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Young,
Disabled, and Latino: Planning our Futures and Developing Confidence
to Join the World of Work
By Andrea Lynn Shettle, IID (red-trek@drycas.cc.club.cc.cmu.edu) |
As part of the agenda of the Proyecto Visión:
Bridges to Employment conference last August in Anaheim, CA, an informal
round table discussion facilitated by Nila Salgado enabled participants
to share experiences, ideas, and resources related to encouraging
young Latinos with disabilities to enter the working world. Salgado
represents the Harlem Independent Living Center.
What are the obstacles? Facilitator Salgado asked the audience for ideas on why some Latino youth with disabilities have little or no confidence in themselves. Participants agreed that it was important for parents to learn how to accept their children's disabilities. "If parents can accept it, the kid can accept it," one participant said. Participants also suggested that it was important to understand why some parents become overprotective of their children; poverty, for example, can sometimes create barriers to independence. Peer influence One participant suggested bringing recreational programs to schools, pointing out that mainstreamed children with disabilities are often excluded from playtime because classmates don't know how to play with them. Another participant raised the issue of peer influence on youth. Kids who see friends without jobs, or who see drug dealers in the street may wonder why they should obtain legal employment. The participant suggested that a wheelchair user might find it easier to get a job in the street than a traditional kind of job. Macho image Young Latino men very often become parents because they are trying to prove that "I'm a man," said one participant. This may be particularly true with Latino men who have disabilities who may feel they have more to prove. Latinos are frequently not encouraged to work, another participant indicated. Latinos who are also black receive even less encouragement to work. Latino, black youth may be encouraged to apply for benefits instead of being referred to vocational rehabilitation. Respect for parents Youth frequently follow the example of the prior generation; however, it is important to show respect for a child's parents even if one feels they are not the best possible role models, said participants. "If you insult their father, you lose the kid," said one woman. Parental awareness of disabilities The importance of educating parents about disabilities was discussed. A late-deafened woman in the audience shared that parents often assumed their deaf children could eventually develop the same clear, intelligible speech that she had. Instead, she has to explain to parents that children born deaf often do not speak as clearly as late-deafened adults. Solutions "Religion is important to our culture," one individual pointed out, suggesting that it might be helpful to reach out to churches. "Often, a Latino family will listen more to a priest than to anyone else." Role models are also important for all children with disabilities, but it is especially important to include members of ethnic minorities who have disabilities. One way to provide role models would be to link a child with an adult mentor who shares the same disability, it was suggested. One teacher in the audience who works in a Head Start program shared experiences with educating her students about people with disabilities. She identified family members of students who had disabilities and encouraged them to bring pictures of their family, or a white cane or a guide dog to show the other children. Reaching out to families A case manager explained that she had found that the most effective means of reaching children is to visit homes where parents speak Spanish to show that she was willing to work with them, and to show that she was not a regular social worker. "Social workers are not supposed to take food or hugs. But I'm Puerto Rican. I don't let them be a number." Other audience members recommended giving clients
your cell phone number, and being willing to see clients in the
evening after regular working hours. Some participants disagreed
on how strict the usual boundaries should be between social workers
and Latino clients; one indicated that she tried to resist invitations
to visit clients in their home or have some cake, while another
indicated she was |
