My first Rick Hansen Foundation School Program presentation - 900 students later!
Last Friday morning, I did my first virtual presentation as an Ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program, and I’m still not over it. 40 classes in the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board signed in, and they estimated that over 900 grade 5-8 students attended! 🎉
The chat was overflowing with questions from the students, and it was so heartwarming to know they were so engaged. From “Did you ever feel left out at recess?” to “What different mental health strategies do you use to block out the negative comments towards your condition?” to “How does your disability affect your future choices?” and “Have you written a book?” (🥹), the idea that I got so many students thinking about how other people experience the world, and the different things that can be going on with them, feels exciting.
In one section of the presentation, where other ambassadors can talk about the mobility aids and adaptations they use in their day-to-day, I talked about having to pace myself to be able to get things done, and about the daily yay. Absolutely surreal to think I could share that with hundreds of students and 40 teachers to end off National AccessAbility Week!
The school year is coming to an end soon, but I’m definitely looking forward to my next presentation to help create a more inclusive, empathetic world 🫶🏽✨
National AccessAbility Week recap
National AccessAbility Week has ended, and what a week it was! On Monday I was in the studio audience of The Social to watch Lindsey Mazza (@thelindseymazza) talk about what kids with disabilities should know, on Tuesday I got to watch Patti Bevilacqua (@fearlesswithms), who I’m a huge fan of, win second place at Speaker Slam, and on Wednesday I was the guest speaker at an Ableism workshop for 25-30 students at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa and got some great feedback.
On Friday, I had my first virtual presentation for the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program, for all the grade 5-8s in the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board, and they estimated that around 900 students attended! 40 classes signed in, and the coordinator from the school board said he’s done a lot of virtual live presentations, and has never seen the chat that active with questions for the speaker, to the point that it was overwhelming LOL. Yay! 🥹
The week was a bit of a whirlwind but also so exciting.Maybe I’ll finally rest a bit in June 🙃💃🏽✨
New presentation for schools and youth: Everyday Ableism and How to Recognize It
When I was first asked to be a guest speaker at a workshop for high school students on ableism, the final workshop in a 4-part series on discrimination, the organizer said she wanted the students to be aware of ableist experiences in everyday life.
I had the idea to share some of the personal experiences of ableist comments I’ve gotten before and how I’ve felt internalized ableism, but thought “would I really have enough examples to make that work?”
Turns out the answer was yes 🙃 from “do you think your ex broke up with you because he thought you wouldn’t be able to keep a house clean?” from a family member, to “So laziness is a disability?” from a random internet man on YouTube, to somehow both wondering if I have “enough” of a disability AND feeling like someone without my disability might be better at my job last summer - let’s just say when I thought about it, the content was definitely there. 🥲
Yesterday I spoke to students at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa with my newest presentation, Everyday Ableism and How to Recognize It, for Red Shirt Day of Action for Accessibility and Inclusion. I got some beautiful comments in the student feedback, and I’m excited to bring this presentation to more schools or youth organizations!💃🏽✨
Rethinking Disabilities Toronto at Arta Gallery
This past Thursday, I was one of the speakers at Rethinking Disabilities Toronto, an event for HR leaders, talent acquisition specialists and DEI practitioners, where I led a session on What We Don’t See: Supporting Invisible Disabilities at Work. As someone who hid my muscle disability as much as I could for 30+ years, it was exciting to be in a space full of disability advocates, sharing my perspective and chatting with people advancing disability inclusion.
From connecting with an attendee who was also diagnosed later in life, to hearing another attendee’s story of how she was only able to explore getting a diagnosis after hearing someone else’s similar story - as one kind attendee said about my session, it was such a life-affirming night. Thanks to Scale HR for having me, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for future events! 🎉✨