I've been thinking a lot lately about trying to implement some kind of program(s) where I would mentor kids, teens, and young adults who share my disabilities. I'm thinking that having a model of an adult who is successful--and I consider myself successful, largely because of my career success--would be helpful and reassuring to younger people & their "grown-ups" (as we say at the library). Also, I've gained a good deal of experience in dealing with these disabilities that I would like to share. I'm concerned, though, on how the parents (& other concerned adults) will react. What do the parents\other concerned adults of kids with disabilities think? Have any other adults with disabilities tried this type of activity?
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B.
5/13/2012 11:35:31 am
Being mentored by someone they both admire and respect only makes them feel they are not alone in the world. They will react positively.
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AuthorThe content on this website mostly comes from my perspective as a youth services librarian with disabilities. The further I travel along life's road, the more entwined these two parts of my identity become. Librarian: I have an MLS from Rutgers University and have working in public libraries for nearly 20 years. The focus on my career has always been youth services. Disabled: I've been disabled more than twice as long as I've been a librarian. My experience started at birth when I was immediately diagnosed with cleft palate. Also present was a non-verbal learning disability (NLD) for short. This was not formally diagnosed until I was 19, leading to years of frustration. My Tourette Syndrome was not present at birth, but surely started young as I don't ever remember living without it. The Tourette was also not diagnosed until adulthood, further compounding my frustration. Coincidentally, I was also diagnosed with IBD (more commonly known as Chron's\Ulcerative Colitis) at the age of 19. That was another easy diagnosis--as with cleft palate, they look and they see it. Archives
September 2015
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