people are not their disability
I can remember always feeling overshadow by my disabilities. For a short while all I felt was the weight of being labeled disabled. It left me feeling isolated and very different from everyone else. Everyone has their strong and weak points even though it is important to improve our weak areas. Fostering strengths can have many postives impact on one life. For example a positive self image would develop paving the way to to grow in many ways. Another point we brought up was the importance of including the disabled child in determining what accommodations are needed to meet their needs. It may sound like a simple concept but sadly I have run into people during my life who felt because of my disabilities I could not speak for my self. Every where in society people with disabilities of all ages deal with stigmas that reflect negatives of having a disability instead of focusing in on the person and their strengths. All people deserve to be treated with respect and to be independent.