Hello everyone,
October is Disability Employment Awareness Month. The official theme for October 2010 National Disability Employment Awareness Month by US.Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment: "Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity INCLUDES Workers With Disabilities. The theme serves to inform the public that workers with disabilities represent a diverse and vibrant talent pool for hire."
I am honored to have had the opportunity to attend, or help host many of these events. I will never forget the wonderful experiences I was able to share with others.
One of my Celebrations:
I was grateful to give the keynote speech and be a mentor at a Disability Mentoring Day celebration.
This gave me the privilege to meet and mentor a very talented and energetic student who was disabled, and getting ready to join the work-force. I was grateful to be able to share my experiences with my mentee and encourage her to succeed with a positive can-do attitude, correct skills and assistive technology (if needed).
I was honored to be asked to give the keynote speech at such a valuable event. As I stood at the podium sharing my knowledge and experience with the students, teachers, mentors, mentees and employees, in my darkness (I am completely blind), I could imagine the audience looking back at me. I could tell what concepts from my life’s experiences the audience found most valuable by the occasional applause or the subtle noises from the audience. I was so grateful and humbled to be able to provide encouragement for the whole group that day.
This day was filled with excitement and joy for all of the mentees and mentors. We all had the privilege to learn valuable lessons to help in our professional and personal life.
Learn more about Disability Employment Awareness Month and Disability Mentoring Day at JFActivist: Disability Mentoring Day.
How did you celebrate Disability Employment Awareness Month or Disability Mentoring Day? Did you learn anything from participating or hosting such a valuable event? Do you have any stories to share about your experience? If you have never heard of Disability Employment Awareness Month or Disability Mentoring Day, do you have any questions?
We all look forward to hearing from you.
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
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