and some homemade donuts to go!

Road Trip Collage: Ottawa to White Mountains New Hampshire

You have just 60-90 minutes to your destination depending on where you decide to stay. Take the 93 and follow the signs to the 302 (watch for moose!). A gorgeous drive right through White Mountain National Forest. You’ll see many gorges and flumes right from your car. Come back and hike them if that’s your thing. The Arethusa Falls/Frankenstein Cliff trail is one of our favourites – we got engaged there! If skiing is your thing, there are terrific downhill skiing centres all along the 302.

Our favourite seasons here are spring and fall. The changing of the leaves offers some of the most spectacular viewing in the world, and in spring the various waterfalls are at their peak. The peak of Mount Washington is an amazing place. There is an observatory at the top and it’s like being on another planet. You can drive to top (fun and stimulating) or take a train (we have not done that but it’s supposed to be quite a ride!). Be prepared for cold and wind at the top no matter what time of year it is!

But we must be honest here, natural beauty is only part of the attraction of this area. When you tell the border guards you are going to North Conway, they will likely come back with “Happy shopping!” You see, North Conway has some of the greatest outlet shopping you’ll find within a day’s drive of Ottawa. We prefer it to Syracuse or Waterloo (in the Finger Lakes). The stores are as good or better, plus there are excellent restaurants; and, as discussed, the natural attractions can’t be beat!

The shopping here is attractive for several reasons. The first is probably the selection. You will find more styles and sizes here than most anywhere. For example, we both like the clothes at Banana Republic, but the stores in Ottawa have only a fraction of what is available in North Conway – and new items come in daily!

Next up is price. If you are patient and selective, you can find true outlet bargains – name brand shoes and clothing at discounts of 80% are not uncommon. On this latest trip I found $90 shirts at the Gap for $12. Granted you could probably get them for $45 at a seasonal sale in Ottawa (if they had the same shirts) but $12? Wow. I bought 5!

I almost forgot to mention: no sales tax (state motto is “live free or die”) they are very friendly (you may find drivers  pulling over to the shoulder if they see you are gaining on them) but take their liberty seriously!

This place is probably most famous for the shoe outlets. The Famous Footwear is where we seem to do best. Without even planning on it I ended up with two pairs of Skechers, $29 and $39, that’s at least half price. Julie rang up great shopping deals at the Van Heusen outlet, with quality capris pants for $15 and a cool jacket at 70% off the sale price ($18).

Of course, you need accommodations and that has an expense. We used Hotwire and got a huge room at the North Conway Grand Hotel for just $50 a night. It’s located right next to the biggest outlets, a huge convenience! One thing about the Grand: not a place for sleeping in. But there are lots of nice places to stay including many B&Bs if that’s more your style. Most of the major hotels here have indoor swimming pools and other extras.

Great restaurants abound (there are also the traditional gut-busting American traditional if that’s more your style) our top choices would be White Mountain Cider Company, kind of an upscale pub motif with creative dishes using local ingredients. The 1785 Inn just keeps on making great meals, don’t let the old school atmosphere fool you, this is a great place to eat and the servers are experts in both food and wine. They also feature some showmanship, making your fresh caesar salad from scratch right next to your table, or creating a flambéed dessert. Als0 on our list is Black Cap Grille, a great place for a beer but the food is excellent, and it’s located just a few minutes from the main outlets. And the latest (thanks to a tip from Constable Dan Patton of the Ottawa Police) is May Kelly’s featuring a great family-owned pub atmosphere with great food at prices that will have you saying “all that is included?”

This is a great place for a couples getaway but also for families. In addition to the outlets, there’s also the “downtown” with smaller shops including a really fun five and dime across the street from the North Conway Railroad Station (free museum and scenic train rides). There are water parks, mini-golf, quaint cinemas, and more.

For something new we stayed in Franconia for two days at the tail end of the trip. This is also a gorgeous area with interesting small towns, natural beauty, and historical sites. It’s a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the outlets. Nearbly Littleton is a busy town that boasts a theatre district and also some fine dining. We had an excellent meal at Tim-Bir Alley, the owner was charming and the prices were more than reasonable for this fine dining experience.

The people of Littleton clearly take great pride in their history. There are interesting historical sites and plaques throughout the town, and after some breakfast for dinner at the famous Littleton Diner, walk it off by strolling down Main Street to the Ammonoosuc River and the Memorial Bridge. We were surprised to find a Private George Findlay of the WWI Canadian Infantry among those being remembered. If you know more about this veteran, please get in touch, we’d like to know the story.

Here are some photos of our experiences in the area! Please feel free to comment or ask questions! We’ve recommended this trip to many friends over the years and we always have some tips to share depending on when you travel and what you are looking for.

First off, I was shocked at how many of the players took the time to read the information about LiveWorkPlay that had been left out on a table in the lobby. My honest expectation with that is nothing at all. But this is a community of people who have great respect for each other and that means honouring the efforts of others. I was genuinely touched by the number of strangers who came up and engaged me in conversation about LiveWorkPlay with no solicitation on my part – I wanted to talk hockey!

Secondly, there is a lot to be learned from this particular community of senior citizens. I had one particular conversation (I mostly just listened) where two of the players talked with sadness about other senior citizens that live in isolation. “This is a family,” said Bob. “Yes it is,” says Mike. “I feel sorry for other seniors who don’t have a community like this in their lives. We all care about each other. The passion for hockey is what happens to bring us together.”

At an age when faith-based communities and other traditional reasons for people coming together are no longer meeting everyone’s needs, these comments certainly got me thinking about the rewards of pursuing one’s passions in life and sharing them with others.

Lastly, in some ways, being at the tournament reminded me of how time can sometimes seem to stand still. Case in point: at  a game on Friday my 71-year-old dad crashed into another player and sent him to the ice. Arriving back at the bench (after being chastised by the referee who is usually more of a token presence than an active disciplinarian) dad explained “What could I do, he ran right into me!”

I recall getting that very same explanation watching my dad play back in the 1970s when I was about 8 years old and he was knocking the innocent to the ice. That “What, who, me?” look on his face hasn’t changed a bit. A big part of “staying young on the inside” seems to be staying in touch with the joys of our youth, maybe even rediscovering hobbies and interests decades after we originally let them go.

I ended up spending most of my Friday night producing a video for the Saturday night tournament banquet. Nobody asked for that, but it seemed to me that the induction of octogenarian into an 80+ hockey hall of fame deserved to be captured and celebrated!

I hope you’ll watch the video. It’s interesting comparing the two somewhat different ways that CBC (French) and CTV Ottawa covered the event. Stories about senior citizens “being active” are certainly not uncommon, but I find that they are often very patronizing. I have a strong radar about that kind of thing because at LiveWorkPlay we are always seeking respectful portrayals of people with intellectual disabilities, but far too often the focus is pity-oriented and condescending.

We need to stop celebrating that people with disabilities or senior citizens or some other population have the audacity to live full lives. We should expect that they will – and make sure that we don’t put up barriers that make a full life difficult for them.

Two stories of struggle and triumph!

Hopefully you do find the stories of these two women inspiring. I have known each of them for a decade, but watching this video myself for the first time, I gained fresh perspective and renewed admiration for their personal journeys and accomplishments. But for those of you who hear their tales of struggle and triumph and experience a similar reaction, I want to make sure it is understood that their stories are not entirely unusual in the world of individuals who have an intellectual disability.

The best explanation I’ve ever heard (from Dave Hingsburger and others) for understanding life as a person with an intellectual disability is to imagine that trying to go about your daily business is like being Rosa Parks; but instead of race-based bigotry you are constantly asked to “give up your seat on the bus” to other people who think you are incompetent, fear you, bully you, or simply don’t value you as a full citizen. This is what Hingsburger has called “disphobia” (see also disablism and ableism).

You might think an analogy that links the blunt racism confronted by Parks to the current experience of people with intellectual disabilities to be a harsh or extreme comparison. But given half of Canadians in a 2008 survey conducted by the Canadian Association for Community Living openly admitted to being uncomfortable just being around people with intellectual disabilities, it becomes easier to understand not only the disgraceful rate of unemployment (a whopping 75%) but also why the segregation of people with intellectual disabilities (see below) continues in our communities. The figures on abuse and sexual assault are shocking. You probably wouldn’t believe me, so read at your own risk these statistics from objective third parties.

We have segregated education, segregated housing, and segregated sports and recreation. This is not to say that there is never a use for specialized supports and services, but rather that we should not only invest in keeping people with intellectual disabilities apart from others, we should invest in all citizens being together. (This is sometimes known as the movement for inclusion, but that label has been significantly co-opted and corrupted, so I use it with increasing caution).

In plain language, I am talking about upstanding citizens who get treated like criminals (see slides 18 and 21 here). Their “crime” is daring to live their lives despite being labelled as “abnormal” by a society that continues to deliberately marginalize and punish the existence of “difference.”

Increasingly we do see more positive imagery associated with disability and related labels. But how often does this extend beyond disabilities that are most easily understood (or at least that people think they can easily understand) such as a person who experiences success as an author, actor, politician or business person and happens to be deaf or blind, or perhaps someone who has a complex physical disability who happens to develop a theory to explain the universe.

The truth is, I can’t help but have an appreciation for anyone who has the courage to walk the streets of Ottawa without full eyesight (yes Shelley Ann Morris, I mean you). It’s dangerous enough for pedestrians with full eyesight (I recently had to jump the hood of a car to avoid being hit while crossing with walk signal). And yes, I am in awe of someone like Stephen Hawking. But I would like you to consider that there are all sorts of other people worthy of respect and admiration – not “because they have a disability” but because they live in a world that forces existence with a disability to require courage. These are the “Rosa Parks heroes” going about their lives in our communities each and every day: people with intellectual disabilities who dare to pursue paid employment, dare to live in apartments and houses in the community, and dare to attempt and welcome friendships from the people they meet.

Featured in the video that inspired this blog are two citizens that I admire for their courage in the face of adversity – the adversity that comes from living with an intellectual disability in a society that is in many ways openly hostile to their existence – coupled with some life challenges that would test the mental and physical will of any human being.

These are just two stories of struggle and triumph. Every single person with an intellectual disability faces adversity every day. We don’t need to patronize, deify, or glamorize their existence. But we do need to challenge ourselves as a community to make the daily life of people with intellectual disabilities a bit less heroic. If you can help by supporting the creation of a job, or perhaps you’d like to consider opening your life to new possibilities, please don’t hesitate to be in touch. It’s what all of us at LiveWorkPlay are determined to make happen, but we can’t do it without your help.

Special thanks to the Canadian Association for Community Living for profiling this video on their new and exciting website, and for providing many of the statistics and references on this article.

Thanks to Agents of Good for inclusion in their Daily!

A high quality version of this video is available here (right click to download). I ask only that you notify me of how you make use of it.

We don’t have a marketing department at LiveWorkPlay. As is typical of a small grassroots charity, our HR funding comes out of what funders want, and I’ve yet to encounter a funder that is interested in supporting marketing and communications (but what a neat idea!). So, the marketing and communications work is something that I do as a part of activities with other labels – like events, education, and advocacy.

Outcomes take time, and they aren’t guaranteed. Unlike outputs, trying to achieve outcomes ensures failure some of the time. You can’t always get what you want from other people. But if you don’t try, you’ll never get what your mission says is needed (in the case of LiveWorkPlay, a good life for people with intellectual disabilities). If your goal is simply to “send things out” then you will never fail. The printer will always print you more brochures. The fax machine will always keep faxing. Tweetdeck will always keep on sending. But then again, does it really take a communications and marketing specialist to create outputs? Is that really the best use of hard-earned donor and funder dollars?

One would hope that every non-profit organization is out to help change the lives of others for the better. When we lose sight of that, we can easily become absorbed in outputs, because those can fulfil our own selfish but understandable need to feel as though we are achieving. But “spinning our wheels” is not really an achievement to be proud of, is it?

It’s easy to get impatient from investing in an outcomes-focused strategy. But solid investment in an integrated marketing and communications strategy¹ often pays off in unexpected ways, especially when you remain focused on relationships, not your pride in writing what you believe to be a well-crafted press release that vanishes into the ether.

Which brings me to the second half of my title: a great week! This was one of those weeks when the investment in relationships really paid off. I’d actually have preferred for all of these good tidings to have been spread out a little more, but it’s a happy problem when you can’t keep up with all the good news.

On Monday I found out that Spotlight on Transformation, a newsletter of the Government of Ontario, published an article I had prepared for them about social media. To me this was big news. I’ll explain.

It’s been a huge frustration of mine for years that “developmental services” (the government sector from which funding for many LiveWorkPlay supports and services is derived) does such a poor job of engaging the community in their work. Did you know there are some FIFTEEN agencies in Ottawa that serve people with developmental and intellectual disabilities – all of them BIGGER than LiveWorkPlay? Don’t worry, nobody else knows that either.

Spotlight on Transformation goes out to every developmental services agency in Ontario, so this is an opportunity to have an impact in a very targeted way. The newsletter containing my article goes straight to my ideal audience – the marketing and communications staff at all of these agencies. You might be asking “But how do you know this is resulting in a behaviour change?” Well, I know this because I’ve already received two new invites for speaking engagements on that very topic from recipients of that very newsletter.

Next up came a last-minute campaign to influence City of Ottawa staff into reversing their plans for making cuts to OC Transpo route 16. That bus route is vital to 10 people with intellectual disabilities that we are supporting to live their lives in quality affordable housing in Britannia (in condominiums that are owned by LiveWorkPlay). I was not fighting this battle alone, in fact, I was playing catch-up to the issue. I had great support from Shelley Ann Morris (hard to pin a single label on her, she’s an athlete, a disability activitist, a colleague at partner organization Volunteer Ottawa and more) and her family members, as well as chair Catherine Gardner and the vastly under-appreciated City of Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee.

In the end, I don’t know exactly what resulted in the decision to recommend that route 16 service on evenings and weekends be maintained, but it was a wonderfully happy outcome, and also gave two of our members the opportunity to shine in the media spotlight! We used Twitter, Facebook, email lists, submissions to the AAC, emails to councillors, and print media (see previous link). I know we had an impact because (and this is increasingly rare these days) strangers took the time to call me at the office and tell me that they were concerned about the situation and were moving to action, such as writing a supportive submission (104 in all, which appears to be second-most of any of the dozens of proposed changes).

The ball kept on rolling. It was National Volunteer Week, and although at LiveWorkPlay we believe in honouring our volunteers every day of every year, sometimes these symbolic efforts can be useful opportunities to help promote the positive. In this case, we are always willing to contribute to encouraging volunteerism, and our Volunteer Coordinator helped out with a spot on Rogers Daytime television.

Although it wasn’t published this week, I also discovered there had been an article discussing volunteerism and social media in which I was heavily quoted in Your Ottawa Region.

On Thursday I was hosting what is in many respects a very old school LiveWorkPlay charity fundraiser called Recipe for Success. There’s a certain brand of “event specialists” that can be just as annoying as “social media gurus” of the variety that try to tell you there is one right way of doing things. In the world of some event specialists, there is a life cycle for events, and you need to start over with something “fresh.” In the marketing world, we know better than that, because we ask the customer if that’s what they want. That’s why Recipe for Success goes through little tweaks each year, but it remains essentially the same after 12 years: eat some delicious food, bid on silent auction items, and have a fun-filled live auction with celebrity hosts.

This year we actually had our biggest turnout ever of Recipe for Success newcomers. A lot of them came from extended networks of our core community, the connection often being social media, especially Twitter and Facebook. We also got some last minute take-up thanks to an interview during the morning rush by co-autioneer Sandy Sharkey on 93.9 BOB FM. This year’s audience was completely charmed by Sandy and Derick Fage of Rogers Daytime TV and Mayor Jim Watson did a wonderful job of warming up the crowd, as well as some live tweeting with Councillor Scott Moffatt and MPP Yasir Naqvi getting in on the act. There was extensive coverage of the event with lots of additional information about LiveWorkPlay in the EMC Ottawa West.

Friday brought news that LiveWorkPlay will benefit from United Way Ottawa funding to help us develop employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Details are pending, but for a small charity like ours, we expect this support will enable us to double our efforts in this area of our work, which is a very good thing since the unemployment rate for people with intellectual disabilities is a staggering 75%. We’ve got that number well below 50% for the people we are supporting and with extra resources we’ll do even better.

We are also working with the United Way Ottawa and many other service providers to make our entire community a more inclusive workplace for people with disabilities. That’s a big shift from our past relationship, when LiveWorkPlay publicly challenged what we saw as confusing messaging and processes.  They’ve made a lot of changes and it feels good to have something positive to say (and that would be the case regardless of our new funding relationship).

That’s about as good as it gets in the life of a small grassroots charity in Ottawa. With revenues of less than a million and staff of less than ten, we’re a little fish swimming in a big pond with more than 3,000 charities in this region. But we are making a difference and feeling good about it. And it was one of those weeks. I sure hope there will be more of them!

¹ If you are looking for opportunities to developing your marketing skills in the non-profit and/or public sector, consider attending the MARCOM conference at the new Ottawa Convention Centre, June 11-12. If you visit the website right now, you might even see yours truly (wearing a suit no less!) as the profile image on their YouTube video.

To everyone who wrote letters, sent emails, made phone calls, made presentations, and attended the public consultations, thank you for making your voice heard. Special thanks to the City of Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee for hosting a Special Meeting and providing a forum for the expression of concern for unique situations and citizens with disabilities in our community.

Click on the image to go to the full City of Ottawa report

This is a release from Transit Commission chairwoman Diane Deans at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday morning:

Diane Deans, Chair of Transit Commission and Staff will present the OC Transpo Network Optimization Report Revised Recommendations

“We listened to our residents and significant changes have been made.”

Today, April 13, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at City Hall, OC Transpo Staff will be providing a technical briefing of the OC Transpo Network Optimization revised recommendations.

Council approved the 2011 Budget and directed Transit Services to achieve $22 M in annualized savings. Following five city-wide consultation sessions, community meetings, e-mails, comment forms, telephone calls, petitions and staff comments, significant revisions to the initial network optimization report have been made.

Alain Mercier, General Manager of Transit Services and Pat Scrimgeour, Manager of Transit Services Design will present the revised recommendations.

It will be interesting to see how it has been possible to sort through the deluge of responses that have come in from concerned cities across the city. Below are two bus riders who are very important to me and they are speaking up about how proposed changes to Route 16 would devastate their lives.