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Metro Denver Clubs & Organizations Families & Allies Working Together 10 Commandments for Involving People with Disabilities Community Involvement 1. Start with the gifts, talents, knowledge and skills of people. Find out what they like to do or are good at doing. 2. Look for the positive in each unique individual. For example, we might say "John with the sense of humor" rather than "John with the handicap." 3. Every community is filled with useful work and service opportunities for people with disabilities. The corollary of this is that there is no community or association that cannot find a useful role for a person. 4. Always distinguish between real work and meaningless work because people with disabilities can. 5. Fight segregation. People with disabilities are too often separated from the heart and soul of their neighborhoods. 6. Avoid aggregating people by what they don't have. Too often we group people by their deficiencies instead of letting those who can help those who can't. 7. Move quickly beyond committees or advisory boards with only one person with a disability on them. 8. Constantly cultivate opportunities for all people to teach and to lead. 9. Constantly reward and celebrate creativity, energy and effort – loudly and with spirit! Let the people involved take the lead on the form the celebration will take. 10. Say continuously, "We need you." People with disabilities are not a problem – they are our sons and daughters, our neighbors and friends, a part of all our humanity. Adapted by Families and Allies Working Together from Jody Kretzmann's "10 Commandments for Involving Young People in Our Communities." Email Us familiesandallies@gmail.com Privacy Statement Neighborhood Link Terms of Use © 1997 - 2006 Neighborhood Link, Inc.