There is something unusual about Jeff LaFata’s business card. It has bumps.
The card identifies Jeff as a Mentor Match Specialist with Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Boston Massachusetts. The bumps are braille.
Jeff LaFata and his associate, Kristin Humphrey, conducted the workshop, Mentoring Youth with Disabilities, one of a variety of workshops presented to more than 250 practitioners, researchers, and other’s attending the 2011 Northeast Regional Mentoring Conference in Framingham, MA on Oct. 13-14.
Jeff and Kristin defined an individual with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. “And what complicates matters, Jeff said, “is that disabilities are not always visible. A high percentage of youth with disabilities have a hidden impairment such as an emotional disturbance or learning disability. In fact, youth with hidden disabilities are more than three times as likely to become gang members then those without.”
Studies have found that compared to youth without disabilities, those with disabilities face incredible challenges to successful self-development and full participation in society. For example:
- 35% are completely uninvolved in their communities, compared to 21% without disabilities.
- 22% fail to complete high school compared to 9% without disabilities.
- 28.4% have access to the internet compared to 56.7% without disabilities.
Jeff and Kristin went on to provide participants in their session with an overview of disabilities, the disparities youth with disabilities face, and how mentoring programs can best address these disparities in youths with disabilities. Some of the suggestions they gave to those interacting with youth with disabilities were:
- Speak directly to the person with a disability rather than to a companion or sign language interpreter who may be along.
- When you talk to a person in a wheelchair for more than a few minutes, try to sit down so that you will be at eye level with that person.
- Focus on the individual as a peson first. Focus on abilities, not disability. Keep pity in check and don’t make assumptions about what the person prefers. Ask.
TheNortheast Regional Mentoring Conference is an annual function of the Mentoring Partnerships of Long Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New York City, Rhode Island and Vermon tin conjunction with the Governor's Prevention Partnership of Connecticut,Mentor Consulting Group and MENTOR. The presenting sponsor for this year’s event was Webster Bank, and CiviCore was its supporting partner.
This Examiner reporter attended the Northeast Regional Mentoring Conference and will continue to share some of its highlights with you. Be on the lookout!
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