The R-word

Watch this short clip at http://www.blueberryshoes.com/psa/arc/ and then hook up with the Respect Campaign.

You probably know someone with an intellectual disability. How do you interact with this person? Do you include him or her in your life and in your activities?

My life before moving toward Woodstock in 1996 seldom involved persons with disabilities of any type. In 1985 I had met W Mitchell, a man who was burned over 70% of his body in a motorcycle-truck accident and then, four years later, was injured in a small-plane crash and now rolls his way through life. And I can tell you that my life has been so enriched by meeting Mitchell and knowing him over these 24 years. You can meet Mitchell yourself by visiting www.wmitchell.com He is a professional public speaker and heading off later this month for the South Pacific.

And my life has been further enriched by my stepson, right here in Woodstock. I began to learn about "invisible" disabilities in 1996. I can laugh about many of my experiences since then, and I cry about many of them. Each one of them, whether happy or sad, has resulted in personal growth, and I invite you to examine the contributions that others make in your life.

But on almost a weekly basis I encounter people who, in spite of training and education, seem to lack a genuine understanding of what life is like for a person with a disability.

He and others are not disabled persons. They are people with disabilities. There is a difference!