The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is excited to announce the return of Take Your Legislator to Work Day!This month-long event coincides with NDEAM, which is celebrating its 70th anniversiary with the 2018 theme America's Workforce: Empowering All. The goal of Take Your Legislator To Work Day is to show the far reaching benefits to employers, employees and communities alike of hiring people with disabilities as well as to create opportunities for Georgians with disabilities to form and nurture relationships with their elected officials.
GCDD's Take Your Legislator to Work Day is an opportunity for employees with disabilities to invite their legislator(s) tovisit them at work. Any Georgian who is employed in an integrated setting and who identifies as having a disability is encouraged to apply. We believe that visiting an employee at work is the best way to show legislators that people with disabilities want to workand are as capable as anyone at working in real jobs for real wages. We also believe your elected officials will best undersand the positive impact of publically funded employment supports if they see those in action.
(Registration is NOW CLOSED)
Take Your Legislator to Work Day is open to any person with a disability that lives in Georgia and works in a community integrated setting earning at or above minimum wage.
I am 21 years old, and I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when I was born. A walker gets me around my house, and a wheelchair gets me around the world outside of it. I rode a different bus to school than most students did since they had no need of a wheelchair lift.
It takes me longer than most people to access certain areas because I have to find a ramp to bypass a set of stairs, find and press a button to open doors (provided the button works), or wait on an elevator to take me to a higher floor in a building. If I happen to be outside when it rains, using an umbrella is actually an inconvenience. Wherever I go, I realize that there are people who may stare at me, make comments or assumptions about me, or call me an inspiration just for doing the same things they are.
These people define me by my disability. They have no way of knowing that I took and excelled in several Advanced Placement courses in high school; I studied French and am currently studying Japanese; I can play the ocarina; I am pursuing a degree in Computer Game Design and Development; I voted in the last presidential election; and I recently obtained my learner’s permit.
None of these has anything to do with my having cerebral palsy. Having a disability means living with certain limitations, but it does not affect my goals and aspirations in life. It never has, and it never will. Some people may define me by my disability, and while it is a part of who I am, I live every day knowing that my disability does not define me. I am defined by what I allow to define me.
While I have some issues and concerns some people will never have, I have much in common with many people at and around my age regardless of a disability. I am equally curious and driven just like they are. But, just like my peers without disabilities, I too worry about getting a job once a I graduate college.
As we celebrate 70 years of the National Disability Employment Awareness Month this month, I must make known my desire to live independently and be gainfully employed in the “real world,” something for which I could not be prepared just by taking a class or reading a textbook (every once in a while, I have to look up how to write a check correctly, for example). I want to apply my degree in game design and development to further advance science and technology – and perhaps even help the mainstream community learn that a disability is not a limit to potential.
I have to learn skills I do not yet have to apply the skills I do have to reach my goals. In any case, I know that even though I have a disability, even though the road upon which I embark may have more potholes than I would like, getting to my destination, whatever it is, is very much possible.
BIO: Kenneth Gagne has been a Georgia resident for 17 years and currently resides in Lilburn. He is a 2012 graduate of Parkview High School and a former student at Southern Polytechnic State University, which is now Kennesaw State University.Gagne is an avid bibliophile and can often be found reading horror fiction, historical fiction,or someone’s autobiography. He also enjoys writing, which I do most often when practicing Japanese vocabulary and syntax. Most recently, he has taken up swimming and considers nothing else quite as refreshing, liberating or invigorating.
The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is please to share the stories of this year's Take Your Legislator to Work Day!The month-long event coincided with NDEAM, the 2017 theme of which was Inclusion Drives Innovation.
The goal of Take Your Legislator To Work Day is to show the far reaching benefits to employers, employees and communities alike of hiring people with disabilities as well as to create opportunities for Georgians with disabilities to form and nurture relationships with their elected officials.
GCDD's Take Your Legislator to Work Day is an opportunity for employees with disabilities to invite their legislator(s) tovisit them at work. Any Georgian who is employed in an integrated setting and who identifies as having a disability is encouraged to apply. We believe that visiting an employee at work is the best way to show legislators that people with disabilities want to workand are as capable as anyone at working in real jobs for real wages. We also believe your elected officials will best undersand the positive impact of publically funded employment supports if they see those in action.
Take Your Legislator to Work Day is open to any person with a disability that lives in Georgia and works in a community integrated setting earning at or above minimum wage.
Austin Pahr with Rep Jason Ridley & Sen Chuck Payne
Bayley Bristow with Sen Fran Millar
Christine Sass with Sen Elena Parent
Coffee Regional Medical Center Project Search with Rep Dominic LaRiccia
Elizabeth Terzich with Sen Mike Dugan
Emily Shaw with Rep Clay Cox
Hannah Hibben with Rep Dale Rutledge
Jack Prettyman with Rep Scott Hilton
Matthew Roush with Rep Sheila Jones
The legislative response this year was overwhelmingly positive and we thank all those who participated. Listed below are the completed visits of legislators and their constituents with disabilities who have been visited at work. The list will be updated as we receive more information.
Take Your Legislator to Work Day Visits
Hannah Hibben visited by Rep Dale Rutledge at the Great American Cookie Co in McDonough
Emily Shaw visited by Rep Clay Cox at disABILITY LINK in Tucker
Austin Pahr visited by Rep Jason Ridley & Sen Chuck Payne at Nob North Golf Course in Cohutta
Christine Sass visited by Sen Elena Parent at Taziki's in Decatur
Bayley Bristow visited by Sen Fran Millar at The Elaine Clark Center in Chamblee
Jack Prettyman visited by Rep Scott Hilton at the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners
Katrina Parsons visited by Rep Beth Beskin at disABILITY LINK in Tucker
Elizabeth Cicerchia visited by Sen Michael "Doc" Rhett at the Kids R Kids Pre School in Marietta
Project Search Interns: Reuben Stephen, Nick Brundidge, Rayshun Grant, Rashaan Davis, Darrius Elias, Tionna Evans, Sam Thomas and Deshunte Banks visited by Rep Carolyn Hugley at the TSYS Project Search Site in Columbus (Click here to access the TV coverage on WTVM Channel 9.)
Project Search Interns visited by Rep Dominic LaRiccia at the Coffee Regional Medical Center in Douglas
Georgia’s Take Your Legislator To Work Day (TYLTWD) kicked off October 2016 to commemorate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The efforts of TYLTWD started with the Employment First Georgia Coalition, a group of 300-strong advocates including people with disabilities, family members, service providers and advocates who believe that all people with disabilities have the ability to work and that Georgia needs an Employment First policy.
The goal of Take Your Legislator To Work Day is to show the far reaching benefits of hiring people with disabilities, support the idea that in an Employment First Georgia, employment should be the first and preferred option for all people – with and without disabilities and to call attention to the 2016 NDEAM theme, #InclusionWorks.
GCDD's Take Your Legislator to Work Day is an opportunity for employees with disabilities to invite their legislator(s) to visit them at work. All workers with disabilities working in competitive, integrated employment in their community are encouraged to apply. We believe that visiting an employee at work is the best way to show legislators that people with disabilities want to work and are as capable as anyone at working real, competitive jobs for real wages in integrated settings. The visits are in progress and we will keep you updated as they happen:
Take Your Legislator to Work Day Visits
Chad Roberts visited by Rep. Scot Turner at Sweetwater Growers in Canton.
The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is excited to announce the return of Take Your Legislator to Work Day!This month-long event coincides with NDEAM, the 2017 theme of which is Inclusion Drives Innovation.
The goal of Take Your Legislator To Work Day is to show the far reaching benefits to employers, employees and communities alike of hiring people with disabilities as well as to create opportunities for Georgians with disabilities to form and nurture relationships with their elected officials.
GCDD's Take Your Legislator to Work Day is an opportunity for employees with disabilities to invite their legislator(s) tovisit them at work. Any Georgian who is employed in an integrated setting and who identifies as having a disability is encouraged to apply. We believe that visiting an employee at work is the best way to show legislators that people with disabilities want to workand are as capable as anyone at working in real jobs for real wages. We also believe your elected officials will best undersand the positive impact of publically funded employment supports if they see those in action.
Registration is now open! The earlier you register, the easier scheduling will be with your legislators!
Participation is simple! Just click here to start the registration process and someone from GCDD will contact you within five business days to review your eligibility, process your application, and discuss next steps.
Deadline to register is September 25, 2017
IMPORTANT:Please be sure to wait to hear from GCDD first BEFOREyou contact your legislator so that we can help ensure you have a successful visit and provide you with the tools you will need.
Take Your Legislator to Work Day is open to any person with a disability that lives in Georgia and works in a community integrated setting earning at or above minimum wage.