At Cornell University on April 14, Join the Walk to Prevent Suicide

thesophiefund

Mental health is a big challenge for universities, but not one that many people want to talk about. At Cornell University, there are voices trying to make a difference.

In 2023, individual volunteers from the campus community came together to start conversations about mental illness and suicide prevention and promote local mental health resources. Working with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Greater Central New York chapter, we formed a committee to organize an AFSP Out of the Darkness Walk on the Cornell campus last spring to raise awareness about suicide and fight the stigma that keeps many from seeking help.

Cornellians at the 2023 Out of the Darkness Walk

Our committee is proud to announce that the second annual Out of the Darkness Walk at Cornell will be held on Sunday April 14 starting at 11 a.m. in Barton Hall.

The Walk will follow an accessible two-mile route circling through the center of the beautiful Cornell campus. It is for people of all fitness levels and abilities. Participants may also walk on Barton Hall’s indoor track. The event wraps up around 1 p.m.

More than 500 AFSP Out of the Darkness walks are held across the country each year. They send a message that “suicide is preventable, and no one is alone” and raise funds for research, mental health programming, and support for survivors of suicide loss. The nearly 200 people participating in last year’s Cornell Walk raised $11,692.32.

Interested? Click here to create a fundraising team, become a sponsor or Walk volunteer, help publicize the Walk, register for the Walk in advance, or make a donation to the drive.

Established in 1987, AFSP is a nonprofit organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education, and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death. The fundraising goes toward lifesaving care, resources, and programming in the mission to reduce suicide rates and advance improved mental health.

2023 walkers on the Cornell campus

For me, as for many other volunteers, Out of the Darkness walks are deeply personal. Just as I was starting college in 2017, I was introduced to AFSP in a traumatic period after my longtime friend Jack Noonan took his own life.

Jack was one of the first friends I made when I moved to a new school in seventh grade. He saw me sitting alone on the bus on the way to a trip for honor choir and chose to sit with me and introduce me to his friends who went on to become my friends as well. I was a very socially anxious kid, and he helped me find a place to belong.

Jack took his own life two months into starting college. As a college freshman you are just learning how to be independent. You are in a new place, learning a new lifestyle, and that is very difficult. It is hard to reach out for help when you do not know where to find it.

I signed up for my first Out of the Darkness Walk in early 2018 after Jack’s mom invited me to join her. It was a life changing experience for me. It was the first time I was in a space where we were encouraged to speak about mental health problems and surviving suicide loss. I felt heard, seen.

After participating in that Walk, I began volunteering with AFSP to try to make a difference. I started an Out of the Darkness Walk at Central College, my small undergraduate school in Pella, Iowa, the following spring.

When I moved from Iowa to Ithaca and accepted a job at Cornell in 2022, I began exploring the possibility of organizing a campus Out of the Darkness Walk here. I was partly motivated by the school’s well-publicized history with student suicide deaths.

I remember reading the Cornell Wikipedia page and seeing an entire section dedicated to students lost to suicide. It is a deeply sad statistic and I became determined to make a difference here.

I have been gratified by the outpouring of involvement I discovered. We quickly formed a committee consisting of passionate Cornell undergrads, graduate students, staff members, and faculty members.

It is a team dedicated to spreading information about mental health and safe spaces to speak about mental health, and improving conversations and ending stigma on the Cornell campus. We organize AFSP fundraising events including the Walk, host tabling sessions to showcase available resources, and serve on several campus committees focused on mental health concerns.

Of course, my goal for the 2024 Cornell Walk is to make it bigger and better to reach a wider audience across campus. The more Cornell community members participate in the Walk, listen to the speakers, and learn about the resources available, the more lives that can be helped—and saved.

Barton Hall is Event Central, with registration at 11 a.m.; a kickoff ceremony; a resource fair featuring local and campus health providers; yard games; AFSP merch; a raffle for donated items from local and campus businesses; a memorial and positivity sticky note wall; snacks including cotton candy, popcorn, and root beer floats; and a selfie station with Cornell’s own mascot, Touchdown the Big Red Bear.

Speaking at the event: Cornell’s Sonia Rucker, associate vice president for the Department of Inclusion and Belonging and a Presidential Advisor for Diversity and Equity; and Tiffany Bloss, executive director of the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County.

Sponsors of this year’s Cornell Walk include the Cornell Work/Life Team, Cornell Dairy Bar, Wegmans, NY FarmNet, and UPS in Collegetown.

Allow me another word: You do not have to be personally impacted by mental health or suicide to attend this event. Chances are, you or someone you know has struggled with mental health challenges. I hope you will participate because you care about mental health and suicide prevention. Believe me, the mood of this event is hopeful!

—By Cheyanne Scholl

Cheyanne Scholl is the founder of the Cornell University Out of the Darkness Walk and chair for the 2024 Walk.

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

Fundraising to Support Our Mental Health Workers

thesophiefund

The Sophie Fund’s 2023 “Cupcake Button” fundraising campaign collected $1,043.78 for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.

Kayla Torres, Alecia Sundsmo, Max Fante, Lovisa Johanson, Alicia Kenaley, and Michelle Eells

The campaign was spearheaded by several Cornell University student organizations: Cornell Circle K; Pre-Professional Association Towards Careers in Health (PATCH); and Alpha Phi Omega Gamma Chapter (APO). The monies raised in the campaign included donations made directly to Family & Children’s.

At a luncheon at the Statler Hotel on February 2, Max Fante and Kayla Torres of Cornell Circle K delivered a check to leaders from Family & Children’s. The campaign collected donations targeted for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, which provides wellness support and continuing education opportunities for the organization’s own staff members.

To make a donation to the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, click here and use the drop-down menu to designate your gift.

The Memorial Fund was created to honor Eells, the longtime executive director of Counseling & Psychological Services at Cornell University, board member at Family & Children’s, and national leader in the student mental health field, who died by suicide in 2019.

“It was wonderful to see the outpouring of support for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, highlighting the importance of mental health care and caring for our caregivers,” said Lovisa Johanson, donor engagement manager at Family & Children’s.

“This fund to support mental health workers is crucial, and Cornell students played a vital role in driving these efforts forward with their passion and dedication. Grateful for the chance to work together to spotlight our exceptional staff and provide them with wellness support funding,” Johanson said.

Fante said that supporting the annual Cupcake Button campaign is one of Cornell Circle K’s service priorities during the school year.

“Cornell students have an unwavering commitment to foster mental health awareness in the greater Ithaca community. Supporting the Greg Eells Memorial Fund along with championing mental health care workers is the perfect way to empower students to prioritize mental health in our community,” he said.

Orell Rayhan of PATCH said that working with The Sophie Fund and the Greg Eells Memorial Fund provided an opportunity for her members to destigmatize mental health, which may impact them or their patients in the future.

“By sharing the impactful stories and missions of these incredible organizations, we empowered our members to forge deeper connections with the causes they support,” she said.

Family & Children’s is a private, nonprofit community agency dedicated to supporting, promoting, and strengthening the well-being of individuals and families by providing high-quality, accessible mental health care and related social services, with a particular sensitivity toward the needs of children.

In 2022, the agency provided 1,289 clients with counseling services in nearly 30,000 appointments. More than 1,000 other clients were served in other programs such as psychiatry, geriatric mental health, and community outreach.

The Greg Eells Memorial Fund was inspired by Eells’s widow, Michelle Eells, who seeks to provide greater support for clinicians and others who spend long hours treating clients with mental health issues including many who are struggling.

Eells’s family and friends also founded Health & Unity for Greg (HUG) “to continue Greg’s work in the world, inspired by Greg’s passion for people and overall wellness in mind, body, and spirit.” HUG focuses on uniting community through advocacy events that exercise physical and mental health to end the stigma for all.

The Sophie Fund organizes the Cupcake Button campaign and the related Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest each fall to promote mental health awareness and raise monies for local nonprofits supporting community mental health. Donors receive a Cupcake Button featuring the image of a cupcake created by Sophie Hack MacLeod, a Cornell art student who died by suicide in 2016 for whom The Sophie Fund is named.

Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, expressed his appreciation to the Cornell student organizations for their support of mental health.

“We are very grateful to partner with student organizations at Cornell, who year after year demonstrate strong support to advance better mental health on their campus as well as in the larger Ithaca community,” said MacLeod.

“In 2023, we greatly appreciated the opportunity to raise funds for Family & Children’s, which plays a leading role in supporting mental health in Tompkins County. It was equally important to us to honor Greg Eells, who dedicated his life to the mental well-being of young people, and to show solidarity with the mental health and social work clinicians whose service is so vital to our community.”

MacLeod said that since 2017 the Cupcake Button campaigns have raised a total of $6,612.66 for seven local nonprofits supporting mental health: Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; Advocacy Center of Tompkins County; the Village at Ithaca; The Learning Web; NAMI-Finger Lakes; and Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.

Tompkins Clinicians: Sign Up for FREE Training in Suicide Care

thesophiefund

The Sophie Fund is providing free registration and free continuing education credits for healthcare professionals in Tompkins County to attend a two-day online training in suicide prevention featuring some of the nation’s leading experts.

The program, “Suicide Safer Care in Clinical Practice Incorporating Current Best Practices,” takes place in the afternoons of March 19 and Wednesday March 20.

The training, which covers identifying at-risk individuals in everyday medical appointments, best practice treatment, engaging family in suicide care, how social media impacts suicidal behaviors, and other topics, is sponsored by The Wellness Institute, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation, the Education Development Center, and the Zero Suicide Institute. (See full program, below.)

Free registration and free continuing education credits for physicians, primary care clinicians, health and mental health clinicians, and clinical social workers serving Tompkins County are supported by a grant from The Sophie Fund.

To request a registration link for free registration, professionals can email The Sophie Fund at thesophiefund2016@gmail.com providing their 1) name, 2) email address, 3) degree level, and 4) place of employment (or name and address of practice, if self-employed).

Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, said the training is part of his organization’s initiative to advance the Zero Suicide Model with healthcare providers in Tompkins County.

Zero Suicide is an emerging standard designed to save lives by closing gaps in the suicide care offered by healthcare providers. The model provides a practical framework for system-wide quality improvement in areas including training staff in current best practices, identifying at-risk individuals through comprehensive screening and assessment, engaging at-risk patients with effective care management, evidence-based treatments, and safe care transition.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Americans aged 10-34. Over the past five years, Tompkins County has averaged 12 suicide deaths per year. Another 1,600 parents, children, siblings, friends, and spouses may be impacted by the resulting psychological, spiritual, and/or financial loss.

An estimated 300 people in Tompkins County may attempt suicide every year. While rates for other causes of death have remained steady or declined, the U.S. suicide rate increased 35.2% from 1999 to 2018.

Suicide Safer Care in Clinical Practice

Incorporating Current Best Practices

A two-day virtual conference designed to strengthen confidence

and competence in providing caring, evidence-based services

 to clients with suicide risk.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 1:30-5:00 pm

A Framework for Understanding Suicide

Rory O’Connor, PhD, FRSE, FAcSS, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention

Treating Teen Suicidality: What Works

David A. Brent, MD, academic chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

Social Media and Suicide Prevention

Mitch Prinstein, PhD, ABPP, Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association

Sleep and Suicide Prevention

W. Vaughn McCall, MD, professor and Case Distinguished Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Augusta University

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 1:30-5:00 pm

988 and Crisis Care

John Draper, PhD, former director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline/988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Family Focused Treatment (FFT)

David Miklowitz, PhD, professor of psychiatry in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute

A Cultural Humility Framework for Suicide Prevention

Roger Harrison, PhD, pediatric psychologist with Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington, Delaware

Suicide Prevention in Clinical Practice

Jill Harkavy-Friedman, PhD, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Jennifer L. Hartstein, PsyD, owner of Hartstein Psychological Services

Learning Objectives

  • Discuss the factors that lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior and the interventions that are proven to reduce suicidal behavior.
  • Explain the Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of Suicidal Behavior
  • Discuss evidence-based interventions and protective factors for suicidal behavior in teens.
  • Describe how to use a chain analysis to develop a safety plan and treatment plan.
  • Participants will be able to articulate the potential effects of digital media use on neural development.
  • Participants will be able to list up to 10 different ways that technology use may influence psychological adaptation.
  • Describe the relationship between insomnia and suicide and the value of treating insomnia in persons at risk for suicide.
  • Describe how 988 and crisis centers can support practitioners’ work and their patients.
  • Describe the research, findings, and clinical methods of family-focused therapy, an outpatient program for adolescents and adults with or at risk for bipolar disorder.
  • Explain cultural awareness, cultural competence, and cultural humility and how they differ.
  • Describe how a cultural humility approach can be used to reduce interactional barriers in clinical settings.
  • Provide a case example of how to assess for suicidal ideation, behavior, and risk.
  • Describe how to engage family in clinical work with a person with suicide risk factors.

Cycles of Discrimination

thesophiefund

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal laws ban disability and chronic illness discrimination, discrimination in all areas of policy still exist. While it may not be as overt as it previously was, DCI individuals still face discrimination in their day-to-day lives. This is primarily due to their lack of knowledge about their rights, the lack of knowledge about DCI people’s rights by others, and the exhaustion of fighting for equality on a daily basis. Many instances of discrimination can also be traced to myths about disability and chronic illness.

Cycles of Discrimination

When examining how discrimination develops, it’s easiest to envision a cycle system. First, general societal assumptions influence legal policies. Policies include everything from financial to infrastructure and educational policies at all levels of government.

Policies then influence how government departments, agencies, organizations, and individuals operate and act. This stage may be referred to as policy administration. These factors then influence how people interact with the systems and the individuals in those systems. These interactions, for better or worse, lead to personal experiences and internalized feelings. Then, the cycle repeats as assumptions become mental facts.

This is the last article in a series: Working With the Disability and Chronic Illness Community

To provide an example of the discrimination cycle, let’s look at the employment system. We start with the societal assumption that DCI people cannot work very much, if at all, due to their limitations. With this subconscious idea in mind, policymakers decide to restrict assistance benefits to people with little to no income, to avoid spending public funds on people who they think do not really need support. As people do get a job and start earning an income, their supports and services are taken away because they are showing success.

However, for many people, they need the supports and services they were getting in order to be successful at work. When those necessary services are taken away, they cannot be successful in their job and are forced to quit. This sends the message that they need too much help, are a drain on society, and will never be able to meaningfully contribute to society. People are forced out of the employment system and the cycle repeats.

Causes of Discrimination

As we consider how to combat these issues, it’s important we look at additional factors. The first is that our leaders and lawmakers, more often than not, grew up before the ADA was passed when the DCI community was still segregated from society. Without firsthand knowledge of disabled people during critical periods of their childhood, older adults don’t have accurate information about the diversity of the community and our value.

Second, social service programs frequently trap us in cycles of poverty. As we become more independent by using the supports we need, those same supports get taken away. When the supports we need are taken away, we end up right back in the position we started in.

Lastly, community-based services and accommodations either go  underfunded, or, completely unfunded, causing opportunities to be inaccessible due to a lack of services. This also applies to programming that is only offered in one modality. When we can’t access services that do, or should, exist, we miss out on opportunities to improve our situation.

DCI Inclusive Practices

What can people can do to be better allies to the DCI community? Luckily, there’s so much everyone can do to improve accessibility and inclusion for the DCI community. Here are some things everyone can do in their daily life to help undo some of the problematic structures currently engrained in our society.

First, remove outdated and derogatory DCI language from your vocabulary in all areas, and get comfortable correcting other non-DCI individual’s language. Simply normalizing the words disabled/disability and chronic illness/chronically ill can go a long way in destigmatizing your own feelings about this type of diversity.

Second, I can almost guarantee you know someone with a DCI diagnosis or divergent health status. If you don’t already, ask the people in your life what they need and benefit from, and then honor that without needing constant reminders. For someone who can’t go hiking with you, plan a back porch picnic instead.

Lastly, be understanding when people are not at their best or have to reschedule plans, regardless of their diagnosis. Mental and physical health disabilities are equally important DCI’s to accommodate. People rarely want to cancel plans, but sometimes we just can’t do it. People already feel guilty, so be supportive and keep inviting us to do things in the future. To go a step further, ask if you could help them with anything in place of your fun plans when people do need to cancel. If you know what people struggle with, make direct offers such as cooking dinner, cleaning, or running errands for them.

Workspaces are another critical area of society that needs to improve their inclusion of DCI individuals. A great first step is reviewing your job descriptions and postings, especially if you are currently hiring, and remove unnecessary physical requirements unless they are truly essential to the job.

Unless lifting 25 pounds is a critical function of the job, it isn’t a justifiable requirement. Unless someone is a one-person business, tasks can easily be shuffled to ensure everyone is doing a fair amount of work. Additionally, every organization should develop hybrid, remote work, and flexible schedule policies that everyone can access whenever possible. Again, not every job can be done from home, but many more than we typically thought can be. By normalizing more flexible schedules, the people who really need them to be more successful will avoid the label of receiving special treatment.

Think about how your team works and spends time together. Oftentimes different needs due to personal circumstances and responsibilities outside of work are not considered or honored. For example, if your main bonding activity is going to happy hour once a month, a recovering alcoholic might never feel comfortable joining in, and could be labeled as anti-social. If someone never or rarely participates in social work activities, there’s probably a deeper reason, and it’s up to you to open the discussion up if the person hasn’t said anything before. It’s likely they do not feel comfortable coming to you with concerns.

DCI discrimination is so prevalent in society that it can be easy to miss. To make meaningful changes to the treatment of the DCI community, we have to question every system we are a part of and consider what changes could remove barriers for people. We can all learn and take steps to further this critical work. As history has shown, change will only occur when enough people prioritize the need for change.

—By Erin Vallely

Erin Vallely serves as the Advocacy Specialist at Access to Independence of Cortland County, Inc.  She works with nonprofits, for-profits, government organizations, and individuals to identify and rectify physical and policy-based barriers to disability diversity, equity and inclusion.

Myths About Disability and Chronic Illness

thesophiefund

Stereotypes can shift how we view individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses. It is important to familiarize yourself with common social assumptions and how to check problematic ideas you might not realize existed.

Myth 1

Myth number one is that individuals in the disability and chronic illness (DCI) community have a lower quality of life because they can’t do things like non-DCI people can. Many people associate quality of life with strict self-sufficiency and independence. In reality, some DCI people do have a lower quality of life because societal structures make it difficult or impossible to access the services, supports, and opportunities we need in order to live well. However, many DCI people also report the same or a higher quality of life than non-DCI people.

This is the second article in a series: Working With the Disability and Chronic Illness Community

The disconnect here typically stems from assuming everyone values the same things. For example, I’m guessing many would be devastated if they could no longer drive due to a disability or chronic illness. However, if you lived somewhere that had a great public transportation system, you would realize that the important thing was being able to get out, and go about your typical activities, and not actually the loss of your ability to drive. More often than not, it is the lack of community accessibility that impacts our ability to have a high quality of life rather than our personal disability or chronic illness.

Myth 2

Myth number two is that a lot of DCI individuals are lazy and could do a lot more if they tried. For many DCI individuals, our abilities and needs vary, and even change, daily. In fact, most DCI people want to do more and be more active, but physically cannot. Although motivation will vary as it naturally does, the vast majority of DCI individuals are always doing their best to be as active and engaged as they can.

For example, someone who works from home and joins meetings lying on the couch is probably doing their very best to stay engaged with the meeting. Their disability or chronic illness likely make it difficult or impossible for them to work if they were forced to be in the office and sitting up all day every day.

It can be confusing when you see people who have a DCI more or less active from day to day, but that’s just a consequence of having a disability or chronic illness. Symptoms and energy levels can fluctuate without warning. Unless you really know the person, you are not in a position to pass judgment about someone’s laziness. If you have concerns, it’s okay to respectfully ask people if they need more support or accommodations.

Myth 3

Myth number three is that some people are more or less disabled than others. For example, you might hear mild versus severe autism or cerebral palsy. In reality, DCI people are all unique and all have equally important needs. Some people might have higher or lower support needs, but no one is quantifiably more or less disabled than another person.

Regardless of the diagnosis or symptom, a disability or chronic illness impacts our whole life in countless ways. While some aspects will be visible, others will be less visible. Everyone’s experience with their DCI is unique which means we can’t, and shouldn’t, compare people’s different DCI statuses. One person’s experience with their DCI is not representative of others’ experience.

Myth 4

Myth number four is that DCI people need to be taken care of and drain society of resources. Contrary to this popular belief, DCI people are major economic drivers and contribute to society. This is especially true when we have access to the supports and opportunities to use our strengths in social settings. Realistically, it is the policies and structures that hinder DCI people’s contributions to society.

For example, working remotely when a job can be done remotely is a reasonable accommodation, and allows me to hold a full-time job. I earn income, pay taxes, and stimulate the economy when I spend my paycheck on goods and services. While it’s true DCI individuals substantially contribute to the economy, we also need to be careful not to devalue the lives of people who are unable to work at all. Economic use versus contribution should never be used as a judgment of the value of a life.

Myth 5

Myth number five is that being a DCI person is a tragedy and should not be celebrated. While non-DCI people struggle to imagine living with a DCI, that does not mean people with disabilities or chronic illnesses cannot have great lives. DCI people live fulfilling lives and frequently report doing things they otherwise would not. In reality, society simply fears its own assumptions about the lives of DCI people. It is only societal perceptions and structures that make disability a “tragedy” in cases where people don’t have access to what they deserve to live a fulfilling life.

For example, a lot of people believe being independent means being able to take care of yourself without any outside help, whether that’s financial, or physical, or in-kind assistance. As a culture, we tend to rate people’s worth and quality of life on how well they can take care of themselves without assistance. However, being independent just means making your own decisions and controlling your life. Someone who can get up, get dressed, and drive to a job they accepted is just as independent as someone who hires an aide to help them get up, get dressed, and drives them to a job they accepted.

Myth 6

Myth number six is that DCI people rarely go in public, achieve anything, or have goals. This often results in non-DCI individuals being shocked when people go out and do things. Many people view DCI people taking part in normal everyday activities as inspirational. In reality, DCI people are everywhere, participate in activities, and have goals just like everyone else. DCI people really aren’t that different from non-DCI people. Taking part in everyday activities should not be viewed as inspirational if you’re inspired by their actions solely because they are disabled.

This myth can be highlighted by a personal example I have heard countless times. When I tell new acquaintances that I went to college and have a fulltime job, I am frequently met with shocked expressions of true amazement. People say things like “Wow, you went to college, that’s absolutely incredible!” or “You have a job? Wow, how fantastic!”

This seems harmless enough, until I see my peers telling people the same thing and not receiving the same level of shocked response. People expect non-DCI people my age to have some type of higher education and a job, but don’t expect DCI individuals in the same age range to be capable of the same things. People that I have never met in my life walk up to me in stores and say it’s so inspiring to see me out and about. If you’ve fallen into this trap or know someone who has, consider why DCI people doing everyday activities seems inspirational.

What to Remember

All these myths boil down to three things I want you to remember. First, DCI people are just like non-DCI people but face additional policy and structural barriers to equality and inclusion in society. It’s true there will be things DCI people just can’t do depending on their situation, but most of the struggles we face are created by the systems society has created.

Second, you should never compare yourself, or DCI people, to other DCI people because no situation or experience is the same. People can have the same diagnosis and have wildly different symptoms and needs. What helps one person with a diagnosis might not help someone else with the same diagnosis. You also do not have the right to question someone’s life.

Lastly, individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses might need additional supports or accommodations non-DCI people do not, but that does not mean we cannot be successful. The way things are achieved might look different. but you shouldn’t automatically lower your expectations of what people do and are capable of just because someone has a DCI. Everyone, regardless of DCI status, will have strengths, talents, weaknesses, and limitations.

—By Erin Vallely

Erin Vallely serves as the Advocacy Specialist at Access to Independence of Cortland County, Inc.  She works with nonprofits, for-profits, government organizations, and individuals to identify and rectify physical and policy-based barriers to disability diversity, equity and inclusion.