4 Tips for Volunteers Who Work With People With Disabilities
If you are the parent of someone with a disability, when introduced to someone while in the company of your child (very frequently), their expression tends to switch to “poor thing” mode (poor mom and/or poor child/teen/adult).
Back home in Venezuela, during almost three decades of non-profit involvement, I worked with many volunteers of all ages. Our oldest and most popular program was “Jugando Juntos” or “Playing Together.” It was a quarterly socialization event that brought together children and teens with and without disabilities. Our volunteers were responsible for setting up the venue, organizing the fun activities and picking up the mess at the end!
This photo is from one of those events (a field day).
Liliana and her son, Axel, are running a race! Laughing and enjoying themselves!
Axel is a young adult with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. Liliana is raising him by herself, and although it takes a toll on her physically (Axel is now a tall young man and transferring and caring for him takes lots of effort), she is always ready for fun, along with Axel, of course.
On the day of the photo, I remember observing the reactions of the three high school volunteers tasked with helping Axel. Initially, they were hesitant even to get close. But Liliana’s tone set the mood for the day. She briefly explained Axel’s needs, emphasizing his good humor and eagerness to participate as fully as possible. By the end of the day, the high schoolers were interacting with Axel very naturally, helping him navigate the obstacles and joking around with him and his mom.
In short, “poor thing” was not accurate here, to say the least!
My recommendations for newly recruited volunteers are:
- No assumptions, please.
- Start out with a smile.
- Do your best to identify commonalities. For example, “Cool outfit!” or “Nice cap!” or maybe “Are you a fan of that team?” (noting the logo on the person’s shirt).
- Let things flow naturally, looking beyond the differences.
It usually works and certainly did on that memorable field day in Venezuela!
Photo credit: Corina Clamens.
I´m Angela Couret, mother of three, the youngest, Alberto, with intellectual disabilities. For the last 35 years, I have documented and shared our family’s journey through Pasoapaso.com.ve, a Venezuelan website providing information, inspiration and resources to Latin-American families and professionals interested in disability and special education topics. Most parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) would agree that raising our children with special needs poses quite a few challenges, while bringing incredible moments of joy. In my case, it’s been therapeutic to share these challenges and some of our solutions! We recently moved back to the United States, after a lifetime in South America. The urge to continue sharing our experience – now from the perspective of veteran parents of an adult with IDD – prompts these contributions, now in English! I’m grateful and proud of becoming a Mighty Voice!
acouret